The potential for severe weather temporarily halted some early momentum generated by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Looking to continue their hot start, the Brewers will begin a three-game set against the host Kansas City Royals with a split doubleheader on Saturday.
Milwaukee entered Friday tied with a major-league-high 45 runs while winning five of its first six games. In addition, the Brewers lead the majors with 15 stolen bases and have homered in all but one contest.
“We’ve got a really good team, and when we play like that, it’s going to be really hard to beat us,” said Brewers star Brice Turang, who is 9-for-22 with five RBIs and six runs in 2026.
Milwaukee, though, had to wait to carry that offensive potency onto the road after Friday’s originally scheduled series opener was postponed due to a threat of inclement weather.
In Saturday’s first game, Milwaukee will face scheduled Kansas City starter Luinder Avila, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to make a spot start Friday in place of Michael Wacha (illness). Avila, a promising right-hander, went 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 13 games out of the Royals’ bullpen last season. He did not face the Brewers.
Milwaukee will counter with Chad Patrick (0-0, 2.08 ERA), who allowed a homer, four other hits and one walk in 4 1/3 innings of last Saturday’s 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The right-hander yielded three hits and three walks over 4 2/3 scoreless innings during a 5-0 win over the Royals on April 1, 2025.
Kansas City dropped the first two games of the season at Atlanta, then won three straight contests before falling short of a home series sweep of Minnesota with Thursday’s 5-1 loss. The Royals have 23 runs through the first six games, but 13 came in one game against the Twins.
“We just got to keep fighting from the offensive side,” said Kansas City first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who has four RBIs despite going 4-for-20 on the season.
After struggling to a 7.51 ERA in his final nine starts of the 2025, scheduled Royals Game 2 starter Seth Lugo (1-0, 0.00) delivered a stellar 2026 debut. The 36-year-old right-hander allowed five hits without a walk over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Kansas City’s 4-1 win over Atlanta on Sunday.
“(Lugo) was painting, and we know he can do that. It was really nice to it,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Lugo has a 4.35 ERA in two starts vs. Milwaukee, with the most recent outing coming in May 2024.
Brandon Sproat (0-0, 21.00 ERA), scheduled to start the Saturday night game for Milwaukee, will look to bounce back from a rough debut when he yielded seven runs, six hits — including three homers — and four walks over just three innings of his team’s 9-7 win over the White Sox on Sunday.
He has yet to face the Royals in his career.
Turang is just 1-for-5 vs. Lugo. Teammate Christian Yelich, batting .381 through the first six games, has four hits in 17 at-bats against Lugo, but two left the park.
Meanwhile, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. is batting .314 with two homers in nine games vs. Milwaukee.
–Field Level Media
