Everything going Brewers' way these days as they hit Memorial Day will full head of steam

It was another unusual day at the office for Brent Suter, which is to say it was a usual day. Nobody finds his way into unforeseen situations more than the Milwaukee Brewers' hyperactive left-hander.

For instance, Suter was struck by a line drive from St. Louis' Harrison Bader in the second inning of the surging Brewers' 8-3 victory over St. Louis at Miller Park, leading inquiring minds to ask afterward exactly where it hit.

"It got me right on the nipple area," Suter said. "Literally, right on the nipple. I got a nipple-twister, or whatever."

As far as follow-up questions in a baseball clubhouse, where do you go from there without turning it into a "Fifty Shades of Grey" discussion?

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Not only did Suter shake off that direct hit, he turned in one of the key at-bats of the day in the fourth inning. St. Louis pitcher Luke Weaver did what usually is the prudent thing, pitching around No. 8 hitter Tyler Saladino to load the bases and get to the opposing pitcher with two outs.

Suter doesn't know pitchers are supposed to be poor hitters, however. Don't forget, he homered earlier this season off Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, the difference-maker in a 3-2 victory.

Down immediately in the count, 0-2, Suter kept battling, fouling off three pitches to stay alive. Standing on second base, Jonathan Villar had a bird's-eye view of the duel, and could only shake his head and laugh.

"He was throwing him changeups, sliders, breaking balls, everything," said Villar, who later would deliver a huge three-run homer to seal the victory. "He looked like a position player. He didn't look like a pitcher. He's fouling off pitches, fouling off pitches. It was unbelievable."

On the ninth pitch, Suter finally yanked a curveball down the first-base line and off the glove of Jose Martinez for a two-run double that gave the Brewers an early 4-0 lead.

"I've always felt I was a decent hitter, coming up through the minor leagues," Suter said. "I put up some good averages, and stuff. I think after that home run against the Indians, that got my confidence up. I'm feeling like I'm seeing the ball well, seeing the rotation well, seeing it late, and trusting my hands a lot. I'm feeling good up there."

If that sounded like a hitter talking, not a pitcher, welcome to Brent Suter's world.

"He's quite different from other guys," manager Craig Counsell said with a knowing smile. "He's one of a kind. He's full of energy, always. Happy, always. Got a great attitude. He's one player you can definitely say enjoys every day in the big leagues."

Already hitting on many cylinders offensively, a batting order change seemed to get Ryan Braun headed in the right direction. Hitting fifth to allow Counsell to keep his red-hot top four hitters unchanged, Braun went 3 for 3 with a walk, double, three runs scored and one driven in.

It was the lowest Braun had hit in the order since late in 2014 but said he not only was on board with the move but actually suggested it to Counsell.

"To this point of the season, I've been really unlucky hitting third, so maybe hitting fifth maybe changes the luck a little bit," said Braun, who was batting .257 on balls put in play, far below his .329 career norm.

"I didn't know if he was going to be hesitant or afraid to bring it up, that he might offend me or something. I went in there yesterday and said, 'Things are going so well, "Aggie" (Jesus Aguilar) is swinging the bat so well, offensively the team's in a good place, I think it makes a lot of sense to leave him there.' I wanted him to know I was fine with it and we're both on the same page."

The primary reason the Brewers have forged the best record in the NL is they are winning the bullpen game at a time when relievers are more important than ever. They are the lone undefeated team when leading after six innings, going 25-0, keeping constant pressure on opponents to not fall behind.

"We keep putting up zeroes in our bullpen, and we're doing a good job scoring," said Counsell, who was able to save Josh Hader for another day when Villar's homer made it a five-run game. "That separation helps. The add-on runs help. They allow us to rest guys and even out the load in the bullpen."

This is the way it's going these days for the Brewers, who are 7-1 with two games remaining on their longest home stand of the year, 10-2 in their last 12 games and 14-4 over the last 18. They improved to a season-best 15 games over .500 (35-20) and hold a 4 ½ game lead over Chicago in the NL Central.

If you put any faith in Memorial Day being a predictor of playoff clubs, you feel pretty good about where the Brewers are sitting.

"We've got a long road ahead of us," Counsell said. "It's a great journey ahead of us and a roller coaster ahead of us. I always say, 'Get on and enjoy the ride.' That's what's going to happen."