Gasser leads Brewers to 2-1 win in Pratt’s debut

· Yahoo Sports

Jun 16, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Robert Gasser (54) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Box Score

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It was a big day for the Brewers. Cooper Pratt, the shiny new prospect, made his major-league debut. While Pratt will surely have “better” days to look forward to from a baseball-playing standpoint, he’ll remember it forever. But tonight, the story for the Brewers was lefty Robert Gasser, who at times has looked like the odd man out amongst Milwaukee’s crop of young pitchers. Tonight, Gasser had his best big-league start since before Tommy John surgery ruined most of his last two seasons, and a couple of big Brewer hits were all they needed to squeak out a tight win.

Gasser got off to a clean start in the first. Leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana hit a ball pretty deep to center field, but Garrett Mitchell caught it while battling the sun. Brayan Rocchio also flew out to Mitchell, though this one was shallow, and a Rhys Hoskins strikeout ended the frame. The Brewers were aggressive in the bottom of the first: Christian Yelich pounced on the first pitch from Cleveland’s Slade Cecconi and crushed it into right, but David Fry caught his 106 mph line drive for the first out. Jackson Chourio saw five pitches and also made solid contact but flew out to the warning track in left. On the first pitch Brice Turang saw, he reached on an infield single, but William Contreras, who became the third Brewer of the inning to put the first pitch in play, grounded out to end the inning.

Gasser dug himself a hole in the second inning. He was unable to put away the former Brewer minor leaguer David Fry, who fouled off five two-strike pitches before taking a walk on the 11th pitch of the at-bat. Kyle Manzardo followed with another full-count walk, and the Guardians had two on and nobody out. But Gasser struck out Stuart Fairchild, and Pratt got his first big-league chance when Steven Kwan hit a grounder to shortstop that Pratt flipped to second as he started a 6-4-3 double play. One wonders how many double plays Pratt and Turang might turn before all is said and done.

Jake Bauers started the second with a fly out to shallow left, and was quickly followed by groundouts from Andrew Vaughn and Mitchell. Gabriel Arias, in his first at-bat since April 6th, led off the third with a base hit to right, but he was erased when a weak grounder from Austin Hedges turned into a 4-3 double play in which Turang tagged Arias and threw to first to get Hedges. A Bazzana fly ball to center ended a third scoreless inning for Gasser.

The bottom of the third started with Pratt’s first at-bat as a big leaguer. After taking a strike, he grounded out to shortstop. Get ‘em next time, kid. David Hamilton tried to sneak a bunt past Cecconi, but it was too straight, and Cecconi got him by a step. Yelich grounded out, too, and the Brewers went quietly in the third.

Rocchio gave Pratt his first tough defensive test to lead off the fourth, and Pratt’s throw to first sailed after his plant foot moved a little, so first double play, first ground out, and first error got out of the way early. Rocchio ended up at second, and Gasser got the first out shortly thereafter when Hoskins popped out in foul territory near the Brewers’ dugout. After seeing 11 pitches in his first at-bat, Fry needed only one to ground out to Hamilton at third in his second at-bat. After a Manzardo fly out to right ended the inning, Gasser had successfully picked up his young shortstop and gotten through a fourth scoreless inning.

Chourio struck out looking to start the bottom of the fourth, but Turang broke the scoreless tie when he followed with a blast to right center for a solo home run, his 11th of the season. Contreras reached on an error by Arias with one out, but Bauers grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Now working with a 1-0 lead, Gasser struck out Fairchild again, got Kwan to fly out to left, and struck out Arias for a 1-2-3 inning, and he was now looking rather comfortable.

Vaughn grounded out to start the bottom of the fifth. Mitchell also hit a ground ball, but Hoskins couldn’t pick it on a tricky hop; it bounced to the second baseman, Bazzana, who was able to make a throw to first, but Mitchell beat it by a step. Pratt grounded into another out in his second career at-bat (100.3 mph exit velocity!), but at least advanced Mitchell to second. Hamilton struck out, though, and the inning ended with Mitchell on second.

