MILWAUKEE – Brewers manager Pat Murphy offered a simple recipe for his starting pitcher on Wednesday.
“Strikes,” Murphy said.
Robert Gasser threw the most strikes – 56, in an 83-pitch outing – since his successful run as a rookie in 2024 during a confidence-building start for the Brewers on Wednesday, an encouraging sign for a team that needs every capable starter it can get.
Gasser was called up from Triple-A Nashville for the second time this season and pitched well, but not well enough to beat Logan Webb and the Giants in Milwaukee’s 1-0 loss at American Family Field.
For Gasser, it was a step in the right direction at the right time.
“At the end of the day,” Gasser said, “you have to put up results.”
After multiple walks in each of his first two Brewers starts, the 27-year-old left-hander walked only one batter in his return and was burned by only one pitch. It was a fifth-inning sinker up and away to Giants rookie right fielder Victor Bericoto, who took it the other way for his first career home run and the lone run of the game.
Bericoto became the third Giants player to win a 1-0 game with his first career homer, and the second to do it in Milwaukee. On June 10, 1954, an outfielder named Bill Taylor hit a pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning to beat the Braves at County Stadium.
Besides that, Gasser bent but didn’t break. He limited the Giants to one run on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts over five innings before Chad Patrick covered the rest of the game to save the Milwaukee bullpen for Thursday’s series finale.
“He was great from the first inning on,” Murphy said. “He controlled the zone. I thought he was a great version of himself.”
The Brewers need that version of Gasser while navigating some serious issues in the starting rotation. Right-hander Jacob Misiorowski and left-hander Kyle Harrison have been dynamite, but Brandon Woodruff is still in the live batting practice stage of his comeback from a shoulder issue – he threw 42 pitches while simulating three innings against hitters on Wednesday afternoon – and Logan Henderson had an injection on Tuesday to treat his low back strain. Quinn Priester, meanwhile, is moving backwards, having been dropped down to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League this week so the Brewers can take advantage of the rule that allows pitchers to exit a long inning and come back to the mound for the next. (Priester didn’t need that option while pitching 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday.)
Coleman Crow will make his fourth career start on Thursday against the Giants in a matchup against a pitcher, Adrian Houser, whom he was traded for in 2023. Then Brandon Sproat (14th career start), Misiorowski (27th career start) and Shane Drohan (third career start) will tackle the challenge of Coors Field over the weekend.
“These guys all understand that, yeah, we’re technically in first place, but we’re not looking at that. We’re trying to get better,” Murphy said. “We’ve got some real significant pitching injuries, but we trust in our youth. … We’re trusting our process, and Gasser is part of our plan.”
The Brewers had some late chances to let Gasser off the hook for a tough-luck loss, but couldn’t come through. Brice Turang singled for the Brewers’ first hit off Webb with one out in the seventh inning, but never moved off first base. With Webb out of the game, Jackson Chourio delivered a pinch-hit single in the eighth and Luis Rengifo walked to give the Brewers their first inning with multiple baserunners, but pinch-hitters Blake Perkins and Gary Sánchez both came up empty in big spots. Perkins is hitless in his last 14 at-bats, and Sánchez is 4-for-36 with one RBI over his last 16 games.
In the ninth, Christian Yelich led off with a double that put the tying runner in scoring position, and he was at third one batter later. But neither Turang nor William Contreras could get him home.
“We didn’t get the big hit at the big time,” Murphy said.
With no off-days on the schedule until June 11, there’s a chance Gasser gets another shot at earning his first win since his 2024 Tommy John surgery soon.
The key will be the same: Throw strikes.
“He has to be able to command the baseball,” Murphy said Wednesday afternoon. “Free bases aren’t a thing. It’s just not. You can do that wherever else you want, whatever team you pitch on. But if you’re going to pitch here, you’re not going to give up free bases. …
“I like this kid a lot. He’s pitched well in the big leagues. He can do it again.”