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Milwaukee Brewers Nemesis Benched by Pirates Manager as Crew Wins 9-3

Originally posted on WI Sports Heroics | By Robin M Adams | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 9:11 AM ET

The Milwaukee Brewers are the hottest team in baseball. Their 19-8 record over their last 27 games, which includes their 9-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night, is the best record in all Major League Baseball during that span.

It is no coincidence that Milwaukee’s recent run of winning baseball is happening at the same time that multiple players snapped out of their season-long slumps. Joey Ortiz, for example, hit .192/.263/.292 in March/April and .160/.222/.267 in May. In June, though, he is hitting .303/.343/.348 and hit two home runs, doubling his season total, in the Brewers’ win on Tuesday night.

Caleb Durbin, who hit .202/.280/.281 in May, is hitting .250/.343/.367 in June. He added a three-run blast to help bury the Pirates on Tuesday as well.

Milwaukee Brewers Killer Oneil Cruz Was Benched by the Pittsburgh Pirates

Milwaukee Brewers Nemesis Benched by Pirates Manager as Crew Wins 9-3 1 Jun 23, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz (15) catches a fly ball against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Even though they struggled for over a month, Durbin and Ortiz earned the playing time they got because they constantly hustled and played good-to-great defense. It was their effort that kept them on the field, and it is finally starting to pay dividends at the plate.

Indeed, hard work pays off, and this is a lesson that Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz learned the hard way on Tuesday night. After failing to run out a double play groundout in the seventh inning, Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly pulled him from the game.

“Just the energy and effort going down the line,” Kelly said after the game. “I think we were pretty clear the other day, and he knows the expectation going forward. We talked, but he knows the expectation. Right there, I feel like we fell a little short.”

For his part Cruz seems to have taken the benching in the manner in which it was intended. “I accepted it really well, just because we have two guys here, (Andrew) McCutchen and Tommy Pham, who are really good examples,” Cruz said. “They always run hard. They always go out there and give 100%. This is a teaching point for me, and I accept the way DK came to me and explained and presented it to me.”

This all being said, it is not yet known if Cruz will be in the lineup tomorrow when Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski faces off against Pirates ace Paul Skenes in what is already a sold-out afternoon game in Milwaukee.

If Pittsburgh does choose to bench Cruz, they will go into the contest without one of their best Brewers killers. For his career, Cruz is hitting .273 with nine home runs and 24 RBI in 29 games against Milwaukee.