Five-run fifth sinks Brewers in 10-5 loss to Angels

It appears that there will be no Cactus Cup this spring for the Brewers, who dropped to 4-7-2 in preseason play after a 10-5 loss to the Angels.

Eric Lauer took the ball first for the Crew. He pitched into the fifth inning but only totaled 3 ²⁄₃ innings in the box score. Lauer was pulled with two outs in the first for Connor Sadzeck before being reinserted in the second. A walk to Matt Duffy to begin the fifth ended his outing.

It was a “working on stuff” day for Lauer, who surrendered six runs (all earned) on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He allowed one home run, a booming drive to the lawn in left-center by Halos left fielder Justin Upton. Lauer’s only scoreless inning came in the fourth.

The game got out of hand after Lauer departed. Nash Walters relieved him and allowed a bunt single, a walk, and a grand slam by Upton that was nearly identical to his first home run. Two batters later, Los Angeles tacked on one more run with a long ball off the batter’s eye by Jack Mayfield.

Brad Boxberger, Trevor Gott, J.C. Mejia, and Kent Hasler also saw action on the mound for the Brewers, combining for four scoreless frames.

Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the Angels. The two-way phenom flashed his blazing fastball and strong breaking stuff but battled his control, walking three and allowing three runs in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Willy Adames put the Brewers on the board in the first with a two-run double to left that scored Kolten Wong and Christian Yelich. In the fourth, Rowdy Tellez lifted a sacrifice fly that plated Andrew McCutchen for Milwaukee’s third run. Keston Hiura continued his hot spring with his fourth home run of camp in the sixth inning to cap off the scoring.

The Brewers will remain at American Family Fields of Pheonix for a contest against the Chicago Cubs tomorrow. Luis Perdomo will toe the rubber for the Crew opposite Keegan Thompson. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CDT.