It’s a three-game winning streak for the Milwaukee Brewers, and a successful major-league debut for Caleb Durbin.
The rookie third baseman went 2 for 4, scored a run and made a great defensive play at third base and Christian Yelich drove in a season-high three runs to spark a 5-3 victory over the A’s at American Family Field on Friday night, April 18.
BOX SCORE:Brewers 5, Athletics 3
Durbin, recalled from Class AAA Nashville earlier in the day, reached on an infield single in his first at-bat to get himself into the record books as he got the start at third base and hit out of the ninth spot.
Freddy Peralta started and pitched five strong innings to improve to 2-1 on the season for Milwaukee.
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It got interesting late
Nursing a four-run lead, manager Pat Murphy handed the ninth inning to Bryan Hudson.
He responded by issuing two straight one-out walks and then an RBI double to Brent Rooker, forcing Murphy to turn to closer Trevor Megill with Tyler Soderstrom, the home-run leader in the majors, due up.
Megill ultimately got Soderstrom to settle for a sacrifice fly and struck out Shea Langeliers to lock down his second save.
Caleb Durbin sparks another rally
Durbin, leading off the Brewers’ seventh, blooped a single to short left that Miguel Andujar rushed in and got a glove on but couldn’t catch.
Brice Turang followed by bunting, a play that pitcher Jacob Lopez botched. Durbin and Turang then pulled off a double steal on a flyout to right by Jackson Chourio, a play that displayed Durbin’s athleticism as he slid head-first into third, hustled back to second and then went back to third when the throw in got away from the cutoff man.
Yelich’s grounder drove Durbin in, then William Contreras singled to score Turang to make it 5-1.
Freddy Peralta works hard to get through five innings
The A’s might be young, but they showed tremendous patience at the plate and that took its toll on Peralta’s pitch count after the first inning.
They also racked up seven singles and walked once, bending Peralta, but he never broke. In both the fourth and fifth innings they put two on but he used a 6-4-3 double play and then a flyout to right to escape with the shutout intact.
Peralta threw 93 pitches in all and finished with five strikeouts, a season low.
A two-out rally by the Brewers in the fifth also handed Nick Mears a 3-0 lead with which to work when Turang legged out an infield hit and Chourio walked to chase Ginn, and Yelich greeted Lopez by pulling a run-scoring single to right.
The A’s got that run back, however, with a leadoff walk coming back to bite Mears. The free pass, issued to JJ Bleday, accounted for the first baserunner allowed by Mears in six appearances this season.
Rookie Caleb Durbin provides early excitement
Durbin was recalled from Class AAA Nashville earlier in the day, started at third base and hit ninth.
With plenty of family members and friends from Lake Forest, Ill. cheering him on, he strode to the plate for his first at-bat with one out in the third and on JT Ginn’s third pitch hit a towering fly ball to left field that looked like a home run off the bat but ended up hooking foul by about two feet.
No matter. Durbin got back into the box and two pitches later and pounded a 95-mph sinker into the ground and beating Gio Urshela’s throw to first for his first major-league hit.
Durbin was forced at second one batter later on Turang’s grounder, but Chourio followed with a run-scoring double to left and Yelich laced an opposite-field single to left giving Milwaukee the 2-0 lead.
What time is the Brewers game?
Time: 7:10 p.m. CT
What channel is the Brewers game on tonight? TV, stream
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Christian Yelich DH
- William Contreras C
- Sal Frelick RF
- Jake Bauers 1B
- Joey Ortiz SS
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Caleb Durbin 3B
Athletics lineup
- Lawrence Butler RF
- Brent Rooker DH
- Tyler Soderstrom 1B
- Shea Langeliers C
- JJ Bedlay CF
- Jacob Wilson SS
- Miguel Andujar LF
- Gio Urshela 3B
- Max Muncy 2B
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. A’s, 6:10 p.m. April 19: Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 1.76) vs. A’s right-hander Luis Severino (0-3, 4.01). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. A’s, 1:10 p.m. April 20 Milwaukee TBA vs. A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-1, 4.50). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
