How the Royals-Brewers series finale came down to a preseason trade
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- Zerpa was traded to Brewers for Isaac Collins and Nick Mears.
- Zerpa escaped the 7th after runs and recorded an 8th-inning pickoff.
- Brewers won 8-5; Royals dropped to 4-5 and open at Cleveland Monday.
Playing key roles in the rubber game involving the Royals and Brewers were a former Brewer and an ex-Royal.
The drama in Milwaukee’s 8-5 triumph in Sunday’s game at Kauffman Stadium came when the Royals batted in the seventh.
The home team trailed 6-2, but a rally, helped along by a pinch single from Isaac Collins, drew the Royals closer.
An RBI single from Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino’s first multi-RBI hit this season scored two.
Pasquantino’s knock came off former Royals pitcher Angel Zerpa, who was traded to the Brewers for Collins and pitcher Nick Mears after last season.
But Zerpa bore down and got out of the inning by getting Salvador Perez to fly out to center and Lane Thomas to ground out to short. Rally doused.
“He’s nasty,” Pasquantino said of his former teammate.
The left-handed Zerpa, who made his major league debut with the Royals in 2021, came up big again in the eighth when his pickoff throw nailed pinch runner Tyler Tolbert for the third out. Tolbert had broken for second on Zerpa’s move and guessed wrong.
“It’s a left-handed pitcher, you’re rolling the dice,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s a tough situation for Tyler. We’re down by a run, and you have to take a chance there.”
Mears got into the act earlier, pitching a scoreless sixth for the Royals.
The Royals dropped the rubber game to fall to 4-5. They open a three-game series at Cleveland on Monday.
Kris Bubic’s rough first inning
Royals starter Kris Bubic got off to a rough start, the strike zone proving elusive. A two-out walk set up Christian Yelich’s triple just beyond the diving attempt of left fielder Nick Loftin. Gary Sanchez followed with a blast over the left field wall and the Brewers led 3-0 before the Royals batted.
“I can’t get off to a start like that, giving up a crooked number,” Bubic said. “You’re playing from behind the rest of the game.”
The next couple of innings were calm for Bubic. Over five innings, he struck out eight, but another two-out walk came home to score in the fourth, when Blake Perkins doubled in Brandon Lockridge
“I got hurt with two outs, and they took advantage of the free 90 feet I gave them,” Bubic said. “They have smart approaches, getting you into a deep count, getting the pitch count up.”
Royals’ offense woke up
The Royals got on the board in the third when Maikel Garcia put a Kyle Harrison fastball into the left field bullpen. Jonathan India walked to open the inning.
Garcia, the MVP of the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela, hit .391 with seven RBIs on the homestand.
“We’re just trying to keep fighting, stay in the games,” Garcia said.
It could have been more. After Bobby Witt Jr. drew a walk and stole second, he motored home on Pasquantino’s sharp single. But right fielder Luis Matos came up with the perfect one-hop throw to nail Witt.
The Royals finished with five runs on nine hits.
Up next: The Royals play at the Cleveland Guardians in a three-game series starting Monday. Michael Wacha is set to start the opener, at 5:10 p.m. Central. The other probables: Noah Cameron in Game 2, 5:10 p.m., and Cole Ragans in Game 3 at 12:10 p.m.
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 4:29 PM.