It was a solid night for Brandon Sproat in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, but the Brewers were unable to pick up the series win, as the offense faltered after putting up an early lead and Chad Patrick struggled out of the bullpen.
Christian Yelich started the evening off with a walk, and after moving to second on a groundout by Brice Turang, came around to score and give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead on Andrew Vaughn’s RBI single.
Nick Kurtz started things off with a single in the bottom of the first, but he was wiped out on a double play from Tyler Soderstrom, and Sproat was through the first with an unconventional 1-2-3.
Gary Sánchez doubled Milwaukee’s lead in the second, slugging a leadoff homer over the wall in left to make it 2-0. David Hamilton also had a one-out double, but he was ultimately stranded at third.
Sproat picked up a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout in the second, and Jackson Chourio tacked on another run with a leadoff homer in the third, his sixth of the season and fourth this month.
Sproat got into his first real trouble in the third, as he allowed a single, a steal, and a walk to put two runners on with no outs. He was able to get out of it, though, as Alika Williams hit into a 6-4-3 double play on a tough play made by Joey Ortiz, and Sproat followed with a strikeout of Kurtz after a well-timed mound visit by Sánchez.
Things quieted down for both sides from there, as the Brewers got a two-out double from Yelich in the fourth before both teams traded 1-2-3 innings through the end of the fifth.
In the sixth, the Brewers once again threatened against reliever Luis Medina. Sánchez led off with a single, and Sal Frelick followed with another single that maybe should have been caught and probably should have been a double if anybody other than Sánchez was running in front of him.
Neither Sánchez nor Frelick would move from their spots, though, as Hamilton struck out and Ortiz hit into an inning-ending double play.
The homer bug finally bit Sproat in the bottom of the sixth, as Alika Williams hit his first career homer just over the wall in left, cutting the Brewers’ lead to 3-1. Sproat escaped the inning without any more damage, allowing a two-out single but nothing else as he was through six innings on just 68 pitches.
Even with the low pitch count, Sproat was done after six, as Pat Murphy went to Chad Patrick for the seventh. Sproat went six frames, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, striking out three. This was arguably Sproat’s best start of his career, and just the second quality start for him this season (he went 6 2/3 innings with one run allowed against the Blue Jays on April 16).
Unfortunately, Murphy’s move didn’t work out great, as Patrick — who had allowed just one run in his last 21 1/3 innings dating back to early May — allowed a leadoff homer to Carlos Cortes, a double to Zack Gelof, and another homer to Lawrence Butler, flipping the scoreboard to a 4-3 A’s lead before Patrick recorded an out. That marked the end of the night for him, as he threw just eight pitches (four strikes) and gave up three runs on three extra-base hits.
After Aaron Ashby took over and got out of the inning, the Brewers put together another rally in the eighth via a pair of hits by Frelick and Rengifo, who pinch-hit for Hamilton. With one out and the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at first, Murphy used William Contreras as a pinch-hitter for Ortiz, but Contreras hit into a double play to end the rally.
Trevor Megill replaced Ashby in the bottom of the inning, and despite allowing a leadoff double to Shea Langeliers, he was able to keep the deficit at one as the Brewers looked to mount a comeback in the ninth.
The comeback was not to be, though, as Yelich struck out, Chourio grounded out, and Turang struck out.
For the second consecutive night, the Brewers couldn’t do much of anything against the A’s bullpen. While they had plenty of baserunners tonight via 11 hits and three walks, they left nine runners on base and went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Chourio, Vaughn, Sánchez, and Frelick had two hits each, and Chourio and Sánchez had the big hits via solo homers. Sánchez and Vaughn also added a walk each, while Yelich reached twice via a double and a walk.
The pitching staff looked solid outside of Patrick, as he took his third loss of the season. Ashby and Megill each worked a scoreless inning, while Sproat held his own over six frames, allowing just the one run on a solo homer.
While this was a fun series for those who love seeing the ball fly out of the ballpark, I’m sure Brewers fans and the Brewers themselves are happy for the Crew to return home. They’ll get a much-deserved day off on Thursday before returning to action this weekend against the Phillies. Jacob Misiorowski will start opposite Andrew Painter in that one, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m.
