The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in a comeback series after a rough manhandling by the New York Yankees. This matchup had some pitching battles, including two of the Brewer’s pitchers being ejected in one game, great team offense, and a breakout game for yet another rookie in Tyler Black.
The Brewers lost the first game of the series 1-0. Bryse Wilson verses Ryan Pepiot on the mound. In the 1st inning, Wilson loaded the bases and thanks to the defense, was able to get out of the sticky inning letting only one run score. The game was a pitcher’s battle between Wilson and Pepiot, both pitching a strong 6 innings with Pepiot coming out on top.
The bottom of 9th was the only fighting chance the Brewers got. The opportunity was opened with a double by Sal Frelick and a walk for Willy Adames. They stole 2nd and 3rd to get both the tying and winning runs into scoring position. Frelick stole home on a pass ball but was sent back to third base on an interference call on Jake Bauers at the plate. Bauers reached his bat back and tapped the catcher’s helmet in the wake of his swing after the ball had passed him. Pat Murphy did not agree with the call and was ejected for the first time this season after jawing with the umpire. Rhys Hoskins was hit by pitch to make the bases loaded. Blake Perkins unfortunately was unable to get it done at the plate and the Rays win it 1-0. It was frustrating to have the win be so close and not executing. But it’s good to see how the team went to work and built themselves an opportunity.
The Game 2 pitching battle was between Freddy Peralta vs Tyler Alexander. The Brewers are 6-0 with Freddy as starter. Freddy’s only earned run was a home run to Jose Siri in the 3rd inning for Tampa’s first run. Freddy pitched a great game until his ejection in the 6th, yes I said ejection.
In the 1st inning Willy Adames sacrifice fly to plate William Contreras in for the Crew’s first run. Gary Sánchez left the game with injury after getting on base. Coach Murph put Tyler Black in to pinch run for Sánchez in the 1st inning to get his feet wet in his first major league game. Jackson Chourio had a quick trip around the bases In the 2nd. Chourio hit a single, stole second and scored off a Brice Turang single. Contreras hit a sacrifice fly to score Turang for the Brewer’s second run. The defense, as in Joey Wiemer, robbed a homerun from Isaac Paredes on the left field fence. After the snag, bro tried to hide a devious smirk on his face.
Tyler Black had his first career at-bat in the 3rd for Sánchez and hit a double! Black’s next at-bat in the 5th Sophia Minneart was interviewing Black’s parents and mid-interview Black got his second hit of the game. Tyler’s dad proudly called the play over the interview microphone. After his call, Tyler’s dad stated, “I think we’re going to start drinking heavily,” in celebration, cheers to the Black family! What a cool moment for Tyler Black. Next at-bat Willy Adames hit a 3-run homerun to make the score 1-6.
The team called up Tyler Black who’s been on a hot streak down in Nashville for the Triple-A team. Black is 23 years old, a former 1st round draft pick by the Brewers in 2021. He had a pre-game quote, thanks to Sophia Minnaert, about translating to the big leagues “Try and keep it as simple as possible it’s the same game I’ve played my whole life.”
Top of the 6th is where this game starts to get a little wild. Freddy pitched a great game with 66 pitches so far. Jose Siri is at the plate, count is 3-0 and Freddy hits Siri on the hip with a wild pitch. The home plate umpire has a discussion with the other umps and decides to eject Freddy without warning. Now WHAT reason would they have to think Freddy intentionally threw at Siri? I’m guessing since Siri hit a home run off Freddy his first at-bat maybe Freddy was holding some aggression towards Siri? Absolutely not. Freddy Peralta couldn’t hurt a fly. Bro is the most smiley guy on the team, it’s hard to picture him having any ill intentions toward a batter. Also Freddy was pitching one of his best games of the year so far, why risk it by giving away a free base? Pat Murphy did NOT like this call and had a little chat with the umpires. Murphy also got ejected after just a few words exchanged and the ump continued to jaw with Murph as Rickie Weeks dragged him away.
The fun doesn’t stop there! Abner Uribe came in to pitch in the 8th. Uribe got Siri out at first base where a little chirping went on between the two and lead to punches being thrown. The benches cleared for a third time this season to break the two apart. Fights in baseball ROCK. Both players got ejected. Freddy received a 5-game suspension, Uribe 6 games, and Siri 2 games, all players appealed. Pat Murphy even got 2-games, which he served out the next two games. I absolutely love how fiery this year’s group is.
Thyago Vieira came in for Uribe and made quick work to finish the game 2-8. This game was a wild ride and I hope the Brew Crew continue to be feisty throughout the season.
Game 3 The weather was absolutely perfect to kick off spring with a May 1st day game! It was so nice that American Family Field had the roof open which guarantees a good time. Colin Rea pitched a shutout 6 innings. The only run allowed all game was off a wild pitch by Abner Uribe in the 8th.
William Contreras scored Brice Turang and Oliver Dunn off a double to kickstart the offense in the 3rd inning. In the 6th, Willy Adames hit a solo home run then proceeded to hit ANOTHER home run his next at bat scoring 3 more runs. Willy is SO BACK. The second home run continued the hot streak from Blake Perkins who drove in Dunn off a double. The Crew had another fun offensive outing scoring 7 runs total, earning a 1-7 win to finish the series 2-1.
It’s exciting that the team can still produce wins and bats without star Christian Yelich giving him the freedom to take his time to make his return as 100%. It’s awesome to see bats come from back to back breakout series’ for some of our rookies: Joey Ortiz against the Yankees and Tyler Black against the Rays. This series was a much needed bounce back before going on the road to our favorite rivals the Chicago Cubs and previous manager Craig Counsell. The Crew is battling the Cubs to stay on top of the division as they are only one game back. The series will be a competitive one as this is a chance for the Cubs to steal some wins off of us or a chance for us to give them a few lovely losses.
-Gracie
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