Lyles strong, but Rockies sloppy on defense in loss
Righty throws three scoreless frames; Colorado commits four errors in eighth
PHOENIX -- The Brewers took advantage of four eighth-inning errors by the Rockies to complete a 5-3 come-from-behind win over Colorado on Thursday at Maryvale Baseball Park.
Milwaukee went ahead for good when Kevin Mattison reached on a force attempt and advanced to second on a throwing error by Rockies first baseman Kyle Parker, allowing Irving Falu to score. Taylor Green immediately followed with an RBI single.
The Rockies and Brewers also got their first taste of the expanded instant-replay system on Thursday, when Rockies manager Walt Weiss challenged Logan Schafer 's steal of second in the bottom of the sixth inning. Replay confirmed the call on the field that Schafer was safe.
The Brewers got in an early hole when Charlie Culberson led off the second inning for the Rockies with a flare to right off right-hander Kyle Lohse, stole second and then scored on Ryan Wheeler's single. Tom Murphy followed two batters later with a hard-hit double down the left-field line to plate Wheeler.
"I wasn't executing well out of the stretch, and it was a simple mechanical thing that I forgot about," Lohse said. "If you're going to forget something simple in your mechanics, now is the time to do it."
Those were Lohse's lone blemishes over three innings.
Rockies right-hander Jordan Lyles, a fifth-starter candidate, was impressive and a tad lucky in his second Cactus League outing.
The Brewers threatened in the bottom of the second, as Carlos Gomez and Khris Davis opened the inning with hits. But Lyles fanned Mark Reynolds, and Culberson snared Lyle Overbay's liner at third and doubled off Gomez to escape the jam.
"Gomez was on third, and I know he's pretty quick," Lyles said. "[Culberson] made a good play and dove for him and got him."
Lyles also induced a double play the next inning, finishing his afternoon by allowing three hits, walking one and striking out two.
Gomez, Davis and Reynolds rattled off three consecutive hits off Rockies reliever Matt Belisle in the fourth inning, but the Brewers scored only once before second baseman DJ LeMahieu made a nice snag to begin an inning-ending double play.
Up next: Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa looks to improve upon his rough Cactus League debut on Friday against the Angels in Colorado's third game at Salt River Fields at 1:10 p.m. MT (listen to an exclusive webcast). De La Rosa surrendered four runs and walked two in 1 2/3 innings in his first outing of the spring.