Pure cinema: The best scenes from Brewers' season ... so far

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MILWAUKEE -- When they make the movie about the 2026 Brewers, will Luis Lara’s wide smile be in the opening scene?

MLB’s social team described the exchange between Lara and Brewers manager Pat Murphy in the bottom of the 10th inning on Tuesday as a “movie-like” moment. Another account called it “real life Ted Lasso.” Both were about right, and credit goes to the camera and control room technicians from Brewers.tv who brought it into everyone’s living room.

If you missed it, here’s the setup. It was the bottom of the 10th inning of a game that already had too many storylines to keep track of, from Jacob Misiorowski rediscovering his 104 mph fastball, to Christian Yelich extending the night with a single when the Brewers were down to their final strike, to Jackson Chourio peering into the Cubs’ dugout before delivering a tying, two-run home run, to Garrett Mitchell keeping Chicago off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th with a terrific throw to third base.

Then came more in the bottom of the 10th. With one out, Sal Frelick’s bloop single found grass in left field and prompted a delay while the Cubs checked on shortstop Nico Hoerner.

It was then that Murphy approached his on-deck hitter, Lara, with coach Nestor Corredor. The Brewers.tv cameras were right there as Murphy talked and Corredor translated. Both coaches patted Lara on the chest, and when he turned to walk to the plate, Lara was wearing a wide smile.

If you’ve ever seen a baseball movie, you know what happened next. Lara looped a base hit over the third baseman and the Brewers won, 4-3, to tighten their grip on the NL Central.

So, what did Murphy say?

"He asked me if I was ready,” Lara said. “He told me he believed in me 100 percent."

Murphy was surrounded by news cameras on Wednesday afternoon when he was asked about that moment.

“I really don’t think that conversation mattered,” he said. “To be honest, it was probably more for me, to feel like I was participating, I guess. I don’t think he was affected by that at all. I just think he’s a young kid who cares and wants to do that. I’m just blessed and grateful for all those times you get to be part of a winning team.”

He won’t take any credit at all?

“When you have a good team,” Murphy said, “it makes the manager’s moves look right.”

Yep, that’s straight out of a script.

If you were writing the screenplay, which 2026 moment is your favorite so far?

Here are some contenders:

• Misiorowski logging the first 11 of the 20 strikeouts for Brewers pitchers on Opening Day, tying the modern record for a nine-inning game.

• Yelich capping a six-run rally with a three-run homer to clinch an opening series sweep over the White Sox.

• Sweeping the Yankees with back-to-back walk-off wins in May, capped by Brice Turang’s winning home run with a pink bat on Mother’s Day.

• June 13 against the Phillies, when Misiorowski struck out 15 Phillies in a complete-game, one-hit shutout, maybe the best game ever pitched by a Brewers player.

• June 26 against the Cubs, when Misiorowski threw a 105.5 mph fastball to Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong and William Contreras and Chourio starred in a Brewers win with Venezuela on their minds as their homeland dug out from a massive earthquake.

• The crazy 15-14 win over the A’s in Las Vegas in June or the even crazier 22-0 win over the Mariners at home in August, matching the most lopsided shutout victory since Grover Cleveland was the U.S. President.

• Chourio’s go-ahead hit to cap a comeback win over the Cubs on Labor Day, or his tying homer the next night before Lara delivered the winner?

Or maybe it’s a moment yet to come.