MILWAUKEE – Garrett Mitchell and William Contreras homered, Jacob Misiorowski delivered another winning performance, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the rival Cubs 6-2 at American Family Field on Friday night.

Jacob Misiorowski

By the numbers:

Misiorowski (9-3) struck out eight over six innings and 105.5 mph, tied for the third-fastest since pitch tracking began in 2008. He allowed one earned run – a Seiya Suzuki home run in the fifth – on two hits but walked four. His earned run average for the season now sits at 1.45.

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Home runs at AmFam

By the numbers:

Milwaukee trailed 1-0 when Misiorowski threw his final pitch of the night, but Mitchell belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to put Miz in position for the win. David Hamilton made it 3-1 with a triple that scored Cooper Pratt later in the sixth.

Contreras added insurance with a two-run home run of his own in the seventh. Suzuki drove in Pete Crow-Armstrong with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to close the gap for Chicago, but Christian Yelich doubled home Pratt in the bottom half.

Abner Uribe pitched a scoreless seventh for his eleventh hold of the season, Aaron Ashby gave up the sac fly to Suzuki in the eighth and Trevor Megill walked one but worked a scoreless ninth.

Former Milwaukee pitcher Colin Rea pitched five innings in the start for Chicago, but Ethan Roberts was credited with both the loss and a blown save. 

Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who had surgery Thursday for a ruptured disk in his back, guided his club from a safe spot near the dugout.

Saturday’s game

What’s next:

LHP David Peterson (3-6, 6.09 ERA) makes his Cubs debut after being acquired Thursday from the New York Mets for minor league third baseman Cole Mathis. LHP Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.50) starts for the Brewers.

There are few things that the Milwaukee Brewers haven’t done right so far in 2026.

Milwaukee has navigated difficult injuries all season and yet it is 49-29 and has the second-best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (52-29) heading into an important series against the Chicago Cubs. How many teams out there could accomplish this feat when guys like Andrew Vaughn Christian Yelich, Quinn Priester, Jackson Chourio, and Brandon Woodruff all missed significant time at various points in the season? These are legit, star-level pieces and the Brewers navigated the losses admirably.

Right now, all of them are healthy, except Priester. The young starter will miss the entire season. Now, Milwaukee is firing on all cylinders and yet it could be even better. Soon enough, Logan Henderson will be back. Also, the offense would arguably be even better if Vaughn was given more opportunities. Since May 4, Vaughn is only eighth on the team in plate appearances, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Despite this, Vaughn has done nothing but tear the cover off the ball. In 39 games, he has slashed .355/.444/.542 with a .987 OPS, two homers, 12 doubles, and 23 RBIs. That’s the type of production you need in the lineup every night, regardless.

The Brewers Need To Give Andrew Vaughn More Time

Brewers manager Pat Murphy acknowledged that Vaughn has had a weakness with some righties, as transcribed by Hogg.

“Heavy east-west sometimes is more troublesome for him,” Murphy said. “But for him this year you can look at it and go, ‘Yeah, against the two-seamer he’s been [worse]. But what about the times against the two-samer that he took it and got something else? You don’t get credit for being good against the two-seamer when you take it. You only get dinged when you swing at it.”

Still, this is a guy batting .355 since May 4. He’s obviously not perfect, but Milwaukee’s offense is better with him in it. Even if the club has to get creative. Jake Bauers has made his mark this season and needs playing time as well and both play first base, among others. Throughout Vaughn’s career, he has seen time at third base, second base, left field and right field, along with first base. Throughout the season to this point, there’s been chatter about how the Brewers haven’t had enough offense on the left side of the infield.

They recently promoted Cooper Pratt to play shortstop, so third base has been handled by David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz. Maybe a good idea could be trying to shift Vaughn to third base for the time being because they could then get his bat and Bauers’ bat in the lineup consistently. In that scenario, the Brewers could also consistently roll with an outfield of Chourio in left field, Garrett Mitchell in center field, and Sal Frelick in right field.

At the end of the day, the Brewers need Vaughn’s bat in the lineup every day. If you can bat .355 over a 39-game stretch, you deserve significant playing time.

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Milwaukee’s current wastewater treatment contract holder, Veolia Water Milwaukee, is under fire, with some calling for an audit.

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It goes without saying that Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is an essential community asset.

Recently, MMSD has been in the news and not in a good way. The MMSD Commission voted to approve an audit of the district’s private wastewater operator. This is less than six weeks after the community organization Common Ground launched a public campaign calling for an audit of Veolia Water Milwaukee, alleging mismanagement of the Jones Island and South Shore wastewater treatment facilities.

I was briefly on a six-member MMSD advisory committee for the 1998 United Water Services contract. Now 28 years, and 2008, 2018, contracts later, the question is what firm to hire for the 2028 contract. I read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Urban Milwaukee articles, whistle-blower letters and other materials and jotted down concerns listed below (there are others):

• Veolia cut corners on treatment time and process chemicals
• Veolia allowed MMSD assets — buildings and process equipment — to deteriorate
• Veolia provided inadequate staffing
• Employees, particularly those who questioned management, were treated poorly
• Reversing these conditions will be very expensive, if it is even possible to do so