Brewers overcome early speed bumps to win 7-2 against White Sox

Peralta rebounds from shaky first inning as Brewers win big

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers took a decisive 7-2 win against the White Sox, even after the teams traded blows with three home runs in the first inning.

Isaac Collins kicked off the festivities with his first career home run in the first inning. That early lead quickly turned to a deficit, though, once the Brewers took the field. Starter Freddy Peralta surrendered back-to-back home runs against Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert. Both came against Peralta’s fastball.

While this was a shaky start, Peralta rebounded to put together a great performance. He pitched six innings without allowing a run outside of that first inning. He was much better from that point on, working his fastball in the zone. In fact, he only allowed one baserunner to reach second base after the first.

As for the offense, take a pick of anyone, and they probably did something. That early 2-1 deficit was nothing when taking a quick peek at the Brewers’ box score. Everyone played a role at some point in the game as each starter got on base at least once.

Both teams were slow in the second through fifth innings, but then the Brewers became relentless. In the sixth, Joey Ortiz got to first on a weak hit and proceeded to steal second. He would score once William Contreras poked a single to the opposite field, bringing the game equal at 2-2.

The White Sox intentionally walked Rhys Hoskins to load the bases in order to bring up Sal Frelick. The Chicago pitcher, Brandon Eisert, had already looked wild, and it came back to bite him when he beaned Frelick. It was an awkward ball, hitting Frelick near the inside of the elbow, and he was visibly in pain but remained in the game.

That gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead, one they wouldn’t give up. The Brewers are known for small ball, which they did well, but the White Sox certainly helped them along. Between walks and hit by pitches, Chicago gave the Brewers 12 free baserunners on the night.

After Frelick was hit, Caleb Durbin came through with a two-run single to open the margin to 5-2. Brice Turang nearly added to the score when he hit a weak groundball and beat out the throw. But Frelick, pushing for home plate, was tagged out as Andrew Vaughn threw him out.

The Brewers threatened again in the seventh inning with another bases-loaded situation, but Hoskins struck out to end the inning. The eighth was a bit of a fiasco with hardly anything looking like a threatening hit, yet the Brewers made good use of the smallest mistakes from Chicago.

It started when Frelick reached to lead off the inning with a bunt hit. Then, Durbin was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch advanced the runners, only for Turang to then reach on a fielding error by the third baseman, though it could’ve been ruled a single if the scorer was feeling nicer. Talk about small ball! They didn’t even need to get the ball out of the infield to load the bases.

Jackson Chourio brought home a run by hitting a chopped ground ball to third base. It was a close play as Chourio didn’t beat the throw, but the first base umpire ruled Vaughn’s foot came off the base. After review, the call stood, and Milwaukee still had the bases loaded with one out.

Collins came through with another RBI on a groundout to score Durbin. It gave the Brewers a 7-2 lead with the game nearing its close.

The bullpen was lethal for the Brewers with Abner Uribe and Craig Yoho both working scoreless innings. Joel Payamps came in for the ninth and kicked things off with a nasty strikeout. A pair of harmless pop-ups to Turang ended the game.

It was a wild game in some regards, but also a promising one. Players like Joey Ortiz made a mark. Amid these recent struggles, Ortiz was able to put together a multi-hit game, his first since April 11. He stole a pair of bags as well. While he left some runners on during a bases-loaded at-bat, it was a solid game from a struggling hitter.

The Brewers will continue their series against Chicago tomorrow. Tobias Myers will start for Milwaukee in his second start of the year against White Sox pitcher and former Brewers’ farmhand Shane Smith. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.