MILWAUKEE (AP) - Nick Tropeano left his off-speed pitches up in the zone, making for tempting targets for the Milwaukee Brewers’ best hitters.
Chris Carter and Jonathan Lucroy took advantage of the mistakes.
Carter hit two long home runs and drove in three, and went back-to-back in the fifth with Lucroy, and the Los Angeles Angels squandered an early 4-0 lead in a 5-4 loss on Tuesday night to Milwaukee.
“Command was a little off today. Obviously, the long ball hurt me,” said Tropeano, who had won his three previous decisions. “I felt pretty good with my fastball. I just think my off-speed was a little up in the zone.”
Tropeano (1-1) allowed five runs and five hits through five innings, plus five walks.
For the Brewers, Junior Guerra won his first career major league start. Called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs this week, Guerra (1-0) allowed seven hits and four runs in six innings.
It was a solid enough outing to ease the burden on the heavily used bullpen.
“We haven’t had many of these games where the bullpen could go 7-8-9 but tonight was the night,” manager Craig Counsell said.
The Angels nearly spoiled Guerra’s night after loading the bases in the seventh with two walks and a single and nobody out. Reliever Michael Blazek escaped the jam after Cliff Pennington popped out and Yunel Escobar bounced into a double play.
It was one of three double plays by the Angels, who didn’t score after a three-run third. Mike Trout highlighted the rally with a two-run single, giving him 16 RBIs in his last 12 games.
“I think offensively we’ll continue to grow as a team, and we’re going to be fine. We just need to get a little continuity out of our starters,” manager Mike Scioscia said.
LOST BALL
Albert Pujols’ RBI single in the first opened the scoring, though the potential for a bigger inning was erased when Pujols was thrown out at second. Pujols lost his deep shot to right-center. The ball had caromed off the wall, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis tracked it down in time to throw to second in time.
“It is a weird visual we have here,” Scioscia said. “It is almost smoky in here. I think he thought the (outfielder) caught it.”
GOING DEEP
With the Brewers trailing 4-0, Carter’s two-run homer in the third caromed off the black batter’s backdrop in center. His solo shot in a three-run fifth to deep left-center off starter Nick Tropeano (1-1) put Milwaukee up for good.
Carter also had a two-homer game on Sunday against the Marlins.
Jeremy Jeffress tossed a scoreless ninth for his seventh save. Lucroy hit his first homer of the year, a two-run shot to left that tied the game at 4 one batter before Carter hit his second homer.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: Starting pitcher C.J. Wilson (left shoulder inflammation) could start throwing off a mound soon. “A lot of it is contingent on how he feels, but he is getting out there pretty aggressive long toss,” Scioscia said. The left-hander is on the 60-day disabled list.
Brewers: OF Ryan Braun got the night off after leaving Monday’s game after the seventh with what Counsell called “general soreness.” Counsell said Tuesday would have been an off day for Braun anyway. … 2B Scooter Gennett (right oblique) is no longer in pain and “moving forward pretty aggressively” with his rehab, Counsell said. The team could know in a couple days whether Gennett will need a minor league stint.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (2-1) is making his first career start against Milwaukee on Wednesday. He is 1-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 career interleague games, including 10 starts.
Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (0-3) will try to notch his first quality start of the year when the Brewers wrap up their three-game set with Los Angeles. Opponents are hitting .411 off the right-hander.
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