The vibe outside of AmFam Field on Wednesday morning was celebratory if only slightly restrained by an oler crowd ailgating and strolling aournd the outside of the ballpark. Unlike most series. I didn’t see anyone wearing pirates garb which isn’t to say Pirate fans weren’t in attendance. The most random jersey I spotted was a Eloy Jimenez Sox home jersey.

For the most part, conversations centered around the current team and their exploits during the current 11-game winning streak. Those old enough to remember were sharing memories of the 1987 club. It also seemed like more people were checking out the memorials on the concourse and not just Ueck’s statue.

For me the game was a bit of a milestone on two counts, It was the first time I’ve attended a game at Miller/AmFam without my zoom lens and the first time I parked on the street in a decade. I did so to avoid the new, cumbersome parking situation-another “improvement” that failed miserably. I brought a smaller camera with a decent lens(that fit their rules) but lacked the capacity for action shots (that I’m used to).

After circling around the 220 level concourse and doing a little recon of the new dining options, I headed down to my seat on the 100 level along the first base line. It was a tight fit, but my view was only marginally obstructed by the “protective netting”. To their credit, the Brewers update their concessions menu and infrastructre every couple of years, taking the fans’ opinions into consideration. That being said, some of the new stands feel more boutique than baseball. However, a wide offering of food was on display. They also change things up with their videoboard, but not always for the better. I have yet to sit down in their newest version of the left field restaurant.

When I purchased my ticket 10 days ago< I didn’t expect to catch the Brewers on a historic run, nor did I expect to see ace, Paul Skenes pitch. Rather I hoped for a nice quick weekday afternoon game where I could extend my daycation with a nice postgame meal at one of my favorite restaurants.

Taking the bump for the Brewers was one of my favorite current players, Brandon Woodruff, a guy I interviewed months before he made his ML debut in 2017. I’ve followed his career closely since then. While a long spell on the IL has deprived him of ace status, his leadership and savvy as a veteran make his return a plus plus for the team. He was 4-0 entering the start and he’s shown that he’s approaching pre-surgery stuff. On the other side of the ledger. Mitch Keller (5-10) toed the rubber. His name is familiar to most Cub fans and not because he’s spent all of his career in the Central division but because he was one of the most talked about trade deadline acquisitions-think Melanie Griffith. However, he’s had a much worse August than the former actress, he’s allowed 7 earned runs in only 10.2 inning. At some point I’ll discuss if the Cubs dodged a bullet in not trading a bag of marbles for his services.

Pirate manager, Don Kelly, trotted out his version of an Ozzie Guillen Sunday lineup of nobodies and castoffs while Brewers manager, Pat Murphy kept his foot on the pedal and played most of his regulars. Even in today’s era where batting average has been discounted, it was tough to give Pittsburgh a fighter’s chance based on the two lineups. But we a know baseball happens. Since I’ve already revealed the final outcome of the game, I won’t dwell on the specifics of the scoring.

Both Woodruff and Keller are notoriously quick pitchers, a fact that made for an early postgame dinner a real possibility. However, a couple things conspired against this plan. First and foremost, Woody didn’t have his pinpoint command of any of his pitches and had to deal with lots of traffic on the basepaths and longer innings. Second, after the second inning, the Brewers started to pounce on Keller’s first pitch and move runners around the crowded bases.

Unfortunately, today’s brain trusts and coaching staffs worry too much on pitch count and as a result young pitchers don’t know how to pitch through early jams with less than their best stuff. Wednesday was a perfect example of veteran leadership as Woody muscled his way through four innings of shutout ball. A fact, exemplified by his not getting the final out with a signature strikeout, but rather a very athletic play on a 4-1 put out. While nobody was bashing the ball, a number of so-so players did reach base successfully.

Keller was not especially sharp but he escaped the first two innings unscathed save for a double from King Andrew Vaughn. More on Vaughn later. The floodgates opened on Keller and Pittsburgh in the 3 inning. The Brewers tagged him for 2 in the third and 4 more in the 4th for a 6-0 lead. A theme for the day was Milwaukee’s ability to get runners in scoring position (something the Cubs haven’t done since forever) and then push them across with more extra-base hits.

While neither a Dave KIngman nor Shohei Ohtani, since coming over from the White Sox, Vaughn’s at-bats have become “must watch.” In 29 games, he’s slashing .343/.403/.648 with 9 homers and 35 RBI and seems to come through whenever they need a big hit. Nobody knows how long this bender will last or if he’ll be able to replicate it in the future, but Murphy & Co. are savoring it in the present.

Highlights and lowlights

Leadoff hitter and right fielder, Sal Frelick was 2-3 with two walks, a double, a stolen base, two RBI and four runs scored. #2 hitter, Isaac Collins was only 1-4 with an RBI double, but executed a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved two runners before William Contreras drove them both in-giving the Brewers an 8-5 lead after the Pirates made things interesting.

While nobody in my section was gloating as the Brewers took the 6-0 lead, everyone was pretty calm as the Pirates or rather Bryan Reynolds pushed forth five runs in the 5th and 6th innings.

For the last thirty games or so, Murphy has pushed most of the right buttons. That magic came to a temporary end when he replaced Woodruff after four innings. Pittsburgh DH, and frequent trade deadline target (amazingly not this year), Reynolds ambushed Shelby Miller and Nick Mears with a three-run homer and two-run homer in back-to-back innings.

For the 40,123 fans in the ballpark, the homers were more surprise than cause for alarm. Jared Koenig and Tobias Myers locked things down over the final three innings to secure the 12-5 victory. Unheralded shortstop, Joey Ortiz was 2-3 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored (all from the #9 hole) and was absolutely brilliant in the field.

Other than Reynolds’ two-homer performance, the only Pirate that caught my attention (and partially because he was right in front of me in right field) was Ronny Simon. In his first start for the Pirates, the 25-year-old native of the Dominican Republic was 2-5 with two runs scored. Fans of a certain age may recall former Pirate with the same last name who gained notoriety in Miller Park almost twenty years ago.

Despite another blowout and extension of the winning streak, I’d argue the postgame mood was that of restrained enthusiasm and not the obnoxious arrogance had the victory come at the expense of the Cubs and their fans. Many suggested that a higher authority has something to do with the historic run. Bob Uecker’s name and spirit were invoked throughout the day and most expect him to make the trip to Wrigley next week for the big 5-game series.

Even though the game hit the 3:03 mark, I was able to sit and enjoy a relaxing meal at that favorite restaurant with a couple dozen hungry fans.