Meet outfielder Daz Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history
Meet outfielder Dazmon Jaroid Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history. Cameron was acquired through a trade with Baltimore and spent a short time with Nashville before being called up.
- Milwaukee squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the ninth inning.
- Home runs by Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz accounted for the Brewers’ runs.
- Travis Jankowski’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth secured the win for Tampa Bay.
TAMPA – A dreary and rainy afternoon May 10 devolved into another mess for the Milwaukee Brewers.
After a pair of weather delays totaling 1 hour 5 minutes, the Brewers blew a prime scoring opportunity in the top of the ninth inning and were then walked off by Travis Jankowski not long thereafter in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
It was the third straight defeat suffered by Milwaukee, which generated just four hits and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.
Box score: Rays 3, Brewers 2
Both of the Brewers’ runs came on homers – Jackson Chourio in the third and Joey Ortiz in the fifth.
“We’ve got to go through this, and we’ve got to deal with it in the right way, like we did in San Francisco,” said manager Pat Murphy, whose team has now dropped six one-run games this season – the type of games the Brewers won more often than not last year. “Same way. We’ve got to deal with it, try to come out of it.
“We did, and here we are again.”
Beginning in that San Francisco series Milwaukee has: Dropped four straight, won three straight, lost three straight, won three straight and now needs a victory May 11 to avoid losing three straight yet again.
The Brewers, of course, were the only team in the majors last season not to lose as many as four straight.
“Yeah, it’s a little different this year,” said closer Trevor Megill, who factored into the outcome against the Rays. “Can’t put a finger on it now. But there’s definitely a lot of things we can do differently and things we can improve on.
“I think we’re playing decent baseball. We’ve just got to come up clutch when it counts.”
Brewers waste golden opportunity
It appeared as though Milwaukee was set up for success in the ninth.
A throwing error on Junior Caminero allowed William Contreras to reach with one out, then Jonathan Aranda booted Christian Yelich’s grounder at first base.
Rhys Hoskins followed by walking, loading the bases. But Sal Frelick popped out to second and Caleb Durbin flied out to center, blowing a golden opportunity.
“We’re not a very good offense right now,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that we need to be ‘on it’ who aren’t. But yeah, they gave us a chance to be in the game. I’ll still take Sal and Durbin any time in clutch situations, I just will. I’ll take them guys nine out of 10 times in clutch situations.
“They didn’t come through today.”
Grant Anderson took the mound for the bottom of the inning and immediately found trouble when Caminero beat a chopper high off home plate for an infield single, but Contreras threw him out stealing.
Kameron Misner walked. After Taylor Walls flied out, Murphy inserted Megill to face the left-handed-hitting Jankowski. Misner stole second and Jankowski singled to left to score him, with Isaac Collins failing to field the ball cleanly to even have a shot at throwing the runner out at home.
“It was definitely tough,” Megill said. “I could have done a better job of holding the runner there. That ultimately gives the result it gives.”
“Anderson was available for a few hitters,” Murphy said. “He’s pitching back to back, and two out of three were righties. I felt like without the guy on second base, we had a better chance. After three hitters we felt like Megill was a good matchup there.
“Obviously, he’s our closer; that’s his job. We had prepared him for that (entering mid-inning). Credit to Jankowski for getting a base hit.”
Rays grab the lead, momentarily
A leadoff single and one-out walk wound up costing Brewers starter Tobias Myers the lead in the fourth, as Walls pulled a double down the right-field line and then Jankowski skied a sacrifice fly to right to leave the Brewers in a 2-1 hole.
But with two outs in the fifth, Ortiz – of all people – went the other way and sent a solo homer just over the wall and inside the foul pole down the right-field line to tie it up.
If anyone needed that, it was Ortiz, who hadn’t homered since last Sept. 20.
“When you get that homer, that certainly lifts your spirits,” said Murphy. “That was a positive. But we don’t put good at-bats together one after another recently, and we have to do that.”
Tyler Alexander, a former Ray, took over for Myers heading into the bottom of the fifth, walked Chandler Simpson to start and then the umpires called for the tarp as heavy rains began again.
That delay lasted 38 minutes.
“Both teams looked a little lackluster when they came back,” Murphy said. “It was a tough hitting environment to play in. We’re not swinging the bats great.”
Myers allowed three hits, two runs and three walks with three strikeouts in his four-inning, 75-pitch outing.
“I believe in the kid,” said Murphy. “I mean, look what the kid did for us (in 2024). We started him Game 3 of the playoffs, and he came through. So, I trust him.
“I thought there were some great things in what he did today. But again, 20-pitch innings and walks, that’s not it.”
Said Myers: “There’s no panic button. I feel good. I feel fine. I’m not erratic, all over the place. I feel like I’m just missing location a little bit on the pitches that I need to be in the box.”
A weather delay … with no foul weather
There was history made with the first-ever weather delay for a Rays game being announced beforehand.
One problem? There ended up being no rain, so the game began 27 minutes late for no reason, essentially.
Once it began, it took a couple innings before either team dented the scoreboard. And quite literally, Chourio almost did as his two-out, solo home run in the third hit at the base of the board in left-center.
It was Chourio’s seventh of the season.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 3:10 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin
Brewers lineup
- Jackson Chourio CF
- Brice Turang 2B
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich DH
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Sal Frelick RF
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Isaac Collins LF
- Joey Ortiz SS
Rays lineup
- Chandler Simpson LF
- Brandon Lowe 2B
- Yandy Díaz DH
- Jonathan Aranda 1B
- Junior Caminero 3B
- Kameron Misner CF
- Taylor Walls SS
- Travis Jankowskin RF
- Ben Rortvedt C
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Rays, 12:40 p.m. May 11. Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (2-3, 3.08) vs. Tampa Bay RHP Drew Rasmussen (1-3, 3.09). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Guardians, 5:10 p.m. May 12. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (4-2, 2.18) vs. Cleveland RHP Ben Lively (2-2, 3.46). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Guardians, 5:10 p.m. May 13. Milwaukee RHP Quinn Priester (1-1, 5.18) vs. Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (1-2, 4.33). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Guardians, 12:10 p.m. May 12. Milwaukee LHP José Quintana (4-1, 2.65) vs. Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (3-2, 4.38). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
