Royals pitchers shine in 4-2, seven-inning win over Brewers

Salvador Perez went deep for the third time this spring and Mike Minor turned in an effective start in the Royals’ 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.

The teams played only seven innings, but the win still counts as Kansas City’s ninth of the Cactus League season, against just three losses.

The Brewers were able to scratch out two runs off starter Mike Minor despite getting just one hit and one walk off him over three innings. The left-hander gave up a solo home run to Manny Piña in the second, then allowed an unearned run in the third when Garrett Mitchell reached on a a fielding error by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on another groundout.

Minor also had five strikeouts before giving way in the fourth to right-hander Kris Bubic, who retired six of the seven batters he faced in two innings of relief. Jake Brentz and Richard Lovelady each pitched a scoreless inning to close out a solid day for Royals pitchers.

The KC bats were only marginally better than Milwaukee’s, mustering four runs on just five hits and two walks.

In the second, Ryan McBroom followed a Hunter Dozier walk with a run-scoring triple, then scored on an Erick Mejia sacrifice fly to put the
Royals up 2-0. Salvador Perez blasted a two-run homer to center that scored Witt, who had hit a leadoff single, to make it 4-1 an inning later.

Of the 21 outs made by Royals batters, 16 were on strikeouts, including three in three at-bats by Jorge Soler.

The Royals have Friday off. They host the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon.