Meet outfielder Daz Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history
Meet outfielder Dazmon Jaroid Cameron, half of the third father-son combo in Brewers history. Cameron was acquired through a trade with Baltimore and spent a short time with Nashville before being called up.
Five walks, one botched ground ball, one missed tag, one passed ball, one home run, five runs scored — and a partridge in a pear tree.
Two innings in the middle of the contest May 7 proved costly for the Milwaukee Brewers, who were playing without three of their top regular position players as they littered the diamond with miscues that contributed to a 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
It was Milwaukee’s seventh defeat of eight or more runs this season.
Quinn Priester pitched better than his last outing when he gave up seven runs in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs on May 2, but the Brewers couldn’t overcome the absence of many of their top players.
William Contreras, playing through a fractured finger on his left hand that has all but zapped his power at the plate, took just his second day off since April 10. Sal Frelick, battling a left knee injury, missed a third straight game. And Brice Turang got another day off, though he was available off the bench, as he continues to try to get past an illness.
“We fully anticipate full-go on those three guys on Friday,” manager Pat Murphy said.
Priester, to his credit, allowed only one earned run – Houston scored a pair of unearned tallies in an unsightly fifth inning – and it came on some weak contact, though he did ultimately walk as many as he struck out (three).
“We didn’t help him at all,” Murphy said. “The leadoff walk thing, that can’t happen but it did. After the leadoff walk there’s an easy play that an in experienced player doesn’t make that could be a double play and it’s definitely an out. Then we don’t make the tag at the plate when it’s an easy out.
“And then there’s a passed ball. I don’t know if they got crossed up or what, but that can’t happen.”
But aside from an Eric Haase solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, Milwaukee’s offense never stood a chance against Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez.
The Brewers’ bullpen didn’t help much, either, as Elvin Rodríguez surrendered six runs and couldn’t cover the final four innings by himself to spare the rest of the group.
And, Haase homer aside, the replacements for Contreras, Turang and Frelick had their struggles, too. Durbin and Haase defensively combined to give the Astros two runs in the fifth, while Daz Cameron in right field went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
As a result, the Brewers failed in their third attempt to sweep a series this year, dropping back to a very fitting .500 on the season.
The bizarre stat to the Brewers’ start to the season
With the loss, the Brewers fell to 0-13 this season when their opponent scores first, a far cry from a year ago when they were fourth in MLB with 390 comeback wins. They’re the only club without one in 2025.
“I didn’t know that, to be honest,” said Priester. “It’s not really something that’s crossed my mind. A sling as my mentality is if we’re within one we’re one swing away from being in the game.”
Unfortunately for the Brewers, that mentality doesn’t have much from practice to back it up. Of their 13 losses when the opponent scores first, they have only come back to tie the score three times and have never taken a lead.
“That’s a little deceiving,” Murphy said. “We were down 5-0 to the Cardinals and we tied it 5-5. There’s been games we’ve got back in it, but we’ve got a very inexperienced team and a very injured team.
“…But this early in the season, that’s just – I guarantee you, nobody is winning more games when the other team scores first. That’s not a thing. No team. So the fact that we haven’t had that thing happen after (38) games, that will change.”
Yet Murphy also indicated that he felt that his team lacked the necessary urgency when they fell behind in this one.
“There wasn’t the ‘Win Tonight’ urgency when it was 3-1,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Elvin Rodríguez gave up yet another homer
Rodríguez’s outings continue to be a launching pad. With two outs in the sixth, Jeremy Peña clobbered a fastball from Rodríguez for a three-run homer to blow the game wide open at 6-1.
The blast was the seventh gopher ball surrendered by Rodríguez, a team-high despite him only having thrown 15 ⅓ innings entering the day. All of those have come against a fastball – four on the four-seamer and two on the cutter.
Murphy went to Rodríguez for length and his team trailing by two, with the decision coming down to the righty or Tyler Alexander for length options.
“Again, walks,” Murphy said. “He’s behind in the count all the time. The kid’s stuff is fine. It’s the execution and conviction behind it. Obviously he threw good the other day and looked out of the pen like that could help us. Then he came out today and didn’t get the job. He flat out didn’t get the job done. You can’t walk people. This is the major leagues. This isn’t a tryout camp.”
The Astros pushed three more runs across in the ninth against Rodríguez, who’s an option to be sent back to Class AAA Nashville before the team’s next game May 9 in Tampa. Even despite some more shaky defense behind him in the ninth as Caleb Durbin was too casual with a slow ground ball that went for an infield single, Rodríguez still walked four.
Defense hands the Astros a pair of runs
With the offense already having a rough go of it, the Brewers didn’t have much wiggle room to allow free runs, yet that’s exactly what the defense did in the fifth.
After a leadoff walk to Zach Dezenzo, Durbin botched a slow bouncer near the bag to allow Brendan Rodgers to reach via error. A sac bunt moved the runners up, then the Brewers had a chance to throw Dezenze out at the plate on a chopper to third. Vinny Capra’s throw beat Dezenzo to the plate, but Haase caught the ball too deep and allowed the hand of Dezenzo to sneak in before the tag.
Two pitches later, Haase allowed a passed ball to scamper away and Rodgers scored to push Houston’s lead to 3-0.
Framber Valdez dominates on the mound
With Jake Bauers, the team’s OPS leader, also missing from the lineup against a lefty start, the Brewers offense was not able to get going against Valdez.
Haase did get the Brewers on the board finally in the fifth with a two-out, two-strike solo homer to center on the heels of a rough defensive inning, but that was it for Milwaukee’s offense against Valdez, who went seven innings with seven strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
“He was great,” Murphy said. “The story of the game is the kid for them with the big shoulders. That kid can pitch.”
The Brewers became the 24th team that Valdez has beaten in his career.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 12:10 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin
Stream: Streaming is available on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and on its app. Also, Fubo has a free trial for new subscribers.
Brewers lineupJackson Chourio CFIsaac Collins LFChristian Yelich DHRhys Hoskins 1BDaz Cameron RFCaleb Durbin 2BVinny Capra 3BEric Haase CJoey Ortiz SSAstros lineupJeremy Peña SSJose Altuve DHIsaac Paredes 3BChristian Walker 1BYainer Diaz CJake Meyers CFZach Dezenzo LFBrendan Rodgers 2BChaz McCormick RFBrewers schedule
Brewers at Rays, 6:05 p.m. May 9: Milwaukee LHP José Quintana vs. Tampa Bay TBA TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Rays, 3:10 p.m. May 10: Milwaukee TBA vs. Tampa Bay TBA – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Rays, 12:10 p.m., May 11: Milwaukee TBA vs. Tampa Bay TBA – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.