Photo via Milwaukee Brewers - Facebook
Milwaukee Brewers - July 20, 2025
Brewers players high-five at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July 20, 2025
A season that is beginning to feel increasingly historic for the Milwaukee Brewers took a sharp turn even further in that direction over the weekend. They had already set a franchise record with 56 wins before the All Star break and were an MLB-best 35-15 in their last 50 games before going to Los Angeles and taking all three games from the reigning World Series Champions, finishing off a season series sweep.
Prior to this season the Brewers hadn’t posted a winning record against the Dodgers in any season since 2014 and had never swept them in Milwaukee. Even after this week the Dodgers lead the all-time series between the two clubs 100-77, but for this one season the Brewers beat them in every game.
It used to be harder than this to sweep a season series: From their inaugural season in 1969 all the way through the first season of interleague play in the 1990s the Brewers played their entire 162 game schedule against either a total of eleven or 13 opponents, so teams saw each other much more often. Expansion and the launch and growth of interleague play have greatly reduced the number of times teams see each other, which is part of the reason why the Brewers never completed a season sweep of any opponent in their own league until 1998.
Even in an era where season series sweeps are a little more feasible, however, they still don’t happen often. The Brewers’ six wins against the Dodgers were only the fifth time in franchise history they’ve taken an entire season series of six games or more. Here are the other four:
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Vs the 1998 Marlins, 9-0
The 1998 Brewers went 65-88 against everyone else in their first season as a National League team, but they really took it to the defending World Series Champions. They swept a four-game set in Miami in April on their season-opening road trip, took three more at home in late May and returned to Miami to take another pair in July and complete a 9-0 season.
The Brewers, however, were not the only team that beat up on the Marlins that season. The franchise underwent one of the most notorious fire sales in MLB history after their 1997 World Series win and crashed from the top of the baseball world to 54-108 in 1998. They had winless seasons that year against the Brewers, Reds and Giants.
Vs the 2008 Giants, 6-0
It’s been well publicized over the years that the Brewers’ first postseason team in over two decades largely got there on the back of outstanding performances against two teams: They were 70-71 against everyone else but took 14 out of 15 games from the Pirates and won all six against the Giants, sweeping a three-game set at home in April and three more back in San Francisco in July. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder combined for five home runs and 17 RBI in the six games, and Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia combined to start three of the contests.
On the day the Brewers completed that sweep they also added one of San Francisco’s veteran players, acquiring second baseman Ray Durham for the stretch run. Durham played in 41 late season games for the playoff-bound Crew, batting .280 with a .369 on-base and .477 slugging and going on to start two NLDS games.
Vs the 2011 Marlins, 7-0
Not unlike the 2008 team, the 2011 team picked up the Brewers’ first division title in decades in large part by beating up on three opponents: They went 12-3 against the Astros, 12-3 against the Pirates and won all seven games against the Marlins across a four-game set in Miami in early June and a late September three-game set in Milwaukee. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun also combined for seven home runs across these seven games, and John Axford pitched five scoreless ninth innings to record five saves.
The 2011 Marlins were a better team than the 1998 club that the Brewers swept, but not by a lot: They went 72-90 and fired their manager mid-season during their first of three consecutive last place finishes in the NL East.
Vs the 2015 Phillies, 7-0
Perhaps the most unlikely season series sweep in Brewers franchise history was, at least until Sunday, their most recent one. The 2015 Brewers went 68-94 overall but seven of those wins and none of the losses came against the Phillies. Philadelphia had already fired their manager when the Brewers came to town and took all four in late June and early July, and things had not gotten much better six weeks later when they visited Milwaukee and lost three more.
It’s easy to forget that the Phillies, who have been to the postseason in each of the last three years, had a five-year stretch from 2013-17 where they finished fourth or fifth in the NL East every year. This year the Brewers largely stymied them with pitching: Their 3.05 team ERA against the Phillies was night-and-day different from their 4.34 mark against everyone else.
|
|
