Brandon Sproat's Still Hunting His First Win, and the Brewers Are Banking on Him to Keep Rolling

The Milwaukee Brewers are riding high after one of the most dramatic wins you'll see in May, and now they're asking their young right-hander to keep the momentum going. Brandon Sproat takes the mound Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres looking for his first major league victory, and honestly, the timing couldn't be better for a team that's now six games over .500.

Sunday was pure baseball theater. Brice Turang walked it off in the ninth with two outs to beat the Yankees 4-3 and sweep the series. That same day, the Padres had their own dramatic moment: Nick Castellanos tied it up with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against St. Louis, then Manny Machado followed with a sacrifice fly in the 10th to win 3-2. Both teams came into Tuesday's series opener with that kind of adrenaline still pumping.

Sproat's Learning on the Fly, But the Walks Are a Problem

Sproat is 0-2 this season with a 5.87 ERA, and yeah, that looks rough. But here's the thing: in his last start against St. Louis, he was lights out. Four scoreless innings, just one hit allowed. The problem? He threw 76 pitches and walked three guys while striking out five. That's the pattern with Sproat right now. He's got the stuff, but the free passes are killing him.

Through 30 2/3 innings this season, Sproat has already walked 18 batters. For a kid making his sixth start and eighth appearance, that's unsustainable. Manager Pat Murphy gets it though. "He's learning, 'I can do it. I'm good enough. I don't have to be sharp,'" Murphy said after Sunday's win. Translation: Sproat's young, he's capable, but he needs to trust himself without nibbling around the zone.

He'll face Matt Waldron, a right-handed knuckleballer who's 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA. Waldron's had a weird run too. He allowed 15 runs in 13 2/3 innings across three April starts, including six runs in each of his first two outings. But in his last appearance, he came in after an opener and looked completely different: five innings, one run, two hits, seven strikeouts in a 5-1 win over the Giants. "The preparation was a little bit different," Waldron said. "But the second you're out there, the goal is the same , go as deep as you can."

The Brewers' Bullpen Is the Real Story

While everyone's talking about the offense and the walk-off drama, the Milwaukee bullpen has quietly become a weapon. Reliever Aaron Ashby picked up his major league leading seventh win Saturday despite allowing an unearned run in the 10th. He struck out three in a scoreless inning Sunday and he's absolutely dominant lately: 0.64 ERA over his last 11 appearances with 23 strikeouts and just 10 walks in 14 innings.

That's the kind of depth that wins games down the stretch. The Brewers are proving they can find ways to win even when they're not swinging it great. "We didn't swing the bat great, but we just chip away," Murphy said after Sunday. "There's high standards and those guys love the opportunity to compete."

San Diego's Surviving, Not Thriving

The Padres managed just 14 hits in their four-game series against St. Louis , the fewest hits the franchise has put up in any four-game series in team history. That's brutal. But they're finding ways to win anyway, which is either a sign of resilience or a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Machado knows it. "We're not hitting," he said after Sunday's win. "It's obvious. But we're getting things done. At the end of the day, it's about winning ballgames, and we're doing that."

Tuesday's opener sets the tone for this three-game series.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.