Brewer Daily News for March 7th: Gamel’s Surgery, Crew outlasts M’s

Welcome again to another edition of Brewer Daily News. This Thursday morning, the Milwaukee Brewers now sit at 5-6 in Spring Training and look to improve that record today against the Arizona Diamondbacks. First off, first baseman Mat Gamel will be undergoing his second ACL surgery in two years. The second tidbit of news is that the Brewers rallied late to beat the Seattle Mariners yesterday afternoon.

Mat Gamel will miss his second year in a row. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

With Gamel getting a second opinion on his ACL, he will undergo surgery on Friday. Gamel, 27, will miss the entire 2013 season and this really puts a hurt on the Brew Crew as the options for first base are rather shallow. Taylor Green will probably see the most time at first with some competition from Alex Gonzalez and possibly Hunter Morris.

As for the doctor who will perform the surgery, Gary Waslewski, Gamel had this to say:

"“He was recommended by a bunch of doctors. I’m ready to get it over with and get going with it.” –via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"

Obviously Gamel is disappointed by this unfortunate series of events, but his drive and determination are positive signs going forward.

Yesterday, the Brewers played the Mariners and rallied late for a 7-6 victory. Mike Fiers started the game for the Brew Crew. Fiers pitched for 3 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three. Johnny Hellweg got his shot at Spring Training once again and this time, things didn’t go quite well. Hellweg pitched one inning, but allowed four runs on three hits and struck out one. Ariel Pena would go on to get the win and Jed Bradley would receive the save. Charlie Furbush got the loss for the Mariners.

Fiers had this to say regarding his decent start yesterday:

"“It wasn’t extra work — it was just getting my baseball body back. People don’t realize how much you have to do to get back into mid season form.” – via Brewers.com"

Offensively for the Brewers, they struck for 15 hits, and the combination of Khris Davis and Morris hit one home run a piece off of the Mariners’ Blake Beavan. Cole Garner had a home run for the Crew as well.  Rickie Weeks went a perfect 3-3 and scored one run followed by Scooter Gennett getting two hits and Davis getting two hits. The Brewers also faced ex-teammate Kameron Loe who pitched one inning and allowed two hits while striking out two.

The Brewers take on the Diamondbacks at home today at 3:05 PM EST / 2:05 PM CST.