Is it defensible to refer to the defending National League Central champs as "upstarts?" It is, and such is the state of the expectations -- and the baseball -- in Milwaukee these days. The Brewers on Saturday night in L.

Isaac Collins and Joey Ortiz hit home runs, William Contreras added a two-run double and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers extended their winning streak to a season-best nine games, while remaining perfect against the Los Angeles Dodgers after an 8-7 victory on Saturday.

They’ve been torching all comers for the bulk of the last two months, playing 19 games over .500 (31-12) since May 24. Impressively, they managed to shift into an even higher gear heading into the All-Star break, winning their last seven games — three of them against the mighty Dodgers — by a combined score of 40-14.