Jackson Chourio hit two home runs Wednesday. The Brewers lost 12-9. If you want the 2026 Brewers in one line, that is it.
Chourio, who missed the start of the season with a hand fracture, looked like the franchise cornerstone Milwaukee is counting on, including a two-run shot in the fifth. It did not matter, because Coleman Crow served up a leadoff homer to Casey Schmitt on the first pitch of the game and the Giants put up a four-run first before the Brewers ever came to bat.
The bats are coming around at the wrong time
This is encouraging and frustrating at once. Chourio’s swing is alive, the lineup put up nine runs, and a healthy offense is exactly what Milwaukee has been waiting on through a season of injuries to Chourio and others.
Nine runs should win most games. It loses when the pitching hands the other side a four-spot in the first inning and never stops the bleeding.
Run prevention is the worry now
Milwaukee’s identity for years has been pitching and defense carrying a modest offense. A game like this flips the script in a way that should concern a contender in a tight NL Central.
When the rotation behind the front-line arms gives up double digits, the margin for a team that does not slug its way out of trouble disappears fast. The Brewers can live with losing a 12-9 track meet in June. What they cannot afford is for that to become the pattern, because this roster was never built to win shootouts.
Chourio rounding into form is the good news, and it is real. The question that decides Milwaukee’s summer is whether the run prevention that defines this franchise shows back up to support him.
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