MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers have used small ball to coax many a team into beating themselves in recent seasons, but the Nationals flipped the script.
With a trio of bunts in a decisive ninth inning, the Nats began a stretch of 17 games in 17 days by beating the Brewers at their own game Friday, leaving Milwaukee’s All-Star closer Trevor Megill to lament his “soggy legs” amid Washington’s scrappy, 7-3 comeback victory at American Family Field.
You don’t see many innings like that these days.
“I’ve seen a couple. In our games,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “Nobody bunts more than us. They did a great job of exploiting us.”
He’s got a point. No team in baseball had worse defense played against them last season than the 97-win Brewers, who lured opponents into making mistakes by putting the ball in play by any means possible, and then using team speed to cause chaos. This year it’s been more of the same. The Brewers went into Friday’s series opener leading the Majors with six sacrifice hits and were tied for fourth with 12 infield hits (including a pair of bunt hits).
The Nationals went into the night on the other end of the spectrum, with one sacrifice hit and no bunt hits. But they had been working on small ball since Spring Training. A new coaching staff that was put together this offseason was ready to implement its opponent’s own strategy, led by 33-year-old first-year manager Blake Butera.
“It’s been a big focus of ours, being able to do the small things very well,” said Butera. “We talked about it going into this series specifically, knowing the type of team Milwaukee has and knowing they’re going to be coming at us all day long and we’re going to have to go right back at them.”
Megill said he knew bunts were on the table. He just couldn’t do anything about them.
All of the following happened before the Nationals made the first out of the ninth:
1. CJ Abrams was hit by a pitch
Tied at 3 entering the ninth, Abrams got on base in the leadoff at-bat when he was hit by Megill’s 96.9 mph fastball inside.
“I barely clipped him,” Megill said. “It’s the pitch I wanted to throw, I just missed by a little bit.”
Said Butera, “CJ getting hit by a pitch was huge. The rest of the guys after that just added on.”
2. Joey Wiemer hit a bunt single
Wiemer laid down a bunt toward third baseman Luis Rengifo and beat out the throw to put runners on first and second with no outs. With a hit probability of only 30 percent, Wiemer hustled at a sprint speed of 29.5 feet per second (30 feet/second is “elite”).
“I put it in a good spot, just legged it out,” said Wiemer.
But this wasn’t just any bunt for the former Brewer. It was a milestone in his four-year Major League career.
“Homers are great, but getting a bunt down’s great, too,” he said. “That was my first one, so I was stoked about it.”
The Brewers were not as stoked.
“Rengifo’s got to be there to make the play. There’s no excuse for that,” Murphy said. “It’s the ninth inning. You have to play closer than that. He wasn’t in the right position and he didn’t get there quick enough, knowing the runner’s speed. It wasn’t even a good bunt.”
“I should have been there, too,” Megill said. “Just, soggy legs. I didn’t get it done.”
3. Luis García Jr. notched a run-scoring single
Finally, a swing of the bat.
García jumped on a first-pitch knuckle curve and grounded it into center field to drive in Abrams. Even though García was expecting a fastball, he said he felt prepared after watching Megill warm up and was able to adapt.
“I thought he knew exactly what he was looking for and didn’t try to do too much,” Butera said. “He went right back up the middle with it.”
And, notably, Wiemer got to third base.
4. Jorbit Vivas’ safety squeeze
Two bunts in one inning? What year is it?
“Practice and repetition’s the biggest thing,” said Butera. “Doing it over and over and over again, our coaching staff’s done an outstanding job of getting these guys out there early every day and challenging them to get down bunts.”
Vivas bunted right back to the mound, and even though Megill tends to fall off toward first base, he was in position with plenty of time to get the out at home plate had he not shoveled the baseball past catcher William Contreras for an error.
“I don’t care how you fall off. If you can’t field a bunt right at you, then that’s not effective,” Murphy said. “It’s a play you have to practice, and we do practice it as much as any team in baseball. Secure the baseball is No. 1.”
Notably (again), Nasim Nuñez, who had entered as a pinch-runner for García, got to third base.
5. Drew Millas’ safety squeeze
Your eyes were not deceiving you. The Nationals, in the year 2026, executed three bunts in a single inning. Again, it was right at Megill. He couldn’t get the baseball home in time.
“Completely [terrible] PFP on my part,” said Megill, using the shorthand for pitcher fielding practice. “It’s something I take pride in. I just completely failed the team tonight on it.
“I need to be better there. There’s no excuse for that [stuff].”
Megill was lifted in favor of Easton McGee, a right-hander called up from Triple-A before the game.
6. James Wood records an RBI double
Wood, who led the Nationals’ offense on a 4-for-5 night, put an exclamation mark on the rally with a 115.3 mph RBI double. This, after pummeling a season-best 116.3 mph double in the first inning.
“Watching [Wood] put together good at-bats, mature at-bats and being able to hit the crap out of the ball, it’s really fun to watch,” said Nationals starting pitcher Jake Irvin.
That loud contact was the outlier.
The Nationals did a lot of their damage quietly.
“We know that at the end of the day, when we’re asking these guys to bunt, it’s going to be against high-leverage relievers with really good arms, which isn’t easy,” said Butera. “But they did a great job tonight.”
The series continues Saturday night with Milwaukee’s Kyle Harrison facing Washington’s Foster Griffin in a battle of southpaws.
They’ll be ready for bunts.
“You can do little things to play offense, and they did a great job,” Murphy said. “We weren’t good in, really, any of the facets tonight. … We just didn’t have that ‘edge’ tonight. I was really disappointed in that.”