Despite a vintage performance from Christian Yelich, who reached base three times in his spring debut, Milwaukee fell to the Chicago Cubs 4-1. Chicago jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back.
In the top of the first, Brandon Sproat made short work of the Cubs, retiring the top of the order on just 11 pitches. Sal Frelick and Andrew Vaughn both made outs to start the bottom of the frame, but Christian Yelich reached on a walk and Gary Sánchez singled. Akil Baddoo, the next batter up, grounded into a force out at second to end the mini rally.
Chicago promptly broke the tie in the top of the second. With one out in the frame, James Triantos hit a line drive single into right field, scoring Chas McCormick from second to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. David Hamilton led off the bottom of the second inning with a bunt single. He then stole second to give the Brewers a runner in scoring position with nobody out. That brought up three of the Brewers top prospects — Luis Lara, Cooper Pratt, and Jesús Made — but all came up empty, leaving Milwaukee scoreless.
The Cubs tacked on another run in the top of the third on a walk, a single, and a RBI groundout from Moises Ballesteros. While Sproat allowed two earned runs in his three innings of work, he racked up four strikeouts and his stuff looked great — as seen below:
The Brewers finally got on the board courtesy of a Christian Yelich solo shot that came off the bat at 106.8 mph. Notably, if you watch the video, you’ll notice that Yelich is using a bigger leg kick, which he had stopped using in early 2024 in favor of more of a toe-tap. This could be indicative of a long-term change in his approach, or it could just be him experimenting during spring training. The leg kick was clearly working for him today, so we’ll likely see it in more games this spring.
Unfortunately, Yelich’s home run would be the last time the Brewers would score, while Chicago tacked on a couple of insurance runs against Logan Henderson. Triantos hit a double in the fourth, then reached third on a Frelick error. Former Brewer Owen Miller knocked Triantos in with a sac fly. Jefferson Rojas hit a solo home run two innings later to bring the game to its final score: Chicago 4, Milwaukee 1.
Shane Drohan worked the final three innings of the loss, allowing just a single hit while striking out four and holding the Cubs scoreless. The Brewers briefly mounted a rally in the ninth after Eddys Leonard and Brady Ebel both singled, but Daniel Dickinson and Greg Jones both struck out to end the game.
Other than Yelich, who singled, walked, and homered, Milwaukee was only able to muster five more hits — all singles. Two of those were the Hamilton bunt and the Sanchez single in the first. Jesús Made singled in the seventh, but got picked off trying to steal second by Cubs pitcher Vince Velasquez. A pair of singles in the ninth also went for naught. Despite the loss, there were still a few things to feel good about — especially Yelich and Drohan’s performances. Drohan wasn’t facing the Cubs’ starters today, but he looked borderline dominant.
Milwaukee will be back on the field again tomorrow as they take on another division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT.
