Brewers 5, Royals 2: Winning streak reaches seven games, longest since 2015 season

Tom Haudricourt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

KANSAS CITY – The Milwaukee Brewers continued to fatten up on the bottom feeders Tuesday night. 

The Brewers took an early four-run lead and cruised to a 5-2 victory over Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium, extending their winning streak to seven games, longest since early July of the 2015 season.

The seven victories have come at the expense of three last-place teams: Cincinnati, Miami and the Royals. Those clubs have combined for 15 victories, the same total as the Brewers. 

But the Brewers' chief rivals also play these teams, so every victory counts. If a team is down, that's when the good teams are supposed to take advantage, and the Brewers have done exactly that. 

In his first game back in Kansas City after helping the Royals to consecutive World Series and one championship, Lorenzo Cain reached base four times in five trips with two walks, a home run and infield single.

The victory went to right-hander Zach Davies (2-2, 4.45), who battled for six innings to hold the Royals to two runs. Davies allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two.

The Brewers scored four of their runs off Royals starter Ian Kennedy in the third inning, with three coming on one swing of the bat. It got started with a leadoff hit by Jonathan Villar (3 for 3) and Cain later drew a one-out walk. Ryan Braun followed with a shot that caromed off Kennedy’s right foot for an RBI single, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 5, Royals 2

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Kennedy was attended to and opted to stay in the game, which he likely regretted immediately. Travis Shaw crushed a 2-2 fastball out to right, a 437-foot shot that made it 4-0.

It stayed 4-0 until the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Royals catcher Salvador Perez, playing his first game of the season after suffering a knee injury in spring camp, lofted a home run down the left-field line.

The Royals trimmed another run off the lead in the fifth after Alex Gordon, also fresh off the DL after suffering a hip injury, led off with double. Gordon moved to third on a grounder and scored on a sacrifice fly to left, making it 4-2.

Cain pushed the lead back to 5-2 in the seventh when he led off with an opposite-field home run to right-center, his third blast of the season.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS 

CAN’T SPELL LOVE WITHOUT ‘LO’: Cain was expecting a warm reaction from Royals fans in his return to Kansas City after six years with the club, but it probably exceeded expectations. As he was announced to hit to open the game, Cain received a prolonged standing ovation. He acknowledged the tribute by doffing his helmet to the fans on both sides. In a pregame media session, Cain acknowledged having some “chills and goose bumps” after arriving in KC and interacting with former teammates as well as fans. “I’m a little nervous, actually,” Cain said. “I don’t usually get nervous but I’m a little nervous.” The love from KC fans reached a new level in the seventh when Cain homered and was loudly cheered.

CHANGE OF PLANS:  The original pitching probables for the series had Chase Anderson pitching Wednesday against the Royals, but manager Craig Counsell decided to push Anderson back a day to face the division rival Cubs in Chicago. Jhoulys Chacín moved up a day to pitch against KC but still on normal rest because of the off-day Monday. “It was a multitude of things,” Counsell said of the move. “It was matchups for both of them, moving forward, looking ahead. That was the large part of it. Not just this start, but moving out ahead. We’re adding a day to Chase and taking a day away from Jhoulys, but it balances out on the back end with some of the off-days we have coming in early May.”

END OF A STREAK: Kennedy departed after the third inning with a bruised right foot, ending a notable strikeout streak. Kennedy had struck out at least one batter in his previous 273 appearances in the majors, which had been the second-longest active streak to begin a career. Boston’s David Price is the leader with 274 appearances with at least one K.

AN UNEXPECTED SACRIFICE: Shaw doubled his career total for sacrifice bunts with one in the seventh with two on and no outs. With the Royals’ infield shifted to the right side, Shaw dropped a bunt down the left side but third baseman Mike Moustakas fielded and threw to first for the out.

FINALLY, SOMETHING GOOD: Veteran reliever Blaine Boyer, who pitched for the Brewers in 2016 , pitched scoreless ball over the final two innings for the Royals, which was news in itself. Boyer had gotten off to a gosh-awful start in his first seven outings, allowing 15 hits and 19 runs (15 earned) in only six innings, with four home runs and six walks. Opponents were batting .469 against him.

RECORD

This year: 15-9.

Last year: 12-12.

COMING UP

Wednesday: Brewers at Royals, 7:15 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jhoulys Chacín vs. Kansas City RHP Jason Hammel (0-1, 3.20). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.