MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brice Turang kept expecting the jitters to come as he played his first major league home game.
They never arrived.
Turang hit a grand slam for his first career homer, capping a seven-run fifth inning as the new-look Milwaukee Brewers opened their home schedule by routing the New York Mets 10-0 on Monday.
LISTEN: Bob Uecker on the call Tuesday for Game 2 of Mets-Brewers. Pregame on WKTY begins at 6:05 p.m. Tune in on 96.7 FM / 580 AM
“It’s just another game,” Turang said. “It’s baseball. Like I said, I just try to go up there, compete every pitch and win us a ballgame.”
Shut out in their first 16 innings this season, the Brewers have scored 22 runs in their last 20 innings.
Brian Anderson also homered and Freddy Peralta pitched six innings of two-hit ball as the Brewers won their third straight with the first shutout victory in a home opener since beating Atlanta 2-0 in 2014.
Anderson spent his first six seasons with Miami before signing with the Brewers in the offseason. He was one of six hitters in the Brewers’ starting lineup Monday who didn’t play for the team at the beginning of the 2022 season.
“It was awesome,” Anderson said. “Coming in here in this atmosphere, playing my first home game in Milwaukee was unbelievable. Brice might not have had any jitters, but I definitely did.”
The day started poorly for the Mets when Carlos Carrasco received a pitch-clock violation before throwing his first pitch. That set the tone for the rest of an afternoon in which they compiled more clock violations (four) than hits (three). New York has lost 14 of its last 17 games at Milwaukee.
Mets manager Buck Showalter said the clock seemed to be at a different pace than it was during New York’s season-opening series in Miami. Showalter acknowledged the Mets didn’t adapt well to the change and said he’d be looking at video of each violation to see what went wrong.
“Everybody’s going through an adjustment period,” Showalter said. “It’s umpires. It’s clock operators. It’s us. It’s the teams we’re playing. You’d better figure it out because it’s not going away.”
Carrasco allowed a two-out RBI single to Jesse Winker in the third, gave up a two-run homer to Anderson in the fourth — Milwaukee’s first home run this season — and left after walking Christian Yelich and Winker starting the fifth.
Carrasco’s fastball velocity dropped from an average of 92.1 mph in the first inning to 89.9 mph in the fifth.
The Brewers poured it on from there.
Tommy Hunter replaced Carrasco and promptly allowed an RBI single to Willy Adames before walking Rowdy Tellez. After Winker came home when William Contreras grounded out, Carrasco walked Garrett Mitchell to load the bases.
Anderson singled home Adames, then Turang ripped an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for a 417-foot blast extending Milwaukee’s lead to 10-0. Turang pumped his fist as he rounded first and raised his arms aloft as he headed to second.
Turang joined Bill Spiers (1989), Tim Unroe (1997) and Shaun Marcum (2011) as the only Brewers to hit grand slams for their first homers. He did it with his parents watching from the stands.
“It’s unbelievable,” Turang said. “They’re my biggest supporters. They’ve always been there for me since I was a little kid. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Peralta said the scene made him emotional and reminded him of his own major-league debut, when he struck out 13 against the Colorado Rockies on Mother’s Day with his mom in attendance.
“I was about to cry when he hit the homer because it reminded me of my debut,” Peralta said. “It was crazy.”
Peralta walked two of the first three batters he faced before settling down to hold the Mets scoreless. Peralta struck out seven and allowed three walks.
Bryse Wilson worked the final three innings and gave up just one hit to earn his second career save.
METS RELEASE RUF
The Mets released first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf and owet his $3 million salary for 2023 and his $250,000 buyout that was part of a 2024 club option. Any team can sign Ruf for the pro-rated share of the $720,000 minimum.
Ruf, 36, batted. 204 with a .307 on-base percentage, 11 homers and 45 RBIs in a combined 118 games for the Mets and San Francisco Giants last season.
UP NEXT
RHP Max Scherzer (1-0, 4.50 ERA) pitches for the Mets and LHP Wade Miley makes his season debut for the Brewers as this three-game series continues Tuesday night.
TOP PHOTO: Milwaukee Brewers’ Brice Turang (0) reacts with Brian Anderson (9) after hitting a grand slam during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Monday, April 3, 2023, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)