Jepsen falters in second spring outing as Angels fall to Brewers, 2-1
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Kevin Jepsen’s second outing of the spring didn’t go as planned Saturday, with Prince Fielder driving a two-strike pitch over the left-center-field wall for a two-run home run to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 2-1 Cactus League win over the Angels at the Maryvale Baseball Park.
Jepsen was wild from the outset, going to a full count on the first batter he faced, then walking the second on five pitches. He got two pitches over to Fielder before the Brewer slugger drove a 2-2 offering onto a grass berm more than 380 feet from home plate. That made former Angel bench coach and new Milwaukee Manager Ron Roenicke a winner in his first meeting with this former team.
On offense the Angels, who came into the afternoon hitting .233, managed a pair of singles and a double and batted only three times with runners in scoring position. But the lineup featured just two likely regular-season starters in Peter Bourjos and Maicer Izturis. Bourjos had one of the Angels’ hits and also reached base on a walk. The Angels scored their run with two outs in the ninth.
With the loss, the Angels have been held to six runs in their last three games.
Starter Joel Pineiro was sharp in his three innings, allowing just a pair of hits.
-- Kevin Baxter in Phoenix, Ariz.