Willy Adames broke out of pronounced slump in a big way during the Milwaukee Brewers’ opener of a 10-game road trip Friday night in Cleveland.
And Adames will aim to follow his two-homer, five-RBI performance with another strong effort when the Brewers vie for a series win against the Guardians on Saturday afternoon.
Adames’ fireworks at the plate led Milwaukee to its fifth win in seven outings, courtesy of a 7-1 romp over Cleveland on Friday.
Entering Friday’s contest mired in a 7-for-42 slump over the previous 11 games, Adames ripped an RBI single in the first inning and a three-run homer in the sixth. He also had a one-out double in the seventh inning and a solo homer in the ninth to cap his four-hit performance.
“I was (calmer) at the plate and getting my pitch and not swinging at everything,” Adames told Bally Sports Wisconsin after his third career multi-homer game. “I feel like that’s been the thing that has been really bad for me. I’ve been swinging at their pitch and not my pitch.”
Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said: “It was a huge night, obviously, but it’s just a big night for your confidence, as much as anything, when you’ve been scuffling a little bit to put a night like that together. Great start for the road trip for him.”
Cleveland manager Terry Francona said his team has to keep its guard up against Adames.
“You hear what I say about our guys, as cold as they get. That’s the last thing you want to see is someone get hot the first day in,” Francona said. “We have to keep an eye on him now.”
Brewers catcher William Contreras collected two hits and scored twice in the series opener Friday. He is batting .316 with five RBIs in his last 11 games.
Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (5-6, 4.60 ERA) will square off against Cleveland rookie Tanner Bibee (3-2, 4.05) in a battle of right-handers on Saturday.
Peralta, 27, is 0-3 in his past five outings after permitting two runs on as many hits and striking out nine in six innings in a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
He subdued the Guardians in his lone career appearance against them on Sept. 5, 2020. He worked around three walks to strike out four batters in 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in a no-decision.
Peralta would be wise to pitch carefully around Cleveland star Jose Ramirez, who led off the seventh inning with his team-leading 12th homer on Friday. Ramirez is 8-for-22 during a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games.
Steven Kwan enters Saturday’s contest riding a seven-game hitting streak, during which he is 11-for-31 with four RBIs and seven runs.
Bibee, 24, allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings to pick up his second win in three starts following a 12-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
He will face the Brewers for the first time in his young career.
–Field Level Media
