The Milwaukee Brewers had their first split-squad day of the spring on Sunday, as part of the team visited the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, and the others stayed in Phoenix to battle the Kansas City Royals.
With a pair of losses, the Brewers fell to 0-3 in the Cactus League as their hopes for the coveted Cactus League Cup have already taken a hit. Let’s take a look at the action today.
As they did yesterday, Milwaukee’s offense got out to a quick start. Joey Ortiz started the day off with a walk and proceeded to steal second base. Andrew Vaughn then hit a soft grounder between short and third base, which he was able to beat out (with the help of a high throw), putting runners at the corners.
On a 3-2 count, Vaughn took off for second and Akil Baddoo walked on a borderline pitch, which was challenged by Chicago and confirmed — had it been called strike three, Vaughn would’ve been thrown out at second. Instead, it was bases loaded with no outs.
Tyler Black struck out and Jeferson Quero popped out, but prospect Jesús Made took a pitch off his foot to reach, bringing Ortiz home in the process for a 1-0 lead.
Logan Henderson worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, and the Brewers once again threatened offensively in the second. Luke Adams started things off with a single but he was caught trying to steal second before Luis Lara hit a double. Lara moved up on a wild pitch, but he’d remain there as Ortiz lined out and Vaughn flew out.
Carlos Rodriguez replaced Henderson in the second and struggled, allowing a double to Austin Hays and a one-out RBI single to Curtis Mead to make it 1-1. He did record a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning with the game still evened up.
It wouldn’t stay that way for long, as Baddoo took the first pitch of the third 430 feet out to center field for a solo homer and a 2-1 lead.
Both offenses quieted down from there, as there was no further scoring until the bottom of the sixth, when Bryce Meccage entered and a few other prospects entered to replace the starters.
Meccage walked Kyle Teel before getting a flyout, but Dru Baker cashed Teel in with an RBI double to make it 2-2. The next batter, Sam Antonacci, brought Baker in with an RBI single before old friend Oliver Dunn got the second out via a flyout. Antonacci stole second, moved up to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an infield single by Drew Romo, making it 4-2 before the inning was over.
Tristan Peters led off the eighth with a solo homer against Sam Garcia to make it 5-2, and that was all for scoring in Glendale.
Vaughn was the only Brewer with multiple hits in this one, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Lara and Josh Adamczewski each had doubles in the loss, while Baddoo had the homer. Made went 0-for-2 but he did get an RBI via his hit by pitch. Black and Adams also added hits, while Black and Ortiz each swiped a base.
On the mound, Henderson, Peter Strzelecki, Kaleb Bowman, K.C. Hunt, and Ryan Birchard each worked scoreless innings.
In the home game this afternoon, Robert Gasser got the start and, after allowing a single to Maikel Garcia, got Jac Caglianone to go down swinging before inducing a 4-6-3 double play from Nick Loftin, the first of (hopefully) many turned by Brice Turang and Jett Williams.
The Brewers went 1-2-3 in the first, and DL Hall worked around a two-out walk in the second to keep it at 0-0.
Jake Bauers became the first baserunner of the day for Milwaukee as he singled over the head of Garcia at short with two outs in the second, but he’d be stranded as Luis Rengifo hit into a forceout to end the inning.
Tate Kuehner allowed a pair of singles in the third but didn’t allow any runs, leaving runners at the corners. In the bottom of the frame, Williams drew a one-out walk and, after moving to third on a Gary Sánchez single, scored as William Contreras lined a double to left. Sánchez and Contreras would be left there, but Milwaukee had a 1-0 lead after three.
Brian Fitzpatrick tossed a 1-2-3 fourth, and Bauers reached for the second time in the fourth as he drew a walk, but he would remain at first.
Bishop Letson recorded a pair of strikeouts in another 1-2-3 fifth inning, and in the bottom of the frame, Williams drew his second walk of the day. He’d go on to steal second but was left stranded there.
The Royals once again got runners to the corners against Stiven Cruz in the sixth, but they wouldn’t be able to cash in as Kevin Newman went down swinging.
The Brewers were able to load the bases in the bottom of the inning via a pair of walks and a single by Bauers, his third time reaching base this afternoon. Unfortunately, Williams went down looking to end the inning, as he was unable to reach for a third time himself.
In the seventh, Dairon Blanco reached on a hit by pitch as he was hit in the head (he was removed after walking off under his own power — let’s hope he’s alright), and Connor Kaiser followed with a fielder’s choice that resulted in everyone reaching safely as Luis Peña made a fielding error. Blake Mitchell followed with a walk, and suddenly the Royals had the bases loaded with one out.
Peyton Wilson cashed in the tying run on a sac fly, but Smith was able to escape the inning with a strikeout of Carson Roccaforte.
Jacob Hurtubise took a hit by pitch to reach to begin the bottom of the seventh and went on to steal second, but he couldn’t make it home as Helcris Olivárez induced a pair of flyouts and a groundout.
After a quiet day offensively, the Royals’ reserves broke through in the eighth, as Brett Squires walked, Dustin Dickerson brought him home on a double, and Canyon Brown followed with a triple to make it 3-1 in a hurry. Gavin Cross followed with a flyout, and Greg Jones threw Brown out at the plate for the unconventional 9-2 double play.
Jones led off the bottom of the eighth with a single but he was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double. Juan Baez would also pick up a walk in the inning but he’d remain at first.
After one run in the seventh and a pair in the eighth, the Royals tacked on another four in the ninth to break things wide open. Mitchell walked, Wilson singled, and Roccaforte walked to load the bases. Squires brought Mitchell home with a sac fly, and Dustin Dickerson then brough them all home with a three-run homer to make it 7-1.
Daniel Guilarte picked up a double in the bottom of the ninth and then scored as Brock Wilken crushed his first homer of the spring 407 feet into left to cut the lead to 7-3. Miller and Peña both went down to end the game, and the Royals took this one, 7-3.
Bauers led the offense reaching base three times on a pair of singles and a walk, while Williams drew a pair of walks and scored a run. Guilarte and Wilken scored the other runs on Wilken’s homer in the ninth, and Sánchez, Contreras, and Jones also had hits today. Also of note: Contreras went 2-for-2 on ABS challenges, getting two balls overturned to strikes behind the plate.
Gasser, Hall, Kuehner, Fitzpatrick, Letson, and Cruz all worked scoreless innings to begin the game, while Smith allowed an unearned run in the seventh but still picked up a pair of strikeouts.
Despite the pair of losses today, here’s something that may cheer Brewer fans up:
