After a long, eventful winter, the Milwaukee Brewers were back in action on Saturday afternoon in Phoenix, as they hosted the Cleveland Guardians. While the results don’t matter much (besides for the coveted Cactus League Cup), the Brewers did go down 9-6 in this one.
Garrett Stallings worked around a pair of singles to begin the afternoon, as Reese McGuire threw out a runner on the basepaths before Stallings induced two flyouts.
The Brewer offense hit the ground running in the bottom of the inning, as Brice Turang singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a Jackson Chourio single. With runners at the corners, Akil Baddoo cashed Turang in with a sac fly to make it 1-0 early. Joey Ortiz followed with a strikeout, and Tyler Black grounded out to end the inning.
Blake Holub followed Stallings on the mound, working around a leadoff single for a scoreless second.
Brandon Lockridge tacked on another run for Milwaukee to lead off the second, slugging the first homer of spring on a no-doubt 440-foot bomb out to left. One batter later, David Hamilton struck out on the first Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge of the spring, as catcher Austin Hedges got what was called ball three overturned to strike three.
In the third, Will Childers worked around another single for the Guardians, keeping the lead at 2-0. The top of Milwaukee’s lineup went down in order in the bottom of the inning, as Turang and Baddoo both struck out.
Cleveland finally put together a strong offensive inning against Jaron DeBerry in the fourth, picking up three walks paired with a throwing error (by DeBerry), a passed ball, and a double to make it 3-2 before all was said and done.
Milwaukee’s offense had a response in the bottom of the frame, as Black and Lockridge hit back-to-back one-out singles before executing a double steal to put runners at second and third. Hamilton followed with a two-run double, putting the Brewers back ahead at 4-3. Also of note: Jackson Chourio’s brother, Jaison, entered at the beginning of the inning, replacing Chase DeLauter in center.
In the fifth, we got to see Jett Williams for the first time this spring, as he replaced Turang at second. Tyson Hardin also entered on the mound and, after a walk to begin the inning, picked up a pair of outs on a strikeout and a flyout. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get that third out quickly, as he allowed a single to George Valera before Nolan Jones slugged a 421-foot three-run homer to right-center field to give the Guardians a 6-4 lead.
The Guardians swapped out most of the rest of their lineup in the bottom of the fifth, and despite loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, Milwaukee was unable to produce any runs.
Milwaukee then put in a few more prospects defensively in the sixth, as Josh Adamczewski replaced Baddoo in left, top prospect Jesús Made replaced Ortiz at short, and Luke Adams replaced Black at first.
Brett Wichrowski also took over the mound, recording a strikeout and a flyout before walking a pair and giving up a three-run homer to catcher Cooper Ingle, stretching Cleveland’s lead to 9-4. The inning wouldn’t end there, though, as Wichrowski gave up two more singles before finally getting a flyout to end the frame.
The Brewers went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, and after a few more substitutions (Luis Peña replaced Hamilton, Matthew Wood replaced McGuire, and Greg Jones replaced Lara), Edwin Jimenez worked a perfect seventh for Milwaukee.
In the bottom of the inning, Williams gave one a ride out to center, but Jaison Chourio was able to run it down. Brock Wilken, entering for Jackson Chourio, worked a walk and moved up on a passed ball but was stranded there.
Jordyn Adams replaced Lockridge in center in the eighth, and Manuel Rodriguez worked a perfect inning. Against Zane Morehouse in the bottom of the inning, Luke Adams walked and Peña singled to put two runners on with one out. Wood flew out, advancing Adams to third, and Peña then stole second before Jones hit a two-run single to cut the deficit to 9-6 through eight frames.
Mark Manfredi worked around a walk in the ninth for a scoreless inning, and it came down to Xavier Martinez on the mound for Cleveland. The Brewers were able to draw a pair of walks to put the tying run at the plate, but they weren’t able to cash in as Martinez closed out the game.
In a 15-run, 20-hit game, there were 19 pitchers (10 for Milwaukee, nine for Cleveland) and 36 position players (18 for each side).
Jackson Chourio, who had a huge spring in 2025 (.469/.509/.714 with a homer, nine doubles, eight RBIs, and 13 runs over 17 games), got off to another hot start, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles this afternoon. Lockridge scored two runs on a pair of hits, including a homer.
On the mound, the Stallings, Holub, Childers, Broca, Jimenez, Rodriguez, and Manfredi all worked scoreless innings, though as a staff, Milwaukee allowed nine runs (eight hits) on 10 hits and eight walks.
The Crew is back in action with a split-squad day tomorrow afternoon. The road squad faces off against the White Sox at 2:05 p.m. CT on Brewers TV, while the Brewers will host the Royals at 2:10 p.m. on 94.5 ESPN Radio and across the Brewers Radio Network.