Top prospect Peralta sharp in spring debut

PHOENIX -- Wily Peralta pitched a scoreless spring debut and Khris Davis and Josh Prince smacked two-run home runs as the Brewers beat the White Sox on a big day for prospects, 4-3, at Maryvale Baseball Park on Thursday.

Peralta, MLB.com's top Brewers prospect, has been handled carefully since reporting some shoulder stiffness earlier in the month. He allowed two singles in two scoreless innings before Davis -- No. 16 on the Brewers' prospect list -- broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second with a home run off White Sox starter Scott Snodgress. Prince, an outfielder who won last year's Arizona Fall League batting title, added another homer in the seventh inning.

"I was out of rhythm a little bit, but it was pretty good," said Peralta, who described his earlier setback as, "normal."

"Early in camp you're throwing a lot and you feel a little tired," he said. "Today, it feels great. It's a long Spring Training and my arm feels good."

Peralta is one of three young starters vying for a spot in the Brewers' rotation. Another is right-hander Mike Fiers, who surrendered an RBI single to Chicago's Gordon Beckham in the third inning but was otherwise sharp, allowing one run on three hits in three innings, with no walks and three strikeouts.

A pair of White Sox prospects also stood out.

Snodgress was burned by one pitch to Brewers designated hitter Davis -- whose two-run homer in the second inning followed a Caleb Gindl walk -- but he allowed only one other Brewers hit in three effective innings. Snodgress is MLB.com's sixth-best White Sox prospect.

The Brewers threatened against reliever Zach Stewart in the fourth inning, but the rally fizzled when right fielder Keenyn Walker -- No. 8 on MLB.com's list -- fielded a single and made a perfect throw home to snag Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy to end the inning.

"I hung that curveball and made a mistake there and it's something I'm going to learn from and hopefully not make the same mistake again," Snodgress said. "Other than that, I felt like things were very good."

Johnny Hellweg, the Brewers' No. 4 prospect, pitched two hitless innings with a strikeout, and the No. 3 man on the list, Taylor Jungmann, followed, allowing a run on Tyler Saladino's RBI single in the eighth.

Josh Bell's solo homer in the ninth capped the scoring.

Up next: Milwaukee will feature its new left-handed relievers for the first time on Friday, when Tom Gorzelanny starts and Michael Gonzalez follows against the Rockies in Scottsdale, Ariz, at 2:10 p.m. CT. Both Gorzelanny and Gonzalez pitched for the Nationals last season before signing as free agents with the Brewers, who remade their bullpen after ranking last in the National League last season with a 4.66 ERA.