Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been slowed considerably in 2026 by hip and back injuries, but he's been on the mend, and he looked as spry as a cat jumping out of the dugout Aug. 3 to take the ball from starter Brandon Sproat.
In a highly rare move within a Major League Baseball game, Murphy made a pitching change in the middle of an at-bat, ending Sproat's night in the middle of the fourth inning with a 2-1 count on the inning's second batter, Pittsburgh's Jacob Gonzalez.
Sproat had just thrown back-to-back ****** to the backstop, allowing leadoff baserunner Endy Rodríguez to move to second base and then third with ****** ody out. The Pirates already had a 3-0 lead after a bases-clearing double in the third, all after Sproat had retired the first two men he faced in the inning.
Sproat finished with four strikeouts and three wild pitches in three-plus innings. The latest illustration of his erratic season might be the one that costs him a spot in the rotation; the Brewers traded for Cardinals starter Dustin May earlier in the day, Kyle Harrison is expected back from the injured list imminently, and Sproat's hold on a rotation spot already appeared tenuous.
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