10 moments that stand out from the Milwaukee Brewers' memorable first half

The Milwaukee Brewers' record of 56 wins are the most they've ever had at the all-star break.

They've gone 35-15 over the past 50 games, with only one other Brewers team (the 2011 team went 36-14) having ever gone on that kind of 50-game tear.

Milwaukee has gone from middling in May to 1½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the National League and a game behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

The Brewers' plus-81 run differential is second in the NL only to the Cubs. They hold the top wild-card spot, with a four-game lead over the first team on the outside looking in.

Take a look back at the moments to remember during the Brewers' fascinating first half of the 2025 Major League Baseball season:

10. Brice Turang's walk-off bunt

The start of the 2025 season was dubious, an 0-4 beginning that included three absolute drubbings. But after that, Milwaukee won two straight against the Kansas City Royals, including a 3-2 victory that required a perfectly executed walk-off squeeze bunt by Brice Turang.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy conferred briefly with Turang before the at-bat, making it seem pretty clear what was coming next. Murphy was asked about it after.

"The honest truth? I said it’s a good idea to put a bunt down the first base line right here," Murphy said. "We’ll win the game. He said, 'OK.' I said, 'It's going to be a breaking ball.' 'OK.' And he did it."

The Brewers wound up winning four in a row after that cold start, though they did match that mark of four games below .500 by May 17.

9. Torpedo bats and Nestor Cortes

For a hot second, "torpedo bats" were all the rage in Major League Baseball after the New York Yankees used the strangely misshapen barrels to great effect against the Brewers in the second game of the season. The Yankees clubbed a franchise-record nine homers against Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes, whose disastrous debut with Milwaukee included five homers and five walks in two-plus innings.

Milwaukee lost the game 20-9, then followed with a 12-3 loss and 11-1 loss to the Royals to account for a horrendous first few games of the season.

But here's the thing. Cortes in his next start allowed just one hit and no runs in six innings, part of a 1-0 win against the Reds. The third start? We're still waiting on that as Cortes rehabs from a flexor tendon strain.

8. The Quinn Priester trade

At the time, it looked like a lot to surrender for a pitcher who was presently in the minor leagues and hadn't found big-league success. But the Brewers shipped two promising prospects and a 2025 competitive-balance draft pick to the Boston Red Sox for right-hander Quinn Priester.

While he allowed a home run to his first batter on April 10, he settled in nicely, first with a five-inning performance that day and then with a series of progressively stronger showings.

Since May 30, the Brewers have won eight consecutive games in which Priester has delivered a volume pitching performance, either as a starter or following an opener. He's gone six or more innings in five of those occasions.

The streak would be 10 if not for a 2-1 loss May 24 in which Priester allowed just one run in six innings. Twice, Priester has been the volume pitcher in a one-hitter.

7. A sweep of the world-champion Dodgers

To be the best, you've got to beat the best, and that's the Dodgers, the team with the best record in the National League at the break. And Milwaukee won all three games against them from July 7-9, the first home sweep of the Dodgers in franchise history.

Starters Freddy Peralta, Jacob Misiorowski and José Quintana were excellent in their games, with the last one ending on a walk-off win authored by Jackson Chourio's game-winning single in the 10th, following up a ninth-inning rally to tie the game. It's part of Milwaukee's seven-game winning streak to close the first half.

6. Jacob Misiorowski's debut

There are already a handful of Misiorowski highlights to choose from, but the hyped top prospect had a pretty sensational debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 12, when he threw five no-hit innings and only left the contest because he turned his ankle after some cramping in his calf. He walked four batters and struck out five, and the Brewers won the game 6-0.

Misiorowski followed that up with six perfect innings in Minnesota before yielding a walk and home run. Among starters, his 11 innings are the most no-hit innings to begin a career in the modern era.

5. Caleb Durbin's collection of walk-offs

Scrappy third baseman Caleb Durbin didn't start the year with the team, but he's made a major impact since his recall.

His sacrifice fly in the 10th against the Red Sox on May 28 gave Milwaukee its second straight walk-off victory, 6-5, as part of a series sweep. On June 7, after the Brewers had lost a late lead, he belted a first-pitch home run in the bottom of the ninth to rescue Milwaukee with a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres, marking his second career home run.

Then came the real theft July 12, when the Brewers went into the ninth down a pair to Washington but quickly rallied for two runs on newcomer Andrew Vaughn's two-run double, followed closely by Durbin's inside-out ball down the right field line that scored the winning run. It's the first time a first-year MLB player has had three walk-off outcomes before the All-Star break since 1971.

4. Christian Yelich's walk-off grand slam

Christian Yelich was a key part of the strong first half for the Brewers, with a .797 OPS and 19 home runs — already tied for his most in a season since his MVP-caliber 2019. One of those came May 27, when his walk-off grand slam off Boston's Liam Hendriks provided a no-doubt winner in the 10th inning.

Yelich had struggled mightily against left-handers to that point in the season, but he doubled against Aroldis Chapman leading off the ninth and came around to score to tie the game at 1-1 in the final inning, setting the stage for even more heroics to follow.

3. Jackson Chourio's game-saving catch

If you wanted to find the peak turnaround moment for the Brewers this season, here's your play.

On May 18 against the Minnesota Twins, Jackson Chourio robbed Royce Lewis of a game-tying, two-run homer in the top of the eighth, and the Brewers went on to prevail, 5-2, to avoid a sweep after getting shut out four times in a stretch of five games.

Chourio's catch may have lit a fuse; the Brewers won three of the next four and, after a couple losses, eight consecutive and nine of 10 to get back above water and into the playoff chase.

2. Brandon Woodruff returns and shines

After missing all of 2024 and missing more time than expected this year, getting Brandon Woodruff back at all was a storybook development. And then he pitched lights-out, allowing one run on two hits with eight strikeouts in six innings, part of a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on July 6.

He looked as good as ever, with superb command, and suddenly the Brewers could dream about a rotation full of top-shelf hammers as the season progresses.

Woodruff didn't go five innings in his follow-up July 12, but he did strike out 10 batters in just 4⅓ innings.

1. Miz vs. Skenes

The Jacob Misiorowski Madness that has enfolded Milwaukee hit overdrive on June 25, when a sellout crowd flocked to American Family Field for a mid-week day game to see Miz square off with Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who's been named as the National League starting pitcher in the All-Star Game for a second straight season.

Miz went five innings, allowing two hits and two walks but no runs, as the Brewers prevailed for a 4-2 victory that perhaps marked the official launch of his profile across baseball.

Now, Misiorowski has surpassed Skenes' 2024 record for fewest appearances before a berth in the All-Star Game, with five to Skenes' 11. Whether he matches Skenes' excellence remains to be seen, but he's already rivaled the buzz that Skenes has brought to baseball.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' memorable first half includes Misiorowski, Chourio, Yelich