Three reasons the Brewers have taken over the NL Central

When pundits speak of the National League, heavyweights like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets that dominate much of the conversations. Stars like Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna garner much of the attention.

But quietly lurking in Milwaukee is the Brewers — a model of consistency that is once again on top of the NL Central. Players have come and gone, and there's been a managerial change in the last few years, but nothing seems to slow the Brew Crew.

Milwaukee is 25-9 since June 19, vaulting itself from 6.5 games back on June 17 to a game up on the Chicago Cubs on July 30. What's behind the success?

“You know, our team doesn’t feel any pressure,” Christian Yelich told MLB.com Monday afternoon. “We feel like no one really expects us to be in this spot anyway.”

With 64 wins already, it's a scary thought for the rest of the league that Milwaukee is playing loose and free. Here are three reasons for the club's recent surge.

1. Pitching is dominant

The Brewers are powering much of their success behind the pitching staff. Milwaukee ranks in the top 10 in the MLB for nearly every pitching statistic. Its team ERA of 3.57 is the third-lowest in the bigs, and it's been 3.28 over the last 33 games.

The Brewers have shut out their opponents four times and held them under four runs 16 times in the same stretch. This is a far cry from the team that took the field at Yankee Stadium to open the season, getting drubbed in a sweep by a combined score of 36-14.

There's plenty of praise to go around, but Jacob Misiorowski has been a revelation for Milwaukee. The hard-throwing 23-year-old made his debut June 12 and is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA. He's already struck out 47 batters in 33.1 innings and looks to be a true ace as Milwaukee prepares for the postseason.