Brewer Daily News for March 23rd: Murphy waiting, Cubs beat Brewers

Good morning and welcome to the Saturday edition of Brewer Daily News. With Opening Day coming sooner than later, the Milwaukee Brewers head into their second to last weekend of Spring Training. The rosters are shrinking even more and some non-roster invitees are anxious to see where they’ll be come April 1st. In other news, the Chicago Cubs beat the Brewers in yesterday afternoon’s ballgame.

Donnie Murphy will be looking to make some noise if given the chance. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

For Donnie Murphy, 2013 could be a very valuable season for not only himself, but also for the Brewers who are in need of a utility player. Murphy, who is a career .269 hitter in 154 games, has been competing for a back-up utility spot for the Brewers’ 25-man roster and may find himself there at some point this season. Offensively in Spring Training, Murphy is only batting .225 in 21 games, but he will remain determined even if he starts 2013 in Triple-A Nashville.

"“Obviously, this is not exactly the way I wanted to go about it, but that’s how Spring Training works sometimes,” Murphy said. “Defensively, I think I’ve done well. I’m starting to feel much better hitting now, so that’s always a good thing going into the season. That’s what you want, even if the results aren’t there.” – via Brewers.com"

Murphy will be competing against Taylor Green, Jeff Bianchi and even Blake Lalli for a possible shot to be a back-up utility infielder. The one edge Murphy has on the three is his ability to play all around the infield, aside from the obvious catcher role.

Yesterday, the Brewers suffered a 4-1 loss to the Cubs. Yovani Gallardo started for the Brew Crew and went 5 1/3 innings and gave up one unearned run, four hits and struck out four. Michael Olmsted came into the game later and gave up three runs and four hits in 2/3 of an inning while getting the loss. The Cubs started Carlos Villanueva who went six innings and only gave up six hits and one walk while striking out four. Hector Rondon got the win as he pitched a perfect inning and struck out two. Zach Putnam got the save for the Cubs.

Khris Davis provided the only Milwaukee run with a homer as he went 2-for-3. The Brewers were ultimately limited to seven hits. For the Cubs, Luis Valbuena scored in the fifth after David DeJesus reached on an error. Dioner Navarro and Darwin Barney combined for two home runs in the top of the 9th that gave the Cubs the 4-1 lead.

This afternoon, the Brewers will face the Los Angeles Angels at 4:05 p.m. EST / 3:05 p.m. CST. The starters will be Marco Estrada for Milwaukee and Garrett Richards for Los Angeles.