Morgan Beaned As Brewers Swept In Split-Squad

After a 12-2 win yesterday, the Brewers fell back down to earth, dropping a pair of split-squad games. A team that included Rickie Weeks, Aramis Ramirez, John Axford, and Chris Narveson dropped a 1-6 contest to the Cubs, and a squad including Nyjer Morgan, Carlos Gomez, and Mat Gamel lost to the Giants 3-13. Neither of these games were rife with highlights, but I’m going to run through some of them anyway:

(My game write-up is going to look a little different than what Andy usually does, as I’m just going to prepare a list of notes instead of a true game story.)   

The Cubs game:

Chris Narveson had a very solid start, John Axford and Mark Rogers both added clean outings, Rickie Weeks was Rickie Weeks, and Logan Schafer was great, but not much else went the Brewers’ way in a 1-6 loss. Now, some thoughts:

— Chris Narveson had a good outing, allowing two hits and a dinger to Starlin Castro in 3 2/3 innings, while walking none and striking out three. Narveson has been having a nice Spring, and he looked really good today. His command was sharp, and the homerun he allowed wasn’t a terrible location, just a 2-0 offering that Castro appeared to be sitting on.

— Logan Schafer continued his torrid start to camp, adding in a double and triple as part of a 3-for-3 day. Yes, he’s only had 11 at-bats this Spring, but the loss of Corey Hart leaves one bench spot open for the Brewers, and Schafer and Caleb Gindl are the main candidates for that spot, in what should be one of the few interesting position battles in the weeks to come. Speaking of Weeks, Rickie had a double and a walk.

— In prospect news, Mark Rogers had an excellent fifth inning, pitching a perfect fifth inning while getting into the upper 90s with his fastball. Jed Bradley, last year’s first-rounder, had an up-and-down eighth, sitting at 89-91 MPH and showing solid breaking stuff, but his command was a little off and he surrendered a couple less-than-solid hits. The lefty allowed two runs while striking out two.

The Giants game:

A team bearing some resemblance to the Milwaukee Brewers took its lumps against the Giants, especially Nyjer Morgan. 

— It wasn’t a good day to be a Brewer pitcher. Wily Peralta started, walking three and allowing four runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. His replacement, minor leaguer Darren Byrd, was hit hard, as was Mike Fiers. One of the few bright spots was Tyler Thornburg, who allowed just one hit and struck out two over eight outs in the third, fourth, and fifth, while most of the Giants’ big-leaguers were still in the game.

— The Brewers’ bats were mostly dormant as well, but Mat Gamel continues to impress, chipping in a single and a home run today. Caleb Gindl made his own case to replace Hart (at least on a part-time basis), knocking in two hits.

— In the second at-bat of the game, Nyjer Morgan was hit in the head by a Barry Zito fastball, and left the game later with a headache. Apparently, he’s all right, but it’s also apparent that the Giants, and Zito in particular, just can’t live and let die. You may remember Prince Fielder’s walk-off homer against the Giants in 2009, and the ensuing celebration that really pissed them off (video is pretty poor, but it was the best I could find). You may also remember Zito beaning Fielder in the first Spring Training game the following year, or their little shouting match in 2011. Fielder is gone now, but the Giants appear determined to create an artificial feud out of a slightly-over-the-top celebration that was done two years ago by a player no longer with the team they’re going after. Maybe Zito didn’t mean to fire a heater at the noggin of the Brewers’ most fiery and arguably most recognizable player, and maybe there’s other issues between the two teams that I don’t know about, but this all seems eminently stupid. Grow up, people.

   

               

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