Angels beat Brewers 3-0 to dodge sweep
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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Walbert Ureña pitched three-hit ball over six innings and Wade Meckler hit a two-run homer off Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Brewers 3-0 on Sunday.
Ureña (7-7) struck out seven and walked three as the Angels snapped a five-game losing streak. The rookie right-hander has a 2.54 ERA this season and a 2.25 ERA since May 1, a stretch in which he has allowed one or fewer earned runs in 12 of 16 starts.
Angels reliever Ryan Zeferjahn replaced the injured Sam Bachman with a runner on second and one out in the eighth. He struck out Brice Turang, gave up an infield single to Jackson Chourio and struck out Garrett Mitchell with runners on first and third to end the inning.
Zeferjahn then struck out two of four batters in the ninth for his fourth save.
Misiorowski (11-5) gave up two hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking one. Misiorowski extended his franchise record of double-digit strikeout games to 10 while throwing 66 of his 83 pitches for strikes.
The game was a matchup of two of the hardest throwing starters in baseball. Misiorowski and Ureña each struck out the side on 10 pitches in the first and the pair combined to throw 10 pitches at 100 mph or more.
Vaughn Grissom hit a 91-mph slider to center for a leadoff single, and Meckler followed by driving a 95-mph cutter 388 feet to right for his third homer of the season and a 2-0 lead.
Misiorowski then retired 16 straight batters before issuing a two-out walk to Jo Adell in the seventh.
The Angels added an insurance run off Brewers left-hander DL Hall in the eighth when Denzer Guzman walked, took second on a groundout, third on a wild pitch and scored on Zach Neto’s two-out RBI infield single.
Brewers RHP Brandon Sproat (3-6, 5.05 ERA) will face Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.56) tonight in Milwaukee.
Four-player swap
The Cleveland Guardians on Saturday acquired outfielder Blake Perkins and right-handed pitcher Craig Yoho from the Brewers in exchange for catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer.
Naylor and Heuer have been assigned to the Brewers ’40-man roster and to Triple-A Nashville. Guardians general manager Chris Antonetti said that Perkins would start in Triple-A Columbus, while Yoho would report to Cleveland soon.
The 26-year old Naylor has spent his entire career in Cleveland, but has struggled offensively the past three seasons. He was sent down to Triple-A Columbus after the Guardians acquired Patrick Bailey from San Francisco and batted .225 with seven home runs in 45 games for Columbus.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Naylor provides security with Triple-A catcher Jeferson Quero nursing a biceps injury after undergoing shoulder surgery in 2024.
"(Depth) is important when you have a catcher that plays as hard as (starter) William (Contreras) plays and is in there virtually every day," Murphy said.
Heuer, 30, was in his first season with Cleveland and split time between the major league club and Triple-A. He was 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA in eight appearances out of the bullpen.
The 26-year old Yoho has a career 1.10 minor league ERA. He was 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three stints with the Brewers this season.
Perkins, 29, played 121 games and was a Gold Glove finalist two years ago but has been shuttling between Milwaukee and Nashville this season. He had a .157 batting average in 55 games with the Brewers this season.
"I was really happy for him," Murphy said. "I was happy that hopefully he gets a better shot than he got here this year. He was great for us. You think about ’24, ’25, he was a huge part of that thing. … I know there’s at least one walk-off hit and one walk-off thrown out at the plate. I just love Perk."