Photo Credit: Gregory Harutunian
American Family Field
American Family Field
While the NBA Championship Game turned Milwaukee into the epicenter for pro sports Tuesday, the first-place Brewers were unable to put together a consistent attack and overcome two massive home runs by Kansas City in a 5-2 loss, at American Family Field. They missed a chance to pad their National League Central Division lead but remain seven games ahead of the second-place Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers (56-40) got into trouble from the start, as pitcher Brett Anderson (2-5) walked a batter, then committed a balk, and allowed a single giving the Royals (38-55) a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, the Brewers went in front 2-1, when catcher Manny Pina hit a sharp single to left field with the bases loaded, scoring Avisail Garcia and Tyrone Taylor.
KC’s Jorge Soler tied the score in the fourth inning with his eighth homer this season, a 430-foot shot that banged the center field backboard. Anderson was pulled after five innings. Hunter Strickland worked into the seventh, when Ryan O’Hearn hit a 445-foot homer that also struck the center field backboard with a man on, and a 4-2 Royals lead.
The Brewers tried to come back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out on three singles by first baseman Keston Hiura, Pina, and second baseman Kolton Wong. Shortstop Willy Adames ended the threat bouncing into a 6-4-3 double play. Brewers’ pitcher Miguel Sanchez took over and had difficulty finding the strike zone, walking two batters. In the top of the eighth, Salvador Perez hit a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Taylor for a 5-2 KC lead that closed out the scoring.
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Strickland (0-1) took the loss, with announced attendance at 20,140. Brewers’ management had also changed the game time to a 3:10 p.m. afternoon slot to avoid a conflict with the start of the Bucks-Phoenix Suns contest at Fiserv Forum, four miles away from the ballpark. The Brewers play the Royals on Wed., and a three-game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.
