The Milwaukee Brewers have been perhaps the hottest teams in baseball in July. So in a game with major implications on the NL Central division race on Tuesday against the Cubs, it was only fitting that one of their newest additions came through in a big way.
In the third inning, Andrew Vaughn broke the tie with a sacrifice fly. He extended Milwaukee’s lead to three runs with a single in the fifth. And to put the game away for good, Vaughn launched grand slam in the sixth inning off a curveball from Cubs reliever Ryan Pressly to give the Brewers a seven-run lead.
Andrew Vaughn breaks it wide open with a GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/cd7h5tKcXc
— MLB (@MLB) July 30, 2025
The Cubs would get a run back in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome Vaughn’s career-high six-RBI night in Milwaukee’s 9-3 win. That extended the Brewers lead to two games of the Cubs, who turn to left-handed starter Shota Imanaga on Wednesday in an attempt to avoid the sweep.
On the other side of Chicago, the White Sox can only wonder why things have gone so differently for Vaughn in Milwaukee. Through 185 plate appearances with the White Sox to begin the 2025 season, Vaughn slashed .189/.218/.314 with five home runs, 19 RBI, seven walks and 43 strikeouts.
But in just 48 at-bats with the Brewers, he has already hit the same amount of home runs, five, and surpassed his RBI total with the White Sox by driving in 21 runs as a Brewer. His seven-to-seven strikeout-to-walk ratio is also a significant improvement. Altogether, that’s good for a .375 batting average and a 1.210 OPS.
Only 2 MLB players have put up the following numbers over their first 10 home games with a team (since RBI became official in 1920):
.475+ BA
1.000+ SLG
15+ RBIThose 2 players are Barry Bonds with the Giants in 1993 and Andrew Vaughn with the @Brewers in 2025. pic.twitter.com/9obCF4NGtF
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 30, 2025
The White Sox had high hopes for Vaughn after selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, but he never panned out in Chicago. In his first four seasons, he hit between 15 and 21 home runs each year, but his season-long OPS topped out at .750 in 2022.
After major struggles to begin the 2025 season, the White Sox traded Vaughn to the Brewers for starting pitcher Aaron Civale and cash considerations. Chicago hoped Civale could turn into a trade piece or help protect an otherwise young starting rotation from their career-high innings totals.
His last two starts have been his best with the White Sox, tossing 11 combined shutout innings to lower his ERA to 4.10 across 41.2 innings with his new team. But it still has to sting for the White Sox to see Vaughn catch fire on the team with the best record in baseball.