Gasser allowed a single to Hedges to start the sixth, just the second hit of the game for the Guardians. Bazzana followed with a hard line drive to center, but Mitchell didn’t need to move far to catch it. Rocchio struck out on three pitches, and with Gasser at 92 pitches and the right-handed Hoskins coming up for the third time, the Brewers decided to make a move to the bullpen. Joel Kuhnel was the choice to face Hoskins, and on a 3-2 pitch Hoskins hooked a 3-2 curveball over Hamilton’s head at third base for a double. Hedges, the runner, is not exactly fleet of foot, and Chourio got to the ball fast enough to prevent Hedges from trying to score. With runners on second and third and two out, Daniel Schneemann came on to pinch-hit in place of Fry, and he grounded out to second to end the inning.

That closed the book on Gasser, who had his best outing since before he had Tommy John surgery in 2024 and a good bounceback from his tough start in Las Vegas. He finished with just two singles and two walks allowed in 5 2/3 innings, while striking out five and not allowing a run.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Chourio drew a really nice walk to give Milwaukee a one-out baserunner. Turang walked, too (after a very close call on a 2-2 pitch that might’ve been overturned if it had been challenged), and Milwaukee had two on with one out. Contreras hit a grounder up the middle that could’ve been a hit and could’ve been a double play but ended up as neither; Rocchio made a nice sliding grab and flipped to Bazzana for one out, but Contreras beat the throw to first. With runners on the corners and two out, the Guardians moved to Colin Holderman (a righty?) to face Bauers. On a 2-2 pitch, Holderman hit Bauers in the front foot with a curveball, and that loaded the bases with two outs. Pat Murphy moved to Sal Frelick over Vaughn to get a favorable platoon matchup, but Frelick hit a groundball to second that ended the inning.

Aaron Ashby replaced Kuhnel, and with one out he walked Fairchild in a pretty non-competitive at-bat. He struck out Kwan for the second out, but threw a wild pitch during the at-bat that allowed Fairchild to reach second, and Arias came through with a two-out RBI single that tied the game at one. The Brewers got out of the inning when Hedges grounded out—but not until Bauers made a really tough pick when Hamilton spiked his throw to first.

Cleveland had tied the game, but that didn’t last long. Hunter Gaddis came in for Holderman, and on his fourth pitch, Mitchell hit an absolute bomb to right field, a 112 mph, 440-foot shot that put the Brewers back on top 2-1. Gaddis recovered by getting Pratt, Hamilton, and Yelich to all ground out, but Mitchell’s shot gave the Brewers a late lead.

Ashby continued in the eighth, but walked Bazzana to start the inning, after which he was removed in favor of Abner Uribe. Rocchio, Uribe’s first hitter, flew out lazily to left. With Hoskins batting, Uribe yanked a slider into the dirt and past Contreras, and for the second straight inning a batter who reached on a walk moved to second on a wild pitch. Uribe struck out Hoskins on a fastball right down the middle at 100 mph, but another wild pitch with Schneemann at the plate advanced Bazzana to third. Uribe walked Schneemann to put runners on the corners with two out for Manzardo, but Uribe’s stuff suddenly clicked in and he looked great in striking out Manzardo to strand both runners and preserve the Brewers’ lead.

Matt Festa entered for the Guardians and made quick work of the heart of the Brewers’ order in the 8th, as he got Chourio, Turang, and Contreras on two groundouts and a strikeout. That set the stage for Trevor Megill, who entered in the top of the ninth with a one-run lead. Pinch-hitter Petey Halpin was first, and he struck out on three pitches. Kwan harmlessly rolled a grounder to second base for the second out. Arias, who had a nice night in his return from a two-month layoff, wasn’t able to add a storybook ending: he struck out on a check swing and the game was over.

There wasn’t much offense for the Brewers tonight—they managed only four hits, and eight of the ten batters who appeared in the game for Milwaukee went hitless. But two solo homers (from Turang and Mitchell) were enough tonight, as Gasser and four relievers held the Guardians to just four hits as well, and Cleveland’s only extra-base hit was Hoskins’ double. Ashby wasn’t very good tonight and was the only Brewer to allow a run, but in doing so he vultured another win, and became the first player in the majors to 10 wins.

Pratt, for his part, didn’t exactly have a debut for the ages—he went 0-for-3 with three groundouts at the plate and committed an error in the field—but he got number one out of the way, and hey, he didn’t strike out, and his team won the game.

The series continues tomorrow night at 6:40, when we expect to see Brandon Sproat face off with Cleveland’s ace, Gavin Williams.

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