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Brewers 7, Rays 1: Willy Adames homers twice to win (mostly) drama-free game

curt hogg, milwaukee journal sentinel
·6 min read

This time there would be minimal drama, whether in score or in theatrics.

The Milwaukee Brewers picked up a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays behind two Willy Adames home runs on Wednesday afternoon at American Family Field, cruising to an easy, comfortable victory on the heels of three consecutive days with contentious decisions from umpires.

Adames hit a solo home run in the sixth and added a three-run blast to put the Brewers up by seven runs an inning later. The Brewers shortstop clubbed three homers over the past two games against his former club.

Colin Rea provided six innings of scoreless ball on the mound, pushing Milwaukee's starting pitching total in the series to just two runs allowed in 17 1/3 innings of work, with 5 1/3 of those innings belonging to Freddy Peralta.

Peralta, reliever Abner Uribe and manager Pat Murphy were all suspended following altercations in Tuesday night's game with the Rays. Murphy served the first game of his suspension Wednesday, putting associate manager Rickie Weeks in the acting manager role. Uribe and Peralta are appealing their suspensions.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Rays 1

There was still some frustration involved between the Brewers and the umpiring crew, which Monday called backswing interference to cancel out the tying run in the ninth inning and Tuesday controversially ejected Peralta for hitting a batter, when Thyago Vieira was ruled to be using an illegal-color glove in the ninth inning. Some in the Milwaukee dugout, including Devin Williams, were upset with crew chief Chris Guccione but they all moved on and Vieira pitched a 1-2-3 inning to secure the win.

Willy Adames of the Brewers hits a three-run homer in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field on Wednesday afternoon. Adames also had a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Willy Adames of the Brewers hits a three-run homer in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field on Wednesday afternoon. Adames also had a solo home run in the sixth inning.

Abner Uribe takes the mound one day after dust-up, and he's shaky, but the Brewers still have a six-run lead

Uribe, who lit the fuse on what became a benches-clearing brawl yesterday, took the mound in the eighth and ran into trouble, allowing three of the first four baserunners he faced to reach, plus a run across to break up the shutout. He's lucky it wasn't worse.

Uribe, who can still pitch while appealing his six-game suspension handed down by the league office, allowed a single and walk before falling behind Amed Rosario, whose bouncer up the middle turned into one out and almost two. A wild pitch brought in the Rays' first run of the game.

Uribe then walked Austin Shenton and fielded a comebacker from Niko Goodrum; Uribe somewhat ill-advisedly threw to second base and was lucky to record a fielder's choice out on a low throw.

Oliver Dunn was bailed out by Jake Bauers on a scoop at first base after Niko Goodrum's bouncer took a funky hop and Dunn's throw across the diamond was low. But, that's still the third out with just one run across and the Brewers still ahead, 7-1.

Bauers came in from left field to play first after Joey Wiemer entered the game defensively; Tyler Black, who's a work-in-progress on defense and couldn't handle a scoop earlier in the game, finished 1 for 3 with a double.

Willy Adames homers in a second consecutive inning and the Brewers have blown this open

Adames lofted his second home run of the day out to right center, almost in the same spot as his solo shot last inning. This one against Erasmo Ramírez came with two runners on base, and the Brewers suddenly had a four-run inning and 7-0 lead.

It's the fifth career multi-homer game for Adames, who now has six homers for the year. With Christian Yelich still working his way back from a back issue, it goes without saying that a lunge forward in offensive production from Adames would be a welcome addition to the lineup.

Blake Perkins double off the wall gives the Brewers some insurance in the seventh

Oliver Dunn opened the seventh inning with a single down the right-field line, and Blake Perkins promptly brought him home with an opposite-field double that Niko Goodrum couldn't flag down. Dunn might have stopped at third were it not for an errant throw back to the infield that allowed the run to score easily and give the Brewers a 4-0 lead. Third-base coach Jason Lane waited just long enough to read the throw before turning on the send sign.

Willy Adames goes deep for the second game in a row

A day after hitting a three-run homer to break the game open, Adames took Rays starter Zach Eflin deep with a solo shot to right-center for his fifth blast of the season. It gave the Brewers a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Colin Rea gets through six shutout innings

It involved darting in and out of traffic, but Rea played traffic cop to get through six shutout innings.

The Rays put at least one runner on base in every inning against Rea but he scattered four hits, one walk and two errors by shortstop Willy Adames to tie his longest outing of the season.

It was also Rea's longest outing by pitch count since July 2016. He finished with 99 pitches, just one shy of reaching 100 in a game for the first time in eight years and the fifth time in his career.

William Contreras kicks off the scoring

Eflin nearly wiggled off the hook in the third inning but couldn't get by the Brewers' best hitter. Eflin struck out Blake Perkins and got Sal Frelick to fly out following consecutive singles to lead off the frame but Contreras proved too tough to handle as he lined a two-run double to left field.

The hit raised Contreras' RBI total to 25 in game number 30 for the Brewers and made it a 2-0 advantage for Milwaukee.

Brewers time, TV, radio

The Brewers game starts at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday

TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620 and a state network

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Colin Rea (48) seen during the first inning of their game against the Seattle Mariners Sunday, April 7, 2024, at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Ebony Cox / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Colin Rea (48) seen during the first inning of their game against the Seattle Mariners Sunday, April 7, 2024, at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Ebony Cox / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Brewers lineup

  • Sal Frelick RF

  • William Contreras C

  • Willy Adames SS

  • Tyler Black 1B

  • Rhys Hoskins DH

  • Jake Bauers LF

  • Brice Turang 2B

  • Oliver Dunn 3B

  • Blake Perkins CF

  • Colin Rea SP

Rays lineup

  • Yandy Diaz DH

  • Richie Palacios RF

  • Randy Arozarena CF

  • Amed Rosario 2B

  • Austin Shenton 1B

  • Niko Goodrum LF

  • Jose Caballero SS

  • Ben Rortvedt C

  • Curtis Mead 3B

  • Zach Eflin SP

What is the Brewers record?

The Brewers are 18-11.

Brewers schedule

Off day Thursday.

Brewers at Cubs, Friday 1:20 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. Tampa Bay TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Cubs, Saturday 1:20 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. Tampa Bay TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Cubs, Sunday 1:20 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. Tampa Bay TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 7, Rays 1: Adames homers twice to win (mostly) drama-free game