Brewers suffer another big defeat in home opener

Box Score

The Brewers had to scratch in another defeat in the loss column after a brutal 11-1 loss in their home opener.

After a difficult start to the season in New York, many of the same patterns emerged. They fell into an early deficit and the offense couldn’t compensate. The Royals kept putting pressure on Milwaukee in every frame.

Elvin Rodriguez started for the Brewers and went four innings, allowing four runs. It wasn’t an incredible outing by any means, but there were moments when he was able to use his cutter effectively for strikes. That doesn’t compensate for the overall result, but he’ll be an interesting factor in the Brewers’ pitching plans this year.

The Royals scored off of Rodriguez in the first inning after he allowed leadoff singles to the first two batters he faced. Then Michael Massey hit a ground-rule double to left field on a ball that just fell outside of Christian Yelich’s reach. The pitch itself wasn’t horrible as it was a fastball outside the strike zone, but it didn’t stop Massey from making decent contact. That brought home the first run for the Royals, and Hunter Renfroe hit a single to bring in another pair.

In the second inning, Maikel Garcia would hit a home run to expand Kansas City’s lead to 4-0. Rodriguez stood firm after that as he pitched two further innings without allowing a run.

But the offense struggled all afternoon. Their biggest opportunity came in the second inning when they loaded the bases, but Brice Turang hit a chopped ground ball to first base to put away the third out of the inning. The team would only manage four hits from that point on, most of which came when the game was already out of reach.

The score truly snowballed in the seventh inning when Kansas City hung seven runs on the scoreboard. Elvis Peguero, who was out for a second inning, only retired one batter as his pitch count pushed into the forties. There was even one moment when associate manager Rickie Weeks Jr. was ejected from the game.

Grant Anderson entered in relief, but he allowed a walk and two hits to the first three batters he faced. It emphasized an interesting trend early this season. The bullpen hasn’t been elite, but they haven’t had the opportunity to be in that position. By the time the late innings come around, the team is already trailing.

The only run the Brewers scored came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Isaac Collins entered as a pinch-hitter and hit a double. Once he was in scoring position, Jackson Chourio hit a hard double to right-center field to bring Collins home.

There weren’t many positives from a game like this, but Sal Frelick continues to get on base. He now has a hit in each game this season and also added a walk today. He has a .958 OPS through these first four games.

It’s been a difficult start to the season, but the games continue tomorrow. They’ll take on the Royals for a night game at 6:40 p.m. As of now, Michael Lorenzen is set to pitch for the Royals while the Brewers’ starter is to be determined.