Brewers top Royals, 5-2

A short squad of Kansas City Royals took on the Milwaukee Brewers in Surprise, Arizona this afternoon. The starting pitchers were Brandon Woodruff for Milwaukee and Brad Keller for Kansas City.

The game turned out well for the Brew Crew, but the Royals did strike first in the first inning. Woodruff issued a walk to Alex Gordon who advanced to second on a single by Salvador Perez. Ryan O’Hearn followed with a double scoring Gordon for the first run of the game.

Milwaukee would answer in the top of the third. Ronny Rodriguez reached on a bunt single. Keon Broxton and Eric Sogard would hit singles as well. Playing station to station, the Brewers loaded the bases with one out. Orlando Arcia was able to lift a fly ball to right field that allowed Rodriguez to tag up and score making it 1-1.

Kansas City would take the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan O’ Hearn belted a solo shot over the right field wall to put the Royals up 2-1.

The Brewers would take the lead and take it for good in the top of the seventh. Logan Morrison led things off with a single to center field. Morrison was replaced by pinch-runner Korry Howell. Howell utilized his speed advancing to third on a single by Mark Mathias to right field. Mathias would steal second putting runners two runners in scoring position. Ronny Rodriguez came through with a single to left field that plated both runners.

The Brewers would tack on two more runs in the top of the ninth to make it a 5-2 lead. Ryan Aguilar led things off with a walk. Weston Wilson followed with a triple to right, driving in Aguilar. Wilson would later score on a groundout by Joe Gray.

Along with the win, the biggest thing coming out of the game was Brandon Woodruff pitching four innings while striking out five. Josh Hader also pitched a scoreless fifth inning. Bobby Wahl gave up a run in the sixth, but was credited for the win. Justin Grimm, Mike Morin, and Phil Bickford all appeared and pitched effectively.

The Brewers will play a night game tomorrow against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. Freddy Peralta is slated to get the ball for the Brewers, while Walker Buehler is the scheduled starter for the Dodgers. Game time is 8:05 CT. The game can be heard on WTMJ 620.