The Brewers are baseball's story, and team, of the summer
Yahoo Sports AMis our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports.Sign up hereto get it every weekday morning. I don't think anyone is sleeping on the Brewers, who lead the majors with a 75-44 record and have won 11 straight after routing the Pirates,14-0, on Tuesday. But it's still worth diving into Milwaukee's magical summer, particularly considering it followed such a lackluster spring. Going streaking:The Brewers have gone a ridiculous 26-4 since July 6, and they're now just thethird team with multiple 11-game win streaksin a season in the last 90 years. But their turnaround from also-ran to juggernaut actually began six weeks earlier. On May 24, after losing for the 10th time in 16 games, the Brewers were a measly 25-28 — the fifth-worst record in the NL and just a half-game ahead of the lowly Nationals. Since then, they've gone 50-16 — a remarkable 123-win pace over nearly half the season. And they've done it with abottom-10 payroll, too. Consider this:Since Milwaukee's surge began in late May, the Cubs have the second-best record in the NL. Yet somehow Chicago has lost14 gamesin the standings to the Brewers since then. A true buzzsaw. How have they done this?Unsurprisingly, Milwaukee has the best ERA in MLB and best OPS in the NL since that late-May turnaround. But whatissurprising is the players that have fueled their run as guys like Jackson Chourio, Rhys Hoskins and Jacob Misiorowski have landed on the IL. Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, was so bad this year that the White Sox of all teams demoted him to Triple-A. But since being traded to Milwaukee he's beenone of the league's best hitters, smacking 8 HR and 32 RBI in 27 games with the Brewers. Isaac Collins is a 28-year-old rookie, which isn't usually a good thing. But the ninth-rounder from 2019 alsoleads all NL rookies in fWAR, was just namedNL player of the weekand is now the betting favorite to win ROY. Quinn Priester pitched to a bloated 6.23 ERA in his first two big league seasons before landing in Milwaukee this spring; now he's 11-2 with a 3.49 ERA. I could go on, but you get the point. To put it another way:They've done this by playing Brewer baseball. They aren't going to out-slug the competition (Christian Yelich, having an above average but unspectacular season, leads the team with 23 HR), but they'll outwork and outhustle anyone. As reigning NL manager of the year Pat Murphyeloquently put it, "We have to do what we have to do to be who we are." Amen. Looking ahead:The last time the Brewers had the best record in baseball this late in the season was 1982, when they reached their first and only World Series. If Milwaukee's magical summer carries over to the fall, you'd be wise not to bet against history repeating itself. Budapest —Mondo Duplantis has done it again. The American-born Swedebroke the pole vault world recordfor the 13th time in his career on Tuesday,clearing 6.29 metersat the Hungarian Grand Prix. Lucrative gig: As a reminder, Mondo earns $100,000 every time he breaks a world record. And to maximize his earnings, he purposely breaks it by only one centimeter at a time. 4D chess. New York —What long seemed inevitable became official on Tuesday when Pete Alonso hit his 253rd career home run to pass Darryl Strawberryfor the most in Mets franchise history. And three innings later, the Polar Bear belted his 254th for good measure. Fireworks outage: The Mets hit so many home runs (six) in their 13-5 win over the Braves that Citi Fieldran out of their celebratory fireworks. Quite the way to snap a seven-game losing streak. Cincinnati —Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Hamad Medjedovic on Tuesday at the Cincinnati Openfor his 50th win of the year, becoming the first ATP player to win 50 matches in four consecutive seasons since Novak Djokovic in 2016. Long way to go: As impressive as Carlito's streak is, he's less than halfway to matching Djokovic, who won 50+ matches every year from 2007-16. We love a round number, so with 10 days left until the college football season kicks off, here are 10 storylines to know, 10 teams poised to bounce back and 10 teams poised to disappoint. Nick Bromberg:10 biggest storylines entering the season From Bill Belichick's first year in Chapel Hill to Arch Manning's future in Texas to the College Football Playoff's updated — but not expanded — format, here's what to look out for this season. Andy Backstrom:10 teams poised to bounce back this season Thanks to the transfer portal, it's never been easier to rebuild quickly in college football. That's why teams like Michigan, Oklahoma, Auburn and more should expect to rebound after struggling in 2024. Backstrom:10 teams poised to disappoint this season On the flip side from the list above, USC, Tennessee and Illinois are among those that may fall short of expectations this fall. Nine years ago today, Michael Phelps competed in the final race of his legendary Olympic career, winning the4x100m medley relayat the 2016 Rio Games for his record 23rd gold medal. No one else has more thannine.