MILWAUKEE -- Two games into the regular season, the 2026 Brewers already look a lot like the 2025 Brewers did.
That was a pleasant sight for manager Pat Murphy in a 6-1 win over the White Sox at American Family Field on Saturday, where the Brewers jumped all over an opponent’s mistakes. They took extra bases and went 7-for-7 on steals, asked for (and got) a little extra from the bullpen, turned an outfield misplay into a great play and generally refused to let bad news on the injury front get in the way of a second straight victory.
“That’s who we’ve always been, right?” Murphy said. “That relentless offense, understanding offense at a little higher level. I think some guys are starting to get that.”
Winning was an effective antidote for losing another starting position player to a lengthy injury. This time it was first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who will need surgery for a broken hamate bone in his left hand and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks. That, after the Brewers placed budding star outfielder Jackson Chourio on the injured list with a fracture in his left hand on the morning of Opening Day. He’ll miss 2-4 weeks.
Here are three ways the Brewers resembled the team that led the Majors with 97 regular-season victories a year ago:
Relentless baserunning
Jake Bauers, the player best positioned to help the Brewers overcome losing both Vaughn and Chourio, set the tone on Saturday night with an example of the type of team the Brewers want to be after bringing in a new first-base coach and baserunning instructor in Spencer Allen.
With a run already on the scoreboard in the first inning and one out, Bauers pulled a single to right field that pushed Christian Yelich to third. When Sox right fielder Everson Pereira unwisely threw to third, and nobody covered second, Bauers gladly took the extra base, so when Garrett Mitchell followed with a single, it was good for two runs instead of one, and a 3-0 lead.
“Early on, it changed the game,” Murphy said. “He’s a smart baserunner -- knows the game. It’s beautiful, and it’s a beautiful lesson to the younger guys.”
“Credit to the guys for buying into what we want to do and how Murph wants to play,” Allen said. “We’ve got a whole clubhouse full of guys who want to push it.”
The Brewers kept pushing. With Reese McGuire behind home plate for the White Sox coming off an entire Spring Training as a nonroster invitee with the Brewers, Milwaukee was perfect in seven stolen-base attempts. Mitchell, David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz were each 2-for-2. It was the fifth time in franchise history that the Brewers swiped at least seven bases in a game, and two shy of the franchise record that was set last year.
“Any time someone gets on first [the opposing pitcher] is already like, ‘Oh, crap. Here we go,’” Mitchell said. “That’s a big part of our identity the last few years. Whether we go or don’t, is what it is. But it’s more of, ‘Will they go?’ That puts more pressure on them than anything else.”
Out-getters
The Brewers have an unusually inexperienced starting rotation, so they built a bullpen with enough multi-inning arms to allow for quick hooks when Murphy and his dugout strategists feel the time is right. For starter Chad Patrick that time came with one out in the fifth inning after just 74 pitches, when Murphy made a move for left-hander Aaron Ashby, who has pitched in both of the Brewers’ games so far.
He converted four outs before turning to left-hander Angel Zerpa for the seventh inning and right-hander Abner Uribe for the eighth. It might have been closer Trevor Megill for the ninth in a tighter game, but Murphy kept that arrow in his quiver for another night.
Through two games, the Brewers have a +17 run differential. What a difference from a year ago, when they were 0-2 and -13 -- and about to see it get worse.
Out at home
Run prevention is a culture, the Brewers will tell you, and Brandon Lockridge has fit right in. His chance to impact Saturday’s win came with two outs in the seventh inning, when Austin Hays dumped a double into left. Lockridge initially overran the baseball, but recovered in time to find cutoff man Joey Ortiz, who relayed home for an inning-ending out that kept it a 5-1 game.
“Sometimes you see one mishap turn into a kick and another bobble,” Allen said. “He didn’t panic. Good for him. Then he had to hit Joey with an accurate throw.”
Ortiz, on a two-hit night, completed the play.
“I’ve been here 11 years and I don’t remember a dude playing shortstop like that,” Murphy said. “His key is the way he can redirect the baseball. It’s uncanny. Watch that play on film. Not too many shortstops make that play.
“That’s what separates our group.”