CINCINNATI — It was the Milwaukee Brewer wearing No. 14 who extended the team’s winning streak to 14. Andruw Monasterio hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the 11th inning Saturday at Great American Ball Park to give the Brewers a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, setting a new Brewers franchise record for consecutive victories in a single season.
“That’s something, like, only God or the universe [can make] happen like that,” Monasterio said. “I wasn’t ready for 14 for 14. That’s something amazing.”
The Brewers were one good throw from Elly De La Cruz away from seeing that winning streak snapped, but the Reds’ shortstop’s throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth tied the score at 2 instead of ending it. Both teams plated runs in the 10th before Monasterio’s moment in the 11th.
It was the latest in a 14-game streak of amazing for the Brewers, who haven’t lost in August.
A big swing for the @Brewers 👀 pic.twitter.com/eCv1gKHune
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The team’s last loss was on July 30, when the Chicago Cubs won 10-3 in Milwaukee, pulling the Cubs within a game of the Brewers atop the National League Central standings. The Brewers now have baseball’s best record at 78-44 and are nine games up on the Cubs. Milwaukee looks to extend the streak to 15 on Sunday against the Reds before going to Chicago for a five-game series against the Cubs, including a doubleheader on Monday.
Brewers outfielder Brandon Lockridge, acquired from the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline, has yet to be a part of a Brewers loss. Saturday’s starter, Quinn Priester, has his own 14-game winning streak, with the Brewers winning each of his last 14 starts.
They’ve also done this without Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers or Rhys Hoskins. While former MVP Christian Yelich paced the Brewers’ comeback from a seven-run deficit Friday, he went 0 for 4 on Saturday, and the Brewers still won.
“The guys we’re doing with, a lot of people have never heard of,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Quinn Priester. They never heard of Monasterio, I guarantee it.”
It was, also, the Reds.
While the Brewers have built the game’s best record by playing clean baseball, in the first two games of this series, they’ve also capitalized on bad baseball by Cincinnati.
Friday, it was a double play that could’ve ended the third inning without a run, but instead allowed the Brewers to score five. An error in the next inning missed another opportunity to stymie the Brewers, who tied the game 8-8 with a pair of runs. Milwaukee won 10-8.
Saturday, outfielder Noelvi Marte misplayed a two-out liner by Brice Turang, allowing Milwaukee’s first run to score. The Brewers then scored again in the ninth inning on De La Cruz’s throwing error on what could have been a game-ending, streak-ending double play, but instead allowed the tying run to score. In the 10th, Reds left fielder Jake Fraley fell to the ground and hyperextended his knee while trying to field William Contreras’ single, allowing ghost runner Anthony Seigler to score.
Even after the Reds tied the game in the bottom of the 10th, Cincinnati reliever Joe La Sorsa got in the way of third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, allowing Turang’s sacrifice bunt attempt to turn into a hit.
And then came Monasterio to the plate. The 28-year-old utility player had just five home runs in the first 524 plate appearances of his career before he was sent to the plate to pinch-hit against the left-handed La Sorsa with two on in the top of the 11th inning. Monasterio said he was looking to go the other way, but he got out ahead of La Sorsa’s changeup and pulled it 382 feet down the left-field line.
“Part of this game is to take advantage of the other team, like I took advantage of that hanging pitch,” said Monasterio, whose first career home run in 2023 came at Great American Ball Park.
It was just another Brewers moment that beggars belief.
“You pull for guys like Mona who do whatever you ask,” Murphy said. “He’s played every position, first, second, third, short, left field. He’d do anything we’d ask. He was with us all of last year — and deserved to be — and did a lot of great things. He didn’t start the season here, but then got the chance to come up, and he’s been great ever since, filling in anywhere.”
Monasterio said Murphy asked him five times during the game if he was ready. On Friday, Yelich told Murphy while the Brewers trailed 8-1 that they would win. One day later, it was Murphy who played the part of prophet.
“He asked me in the seventh, ‘Are you ready for a big moment?’” Monasterio recalled. “I said, ‘Of course, yeah.’ But I didn’t know it was going to happen like this.”
In addition to the 14-game winning streak, the Brewers tied the franchise record with a nine-game winning streak on the road, matching streaks in 1973 and 2008.
“It’s baseball. You gotta be able to roll with it. Respond and roll and respond,” Murphy said. “Our guys keep responding. We’re very fortunate to come away with a victory tonight. We didn’t have a reason to.”
And they did.
Priester, who retired the first nine batters he faced, said the only thing he can compare it to is his Under-11 team that won 49 in a row — but winning 14 in a row in the big leagues tops that.
“When guys are getting their opportunity,” he said, “We’re not timid, that’s for sure.”
(Photo: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)