Camp report: A's rough up Garza in 11-1 romp
On the field: Matt Garza’s final start in Arizona ended badly, with Oakland scoring five runs in the third inning to send him from the game. Garza compiled an 8.59 ERA with 25 hits allowed in 14 2/3 innings but said he spent most of the spring working on a different way to pitch and thought he made progress.
“It’s just frustrating because I feel like I’m right there, and the inner me wanted to revert to survival mode,” Garza said. “I didn’t want to give in. I think I just overpitched and was out there thinking too much and trying to do too much instead of just attacking the zone.
“I’ve been committed to this off-speed thing, and I just want to find a happy medium from where I was and where I am, and not forget what got me here and what’s helped me stick around for all this time. … I have to find that balance. It’s going to come. I know it’s there.”
As for his spring in general, Garza said, “I took my lumps and I really took it on the chin but it’s going to help me. It’s frustrating and upsetting, but at the same time I know I got a lot of stuff done.”
Manager Craig Counsell said Garza's attempt to alter his style of pitching was "a necessary process."
"He had some success with it toward the end of last year," Counsell said. "Today just wasn't a good day. I don't think we're going to see big progress in 15 to 20 innings. He had two great innings to start the game today. Then, when he got in the stretch, things just fell apart a little bit."
Ryan Braun accounted for the Brewers' lone run with a homer in the fourth, his second of the spring.
Other teams know the Brewers have extra starting pitching and the Texas Rangers had scouts look at one of them, Wily Peralta, on Saturday when he pitched five-plus shutout innings. Peralta is signed for $4.275 million this season and can't be a free agent until after the 2019 season.
The Brewers made a minor-league deal, acquiring catcher Tyler Heineman from Houston for a player to be named later or cash. Heineman, 25, played at Class AAA Fresno last season, batting .259 with three homers and 14 RBI in 73 games.
BOX SCORE: A's 11, Brewers 1
NOTES: Brewers option Suter to minor-league camp
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Cactus juice: Before surrendering a game-deciding home run in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday against Kansas City, non-roster reliever Rob Scahill had not allowed a run that spring. On Sunday morning, Counsell joked that surrendering no runs has its privileges.
“If you don’t give up any runs, you can do what you want,” Counsell said. “I have no rules for guys who don’t give up any runs. You’re exempt from all team rules if you never give up a run. That’s a good rule, isn’t it?”
Weather: Sunny, 82 degrees.
Scoreboard: Athletics 11, Brewers 1. Record: 14-15-1. Monday: Off day.
Countdown: Seven days until opening day, April 3, against Colorado at Miller Park.