The Milwaukee Brewers are 3-0 to start the year, and any baseball fan will tell you that it doesn’t mean anything about what’s to come.
After all, Milwaukee started the year 0-4 last year before winning a franchise-record 97 games. And in the other nine instances when Milwaukee has started with at least three straight wins, those teams finished above .500 just four times and exactly at .500 once.
But a hot start is better than the alternative, even if Milwaukee’s 3-0 start came at home against a Chicago White Sox team without high outside expectations.
These were the other times Milwaukee started the season with at least three straight wins:
2024: 4-0 at New York Mets, vs. Minnesota Twins
The funny thing about starting the 2025 season at 0-4 is that the Brewers began the 2024 season in reverse, at 4-0. Milwaukee went to New York and swept the Mets. New free-agent signing Rhys Hoskins re-engaged in old tensions with his former NL East rival Mets, famously making a “crying” gesture in the direction of Mets infielder Jeff McNeil during the opener, and benches cleared. Hoskins hit a key homer in Game 2. Jackson Chourio got a hit in his Major League debut in Game 1. The Brewers added a win in the home opener against Minnesota but blew a lead in Game 5 of the season and lost, 7-3. The Brewers and Mets would meet again, first in the final series of the year at American Family Field and then in an infamous best-of-three playoff tilt that ended on Pete Alonso’s gut-punch homer in the ninth against Devin Williams. Milwaukee finished the year 93-69.
2018: 3-0 at San Diego Padres
The run to the National League Central began with a thrilling three-game set out west against San Diego. The opener was exciting enough, a 2-1 win in 12 innings after San Diego scored with two outs in the ninth on a Freddy Galvis single against Corey Knebel. Orlando Arcia later drove in Ji-Man Choi with the winner in the 12th, and Jacob Barnes struck out all three guys in the ninth for the save. But the second game was the real thrill, when Ryan Braun’s three-run homer with two outs in the ninth against Brad Hand gave the Brewers an 8-6 lead and capped a five-run rally after Milwaukee went into the final frame down, 6-3. Milwaukee won 7-3 in the finale before returning home and losing to the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4, though the game after that would end with back-to-back homers by Christian Yelich and Braun with two outs in the ninth. The Brewers finished 96-67.
2006: 5-0 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Brewers started the year with some late magic, getting a two-run single by Jeff Cirillo in the seventh and a two-run homer by Carlos Lee in the eighth to prevail over Pittsburgh, 5-2. Derrick Turnbow held on for a 7-5 win in Game 2 despite two baserunners in the ninth with nobody out, then stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for a 3-2 win in the finale. It was much smoother work for Turnbow in a 3-1 win over Arizona in Game 4, and the Brewers won on Carlos Lee’s walk-off single in Game 5, 5-4. Then came a 7-0 loss to Arizona to end the streak, and the Brewers would be hovering around .500 for the first half of the season before falling to 75-87 for the year.
2005: 3-0 at Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee scored runs in five straight innings as part of a 9-2 bludgeoning of Pittsburgh on Opening Day, followed by a day off in a strange scheduling quirk that had the Brewers playing every other day over a stretch of five. That didn’t cool down the bats; Junior Spivey had three extra base hits and Lee had a pair in Game 2, a 10-2 blowout. Then, it was off to Wrigley Field, where the Brewers tied the game at 3-3 in the ninth on a Lyle Overbay double with two outs, then won the game in 12 innings, 6-3. The Brewers had only one hit the next day against Carlos Zambrano and lost, 4-0, but the early building blocks were in place for an 81-81 season, the first non-losing season since 1992.
1995: 3-0 vs. Chicago White Sox, at Chicago White Sox, vs. Oakland A’s
Delayed after a players’ strike had wiped out the previous season’s World Series and labor strife had bled into spring, Milwaukee first suited up at home April 26, traveled to face the White Sox on April 27 and then came back home for a battle with Oakland on April 28. It was a strange time, with the Brewers winning the opener at County Stadium, 12-3, before 31,426 fans. Then, Milwaukee won, 9-4, before 31,073 at Comiskey Park. The third game was by far the most interesting, an 8-7 win in 10 innings that featured a key error and then a walk-off sacrifice fly against Dennis Eckersley by B.J. Surhoff. Though the Brewers lost the next night, 8-2, they went on to start the year 6-1 and then 8-3. It still couldn’t keep them from a 65-79 season and a fourth-place finish in the AL Central.
1994: 3-0 vs. Oakland A’s, California Angels
If you liked offense, the start of the 1994 season was for you. On April 5, in sub-freezing temperatures, the Brewers staged an 11-7 win over Oakland, with the bottom four hitters in the lineup accounting for nine hits. Dave Nilsson went 4-for-5 with a run driven in, and then Milwaukee churned out a 12-2 win in Game 2. This time, it was Turner Ward’s chance to shine, with three hits and three RBIs. Alex Diaz tripled in both games. Nilsson and Jody Reed both drove in runs in a three-run first for a more traditional 5-1 win over the Angels on April 8. The winning streak was on its way to four, but the Angels scored three times in the eighth and twice in the ninth in Game 4 for a 6-4 win at County Stadium. The Brewers were 53-62 before the season ended via players’ strike.
1987: 13-0 vs. Boston Red Sox, at Texas Rangers, at Baltimore Orioles, vs. Texas Rangers, at Chicago White Sox
Plenty has been written about Team Streak over the years, starting the year with 13-game winning streak that turned the town on its head, including an Easter Sunday walk-off for the ages. Could the 2026 Brewers make it to Easter Sunday with their win streak intact? The opening run is part perhaps the craziest season in Brewers history, which also included a 12-game losing streak, a 39-game hitting streak for Paul Molitor and a 32-inning scoreless streak for Teddy Higuera. Did we mention Juan Nieves threw a no-hitter in that season-opening run, still the only solo no-no in Brewers history? The Brewers finished 91-71.
1986: 3-0 at Chicago White Sox
In his first year with the Brewers, Rob Deer hit a ball over the stadium at Comiskey Park in the second inning, and rookie Ernie Riles also homered off Tom Seaver on Opening Day in a 5-3 Brewers win. Milwaukee landed a 4-3 win the next game, then scored four runs in the ninth for a thrilling 8-5 win. Billy Jo Robidoux tied the game with two outs, and Riles added a three-run homer for the lead. Milwaukee dropped its next game at Yankee Stadium 3-2, and Milwaukee went on to finish 77-84 in the final year of George Bamberger as manager.
1978: 5-0 vs. Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees
It was an utterly spectacular start for a team that finished 93-69, the first winning team in franchise history and a true breakthrough for the Brewers. Milwaukee scored a staggering 40 runs in the three-game series against Baltimore at County Stadium, including an 11-3 win in the opener and followed by a 16-3 and 13-5 win. In two games against the Yankees, the Brewers came back to earth only slightly with a 9-6 and 5-3 win. Funny enough, Milwaukee then went to Baltimore and got outscored 20-10 in a three-game sweep. Newcomer Larry Hisle and Gorman Thomas both had three homers in the first five games of the season, and Cecil Cooper drove in nine runs in the five games.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What happened the other times the Milwaukee Brewers started 3-0?
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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