Meet outfielder Daz Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history
Meet outfielder Dazmon Jaroid Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history. Cameron was acquired through a trade with Baltimore and spent a short time with Nashville before being called up.
Never before in franchise history has an offense scuffled the way the Milwaukee Brewers are right now.
Three singles, three walks and a hit batter were all they could muster at American Family Field on Saturday night, May 17, against the white-hot Minnesota Twins, with the end result being a 7-0 blanking – the Brewers’ second straight, fourth in five games and sixth of the month.
“It’s a hard game,” said first baseman Rhys Hoskins, whose seventh-inning base hit was his team’s last. “Yes, we stink right now as an offense, and that’s just the reality of it. But we know the type talent we have, we know the way that we prepare and I think all we can do is try to get ready to salvage the series tomorrow.”
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While Minnesota reeled off its 13th straight victory, Milwaukee was just plain reeling after losing seven of its last nine. The team is now four games under .500 for the second time this season at 21-25 and first time since being bludgeoned by the New York Yankees and starting 0-4.
The offense didn’t deserve all the blame in this one, with 11 of the season-high 18 hits allowed by the Brewers pitching staff coming at the expense of Tobias Myers and the defense – leftfielder Jake Bauers in particular – also playing a role.
But it’s 18 scoreless innings and counting going into the series finale Sunday, a number that will continue to haunt until the offense can finally push a run across against a Twins staff that’s not allowed a run in a team-record 33 straight innings.
“It’s kind of indicative of how much they care, to be quite honest with you,” said manager Pat Murphy. “I know people might not understand that, but they care a great deal. They want to get it right.
“Everyone’s trying. I always talk about divided attention. Like, ‘Oh, we might lose. Oh, we’re four games or five games under. Oh, we might not go to the playoffs this year.’ It’s on our minds, and that’s just dividing the attention of being in the moment, right now.
“To stay undaunted, which we used to talk about, means the mental toughness to stay in the now. It’s really, really hard, and it’s hard when you care a lot. But caring a lot isn’t enough.”
A struggle all night for Tobias Myers
Three pitches into his first start since being recalled from Class AAA Nashville, Myers left a fastball out over the plate that Ryan Jeffers sent 105.3 mph out to left-center to leave the Brewers in a quick 1-0 hole.
It was the second homer allowed by Myers in six appearances this season, and the first since his first start on April 24.
Then after Turang was stranded at third in the bottom of the first, Minnesota tacked onto its lead in the second when Royce Lewis smacked a leadoff double to left and Christian Vázquez singled him in with two outs.
Bauers misplayed a leadoff drive to left in the third by Jeffers into a double. That was followed by a Brooks Lee single and then a drive to right-center by Ty France that Sal Frelick laid out for and gloved with a marvelous effort only to see the glove fall off his hand as he hit the warning track.
That resulted in a run, making it a 3-0 game. Kody Clemens followed with a single to right, but this time Frelick gained a measure of revenge as he fired a strike home to cut Lee down at home trying to score.
After Myers retired the first two batters in the fourth, Minnesota used three straight singles to up its lead to 4-0 and chase him.
While Myers wasn’t helped at times by the defense behind him, he still was hit extremely hard (five 105.3-mph-plus contacts by the Twins) as he allowed a career-high 11 hits over 71 pitches.
Had he been allowed to remain at Class AAA Nashville to work out some of the kinks, Myers (1-1) might have returned in a better place. But with Milwaukee’s injury situation there was little choice but to bring him back up, and his ensuing start did not leave a positive impression.
“He threw a lot of balls in the middle of the plate,” said Murphy. “They were hunting the ball in the upper half. You’ve got to sense that and go someplace different. You have to command the ball a little bit better in that upper half of the zone. It was a little flat.
“You’ve got to get the changeup going. You saw it a little bit (later); he was a little better with it. But yeah, that’s why we were sending him back to Triple-A – and I love the kid, man. You saw it in Game 3 last year (in the playoffs). That’s in there.
“So, we’ve got to get back to that.”
Pablo López dominated
Grant Anderson allowed a leadoff homer to Clemens in the fifth. Then, Bauers misplayed another ball in left to start the sixth, leaving to a leadoff triple for Trevor Larnach. He came in to score two batters later, and Minnesota had a single run in each of the first six innings – something of a statistical oddity.
Minnesota starter Pablo López, taking the baton from Joe Ryan and his nine-strikeout performance Friday, dominated.
He allowed a couple singles to Brice Turang, with the first being hit sharply off his backside, and a couple walks while striking out six over six innings.
Milwaukee threatened to dent the scoreboard in the seventh when Hoskins’s single, a Bauers walk and Caleb Durbin plunking by ex-Brewer Justin Topa loaded the bases.
But Isaac Collins popped out to Topa and Turang grounded out.
The Twins tacked on a final run in the ninth, while the Brewers went down in order in the eighth and ninth, sending what remained of the sellout crowd of 40,267 home disappointed yet again.
“Those guys have kept us off-balance and made pitches when they’ve needed to,” Hoskins said. “But the reality is there’s good pitching all over the league, including in our rotation. You’ve just got to keep walking up to the box. That’s the only way this turns around, is to have the confidence that we’re prepared and we’re going at it the right way and that things are going to turn.”
What time is the Brewers game tonight?
Time: 6:15 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on tonight?
TV channel: FOX
Twins lineup
- Trevor Larnach RF
- Ryan Jeffers DH
- Brooks Lee SS
- Ty France 1B
- Kody Clemens 2B
- Royce Lewis 3B
- Harrison Bader LF
- DaShawn Keirsey Jr. CF
- Christian Vázquez C
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio CF
- Christian Yelich DH
- William Contreras C
- Sal Frelick RF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Jake Bauers LF
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Joey Ortiz SS
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Twins, 1:10 p.m. May 18. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (4-3, 2.66) vs. Minnesota RHP Zebby Matthews (2025 debut). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Orioles, 6:40 p.m. May 19. Milwaukee RHP Quinn Priester (1-2, 4.59) vs. Baltimore TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Orioles, 6:40 p.m. May 20. Milwaukee RHP Logan Henderson (2-0, 42.45) vs. Baltimore TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Orioles, 12:10 p.m. May 21. Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (2-4, 3.35) vs. Baltimore TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
