Lauer wavers, Brewers’ bats quiet in loss to Indians
No extra-base hits, no baserunners until the bottom-half of the sixth inning for Milwaukee and back-to-back Cleveland homers in the second equaled a 5-1 loss for the Brewers on Thursday.
Milwaukee pitcher Aaron Ashby continued to impress, retiring three straight Cleveland batters in the fifth — raising his strikeout count to six in just two innings pitched so far this spring — but Brewers left hander Eric Lauer, a first-round pick by the San Diego Padres in 2016, had been victimized on the mound much earlier, presumably deflating much of the Brewers offensive energy.
Milwaukee’s bats remained mostly nonexistent until the bases were loaded in the bottom-half of the seventh inning. First, Pablo Reyes, who homered on Wednesday, whacked a line-drive single to left field, advancing a Brewers baserunner to second. Catcher Mario Feliciano proceeded to tack on a base hit off a breaking ball, paving the way for first baseman Dustin Peterson to put his team on the board. A short roller to third did the trick, scoring Milwaukee’s lone run of the afternoon.
The Brewers employed a seven-man pitching rotation, which included some quick-inning work from righty Adrian Houser and Quintin Torres-Costa, Milwaukee’s 35th-round pick in 2015. Even Jake Cousins, the cousin of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, made a brief appearance on the mound.
The loss drops Milwaukee’s spring training record in the Cactus League to 3-2. The club will look to bounce back for Friday’s 2 p.m. tilt against the Colorado Rockies.
