MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Brewers 3, Mets 1: Highlights galore as Milwaukee begins the 2024 season impressively

Todd Rosiak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

NEW YORK – What a way to open the 2024 season for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Freddy Peralta dominated, Jackson Chourio debuted, Christian Yelich homered, teams nearly rumbled and in the end the Brewers pulled out a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on a brisk and windy Friday afternoon at Citi Field.

Box score:Brewers 3, Mets 1

Peralta allowed only a solo home run to Starling Marte and a walk and struck out eight over six innings and 92 pitches in his first career opening-day start.

Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps and Abner Uribe followed with three innings of hitless relief to slam the door.

Chourio, meanwhile, had a big hand in the outcome as he went 1 for 3 with a single, run batted in, run scored, walk and stolen base while batting leadoff and playing right field in his major-league debut.

Yelich went 3 for 4 with his solo homer in the fourth tying the game at 1-1.

There were also some fireworks in the eighth when Rhys Hoskins went hard into second base on a slide, spiking Jeff McNeil in the ankle and causing both benches and bullpens to empty in the aftermath.

McNeil was furious with Hoskins, who responded by mocking McNeil and gesturing to him that he was a crybaby. But in the end, no punches were thrown and both teams retreated without further incident.

In their 56th season as a franchise, the Brewers are 29-26-1 all-time on opening day, 17-17-1 in road lid-lifters and 13-13-1 since joining the National League in 1998.

Friday's game marked the first time the Brewers have faced the Mets on opening day and just the third time Milwaukee has played a New York team. It opened on the road against the Yankees in 1977 (3-0 loss) and 1979 (5-1 win).

Jackson Chourio gets first major-league RBI to boost Brewers' lead to 3-1

Jake Bauers lined the first pitch he saw as a Brewer into right field for a pinch-hit double to open the seventh.

Brice Turang, up next as a pinch-hitter, dropped down a perfect bunt that netted him a base hit and advanced Bauers to third.

Chourio then hit into a forceout at second, scoring Bauers for his first career run batted in and giving Milwaukee the 3-1 lead.

Peralta departed after six innings having pitched a masterpiece -- six innings, one run (earned) allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts over 92 pitches.

William Contreras follows Jackson Chourio's first major-league hit with sac fly for 2-1 Brewers lead

A one-out walk by Andruw Monasterio followed by Chourio's first major-league hit -- a single to right -- set the stage for a William Contreras sacrifice fly to right that gave Milwaukee its first lead.

After Christian Yelich singled for his third hit of the game, Quintana was pulled with his pitch count at 85 and Rhys Hoskins coming up. Hoskins ultimately struck out against Drew Smith, leaving it a 2-1 game.

Christian Yelich pulls Brewers even at 1-1 with solo home run

Two pitches into the fourth inning, Yelich belted a 108.9-mph homer out to right-center to knot the score at 1-1.

Starling Marte home run gives Mets early 1-0 lead

With one out in the second, Starling Marte lined a 109.2-mph solo homer out to left-center that hit just above the orange line at the top of the wall to put Peralta and the Brewers behind early.

Brewers vs. Mets game time

12:40 p.m. Friday

Brewers vs. Mets on TV, radio

More:Rookie Oliver Dunn is one of 12 Brewers players on their first opening day roster

Brewers lineup

  • RF Jackson Chourio
  • C William Contreras
  • LF Christian Yelich
  • 1B Rhys Hoskins
  • SS Willy Adames
  • CF Blake Perkins
  • 2B Joey Ortiz
  • DH Gary Sánchez
  • 3B Andruw Monasterio
  • P Freddy Peralta

Mets lineup

  • CF Brandon Nimmo
  • SS Francisco Lindor
  • 1B Pete Alonso
  • 2B Jeff McNeil
  • RF Starling Marte
  • DH DJ Stewart
  • C Francisco Alvarez
  • 3B Brett Baty
  • CF Harrison Bader
  • P José Quintana

More:Here's the Milwaukee Brewers' 2024 schedule; date, time, TV

Brewers schedule for upcoming games

  • Saturday: Brewers at Mets, 12:40 p.m. Milwaukee LHP DL Hall vs. New York RHP Luis Severino.
  • Sunday: Brewers at Mets, 12:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea vs. New York RHP Tylor Megill.
  • Monday: Off day.
  • Tuesday: Twins at Brewers, 3:10 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. Minnesota TBA.

The 12 most memorable opening-day games in Milwaukee Brewers history

Few baseball things are as beautiful as the untapped possibility of what awaits over the next six months.

There have been some fascinating Brewers season-openers over the years, some good and some bad.

Journal Sentinel reporter JR Radcliffe takes a look at the craziest of the bunch.

12 players are on their first Brewers opening-day roster

There are a lot of new and relatively new players on the Brewers' roster for opening day. Twelve of them are opening with the Brewers for the first time.

Infielder Oliver Dunn is one of them. Here's how Dunn found out he'd made the team — along with the rest of the list.

Bob Uecker will call the Brewers' home opener

Legendary Brewers radio voice Bob Uecker will be back on the microphone for the broadcast April 2, the Brewers home opener against the Minnesota Twins, although his schedule thereafter remains a mystery.

The 90-year-old Uecker, who will enter his 54th season of calling Brewers baseball and 69th year in baseball overall, has scaled back his schedule to just home games in recent years.

Journal Sentinel reporter JR Radcliffe has more about Uecker's status for this season.

How do national writers view the Milwaukee Brewers chances in 2024?

The Brewers head into the season as reigning champions in the National League Central with a 92-win campaign in 2023.

Here's how national writers view the Central in 2024, according to the Journal Sentinel's JR Radcliffe. And spoiler alert: It doesn't often include the Brewers in the playoff mix.

Brewers' payroll almost $12 million lower than last year

Milwaukee’s current payroll for the 2024 season is $96,705,000, according to the salary tracking website Spotrac.

That figure, barring any major additions or subtractions, is nearly $12 million lower than the Brewers’ 2023 opening-day payroll and almost $24 million below 2022’s. And it includes $18,520,000 for players who are starting the season in the injured list.

Here's a breakdown of the Brewers' salaries for 2024.

Will Brewers games be carried on Bally Sports Wisconsin all year?

As tumultuous as things have been for Diamond Sports Group — the organization that operates Bally Sports Wisconsin and other similar networks carrying local professional sports — those looking for Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts this year will almost certainly be looking in the same place as last year.

Journal Sentinel reporter JR Radcliffe writes about what to expect for the 2024 Brewers season on TV.