PITTSBURGH -- Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester set a franchise record by winning his 11th consecutive decision in Friday’s 5-2 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park. It was the Brewers’ 17th straight victory with Priester on the mound, spanning 14 starts and three “bulk” relief outings behind an opener beginning all the way back on May 30.
But the 24-year-old has a much bigger number in mind.
“I want to win 100 games. That’s not a secret,” Priester said after the Brewers pushed one game closer at an MLB-best 87-55 with 20 games to go. “That’s not a secret. We can totally achieve that. We’re within striking distance.
“That [personal] streak, it was kind of following me around because there were a couple of no-decisions. I’m very proud of that because it means I’ve been doing things well, or at least well enough. But I’m kind of glad that’s kind of done and we move on. And everyone’s goal in here should be to win 100 games this year.”
That the Brewers even have a chance at reaching that big, round number for the first time ever is a credit, in no small part, to Priester, who was toiling for Boston’s Triple-A roster in early April when the Brewers swung the desperation deal to get him. At the time, Milwaukee had six pitchers who came to Spring Training as starters on the injured list, and veteran lefty Jose Quintana, who’d signed midway through camp, wasn’t quite ready.
Someone had to cover innings, so GM Matt Arnold made a trade that cost MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 Brewers prospect (outfielder Yophery Rodriguez), the 33rd overall pick in the upcoming Draft and a player to be named who turned out to be a good pitching prospect himself in right-hander John Holobetz.
Five months later, that trade looks really good. The Brewers have the best record in the Majors and can’t seem to lose when they have Priester on the mound.
They won again after Jake Bauers’ go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth snapped a streak of 22 hitless at-bats with runners in scoring position for Brewers hitters going back to Wednesday’s win over the Phillies. Priester delivered the seven quality innings his team so desperately needed now that the bullpen is the area so besieged by injuries, and the hard-worked duo of Jared Koenig and Abner Uribe closed out a victory over a hot Pittsburgh club that just swept the Dodgers.
It wasn’t Priester at his sharpest -- he yielded two runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batsman in the first four innings -- but the Brewers always seem to find a way to win anyway. His 11 consecutive winning decisions bested the franchise record that had been shared by Chris Bosio and Cal Eldred, who each had runs of 10-0 in 1992.
“Whether he saved our season or not, I’m not sure,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “But he certainly has been at the forefront of our success.”
The Brewers, who remained 5 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central, haven’t lost a game that Priester pitched since May 24 here at PNC Park against the Pirates, the team that drafted him 18th overall in 2019. Priester made it to the Majors in ‘23, but had a 6.46 ERA in 20 games (14 starts) for Pittsburgh and was traded to Boston at the ‘24 Trade Deadline for infielder Nick Yorke, whom Priester retired three times on Friday -- including in the seventh on third baseman Caleb Durbin’s highlight reel play down the foul line.
Bauers wonders whether Priester’s fast-paced, ground-ball style plays a part in why the team rallies so well in his outings, since he keeps the position players on their toes.
“Even when he’s given up a couple of runs,” Bauers said, “it’s been on the quicker side of things. When everybody is staying engaged, it’s a little bit easier to roll into the dugout and get back on offense.”
When he completed a seventh inning for the third time in his last eight starts, Priester had a 3.25 ERA in 26 games, 21 starts since coming over to Milwaukee. It’s more than Murphy could have imagined as he watched Priester make his Brewers debut at Coors Field on April 10.
“When we first got him, it looked like, ‘Wow, it’s not quite there,’” Murphy said. “And then the pitching coaches came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m telling you, there’s something here. We just have to stay with this kid. Stay with him.
“And they did. And man, he’s been really good.”
Credit those pitching coaches, Chris Hook and Jim Henderson, once again on Friday. It was the pair who urged Murphy to squeeze one more inning from Priester when he was at 85 pitches after the sixth, and he delivered a 1-2-3 seventh. Hook made a mound visit just before Priester retired Pirates leadoff hitter Jared Triolo for a fourth time to cap the outing.
“He had a hard time getting to a couple of his breaking balls tonight, but he kind of made an adjustment midway through and it was like, ‘OK, I got it,’” Hook said. “He wanted it. He goes, ‘I got these righties. Give it to me.’ It wasn’t just talk, it was genuine, and you could tell. It was in his eyes.”