Camp report: Brewers fall to White Sox
On the field: The Brewers had a six-game winning streak snapped Friday, as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Chicago White Sox at Maryvale Baseball Park and a 6-3 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields.
Ryan Braun went 0 for 1 with a walk in his first spring action against Chicago. Milwaukee got a solo home run from Art Charles in the seventh and a two-run shot from Lewis Brinson in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead, but Yoan Moncada's two-run double in the top of the ninth decided it.
Brinson has homered in two of his last three games. Tommy Milone started and went 2 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs (earned). The Brewers got scoreless relief from Joba Chamberlain, Jhan Mariñez and Corey Knebel and then another two scoreless from Aaron Wilkerson before Moncada's double, which glanced off Brinson's glove in center.
"I liked how our relievers pitched today," manager Craig Counsell said. "That was kind of the note I took from it today. Tommy Milone did a nice job. His cutter was pretty good today, got the changeup going a little bit. I thought he got better as the game went on."
Michael Reed had the lone multi-hit game for the Brewers against the Diamondbacks, while Kirk Nieuwenhuis homered and Brett Phillips drove in a pair of runs with a single. Starter Chase Anderson allowed two hits and an unearned run in three innings, while reliever Brent Suter was roughed up for four hits and three earned runs.
Cactus juice: It was an interesting setup when Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Chung Wang met with the American media earlier this week. No longer with the services of translator Jay Hsu, whom he utilized during his major-league stint in 2014, Wang spoke a little bit of English while leaning on Class AA Biloxi hitting coach Sandy Guerrero to get him through the rough spots. So Guerrero, a native Dominican, translated Mandarin Chinese into English for the media with relative ease. Guerrero later explained that he speaks seven languages as a result of his world baseball travels, including Mandarin, Japanese, Italian and French.
NOTES: Cactus League debut a success for Braun
D'AMATO: Prospects flash their talent
BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 3
BOX SCORE: White Sox 4, Brewers 3
Weather: 83, sunny.
Scoreboard: White Sox 4, Brewers 3; Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 3. Record: 8-7. Saturday: Brewers vs. Padres, 2:05 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza (1-0, 6.00) vs. San Diego TBA. TV – FS Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
Countdown: 23 days until opening day, April 3, against Colorado at Miller Park.