Kyle Lohse Roughed Up In Final Spring Start

With opening day of the 2015 Major League Baseball Season right around the corner, Kyle Lohse made one final spring training start Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field.  While his mind was probably already thinking about the opening day start, Lohse was far from his usual start in this game.

Lohse was completely off his game, which has been very uncharacteristic for him during the spring.  Coming into this game, he held a 2-0 record and 1.80 ERA for the spring.  He managed to make it through just four innings, while surrendering eight hits, seven runs, all earned, while walking four and striking out three.  The most troubling thing were the three home runs that Lohse surrendered in the brief outing. The Cubs would add a fourth home run in the fifth off of Will Smith.

Four pitchers, including Smith, would finish the game behind Lohse, each pitching one inning.  Out of the four, Jonathan Broxton was the only one who didn’t surrender a run.  Francisco Rodriguez and Tyler Thornburg each surrendered a run while adding in a wild pitch apiece.  Broxton, pitching in the 6th, struck out two of the four batters he faced, while walking one.

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On the offensive side of the ball, four Brewers hitters had multiple hits in the game.  Adam Lind, batting third, was 2-3 with two doubles.  Khris Davis finished the game 2-5, including a triple, with two runs scored and an RBI.  Scooter Gennett had a great game, going 3-5 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.  The offensive MVP, by far, in the game was Logan Schafer, as he finished the game 3-4 with 3 RBI.

The Cubs went on to beat the Brewers 11-7, dropping the Brewers spring record to 11-15.  Jason Hammel picked up the win for the Cubs, pitching five strong innings.  He scattered six hits and one earned run while striking out five Brewers batters.  He improved his record to 3-1 for the spring.

The Brewers have three spring games remaining, before taking Easter off in preparation for opening day on Monday.  As I stated earlier, I wouldn’t be too alarmed by the outing Lohse had today.  After an outstanding spring, he shouldn’t be blamed if he was looking forward to the start of the regular season.  Come Monday, we’ll see if Lohse can continue the outstanding spring that he has had, as the Brewers welcome the Colorado Rockies into Miller Park.