Brinson returns in style for Sky Sox

Lewis Brinson's two-week stay in the big leagues didn't go how he would've liked, but his return to the Minors showed he's eager for another chance.
Milwaukee's top prospect went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs as Triple-A Colorado Springs cruised by visiting Omaha, 14-3, on Monday night.

"He got back yesterday and he was ready to go," Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet said. "I said, 'Hey, do you need a day?' He looked at me and goes, 'I haven't been playing. I need to play.' He got his work in and went right out there and fell right back into line. I was happy for him because I know he was concerned because his timing was off a little bit up there, but he fell right back into it."

Brinson saw action in 14 games in his first big league stint, but only started half of those. Over two weeks, he totaled just 31 at-bats and three hits (.097), striking out 13 times before he was officially optioned back to the Minors on Monday. Knowing his star was anxious to get back into a groove, Sweet hastened the opportunity.
"He hit second in the lineup," the skipper said. "He got our first base hit. When I say he fell in with everybody else, he started it. He was the guy that walked up and hit an absolute rope right back up the middle, and it was like, 'OK, here we go.' He didn't stop the rest of the night."
Baseball's No. 13 overall prospect followed his first-inning single to center field with a walk in the second and a double to center in the fourth. Brinson then walloped a three-run homer to left-center in the fifth to put him a triple away from the cycle.
Gameday box score
With one out in the seventh, the outfielder laced a fly ball to left and hustled around second, but a relay from outfielder Terrance Gore through shortstop Raul Mondesi kept Brinson from the third-base bag and he settled for his second double.
"It was a bang-bang play at third base or he would've had the cycle," Sweet said.
By that time, nothing was in doubt about Monday's outcome. Brinson's return came on one of Colorado Springs' best offensive nights of the season with a 19-hit outburst that included nine doubles and four homers.

"When he was hitting in the cage today working, you could see that he was focused," Sweet said. "He was determined. He had that chip on his shoulder like, 'I'm going to get back doing this. I'm going to get back up there and show them exactly what I can do.'
"That's exactly the type of athlete you want. Things like that are what separates winners in the game. The guys who want to get right back out there and get to work are the guys who usually wind up succeeding and having very good careers. I know his first taste of the big leagues was maybe not what he expected or looked for, but he came back here, and I could tell he had that brightness to his eyes."
Brinson wasn't the only Sky Sox player eager to be in Monday's lineup. The series opener also marked the Triple-A debut of No. 9 Brewers prospect Mauricio Dubón, who went 2-for-6 with a double from the leadoff spot.
"He got there about two hours before the game," Sweet said. "He flew in, came straight to the ballpark, changed his clothes, went down to the batting cage, got some swings in. I took him out on the field. He took some ground balls. I looked at him, and he said, 'Hey, I'm ready to go.' As soon as he found out that he was coming here last night, he was texting me, getting a hold of me saying, 'Hey, I want to play tomorrow. Even though I get in a little bit late, I want to play.' When you have players like that, you put them in the lineup and step back and watch them play.
"He only had two hits tonight, but he squared up five balls. He had five balls that were absolute line drives."
Brinson and Dubon combined for six hits, just one more than Iván De Jesús Jr., who led his team with a 5-for-5 showing. Milwaukee's No. 10 prospect Brett Phillips, also recently back from the Majors, doubled, scored twice and drove in a run.

The upstart Brewers are the surprise front-runners in the National League Central this season and have a lot more talent waiting in the wings with Sweet's team.
"They're young," he said. "They're getting their taste, and they're getting their taste while we're in first place up there. They get to come up and say, 'OK, this is fun. This is what I want to do.' They come back to us at Triple-A, and we get some more at-bats, we get some more experience and some more work. They're going to fit right in. You start looking at years and longevity, and that's what we're trying to build here.
"The Milwaukee Brewers have a lot of good things coming up. I think as an organization, we're going to do nothing but get better."