Brewers’ William Contreras set Milwaukee-best mark vs. Nationals

On Friday, William Contreras delivered a historic performance as the Milwaukee Brewers steamrolled the Washington Nationals 16-9 at Nationals Park, backed by a season-high 25-hit offensive explosion.

Contreras went 5-for-7 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs, becoming the first Brewer to tally five hits in a game this season and tying his career high, according to StatMuse.

Contreras’ homer in the seventh inning was a 104.4 mph laser to left, his 10th hard-hit ball (95+ mph exit velocity) in his last 11 swings. His fifth hit, a 102 mph double in the eighth, was followed by Andrew Vaughn’s sixth home run in 17 games, ending another five-run inning, Milwaukee’s third of the night.

Contreras has gone 12-for-19 in his last four games with three homers and two doubles, raising his slugging percentage from .340 to .383 in just one week.

Milwaukee’s 25 hits were tied for the third-most in franchise history and their highest since August 2, 2010. All nine starters recorded at least one hit and one run. The outburst came just one day after the team stood pat at the trade deadline, opting not to acquire additional bats.

Blake Perkins, filling in for the injured Jackson Chourio, hit his first two homers of the season, a solo shot in the second and a two-run homer in the fifth, both off Nationals starter Mitchell Parker. Perkins, making only his seventh start of the season after returning from a fractured shin, went 2-for-6 with three RBIs.

Andrew Vaughn added three hits and his sixth homer since joining Milwaukee. Andruw Monasterio registered a career-best four hits, while Joey Ortiz, Caleb Durbin, and Vaughn also had multi-hit games. The Brewers batted around three times in the first seven innings.

Deadline acquisitions, Danny Jansen and Brandon Lockridge, contributed immediately. Jansen, in his first start, notched an RBI sac fly, a single, and scored twice. Lockridge, also debuting, went 2-for-6 with a walk and a stolen base.

Brewers starter Jose Quintana improved to 8-4, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts over five innings. Mitchell Parker (7-11) took the loss for Washington, surrendering eight runs on 12 hits in four-plus innings.

The Nationals, now 21 games under .500, fell behind 16-4 before scoring five in the ninth.