Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals: Some good, some bad in the seventh inning

Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Milwaukee Brewers welcome back Christian Yelich to the lineup as they seek an interleague series victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Yelich starts at designated hitter and bats third. Rookie Tyler Black was optioned to Class AAA Nashville in the corresponding roster move.

Also notable is Brice Turang receiving the first start of his career in the leadoff spot and Gary Sánchez making the first start of his career at first base.

Right-hander Joe Ross (1-3, 4.65) pitches for Milwaukee (21-14), while right-hander Brady Singer (2-1, 2.45) counters for Kansas City.

Bobby Witt Jr. has been a pain

The young Royals shortstop greeted Joel Payamps with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth, putting the Brewers into a two-run hole.

The floodgates opened from there, with five of the ensuing six batters reaching base as the deficit stretched to 6-2. The final two hitters in that spell weren't the fault of Payamps; in both cases shaky defense let him down.

Gary Sánchez draws Milwaukee closer

Sánchez, who made a terrific defensive play to save a run in the fifth inning, produced one of his own when he homered to right-center to open the seventh and brought the Brewers to within 3-2.

Oliver Dunn followed with a walk and moved up to second on a groundout. Turang then singled to left only to have Dunn thrown out on a close play at the plate. It's unusual to see a player not score in that situation, so Dunn's jump must not have been a good one.

A pitcher's duel breaks out

Singer had traffic on the bases against him in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but the Brewers were unable to break through with any more runs. Will Smith replaced Singer after a sixth-inning single by Willy Adames and finished out the frame.

Ross, meanwhile, allowed only three baserunners in his five innings. But the last one was big as Bobby Witt Jr. drew a one-out walk in the sixth, motored from first to third on a single to center off Bryan Hudson and then scored on yet another sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Ross threw 67 pitches on the day.

Doubles aplenty in the first inning

Brice Turang and William Contreras doubled to start the game against Singer, giving Milwaukee a quick 1-0 lead.

Kansas City quickly regained the lead though as its first two batters also doubled, with the second -- Bobby Witt Jr. -- catching a lucky break when centerfielder Blake Perkins slipped and fell on what would have been a routine out.

Two straight sacrifice flies then gave the Royals the 2-1 lead.

Brewers lineup

  • Brice Turang 2B

  • William Contreras C

  • Christian Yelich DH

  • Willy Adames SS

  • Jake Bauers LF

  • Sal Frelick RF

  • Gary Sánchez 1B

  • Oliver Dunn 3B

  • Blake Perkins CF

Royals lineup

  • Maikel Garcia 3B

  • Bobby Witt Jr. SS

  • Vinnie Pasquantino 1B

  • Michael Massey DH

  • Hunter Renfroe RF

  • Adam Frazier 2B

  • MJ Melendez LF

  • Freddy Fermin C

  • Kyle Isbel CF

Brewers schedule

Brewers vs. Cardinals, Thursday 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers (0-2, 6.23) vs. St. Louis RHP Sonny Gray (4-1, 0.89). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers vs. Cardinals, Friday 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. St. Louis TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers vs. Cardinals, Saturday 6:15 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (3-1, 3.49) vs. St. Louis TBA. TV – FOX. Radio – AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers vs Royals: Some good, some bad in the seventh inning

Advertisement