The Milwaukee Brewers will look to bounce back behind right-hander Freddy Peralta when they host the Seattle Mariners on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Peralta (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will be opposed by right-hander Logan Gilbert (0-0, 1.29 ERA) as the Mariners head out on the road for the first time this year after going 3-4 at home to open the season.
Milwaukee is coming off a 7-3 loss at home to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, its first defeat after opening with four consecutive victories. Seattle was blanked 8-0 at home Wednesday by the Cleveland Guardians. The Brewers and Mariners were idle Thursday.
The Brewers let a 3-1 lead slip away against the Twins when the bullpen gave up five runs in the seventh inning.
Highly touted rookie Jackson Chourio had his first homer, a solo shot for Milwaukee. At 20 years and 23 days, Chourio is the youngest Brewers player to homer since Gary Sheffield in 1988 and the youngest player to homer in the majors since the Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto in 2018.
Through his first five games, Chourio is hitting .350 with a homer, double and four RBIs, though he has struck out six times in 20 at-bats.
“Day by day, you notice more and more that Jackson belongs in the big leagues,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “It was some touch-and-go early in spring training, like, ‘Hey, is he ready for this?’ He’s proven that he’s ready.”
Second-year player Brice Turang is hitting .438 with a pair of doubles and a team-high six stolen bases. Veteran Christian Yelich is off to a .368 start with a pair of homers.
With the trade of Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles and a shoulder injury to right-hander Brandon Woodruff, Peralta has moved into the No. 1 spot in the rotation. In his first start on Opening Day, he allowed one hit — a solo homer — in six innings, striking out eight with one walk in a 7-6 road win against the New York Mets.
Peralta was 12-10 with a 3.86 ERA last season in 30 starts, logging a career-high 165 2/3 innings. He has faced Seattle just once, tossing four scoreless innings in relief in 2019.
Gilbert also was solid in his first outing this season, allowing one run on four hits in seven innings in a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. He struck out eight and walked one.
Gilbert was 13-7 last season with a 3.73 ERA in 32 starts, including his lone career start against Milwaukee. He allowed four runs on five hits in six innings, but did not get the decision in the Brewers’ 6-5 win in 11 innings.
Through the first seven games, the Mariners are hitting just .196 as a team with four homers. In Wednesday’s loss, the Mariners managed just five hits and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
“You look at kind of the whole homestand and where we’re at, we do need to make some adjustments there,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I thought today was the day we’d get it rolling. It didn’t happen because we got behind the eight-ball real early in the game.”
Among regulars with at least 20 at-bats, only Ty France (.320) and Mitch Haniger (.261) are above .250.
Julio Rodriguez, who hit .275 last season with 32 homers and 103 RBIs, has yet to get on track. He is hitting .185 with five hits in 27 at-bats with one double and one RBI.
–Field Level Media