Brewers take early "must win" game thanks to efforts from unexpected contributors

The Major League Baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. In the long, grueling 162-game season, teams find all sorts of unique ways to win games. Sometimes, it is a dominant effort from a starting pitcher, where all a team needs is a run driven in by its star player. Other wins may take a herculean effort in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game, with a walkoff in the 9th or later. And sometimes a win simply comes in a dominating fashion, where every player gets a hit, and a position player closes things out on the mound.

While the Milwaukee Brewers have struggled to find their footing in the early part of the 2025 season, due in large part to the disastrous impact of all the injuries to their pitching staff and underwhelming starts from some of their key position players, they have managed to hover around .500 by winning games in all sorts of ways. Impressive performances from several unlikely contributors — most notably Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester on the pitching side, and Sal Frelick and Isaac Collins on the offensive side of the ball — have allowed the Crew to tread water while they wait for their full potential to be realized.

Facing a fourth straight loss, and a potential sweep by their hated division rival, the Chicago Cubs, on Sunday afternoon, two more unlikely heroes stepped up for the Brewers in what felt like a must-win game early on in the season.

Daz Cameron gets first Brewers hit with his dad in attendance

There has been plenty of focus on Daz Cameron's call-up to the Brewers' MLB roster, primarily due to his father's connection with the franchise. As is well documented by now, Mike and Daz Cameron are just the 3rd father-son duo to play for the Brewers franchise, with Mike having played a big role in Milwaukee's postseason return back in 2008. Mike spent two of his 16 big-league seasons in Milwaukee, part of a career where he hit for a career average of .249, hit 278 home runs, and won 3 Gold Gloves.

Now it's Daz's turn with Milwaukee, after being called up to replace Garrett Mitchell who went on the IL in late-April. Prior to coming to the Brewers, the younger Cameron had played in a total of 139 MLB games across four seasons, with 66 of those coming last season for the then-Oakland Athletics.

After Frelick was removed from Sunday's game against the Cubs with a potential knee injury, Daz Cameron slid into his spot and had a big opportunity in the sixth inning. Offense had been tough to come by for Milwaukee against the Cubs, and after a wild pitch scored Jackson Chourio, the Cubs elected to intentionally walk Rhys Hoskins to face Cameron. Facing an 0-1 count, Daz lined one over the head of the second-baseman, for his first Brewers hit, scoring Christian Yelich from second. 

Caleb Durbin adds on

On the adrenaline of the big hit, Cameron stole second base, giving Milwaukee runners on second and third with Caleb Durbin coming to the plate. Durbin worked the count full and was able to make Julian Merryweather pay for leaving a payoff pitch dead red in the middle of the plate. He smoked the 97-MPH fastball to right center, both runners came around to score, and Durbin slid head-first into second base with a double, putting the Brewers up 4-0.

Durbin made his big-league debut just a couple of weeks ago, but has had some big moments in his short time with the Brewers. In 16 games, he has already knocked in 10 RBIs, including his first career home run on Milwaukee's recent West Coast swing.

Milwaukee can certainly benefit from guys like Durbin and Cameron coming up clutch while the Brewers’ stars work through the ebbs and flows of the long season. A win is a win, especially against a rival that is leading the division.