CAMP REPORT
On the field: Hernán Pérez continued to swing a hot bat on Wednesday, collecting two more hits and driving in two more runs as the Brewers outlasted the Kansas City Royals, 10-6, at Surprise Stadium.
Pérez upped his Cactus League average to .423 and reached double digits in RBI with 10 after his fifth-inning double. "There's a difference in his at-bats," manager Craig Counsell said. "There are very few out-of-the-strike-zone swings. He's making a real effort and taking pride in that, and he's doing a nice job." The Royals came back to tie the game at 6-6 in the seventh against Oliver Drake and Bubba Derby - who was making his first appearance on the major-league side - before Mauricio Dubon's two-RBI double sparked a four-run eighth that put the game out of reach.
Junior Guerra started and pitched four innings, allowing six hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk with three strikeouts as he continues to pursue one of the two open spots in the rotation. "I really have no idea what they're planning on," Guerra said. "All I know is I'm fighting for one of those starting spots."
Eric Sogard and Jesús Aguilar each had a pair of hits. Sogard drove in a pair of runs with his sixth-inning single, and Aguilar hit his first homer of the spring in the second.
Also, Counsell said Adrian Houser is expected to pitch in a Cactus League game at some point this week. He has been out while recovering from an emergency appendectomy.
Weather: 77 degrees, cloudy.
Cactus juice: An impromptu episode of "America's Got Talent" broke out in the Brewers clubhouse on Wednesday morning as Manny Piña belted out a stirring rendition of the Eagles' "Hotel California" while Jeremy Jeffress played air guitar on Domingo Santana's bat and Hernán Pérez clapped along. Jeffress, who has served as the club's unofficial DJ this spring, also did a little dancing to Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up."
Scoreboard: Brewers 10, Royals 6. Record: 8-4-1. Thursday: Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 2:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (0-0, 4.50) vs. Arizona RHP Braden Shipley (1-0, 0.00). TV - FS Wisconsin. Radio - AM-620
Countdown: 21 days until the Brewers' season opener March 29 in San Diego.