MILWAUKEE — There are few certainties in baseball, but every time Quinn Priester has taken the mound over the past three and half months, the Brewers always find ways to win.
“He attacks. He works quick. He doesn’t try to be fancy,” manager Pat Murphy said after Friday night’s 8-2 win over the Cardinals at American Family Field. “He wasn’t perfect tonight, but he made big pitches at big times.”
Priester won his 12th consecutive decision, extending his franchise record, and Christian Yelich homered as the Brewers inched closer to locking up a playoff spot for the seventh time in eight seasons.
The victory halted a three-game losing skid and allowed Milwaukee to reach the 90-win plateau for the 12th time in franchise history – which includes a high of 96, accomplished in 2011 and 2018.
They’re also the first team in the Majors to reach 90 victories in 2025 and concluded play with their eyes on the West Coast.
The Reds lost to the Athletics in West Sacramento, but the Giants’ victory over the Dodgers in San Francisco ensured Milwaukee (90-58) will have to wait at least one more day to celebrate punching a ticket to October.
But though they may have been watching the scoreboard, Brewers players have their eyes on a bigger prize.
“It’s really cool any time you can clinch a postseason spot,” said Yelich, “but we obviously have bigger goals and need to continue to play well down the stretch and stay focused on ourselves.”
The Brewers have won each of the last 18 games in which Priester has pitched, including 15 starts, extending the longest winning streak for any starting pitcher in franchise history.
Yelich credited Priester for his tempo on the mound.
“He works so quick,” Yelich said. “The ball’s in play. Sinkers, cutters. Attacking guys. Keeping the defense on their toes. You get back in the dugout quickly and that lets the guys swing the bats for him. He’s been huge for us.”
Priester (13-2) gave up five hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one in his 88-pitch outing. He’s given up two or fewer runs in 10 of his last 11 appearances.
The right-hander’s extended run of success has come as a surprise, after the Brewers acquired the 24-year-old in April in a trade with the Red Sox.
“He started the year in Triple-A with no thought of being in the Big Leagues with Boston,” Murphy said. “Great move by our front office to get him over here. When we first saw him, we didn’t think this was a guy who was going to light it up. But he just cares about the team and about being a teammate. He competes.”
Now, late in the season, Priester continues to make a strong case for a spot in the Brewers’ playoff rotation.
“I think I’ve done my job this year,” Priester said. “Whether I’m starting a game, or being opened for, or whatever role they think I can help us win a playoff game, that’s what I’m ready for and prepared to do. I just want to keep pitching well and keep winning games.”
Murphy stressed the importance of Priester’s durability.
“No excuses, just go pitch,” Murphy said.
Priester’s preparation between starts has been essential to his run of success this season, Murphy added.
“He works between starts. To me, that’s a sign of a championship young pitcher,” he said.
St. Louis’ Andre Pallante (6-14) retired the first six Brewers batters he faced before Jake Bauers and Caleb Durbin drew back-to-back walks to start the third and Joey Ortiz reached on an infield single. After Sal Frelick walked to push across a run, Jackson Chourio followed with a sacrifice fly, a second run scoring on a fielding error. Brice Turang’s fielder’s choice plated the fourth run of the inning.
The Brewers tacked on a run in the fourth on Jake Bauers’ run-scoring double off Pallante, giving him eight RBIs over his last seven games.
The Cardinals plated two runs in the sixth before Christian Yelich’s towering two-run homer in the seventh off Jorge Alcala extended the Brewers’ lead to 7-2. The 432-foot blast to straightaway center that ricocheted off the scoreboard was Yelich’s 28th long ball of the season, but his first since Aug. 30.
The Brewers added a run in the eighth on Jackson Chourio’s run-scoring single.
Pallante gave up four hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings. He walked four and didn’t record a strikeout.
Brewers catcher William Contreras returned to the lineup after missing the finale of Milwaukee’s three-game series against the Rangers in Texas earlier this week with a left forearm contusion.
The Brewers and Cardinals will meet five more times over the next nine days.
