Willie Adames hit two home runs and drove in seven runs, as the Milwaukee Brewers busted out of a hitting slump and beat the Pittsburg Pirates 12-8 in a slugfest in Pittsburgh. 

The Brewers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Adames first home run of the evening.  Starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff for Milwaukee gave up four runs and seven hits in four innings and was not able to keep the lead.

After Pittsburgh scored three runs in the fifth inning to tie the game, the Brewers scored six runs in the top of the six-inning to take a commanding 10-4 lead.

Brent Suter pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his first victory of the season and Josh Hader got the last out in the ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the year. 

The Brewers (11-7) and Pirates (8-9) will play the second game in the series Wednesday at 5:35 pm from PNC Park. 

The NBA defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will host the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night in game five of the first-round playoffs.  The Bucks responded to a game two loss to the Bulls by beating the Bulls convincingly in games three and four in Chicago. 

With Khris Middleton out with a knee injury, Grayson Allen has stepped up to score 49 points in the last two games while going 11/14 from the three-point arch. 

The Bulls will look to prolong the series with DeMar DeRozan leading Chicago in scoring during the playoffs averaging 23.3 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks with 27.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per contest.

Tipoff at Fiserv Forum is set for 6:30 pm.   If the Bucks win Wednesday, they would play the Boston Celtics in the second round.  Boston swept the Brooklyn Nets in four games earlier this week.

The end of the Pat Mikesch era for the Green Bay Gamblers is near.

The organization announced on Thursday that the two sides decided to part ways at the season's end.

“I would like to thank Pat for his hard work and commitment to the Gamblers these past 11 years,” said Gamblers President Jeff Mitchell. “Pat has a great reputation in the hockey community as a coach and developer of talent. Here he went above and beyond to advance the Gamblers mission to give back and be active in the community. We wish Pat all the best.”

“My wife, Aimee, the kids, and I have loved our 11 years in Green Bay,” said Mikesch. I’m very appreciative of the support given to me by the Gamblers, PMI Entertainment Group, and the entire Green Bay community. My family and I look forward to what comes next.”

He joined the Gamblers as an assistant 11 years ago and was elevated to head coach and general manager in 2014. A national search for his replacement is underway.

The Gamblers will play two games in Illinois against the Chicago Steel on Friday and Saturday before returning home to play the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Sunday. You can catch that game and all home games on 104.1 WRLU and NEWRadioSportsNetwork.com

The Milwaukee Brewers will hope the Friendly Confines are all that and then some Thursday afternoon when they open the 2022 campaign against the Chicago Cubs.

Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes will take the mound for the Brewers as they look to win their second straight division crown. Burnes dominated the Cubs in his starts last year as the Brewers won 15 of their 19 matchups against the North Siders last year. They will be countered Kyle Hendricks who flummoxed the Brewers on Opening Day in 2020.

The Brewers did sign a former Cub to the roster on Wednesday, adding catcher Victor Caratini to the roster.

The Milwaukee Bucks led virtually from start to finish as they crushed the Chicago Bulls at Fiserv Forum Tuesday night.

The Bucks controlled the game from the start outscoring the Bulls in both the first and second quarter by six points to take a 58-46 lead at halftime.

Brook Lopez had his best game of the year for the Bucks with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 18 points with nine rebounds.  Kris Middleton finished with 19 points.

The Bulls (45-34), currently 6th in the Eastern Conference, were led by DeMar DeRozan with 40 points. 

Milwaukee (49-30) will now host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday at 6:30 pm from Fiserv Forum.    

he Milwaukee Brewers topped the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Wednesday in the final Cactus League game on Tuesday afternoon in Arizona. 

The Brewers (7-9) jumped to a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Brent Diaz in the bottom of the second inning.  Keston Hiura added two more runs with a two-RBI single in the third inning to give the Brewers a 4-0 lead.  Kansas City answered with four runs in the top of the eighth inning but the Brewers scored on an RBI single by Terence Doston in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead and hang on for the victory.

Starting pitcher Adrian Houser hurled six scoreless innings allowing only two hits and striking out four.  Jake Cousins pitched a perfect ninth inning striking out two to pick up the save.

Another day, another big piece of the Green Bay basketball team entered his name into the transfer portal on Monday.

Several outlets reported Monday that Kamari McGee would be entering the transfer portal, most likely ending his time with the Phoenix. The Racine-product was a star for the Phoenix, earning All-Freshman Team honors in the Horizon League alongside Cade Meyer. An injury to Lucas Steiber, who also entered the transfer portal earlier this year, gave McGee control of the offense for much of the second half of the season. He told the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Scott Venci that he wanted to play on the biggest stage possible and only thought about transferring in the recent days.

It continued a disturbing trend for the Phoenix, which has already seen at least five other players leave the program since the season ended in March. Only five players remain with the program. Green Bay lost a similar number of players to the transfer portal at the end of 2021. 

Many local baseball and softball teams will have to wait a few more days before getting their first game action of the season.

Every softball and baseball scheduled for Monday were either postponed or canceled due to the morning dose of winter weather that was followed in some cases by some rain. That has led to several games being preemptively canceled or postponed for Tuesday. Those games include:

• Sturgeon Bay at Kewaunee (baseball and softball)
• Gibraltar at NEW Lutheran (baseball and softball)
• Southern Door at Sevastopol (baseball and softball)

Luxemburg-Casco softball's game against Wrightstown has not been formally canceled or postponed yet according to the Northeastern Conference. That game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

With rain and snow in the forecast for the region Monday morning, the area's baseball and softball teams will have to wait and see if they get to play.

Baseball games scheduled for Monday include Gibraltar hosting Sheboygan Lutheran at 4:30 p.m. and Luxemburg-Casco playing at home at the same time against Denmark.

Scheduled softball action includes Algoma visiting Luxemburg-Casco at 4:30 p.m.