Let’s play two! After the Brewers won what was ultimately a tense game in the first leg of today’s doubleheader, they’ll take on the Royals a second time after a couple hours off for, presumably, pancakes.
Tonight’s pitching matchup was originally scheduled as Milwaukee’s Brandon Sproat versus Kansas City’s Seth Lugo, a 2024 All-Star. But a surprise was announced before the second game of the doubleheader: tonight’s 27th man, Logan Henderson, will start the game, with Sproat following out of the bullpen.
Henderson will function more as an opener than a “bulk” guy today, as he’s still working his pitch count up after he was put slightly behind schedule during spring training by what was called “mild elbow discomfort.” While anything elbow-related is concerning, Henderson did start on Tuesday for Triple-A Nashville. In that game, he threw 45 pitches on his way to three sharp innings: no runs, one hit, one walk, five strikeouts. Henderson, of course, made five excellent starts for the Brewers in 2025 (a 1.78 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings) but spent most of last season in Nashville before a flexor strain prematurely ended his season. This will be Henderson’s sixth career appearance and start, but don’t expect him to throw more than 50-60 pitches.
Sproat was knocked around by the White Sox last Sunday in what was his fifth career start and first as a Brewer. He allowed seven runs on six hits, three of them homers, in just three innings, and Chicago looked almost like they knew what was coming. But if that rattled Sproat’s confidence in himself, his confidence in his teammates should be sky high: while Sproat left the game in a 7-2 hole, the Brewers’ offense scored seven runs late, six of them in the eighth inning, and came from behind for a 9-7 win.
Lugo has made one start this season, and it was quite a good one. Also last Sunday, Lugo blanked the Braves for 6 1/3 innings, in which he scattered five hits and didn’t walk anyone. Lugo isn’t a young man anymore at age 36, but he had his best season just two years ago when he had a 3.00 ERA in over 200 innings and finished second in Cy Young voting. Last season, Lugo was 8-7 with a 4.15 ERA — basically exactly league-average — but a concerning 5.09 FIP. He’s not a big strikeout pitcher, but generally does well keeping runners off base.
Lugo is right-handed, but the Brewers are rotating some players into the lineup for the night game. Gary Sánchez will be behind the plate, Blake Perkins takes over for Brandon Lockridge in left field, and Joey Ortiz is in at shortstop, with David Hamilton moving over to third and Luis Rengifo to the bench. Christian Yelich will remain the designated hitter for game two. Jonathan India and Carter Jensen are in the lineup for game two, with Salvador Perez moving from behind the plate to DH. Nick Loftin and Starling Marte (who is definitely on the Royals), who started this afternoon, are on the bench.
Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill all pitched in the early game, so if there’s a save situation in game two, somebody who isn’t necessarily used to saving games will be out there. Ángel Zerpa and Jared Koenig are both available as lefties, but if the Brewers like a right-handed matchup better in the ninth inning, that basically just leaves Grant Anderson. Jake Woodford and DL Hall are also presumably available out of the bullpen. Speaking of bullpens, the Royals’ 27th man tonight will be righty reliever Eli Morgan.
First pitch for the nightcap is at 6:10 p.m., and the game can be seen on Brewers TV.