dpUpdated July 24, 2026, 9:17 p.m. CT
No question, the Milwaukee Brewers Alumni Legends Game was the draw at American Family Field on Friday, July 24.
“It’ll be great,” manager Pat Murphy said beforehand. “But we’ve got a job to do first.”
That part of the equation never ended up materializing, though, as the Brewers fell behind in the opening inning and were unable to catch up the rest of the way in a deflating 5-2 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies.
BOX SCORE: Rockies 5, Brewers 2
Shane Drohan posted his fourth consecutive start of six or more innings but also allowed a career-high five runs while counterpart Tomoyuki Sugano managed to keep Milwaukee’s offense in check despite allowing plenty of hard contact.
Christian Yelich slugged a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first but Brice Turang’s solo blast in the sixth was all the Brewers managed to put on the board the rest of the way.
“I think it’s hard not to feel it,” Murphy said afterwards when asked if he thought ultimately his team was affected by all the pomp and circumstance.
“First of all, it’s a day game on a Friday after an off day. We don’t do that very often. And then all the guys are back in the clubhouse, and it was great seeing everybody. We had a great dedication this morning for Doug Melvin (the Brewers named the boardroom in their new baseball operations area after the former general manager).
“There was a lot going on, but it’s not an excuse. Sometimes your attention can divide you. The margin of error, just, you can’t slip up that much.”
Not an optimal beginning
Drohan struck Jake McCarthy out looking to open the game then ran into trouble a batter later when Kyle Karros lofted a pop fly down the right-field line that rookie Luis Lara allowed to drop for a double.
Cole Carrigg then doubled and Hunter Goodman singled, and just like that Milwaukee found itself in a 2-0 hole.
“That’s a slide play,” Murphy said of the ball that dropped in front of Lara. First baseman Jake Bauers was also converging on the play but it didn’t appear as though the two were in line for a collision.
“He came back and made a nice throw, made two other really nice catches. There’s a learning curve, but it hurts.”
Yelich got one of those runs back quickly when he took Sugano’s second pitch 413 feet out to left-center for a leadoff homer, but a leadoff triple by McCarthy in the third and ensuing single by Karros bumped the deficit back up to two runs.
Then in the fourth, Willi Castro led off with a single, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a Mickey Moniak sacrifice fly that made it a 4-1 game.
Brice Turang provides some life
Aside from consecutive two-out singles in the third inning, Milwaukee’s offense was mostly dead in the water against Sugano and his seven-pitch array.
“He just doesn’t give in,” Murphy said of the right-handed Sugano (10-4), a 36-year-old who’s now won double-digit games in each of his first two years in the major leagues.
Turang snapped a streak of eight consecutive batters retired when he blasted a one-out solo homer out to right-center to make it a 4-2 game in the sixth, then William Contreras singled and Garrett Mitchell walked only for Vaughn to come off the bench to strike out and Bauers to ground out.
Drohan pitched into the seventh inning but walked Mickey Moniak to begin and that quickly back to bite him as Grant Anderson allowed a double to TJ Rumfield that scored Moniak and left the Brewers down, 5-2.
Drohan (5-4) completed six innings for the fourth straight start but allowed a career-worst five runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 92 pitches.
“He wasn’t ahead in the count,” said Murphy. “He caused problems for himself. He didn’t pitch poorly, but we’ve got to do more as a team.”
One final gasp
Colorado turned to Jordan Romano for the ninth and he was greeted by consecutive singles by Andrew Vaughn and Bauers to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the form of Joey Ortiz.
Ortiz, who’s been red-hot of late, popped out to third base and Gary Sánchez came off the bench and struck out, leaving the game in Yelich’s hands.
But Yelich ultimately flew out to right, ending the threat and the game.
What is the Brewers’ record?
64-39, first place in the NL Central.
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
Brewers vs. Rockies, July 25, 6:10 p.m.: Brewers LHP Robert Gasser (2-4, 4.91) vs. Colorado RHP Ryan Feltner (3-4, 5.48). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Rockies, July 26, 1:10 p.m.: Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (10-4, 1.57) vs. Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (2-9, 7.28). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