* Full medal tally:Behold, in all its glory, Phelps' full haul of 28 Olympic medals (23 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze). 🥇 100m butterfly (Athens 2004) 🥇 200m butterfly (Athens 2004) 🥇 200m medley (Athens 2004) 🥇 400m medley (Athens 2004) 🥇 4x200m free relay (Athens 2004) 🥇 4x100m medley relay (Athens 2004) 🥉 200m freestyle (Athens 2004) 🥉 4x100m free relay (Athens 2004) 🥇 100m butterfly (Beijing 2008) 🥇 200m butterfly (Beijing 2008) 🥇 200m freestyle (Beijing 2008) 🥇 200m medley (Beijing 2008) 🥇 400m medley (Beijing 2008) 🥇 4x100m free relay (Beijing 2008) 🥇 4x200m free relay (Beijing 2008) 🥇 4x100m medley relay (Beijing 2008) 🥇 100m butterfly (London 2012) 🥇 200m medley (London 2012) 🥇 4x200m free relay (London 2012) 🥇 4x100m medley relay (London 2012) 🥈 200m butterfly (London 2012) 🥈 4x100m free relay (London 2012) 🥇 200m butterfly (Rio 2016) 🥇 200m medley (Rio 2016) 🥇 4x100m free relay (Rio 2016) 🥇 4x200m free relay (Rio 2016) 🥇 4x100m medley relay (Rio 2016) 🥈 100m butterfly (Rio 2016) *Six athletes are tied for second behind Phelps with nine gold medals each: Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina (1956-64), American swimmers Katie Ledecky (2012-24), Caeleb Dressel (2016-24) and Mark Spitz (1968-72), American sprinter Carl Lewis (1984-96) and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi (1920-28). The78th edition of the LLWSbegins today in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where 20 teams of youngsters (12 and under) will spend the next week-and-a-half competing for the title of best in the world.Schedule. How it works: The field is split intwo brackets, with 10 U.S. teams in one and 10 international teams in the other. They'll play for individual championships first, and then the winners of each will meet in the grand finale. Match play at the125th U.S. Amateurtees off today at Olympic Club in San Francisco, where the field of 312 golfers has been narrowed to 64 following Monday and Tuesday's stroke play. All roads lead to Sunday's 36-hole championship match. The defending champions of the Champions League (PSG) and Europa League (Tottenham) square off in the 50th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, with this year's match being held in Italy's Stadio Friuli. More to watch: ⚾️MLB:Twins at Yankees(7:05pm, Prime); Braves at Mets(7:10pm, FS1)… Both New York teams got much-needed wins on Tuesday to hang onto their narrow leads for the final wild card. ⚽️U.S. Open Cup:NY Red Bulls vs. Philadelphia Union(7:30pm, CBSSN)… The winner joins fellow MLS clubs Nashville, Minnesota and Austin in the semifinals. 🎾Cincinnati Open:Fourth round(11am, Tennis)… No. 3 Iga Świątek(11am), No. 1 Jannik Sinner(12:10pm), No. 4 Taylor Fritz(1:20pm)and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka(3pm)headline today's action. 🏀WNBA:Liberty at Aces(9:30pm, ESPN)... No. 3 vs. No. 5 inour latest power rankings. Today's full slate → Pete Alonso, the Mets' new home run king, is now the fourth active player who leads a franchise in home runs. Question:Can you name the other three? Hint:One of them no longer plays for the franchise they lead. Answer at the bottom. Well, you don't see that every day. White Sox prospect George Wolkow tried calling time during his first at-bat on Tuesday for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. But when the umpire didn't grant it and the pitch came his way he swung with one hand…and smacked an RBI single. Trivia answer:Mike Trout, Angels (398 HR); Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (267 HR); Manny Machado, Padres (187 HR) We hope you enjoyed this edition ofYahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports.Sign up hereto get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
The Brewers are baseball's story, and team, of the summer Yahoo Sports AMis our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things...
