Abner

Uribe

Uribe followed Trevor Megill, who allowed one run despite striking out three in the eighth. That just adds to Uribe’s buffer in the closer’s role. He seems pretty well ahead of Megill at this point.

Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby and Uribe all had easy innings in a tie game today, even though Ashby was pitching again after throwing two innings last night. For once, the win went to someone other than Ashby after Brice Turang’s walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth. Uribe’s appearance was his ninth straight to come in the ninth inning of a game.

Megill had the eighth in a 5-0 game and gave up a run on a single, a stolen base and another single. The Brewers made it a five-run game again in the top of the ninth, but since they have Thursday off, they still used Uribe, and he gave up a run after a leadoff double and a couple of grounders. The second grounder turned into a Joey Ortiz error, but the run was still earned, and Uribe finished the game with a double play afterwards. So, neither of the Brewers’ late-game righties really gained or lost anything today. The ninth clearly belongs to Uribe at the moment; he hasn’t entered a game any earlier than that since Apr. 14, which was also the last time Megill pitched the ninth.

After Trevor Megill worked a scoreless eighth inning, Uribe was summoned to close out the game against the Nationals with a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. He allowed a leadoff base hit before the second batter reached on an error. Uribe worked around it with a strikeout, popout, and groundout to end the game with his third save.

In what seems to be their preferred alignment at the moment, the Brewers against went with Trevor Megill in the seventh, Aaron Ashby in the eighth and Uribe in the ninth. All got through scoreless frames, but Megill and Ashby both allowed two baserunners. Uribe, who struck out two, had the best day of the group, adding a little to his stock.

With the entire top of the bullpen available after off-days on Wednesday, Trevor Megill threw a scoreless seventh, Angel Zerpa allowed a game-tying homer to Jahmai Jones in the eighth, and Uribe allowed a walkoff after striking out his first batter in a tie game in the ninth. Uribe has quietly allowed runs in four of his nine April appearances -- we say quietly because Zerpa’s ERA is 6.00 and Megill’s is now 8.00 -- but he still seems to be the clear closer to this point.

It likely would have been Abner Uribe closing for Milwaukee tonight, but he wasn’t needed after the Brewers scored twice in the top of the seventh and seven times in the eighth to make it a 12-1 game. Megill averaged a season-low 96.3 mph with his fastball tonight. That’s 1.2 mph lower than his season average and 2.9 mph under his 2025 average. He was effective anyway, but that’s just not great.

The Brewers had gone into the bottom of the ninth with a four-run lead. Jake Woodford had started the inning and loaded the bases with one out. Manager Pat Murphy gave Uribe the nod to close it out. He induced a pair of groundouts to get the job done for his second save. Both Uribe and Trevor Megill had pitched three of the last four days, with Megill likely unavailable after picking up the save on Friday. Uribe has two saves since Murphy indicated he’d consider giving Megill a break from closing duties. Expect both to be in the mix, for now.

Staked to a 2-1 lead, Zerpa allowed a leadoff single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before dispatching the middle of the Blue Jays lineup in order on three consecutive groundouts. Presumed closer Abner Uribe had worked two days in a row, and Trevor Megill worked the eighth inning. It’s possible the Brewers dabble with a committee at some point, but this was likely just a save chance earned by not wanting to use Uribe three days in a row.

Like Trevor Megill, Uribe has been something of a mess this season with his velocity down about 1.5 mph. However, getting a chance in the ninth seemed to have helped there; he averaged 99.0 mph with his sinker and 88.1 mph with his slider tonight, up from 97.5 mph and 85.7 mph, respectively, in his first seven appearances. There’s a chance he takes this opportunity and runs away with the closer’s role, especially if the increased velocity is back to stay.