Brewers 6, Royals 2: Winning streak reaches eight games with sweep of two-game series

KANSAS CITY - It's called taking care of business.

The Milwaukee Brewers took advantage of the soft part of their April schedule in a big way, rolling to their eighth consecutive victory Wednesday night by toppling Kansas City, 6-2, at Kauffman Stadium.

The Brewers' longest winning streak in three years came at the expense of three last-place teams – Cincinnati, Miami and Kansas City – and came after a 10-4 thumping at the hands of the Reds to begin the last home stand. 

The offense came alive during that stretch, averaging 5.63 runs per game, but the pitching is what allowed the Brewers to boost their record to 16-9. Over those eight games, opponents scored a measly 14 runs, an average of 1.75.

BOX SCORE:Brewers 6, Royals 2

ANALYSIS:Pitching staff has been the key to Brewers' winning streak

NOTES:Eric Thames goes on DL with torn thumb ligament

MLB:Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics

The starting pitchers dominated the early action. Brewers righty Jhoulys Chacin retired the first 11 batters of the game before Mike Moustakas ended that spell by knocking a 1-1 changeup out to right for his seventh homer. 

Chacin needed only 30 pitches to get through the first four innings, and he embodied the phrase "pounding the strike zone" by throwing 24 strikes.

Kansas City's Jason Hammel also allowed no hits through the first three innings and survived a shot up the middle in the third by Lorenzo Cain that caromed off his leg right to shortstop Alcides Escobar, who threw to first for the out.

The Brewers finally broke through against Hammel in a big way in the fourth inning, scoring four runs. Christian Yelich drew his second walk and beat the throw to second on what became an infield hit to third by Ryan Braun.

Travis Shaw, who has been on a roll, yanked a double down the right-field line, scoring Yelich. Domingo Santana sent in another run on a sacrifice fly to right and reached base when Jorge Soler muffed the ball. 

Jesus Aguilar added another sacrifice fly that inning – one that was caught – and Jonathan Villar made it a four-run rally with an RBI groundout. 

Chacin found trouble in the sixth when Jon Jay led off with an infield hit and Whit Merrifield punched an opposite-field hit past the diving Aguilar at first, putting runners on the corners with one out. With help from Dan Jennings, who secured the third out, Chacin limited the damage to one run and the Brewers held a 4-2 lead.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

A BALANCING ACT: Beyond Eric Thames leading the club with seven home runs, his long-term loss to a thumb injury hurts the righty-lefty balance the Brewers had in their lineup. Jesús Aguilar, who will get  most of the playing time at first base, bats right-handed but was off to a tremendous start, batting .429 in 35 at-bats with a 1.116 OPS. “We’re going to be able to take advantage of him playing very well,” manager Craig Counsell said."He has hit right-handers as well (.455 this season).”

NEXT MAN UP: Though worse than others, Thames’ injury was the latest in a string of casualties dating back to spring training. It has tested the Brewers’ depth, but as Counsell noted, others have stepped in to fill the void. “You don’t plan for this stuff but you try to anticipate what could happen,” he said. “They are worse-case scenarios at times. We don’t want to plan for worse-case scenarios but they are always a possibility. We’ve been able to cover for a lot of things that have happened, and depth plays a big role in that.”

WOODRUFF BACK IN PEN: The Brewers recalled right-hander Brandon Woodruff, but to provide some length in the bullpen if they need it, not pitch as a starter as in the minors. There could be a change in the rotation soon, however. Left-hander Wade Miley will make his last scheduled minor-league rehab start Friday for Class AA Biloxi, after which the Brewers must decide whether to add him to their staff or allow him to be a free agent. “We’ll reassess after his outing on Friday and see where we want to go,” GM David Stearns said. “The good news is that he’s healthy and feels good. There’s still probably a little progress to be made on crispness of stuff but that’s natural when a pitcher has not pitched for a little while. But he’s healthy and the ball is coming out (of his hand) well, and that’s really what we’re looking for at this point.”

SANTANA'S POWER OUTAGE CONTINUES: Santana contributed a sacrifice fly in the fourth but his lack of power thus far this season has been puzzling. He has only one extra-base hit – a double – and entered the game with a .247 slugging percentage. To say the least, the first month has been a struggle.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: The Brewers' bullpen stretched its remarkable streak to 28 innings without allowing an earned run. It appeared in dire jeopardy in the eighth when the Royals put runners on the corners with no outs against Jacob Barnes. But Barnes popped up the next hitter and Josh Hader came in to strike out the next two hitters, keeping the streak going. 

RECORD

This year: 16-9.

Last year: 12-13.

COMING UP

Thursday: Brewers at Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (2-1, 3.25) vs. Chicago RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-1, 4.09). TV: FS Wisconsin Plus. Radio: FM-94.5.