The Brewers made it easier on lefty starter Robert Gasser on Sunday by scoring eight runs during a second inning bookended by William Contreras’ rally-sparking single and three-run home run. But nothing about Gasser's long road back to the win column has been easy. “It’s great to have the win next to your name,” Gasser said after the Brewers’ 9-4 win over the Braves at Truist Park. “Just to help the team get a win at the back end of the series is huge.” The Brewers needed the win to avoid getting swept in a matchup of first-place teams with big ambitions after losing the first two games of the series despite having top starters Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison on the mound. That left the finale to Gasser, who matched career highs with six innings and seven strikeouts while limiting the Braves to two earned runs in the sort of outing the Brewers envisioned when they acquired him in the Josh Hader trade in 2022. Gasser arrived in Milwaukee with great fanfare two years later only to go down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in 2024. Before Sunday, he had not been credited with a Major League win since winning each of his first two Brewers starts. But to get there, he had to answer the Brewers’ challenge. Both Contreras and manager Pat Murphy said they had sharp words for Gasser after he needed 26 pitches in the first inning and 22 more in the second. “After the second, I just told him to stop thinking as much,” said Contreras. “Sometimes in this game, you drive yourself crazy thinking a lot. I told him to enjoy the game, to go out there and have fun doing it. He did a fantastic job after that making an adjustment.” Murphy’s message was sharper, from the sound of it. “We challenged him, and he took it well,” Murphy said. “It was about belief, you know? Start to believe. I don’t know if it helped him. I have no idea if he even heard me. But he pitched better. It was big for us today.” Yes, Gasser heard the message. “It’s more so showing up ready to go,” he said. “Don’t let the game flow dictate how I’m going to play. From pitch one, be on the attack. Be pitching to win the game.”
