The Brewers and Athletics both entered Tuesday\u2019s game seeking their first Cactus League win but it was the Brewers who were able to get it in very convincing fashion.<\/p>\n
Tyler Black was the star of the show today, getting things started by following a single from Blake Perkins with a two-run homer down the right field line in the second inning.<\/p>\n
Black then plated three more Brewers in the third inning by ripping a bases-loaded, two-out single to right-center. That\u2019s right, a three-run single. The count was full, so the runners were off with the pitch, and they just didn\u2019t stop. Quickly, Black was 2-for-2 with five RBIs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a great day already, but Black wasn\u2019t done. When he came up again in the fifth inning, Black ripped a 2-0 fastball from Scott Barlow to right for a double to score Akil Baddoo. Black was 3-for-3 with six RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. It\u2019s only a spring training game, but for a player like Tyler Black, who dealt with a hamate injury last year and faces a tough roster picture, it\u2019s the kind of game he needs to get back on the Crew\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n
The Brewers finished with 10 runs, but very easily could have had more if it wasn\u2019t for the weird stadium design at Hohokam in Mesa. For whatever reason, the batter\u2019s eye in centerfield is in play. The yellow line runs to the top of it, so you have to hit it over for a home run to dead center. In the fifth, David Hamilton crushed a ball 425 feet to center, but it hit high off the batter\u2019s eye and went for a double. Then in the seventh, Akil Baddoo hit one 434 feet to center, and it still hit off the top of the batter\u2019s eye and went for only a double. Two hits that went 425-plus feet and no home runs to show for it.<\/p>\n