Bryse Wilson was a bright spot on a night when not much else went right for the Brewers
KANSAS CITY – On a Monday night when not much went right, the Milwaukee Brewers received another lift from an unlikely source.
Bryse Wilson, heretofore the bullpen's jack of all trades, stepped up again in a major way with his second consecutive six-inning start in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
And not only did Wilson provide the requisite innings – he was also really good.
The right-hander shook off control problems in the opening inning and then again late to post his best overall performance in his season-plus with Milwaukee by limiting the Royals to a single, three walks and a hit batter to go along with six strikeouts over 89 pitches.
"I take a lot of pride in that," Wilson said of stepping into the breach as the Brewers continue to battle myriad injuries and now a suspension to ace Freddy Peralta. "Saving some of these (relief) arms and giving guys days off – if I can get six every time out, then I know the bullpen is pretty good to go."
It appeared as though the bullpen might be needed early in this one as Wilson walked leadoff man Maikel Garcia and then plunked cleanup hitter Salvador Perez with two outs before getting Michael Massey to beat one into the ground to Joey Ortiz at second.
After a leadoff single by Hunter Renfroe in the second, Wilson embarked on a stretch of 12 consecutive batters retired snapped by issuing another walk to Garcia – this time to open the sixth.
Bobby Witt Jr. followed with another free pass, and that brought left-handed-hitting Vinnie Pasquantino to the plate with a chance to cut into Milwaukee's 2-0 lead.
Wilson needed 10 pitches before getting him to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, then struck out Perez on four pitches to finish out his night.
"Wilson had some speed bumps," manager Pat Murphy said. "That sixth inning was huge for our whole staff. Another good start for him. I was second-guessing myself for not putting (Jared) Koenig in there with the weather coming. But (Wilson) proved himself and got out of the sixth."
In his last two starts, Wilson has twice gone six innings while allowing only five hits (all singles) and one run (0.75 ERA). He's walked five and hit two batters but also struck out 12 and now has consecutive quality starts for just the third time in his career.
For the season, he's 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA and WHIP of 0.93 while limiting opposing batters to a .175 average. In 30 innings over 10 appearances (four total starts), Wilson has struck out 27.
His arsenal has been largely the same as last year, save for a slight increase in his usage of his curveball and changeup.
What's allowed Wilson to thrive like this?
"We have a pretty good routine in between starts; one that's more scheduled out than in years past, which I think is helping a lot," he said. "I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully we can stick with it throughout the season."
It's anybody's guess as to what the Brewers' rotation looks like another week from now let alone another month or two.
But if Wilson keeps performing like this, it's a safe bet he'll get to remain in his starter's routine and continue to have Murphy hand him the ball every five days.
The game turned once Wilson departed
With three of the first four batters scheduled to hit for the Royals in the seventh left-handers, it made sense for Murphy to counter with another lefty on the mound.
But Bryan Hudson – easily the team's best southpaw to this point – was unavailable and Hoby Milner was going to face at least Renfroe with other righties available on Kansas City's bench as pinch-hitters.
Thus Murphy's decision to go with Koenig, who turned in a shaky four-batter performance.
It began with Koenig getting ahead of Michael Massey, 0-2, only to see him allow a homer three pitches later that halved Milwaukee's lead to 2-1.
Koenig struck out Renfroe but then hit pinch-hitter Nelson Velázquez and walked Adam Frazier by throwing four straight balls after again getting ahead in the count, 0-2.
Murphy called on Elvis Peguero at that point, and he induced a ground ball that Willy Adames was able to get a glove on in the hole but not field cleanly. That brought up Garcia with the bases loaded, and he delivered a two-run single to center that ultimately decided the game.
"Two-strike home run on a non-executed pitch and then they capitalized after that," Murphy said. "He's been great for us but he's a rookie and he's going to have a night like that. He wasn't at his best, but he did do some good things."
Murphy made another call in the eighth that didn't work
With only two hits through seven innings, a Willy Adames single and Gary Sánchez homer in the fourth, Milwaukee got a leadoff single from Jackson Chourio and then a one-out walk from William Contreras in the eighth – the makings of a promising potential rally.
Will Smith, who's made a long career of retiring lefties in tough situations, then was brought on to face Brice Turang.
Murphy rolled the dice and called for a double steal. It was in Friday's win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field that Chourio's leadoff single and stolen base jump-started the game-turning rally.
But with Perez, a perennial Rawlings Gold Glove winner, behind the plate and a clear throwing path to third with Turang in the box, Chourio was called out by Angel Hernandez on a very close play.
Murphy had already lost his challenge earlier in the game but successfully lobbied for a crew chief review. That proved unsuccessful as well, and Turang ended the disappointing inning by popping out to short center.
"Close ballgame," he said. "Chourio gets thrown out there, pitcher is 1.7, 1.8 to the plate, bang-bang. I thought he was safe. But the call stands.
"Our people were pretty certain that he never touched him before he touched the base. But we all understand the system. We understand the risks (of stealing). We've won games doing that kind of stuff and you've got to be willing to take those gambles.
"And we're going to continue to do that."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bryse Wilson remains a bright spot in patchwork Brewers rotation
