Crew turns to most trusted arm for Game 2

MILWAUKEE – Given the current state of the Brewers’ rotation, the games started by ace Freddy Peralta feel like they carry a little more weight. Applying the “must-win” label on his outings might seem a little dramatic, but that is how it feels at the moment.

“We basically have one-and-a-half starters available,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said ahead of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers.

Peralta is the one.

After the Brewers dropped a riveting Game 1 of the NLCS, 2-1, on Monday night, Milwaukee is trusting that Peralta can help even the series with one of his vintage performances.

In playoff history, teams that take Game 1 in any best-of-seven series have gone on to win 64.9% of the time. Milwaukee will clearly want to avoid falling behind 2-0, as teams dropping the first two in a seven-game series have come back only 16.1% (15 of 93) of the time.

“We like our chances when he’s out there,” Brewers veteran Christian Yelich said. “He’s a great pitcher, and he’s going to give us a shot to win.”

During the NL Division Series win over the Cubs, Murphy handed the ball to Peralta in Games 1 and 4 in an intense best-of-five clash that went the distance. By turning to Peralta for Game 2 in this best-of-seven NLCS, the right-hander can not only pitch on regular rest, but Murphy has flexibility to choose when his staff leader pitches again, if the series extends into Games 5-7 territory.

Milwaukee is counting on Peralta to eat up innings like he did in a 2025 campaign worthy of NL Cy Young Award votes. Right now, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski has been utilized as a leverage arm in the middle innings. Jose Quintana is not fully stretched out after a return from a left calf strain. Quinn Priester, who pitched four scoreless innings Monday in Game 1 behind opener Aaron Ashby, is still earning trust. Brandon Woodruff is out with a right lat injury and off the NLCS roster.

Murphy did not rule out having Misiorowski start a game in the NLCS.

“I really don’t know,” said the manager. “That hasn't been concrete yet. There's a possibility he'd start.”

The Brewers went with an opener twice in the NLDS, and did so again in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Dodgers. Priester started Game 3 against the Cubs, but he was chased from the ballgame after recording only two outs. Quintana gave Milwaukee three innings behind Priester in that game in Chicago. Misiorowski logged three innings in Game 2 and four in the Game 5 clincher.

“He’s going to drive the bus for us,” Woodruff said after Peralta helped beat the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS. “We need to win every game he starts, we really do. Then we can piece stuff together. But if he can drive the bus for us, it’s going to take us a long ways.”

This season, the 29-year-old Peralta went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA and 204 strikeouts against 66 walks in 176 2/3 innings. He was particularly good at American Family Field, where he spun a 1.77 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 91 2/3 innings across 17 starts. Against the Dodgers, Peralta was 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts.

In the NLDS against the Cubs – a team that has seen Peralta more than any other opponent in his career – he struck out 15 and allowed five runs total in his two starts (9 2/3 innings). In Game 4 at Wrigley Field, he allowed three runs in four innings in a raucous environment, including taunting chants of, “FRED-DY! FRED-DY!”

Peralta knows facing the Dodgers comes with its own set of obstacles.

“It’s a new challenge,” Peralta said. “But at the end of the day, for me, I just take it like another game. Because for me what works is just keep the game simple and go outside and compete, each hitter, each pitch that I throw. It’s what makes me feel more comfortable.”

And the Brewers are counting on Peralta to do his thing, helping the rest of the pitching puzzle to fall into place.

“We're going to have to piece it together,” Murphy said. “That's how we do it. It's patchwork. It's proven to be pretty good. [Yelich] calls it the collection of misfit toys. Everybody has been DFA'd or moved around or been through really tough stretches, whatever.

“And it's kind of all hands on deck and they're ready to do whatever. It's kind of cool.”