Sproat flashes dominance in pursuit of first MLB win

MILWAUKEE – Brandon Sproat, whom the Brewers are counting on in the rotation, remains in search of that elusive first Major League win.

Sproat (0-2) cracked the Brewers rotation and made his fourth start of the season on Wednesday night in a 6-2 loss against the Diamondbacks. Things looked good early on for the 25-year-old right-hander, who struck out the first four batters of the game before allowing a bloop single to Ildemaro Vargas, who extended his hitting streak to 22 games to start the season.

The Brewers staked Sproat to a 2-0 lead after three innings before he ran into trouble in the fourth when the Diamondbacks tallied four runs on Adrian Del Castillo’s solo homer and Nolan Arenado’s three-run blast to take a 4-2 lead.

“Sproat was throwing the ball incredible for three innings. He was so good,” manager Pat Murphy said. “But give credit to the Diamondbacks. They were getting dominated, and they came back and had a great approach and took advantage.”

Sproat gave up six hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two in the 82-pitch outing.

When asked if anything changed with his approach facing the Diamondbacks order the second time through, Sproat shook his head.

“No. Nothing different, mentality-wise or physical-wise,” he said.

As for the game-changing home run he surrendered to Arenado, Sproat said he threw a sinker in what he thought was the same location as the one that the veteran third baseman popped up in the second inning.

“I was just repeating the same sinker. It was relatively close to the first one,” Sproat said. “He clipped it. It obviously sucks. Bad timing, but what can you do?"

The Brewers acquired Sproat, along with infielder/outfielder Jett Williams, from the New York Mets in a January trade for staff ace Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers.

Sproat had a stellar outing against the Blue Jays on April 16, in which he gave up one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings while recording six strikeouts in his lone quality start of the season. The Brewers would go on to win 2-1, scoring the go-ahead run after Sproat departed.

Sproat lasted 5 1/3 innings against the Tigers on April 23, giving up four hits and three runs, striking out four.

The Brewers are now 2-2 in Sproat’s starts.

The Brewers got a positive contribution on the mound from Brian Fitzpatrick, who came on in the seventh to make his Major League debut. 6-foot-7 left-hander was selected from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day to replace injured Angel Zerpa.

The 25-year-old, who hadn’t given up an earned run in 10 1/3 innings at Nashville, gave up an infield hit to Corbin Carroll before retiring Del Castillo on a flyball to right to record his first out and end the inning. Fitzpatrick gave up another hit and issued a walk while making it through the eighth otherwise unscathed.

“It felt like I was floating when I was running in there,” Fitzpatrick said of his trip in from the bullpen, during which he could hear family members and friends cheering from the stands. “But once I got on the mound, everything felt normal.”

Fitzpatrick said he wasn’t surprised that Murphy called on him to face the heart of the Diamondbacks’ order.

“I was ready to go. It actually felt like the most normal part of the day,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said he was able to keep his emotions in check until after the game, when he got to share a moment with those who came to support him, many of whom had to scramble to catch flights from the New York City area, where he was born and raised.

“I just thanked them for believing in me and for being here,” he said. “It was short notice and the amount of people that turned out was awesome. I was incredibly grateful.”

Murphy smiled when talking about Fitzpatrick’s performance.

“I couldn't be more thrilled for the kid to come in and face the hitters that he faced, some of the best hitters in the league, and do the job,” Murphy said. “He gave up two scratch hits and got four outs. There's some real positives there.”