MILWAUKEE -- Back on the mound Wednesday afternoon at American Family Field after converting his 21st save the night before, Trevor Megill stranded the automatic runner at second base in the top of 10th inning with a trio of strikeouts. Then he watched budding star Jackson Chourio deliver his first career walk-off hit for a 3-2 win and the Brewers’ first-ever series sweep of the Dodgers in Milwaukee.
It seemed like a day that couldn’t get better. And then it did.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy summoned Megill into the office after the game and told him he’d been named to the National League All-Star team, continuing a tradition for Milwaukee relievers over the past decade that stretches from Francisco Rodriguez to Corey Knebel to Jeremy Jeffress to Josh Hader to Devin Williams and now to 31-year-old Megill, who had this particular goal in his sights ever since the team traded Williams to the Yankees and made Megill the closer.
“I’m pretty fired up, that’s for dang sure,” Megill said. “This was No. 1 for me this year. You guys asked me [about goals] earlier this season and I kept it to myself that this was what I was striving for. A lot of hard work and a lot of pitchers in front of me -- my bullpen guys in front of me putting it down and giving me the opportunity to go out there and get saves this year. Without the guys around me, this probably wouldn’t be possible.”
Megill deserves credit, too, since he didn’t make it to the Majors until his seventh season of pro ball in 2021, then moved from the Cubs to the Twins before heading to Milwaukee in April 2023 in a minor trade for the proverbial “player to be named.” It wound up being right-handed pitcher Tyler Floyd, who has pitched at the Double-A level in each of the past five seasons.
It was after the trade that Megill found consistent command of the knuckle curve to pair with his triple-digit fastball, not to mention the confidence to put that combination in action in high-leverage situations. When Williams landed on the injured list for the first four months of last season with stress fractures in his back, Megill logged 20 of his 21 saves. This year, Megill has 21 more saves in 24 chances to go with a 2.41 ERA.
He never made plans for the All-Star break, Megill said, because he was confident he’d eventually get the call -- even after starter Freddy Peralta was named Milwaukee’s lone All-Star when the reserves and pitchers were announced Sunday. Since Peralta is starting for the Brewers on Sunday and is unavailable to pitch in the Midsummer Classic by rule, Megill held out hope he’d get a spot.
“He loves being a core part of something,” Murphy said. “And now that he’s found his home, he’s a big part of it.”
Megill played a big role in the Brewers’ first sweep of the Dodgers in Milwaukee during a matchup that goes back to 1997, when the Brewers were still an American League franchise playing at County Stadium.
The Dodgers have lost six straight games so they clearly aren’t at their best, but they started 2025 All-Stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw in the first two games of the series followed by 2024 All-Star Tyler Glasnow fresh off the injured list in the finale, and they still lead the NL with 56 victories and a .780 OPS with $1.4 billion invested in the top four hitters in Wednesday’s starting lineup.
So it represented an accomplishment to hold those Dodgers to four total runs throughout the series, including the two runs on five hits allowed Sunday by starter Jose Quintana and six relievers as Murphy emptied his bullpen in search of a sweep.
“The staff can pitch,” Megill said. “Brewers baseball, pitching and defense. We went out there and showcased it pretty well this week.”
They trailed, 2-1, going to the bottom of the ninth but tied it on a single from newcomer Andrew Vaughn, who was called up to Milwaukee on Monday and drove in runs in all three games against the Dodgers. Then they won it in the 10th against Kirby Yates when William Contreras pushed the free runner to third with a flyout and Chourio grounded his winning single through a drawn-in infield.
“It was an incredible moment,” Chourio said. “I’m happy that we were able to finish the sweep off with that hit. It’s special. It’s a great group of guys here.”
“I just really like a lot of this team,” Murphy said. “I really like how they keep grabbing their identity. It’s pretty cool. And to be honest with you, these three days, the crowd made a difference.”
The Brewers drew 107,147 paying fans for the three-game set.
“Sweep the Dodgers at home, that’s giving the fans what they wanted, right?” Megill said. “That was awesome. I’m glad to be a part of that, and also with the [All-Star] news as well. That’s a goal I put out in the offseason, and here it is, come true.”