Jeremy Jeffress once again sets the tone for a dominant Brewers bullpen

The scoreboard read sixth inning, but it was a closer-type situation. Bases loaded, nobody out, the Milwaukee Brewers clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Miami Marlins.

Enter Jeremy Jeffress.

The right-hander came in and did what he's done all season long -- shut the opponent down. Bullpen mates Matt Albers and Josh Hader followed Jeffress's lead, and in the end the Brewers had put the wraps on an impressive home stand with a 4-2 victory at Miller Park.

"Today’s sixth inning by J.J. was absolutely incredible. You can’t do any better than that," manager Craig Counsell said. "We make a big deal about the ninth inning but that was the game right there.

"He delivered. He delivered big-time."

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Just two seasons ago Jeffress was serving as the team's traditional closer, racking up 27 saves before being dealt away to the Texas Rangers in a deadline-day deal. Re-acquired from the Rangers last season, Jeffress now serves as the Brewers' middle-innings dominator -- a role he's relishing.

“Those are those big outs. Those are the things we live for," Jeffress said. "Definitely the things I live for. I can be myself in those situations. I can be who I am.”

After his latest superlative outing on Sunday, the 30-year-old is tied for the major-league lead in appearances with 13 while sporting both a 0.71 earned-run average and WHIP. He's struck out 11 in 12 2/3 innings and limited opposing batters to a .167 average while compiling a 2-0 record.

He's pitched as early as the fifth inning and as late as the 11th, and after his latest escape job on Sunday he's allowed just one of 10 inherited runners to score.

It's the kind of performance that helps set the tone for a bullpen that's been a strength of the Brewers despite not having closer Corey Knebel for all but the first week of the season.

It's also the type of selflessness that isn't often seen, with an established reliever simply wanting to fill whatever role helps the team most -- and excelling at it.

"(Bench coach Pat Murphy) has talked about it for a bunch of years. We have a pitcher who thrives in that situation," Counsell said. "His talents are kind of well-suited for it. He’s done it a bunch this year and he’s done it in close games and big spots.

"It’s such a big momentum moment in the game. It changes who the other team is going to pitch based on what happens that inning and what relievers you’re going to face from the other team. It’s a big moment in the game and he’s won that moment of the game a whole bunch for us this year."

On Sunday, the Brewers were nursing a 2-1 lead behind five solid innings from Junior Guerra (2-0) when the Marlins finally started stringing some offense together against the right-hander.

J.T. Realmuto singled to right field. Starlin Castro singled to center. Justin Bour walked. And just like that, Miami had loaded the bases with a chance to take the lead.

Enter Jeffress, who needed just four pitches to strike out Brian Anderson. J.B. Shuck, up next, fouled out two pitches later. That brought up Jeffress's former Brewers teammate, Lewis Brinson, who already had three homers to his credit to that point in the series.

Jeffress quickly got ahead of Brinson, then on a 2-2 count got him swinging on a curveball. Jeffress bounded off the mound with a howl and a big fist pump, earning a huge reaction from the crowd of 37,015.

A ground-ball double play would have been ideal to start, Jeffress said, even if it meant the tying run scored. Instead, he was able to get Anderson swinging and then worked his way through Shuck and Brinson to hand the ball to Albers with the lead still intact.

"For J.J., the ground ball is in his arsenal, so he’s one pitch away from being out of the inning. And in a one-run game like that, he’s one pitch away from us being able to keep the lead," Counsell said. "The first out, no question, is the biggest out.

"Bases loaded with nobody out is a difficult situation to bring anybody into. It’s not ideal and it’s not something I generally like today. But it was the right move today, especially with the way J.J. has been throwing the baseball and he did a fabulous job."

Albers, one of three Brewers to have registered a save with Knebel on the shelf, followed Jeffress by striking out two in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Then it was Hader's turn. He caused himself some trouble early by walking Realmuto to start the eighth, and he eventually came around to score after a passed ball and a single to right by Bour.

That cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-2, but Hader kept it there and Jesús Aguilar stayed hot by driving in a big insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.

Hader struck out the first two batters in the ninth, then ended the game with a flyout to earn his third save of the season. All have been two innings, making him the first Brewers reliever since Mike DeJean in 2002 to accomplish the feat.

"This is definitely a fun little thing going on," Hader said of his two-inning stints. "It’s always nice to get outs and it’s always nice to finish with a win and high fives and all that. It’s a different role, but it’s a good one for me."

After being crushed by the Cincinnati Reds in the first game of the home stand, 10-4, the Brewers posted three shutouts en route to their current six-game winning streak.

The bullpen is as big a reason as any for the success, with a streak of 21 2/3 innings without having allowed an earned run in tow as Milwaukee enjoys an off-day Monday before opening its next road trip with two interleague games in Kansas City.

Brewer relievers have allowed only six hits and four walks versus 28 strikeouts over that span.

"We’re really good," Hader said. "We’re aggressive and we attack hitters and we get outs. I don’t have a word, but we definitely come in and get the job done."