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The Milwaukee Brewers suffered a 9-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday, and five of Houston’s runs came off right-hander Brandon Sproat.
Sproat took the mound for his ninth start of the season, and he had a chance to bounce back from a frustrating outing on May 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he allowed four walks and three earned runs. While Sproat was able to avoid walks on Saturday, the Astros’ batting order got after him nonetheless.
After 4 ⅓ innings, Sproat’s day was over. The 25-year-old's final line included four strikeouts while allowing six hits and five earned runs (one home run). He also hit two batters.
After the game, Sproat reacted to his outing.
"I mean, kind of what I took away from today was just kind of a lot of deep counts early," Sproat told the media. "I gotta do a better job of just getting ahead early, almost kind of just pitching the contact, trying to get ground balls. The two-run homer doesn't help that. I leave a sweeper in the inner third; he just sat all over it.
"Obviously, not a great location for that," he added. "I thought a couple of innings after that were good, just pounding the zone. I mean, I think really, the only positive today, really there's just no walks, I think that's a positive. Yeah, I mean, right now it's tough. I mean, I gotta be better, yeah."
The first run of the day off Sproat occurred when Houston’s Cam Smith slid into home plate after a single by Jake Meyers. Brewers catcher William Contreras met Smith with a tag, but the home plate umpire ruled him safe, causing Milwaukee to challenge.
After looking at the play, the umpires upheld their ruling, which left Sproat and his teammates frustrated.
"Yeah, I mean, William came up to the mound and was like, 'Hey, I'm pretty sure we have him here. He was saying that he thinks that his knee, that he got his knee before, I think it was his hip that touched the plate,'" Sproat said. "But I mean, me and him both thought he was out. Unfortunately, the call stood, I mean, you move on from it.
"I mean, you can't sit there and dwell on it," Sproat added. "It's kind of like anything in this game, you can't dwell on anything. You just gotta take it for what it is and move on with it. Obviously, the call didn't go our way there, but it's kind of part of the game."
When he circled back to his performance and what he needs to do to put together longer outings, Sproat did not mince words, and he pointed to his strong third and fourth inning frames for what he needs to do consistently.
"I mean, strikes early and often," he said. "Yeah, I mean, right now, it sucks right now, to be honest with you. I mean, if it was my choice, I'd go nine every single time. But that's not reality. But I mean, to get through, let's just start with getting through five right now.
"It's… I feel like innings three and four is what it needs to look like," he added. "To be able to get to the fifth and to the sixth and then into the seventh and so on. Yeah, I mean, innings three and four is what it needs to look like."
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Sproat took the mound for his ninth start of the season, and he had a chance to bounce back from a frustrating outing on May 24 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he allowed four walks and three earned runs. While Sproat was able to avoid walks on Saturday, the Astros’ batting order got after him nonetheless.
After 4 ⅓ innings, Sproat’s day was over. The 25-year-old's final line included four strikeouts while allowing six hits and five earned runs (one home run). He also hit two batters.
After the game, Sproat reacted to his outing.
"I mean, kind of what I took away from today was just kind of a lot of deep counts early," Sproat told the media. "I gotta do a better job of just getting ahead early, almost kind of just pitching the contact, trying to get ground balls. The two-run homer doesn't help that. I leave a sweeper in the inner third; he just sat all over it.
"Obviously, not a great location for that," he added. "I thought a couple of innings after that were good, just pounding the zone. I mean, I think really, the only positive today, really there's just no walks, I think that's a positive. Yeah, I mean, right now it's tough. I mean, I gotta be better, yeah."
The first run of the day off Sproat occurred when Houston’s Cam Smith slid into home plate after a single by Jake Meyers. Brewers catcher William Contreras met Smith with a tag, but the home plate umpire ruled him safe, causing Milwaukee to challenge.
After looking at the play, the umpires upheld their ruling, which left Sproat and his teammates frustrated.
"Yeah, I mean, William came up to the mound and was like, 'Hey, I'm pretty sure we have him here. He was saying that he thinks that his knee, that he got his knee before, I think it was his hip that touched the plate,'" Sproat said. "But I mean, me and him both thought he was out. Unfortunately, the call stood, I mean, you move on from it.
"I mean, you can't sit there and dwell on it," Sproat added. "It's kind of like anything in this game, you can't dwell on anything. You just gotta take it for what it is and move on with it. Obviously, the call didn't go our way there, but it's kind of part of the game."
When he circled back to his performance and what he needs to do to put together longer outings, Sproat did not mince words, and he pointed to his strong third and fourth inning frames for what he needs to do consistently.
"I mean, strikes early and often," he said. "Yeah, I mean, right now, it sucks right now, to be honest with you. I mean, if it was my choice, I'd go nine every single time. But that's not reality. But I mean, to get through, let's just start with getting through five right now.
"It's… I feel like innings three and four is what it needs to look like," he added. "To be able to get to the fifth and to the sixth and then into the seventh and so on. Yeah, I mean, innings three and four is what it needs to look like."
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