Weather
Thur. Final: Brewers 11, Rangers 10PHOENIX (AP) -- Braden Looper's long-awaited spring debut wasn't what he or the Milwaukee Brewers had hoped for. Looper allowed six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in two-plus innings Thursday before the Brewers rallied for a 11-10 victory over the Texas Rangers. "I wasn't able to command anything and I'm not exactly sure why," Looper said. "There are a lot of factors but the fact is I have to make pitches and get the job done." Looper, who signed as a free agent just before the start of spring training, was scratched moments before his first scheduled start Feb. 28, when his left oblique muscle tightened while he was warming up in the bullpen. The right-hander made a pair of starts in minor league games, throwing a combined 5 1-3 innings. His outing Thursday was supposed to go four innings, but Looper struggled soon after the first pitch. After striking out Omar Vizquel to start the game, Looper allowed the next four batters to reach base. Hank Blalock's double gave Texas a 2-0 lead. The Rangers added three more in the second on Frank Catalanotto's two-run single and an RBI double by David Murphy. Marlon Byrd ended Looper's afternoon when he led off the third with a homer to right to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead. "The best I can say is he got to throw his 60 pitches and he's got two more times out there," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "But we've got to see some improvement out there." J.J. Hardy's two-run single capped a three-run sixth inning that put the Brewers ahead 10-8. Texas tied at 10 in the top of the ninth, but Mike Cameron scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom half. Hardy finished 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs while Cameron was 1-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
|
