Aoki Gets Best of Darvish, Leads Brewers to Win Over Rangers

(photo courtesy Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

In a matchup of the two newest Japanese imports it was the lesser known of the two who got the best of today’s Spring Training matchup as Norichika Aoki led the Brewers over Yu Darvish and the Rangers.  Aoki had three hits and three RBI’s in Milwaukee’s 5-3 victory today.  

The win moved the Brewers to 7-9 so far in Spring Training.  Aoki admittedly did most of his damage with Darvish out of the game, but he did manage one hit that plated the only run given up by Yu.

Here are the other highlights of the game:

– Aoki hit a two run triple in the sixth inning that keyed the Brewers comeback from a 3-1 deficit.  For the game he went 3-for-3.

– Brewers starter Randy Wolf went 5 innings, but was responsible for all 3 of the Rangers runs and gave up 10 hits in the start, which was easily his worst of the Spring so far.

– Kentrail Davis hit a home run in the eight inning to put the Brewers up by the 5-3 final score and boy was it a LOOONNNGG ONE!! 

– Second baseman Rickie Weeks had two walks, but also struck out twice as his averaged dipped to .300 for the Spring.

– 1B Travis Ishikawa continued to make a push for playing time as he had a hit, walked twice, but was left on base all three times.  He currently has a .310avg., 2HR, 5RBI ing Spring Training.

– The Brewers bullpen of Veras, Axford, Dillard, and McClendon were nearly flawless in their 4 innings of work as they held the Rangers scoreless and only gave up 2 hits while striking out 4.  It was especially great to see from Dillard who’s had a bit of a rough start to his Spring Training (minus the awesome Tim Kurkjian impression). 

Up next for the Brewers is another mid-day game as they take on the Dodgers in Glendale, AZ.  The game is set for 3:05 and will be televised on MLB.tv and there will be a free webcast of the audio.  

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