The Milwaukee Brewers won their second game in a row with a convincing 5-1 victory against the Houston Astros on Monday night. Christian Yelich, who is off to a noticeably slow start this season, smashed a two-run home to highlight Milwaukee’s overall solid night at the plate. William Contreras was 1-4 with an RBI and scored on Yelich’s home run.
Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers were both 2-4 with an RBI apiece. Bauers got the start in right field after Sal Frelick was injured on Sunday and performed well defensively.
But as good as the Brewers were at the plate, the story of the game was their pitching.
Myers did not join the Brewers starting rotation until recently due to an oblique injury he suffered during Spring Training. Last season, he was 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA in 27 games (25 starts) in what was a [pleasantly] surprising rookie campaign.
But Myers struggled in his first two starts of 2025. Heading into play on Monday, he was 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA and just 7.0 innings pitched.
On Monday night, though, he went 5.1 innings, giving up six hits and a run while striking out two. Myers ran into trouble in the sixth inning and left with the bases loaded and one out.
Nick Mears came in to finish the inning and to try and preserve the Brewers 3-1 lead. He struck out the first batter he faced and then got the second to ground out and end the frame.
Jared Koenig, Grant Anderson, and Joel Payamps combined for three more shutout innings to clamp down the win.
Over the course of the season, Mears has become one of the pitchers that manager Pat Murphy has turned to in high-leverage situations. This is a surprising, yet positive, development as he was 0-1 with a 7.31 ERA after Milwaukee acquired him last season.
This season, though, he is 0-0 with a 0.69 ERA. Interestingly, he has appeared in just as many games this season (13) for Milwaukee as he did last year.
After the game, Mears told reporters “That’s what you live for,” when discussing Murphy choosing him to help get the Brewers out of jams.
Nick Mears on coming up big out of the Brewers bullpen
“That’s what you live for” pic.twitter.com/bdhtBh7krz
— David Gasper (@dgasper24) May 6, 2025
His performance this season, and specifically on Monday night, have made him a new fan favorite in Milwaukee, as can be seen by the responses to his interview:
The Nick Mears vibes are skyrocketing right now https://t.co/fntrLHrquc
— John “BrewersRaptor” Egan (@BrewersRaptor) May 6, 2025
I love this psycho https://t.co/cJtDno28sa
— allie adames (@AllieKurowski) May 6, 2025
I love this demon https://t.co/Dg8nDGW9sl
— ⚾️Brooke (fan account) (@_Brooke22) May 6, 2025
Nick Mears for Cy Young
— Armen Saryan (@ArmenSaryan) May 6, 2025
It has taken a while, but the Brewers bullpen appears to be getting back on track after its disastrous start to the season, and Mears is a big reason for this.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!