If Tyler Black is playing for a roster spot, he’s off to a good start this spring. He collected three more hits this afternoon as the Brewers won their third straight game, 5-1 over the Rangers.
Black started his day out with a double in the first inning, though the Brewers didn’t manage anything else. In the next inning, Eddys Leonard and Luis Lara led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. Lara ended up getting caught stealing second, and Leonard was left stranded at third.
On the mound, Aaron Ashby made his first spring appearance. It started a little rough, with back-to-back singles allowed with two outs in the first. Ashby left them stranded to escape the first scoreless. He allowed another single to Josh Smith to start the second, but picked Smith off as he tried to steal second. Ashby allowed a walk after that, but a double play ended the inning. Overall, Ashby allowed three hits and a walk over two innings without recording a strikeout.
The Brewers scored first in the third inning. Brandon Lockridge was hit by a pitch with one out, then Black singled to put runners at the corners for the second straight inning. Gary Sánchez drove in the first run with an RBI single to center, putting Milwaukee up 1-0. Plate patience paid off from there, with Leonard and Lara drawing back-to-back walks to bring in the second run.
In the next inning, Cooper Pratt hit a leadoff single, and Lockridge added a one-out single to put runners at the corners for the third straight inning. Black brought them both in with an RBI triple hit hard to right field, putting the Brewers up 4-0. It was Black’s third hit of the day and left him a home run short of the cycle. He would get a chance to complete the cycle in the sixth, but struck out for his only out of the day. Including that strikeout, he is now 8-for-12 this spring.
DL Hall pitched the third and fourth innings for the Brewers. He allowed a single and a walk in the third inning but did not allow either to score. In the fourth, former Brewer Danny Jansen led off the inning for the Rangers with a single. A wild pitch from Hall allowed Jansen to get to second, and Ezequiel Durán drove him in with an RBI single. Hall had a second wild pitch in the inning, but did not allow another run to score. He finished the day with one run, three hits, and one walk allowed, with one strikeout.
The Brewers’ fifth run came in the ninth inning with the reserves in the game. Dasan Brown drew a leadoff walk to start the inning. With one out, Brock Wilken pinch-hit for Sánchez. During the at-bat, Brown stole second, but Rangers’ catcher Ben Hartl had a throwing error on the play that allowed Brown reach third. Wilken finished the at-bat with a walk, and Luis Castillo followed with a single to score Brown.
On offense, the Brewers had 11 hits and five walks as a team. Lockridge reached base three times with a hit, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Leonard and Lara had a hit and a walk each. Several other Brewers also reached base at least once.
Out of the bullpen, Grant Anderson pitched a clean fifth and recorded a strikeout in his spring debut. Craig Yoho had to work around a hit and a walk in the sixth, but finished the inning scoreless with a strikeout. Jacob Waguespack followed that with a clean seventh inning, striking out one. Tate Kuehner closed out the final two innings, allowing just one hit while striking out four.
The Brewers are back home tomorrow to play the White Sox. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. CT, and it will be on the Brewers Radio Network.