(AP) Freddy Peralta is making it difficult for the Milwaukee Brewers to remove him from the rotation. Maybe they won’t.
Peralta pitched one-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit one of Milwaukee’s three homers and the Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Peralta (3-0) allowed a leadoff double in the third to Adalberto Mondesi and also a walk in the second. The 22-year-old rookie was perfect otherwise, striking out 10 in his fourth major league start.
“He was wonderful,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The big thing to me, again, was just how he pounded the strike zone. That’s the common theme to me, is that if he’s not issuing free passes, he’s going to be tough. He did that tonight, just all over the strike zone.”
Aguilar, Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered off starter Jakob Junis (5-9), who has lost six straight.
Mondesi, called up June 17, hit his first homer this season with two outs in the eighth off Dan Jennings. Jacob Barnes got two outs in the ninth and Josh Hader retired one batter for his seventh save.
Peralta has not allowed a run in 13 innings, giving up three hits in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on June 19 when starter Zach Davies went on the disabled list.
“That hasn’t been a conversation,” Counsell said when asked about the rotation. “He’s pitching well. If you keep pitching like that, it’s going to lead to more starts, for sure.”
Peralta was called up in May and allowed one hit in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut, striking out 13 in a 7-3 win over Colorado. He gave up four runs in four innings without a decision in his second start, and then was sent down.
After three starts on the road, Peralta was pitching for the first time at Miller Park.
“I was waiting for this day to pitch in the Brewers stadium,” Peralta said. “A lot of fans were waiting for this day, too. I’m really happy for this. I did the best job I could and it was awesome for me.”
Junis, who has not won since May 18, surrendered five runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings.
“I’m giving up a lot of runs on home runs,” said Junis, who has allowed three or more homers five times this season. “If I keep it in the yard, I’d have a lot better chance of keeping some runs off the board. But, just a couple pitches that I’m leaving over the plate are getting handled.”
Yelich staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the first with his 11th home run, sending a 3-0 pitch over the wall in left after a one-out double by Braun. Aguilar made it 3-0 with his team-leading 17th homer, a two-out solo shot to center in the third.
The Brewers extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Eric Thames singled and Braun followed with his ninth home run and first since June 8.
Kansas City threatened in the second when Mondesi opened with a double to right. Junis bunted, but Aguilar charged from first, made a barehanded pickup and got Mondesi at third.
The Royals fell to 4-19 in the month of June, scoring just 48 runs in that span. They have scored one run or less in 18 games this season.
