(Photo credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images)

The Milwaukee Brewers are winning games, yet they are far from satisfied.

The hottest team in the National League took its fifth straight victory on Friday in the series opener against the Washington Nationals. The host Brewers will try to keep pounding out timely hits in the middle game of the set Saturday afternoon.

Eight of Milwaukee's 10 hits on Friday came off Washington starter Mitchell Parker as the Brewers sailed to an 8-3 triumph. The first six batters to come to the plate in the bottom of the third inning had hits and scored, as Christian Yelich capped the outburst with a two-run homer 405 feet to right field.

Milwaukee's latest win followed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Manager Pat Murphy appreciated what he saw from the Brewers as they drew within one game of the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead.

'When they have a chance to think about four days (off) and going home (during the All-Star break), it's just easy to look ahead and not take care of today,' Murphy said, per MLB.com. 'We've got to be a little uncommon when it comes to how we think about games, because they all matter.'

After the game on Friday, Murphy got to inform history-making rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski that he was selected to the All-Star Game as a replacement for Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd.

Misiorowski, 23, has made just five major league starts and is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA. The flame-thrower broke Paul Skenes' record -- set last year -- for the quickest All-Star selection after a major league debut.

Skenes pitched in 11 games before being named an All-Star.

On Saturday, the Brewers will turn to veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 1.50 ERA) to oppose left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara (0-1, 13.50).

Woodruff pitched in his first major league game since 2023 due to shoulder surgery last Sunday against the Miami Marlins. He limited them to one run on two hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory and tossed eight strikeouts without a walk. Woodruff, 32, is 4-0 with a sparkling 0.96 ERA against the Nationals in seven career games (five starts).

Ogasawara also will make his second start of the season Saturday. The 27-year-old signed with Washington in the offseason after a career in Japan but suffered an oblique injury while at Triple-A.

He made his major league debut on Sunday in a 6-4 loss to the Red Sox, removed after 2 2/3 innings and 55 pitches after Boston touched him for four runs on seven hits.

The Nationals have dropped six of their past seven games, including three of four since firing manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo. They managed just six hits on Friday after a meager four-hit effort the day before in an 8-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Interim manager Miguel Cairo tinkered with the batting order Friday, dropping Luis Garcia Jr. from the third spot to sixth, among other adjustments. Garcia went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and is 1-for-17 in his past six games.

'We got to take it one day at a time,' Cairo told reporters. 'The guys are playing hard. I got to continue being myself and put the players in the best situation possible for them to succeed. That's my main goal.'

--Field Level Media