Braun homers, Brewers beat Double-A affiliate Biloxi 7-4

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) Ryan Braun and Domingo Santana both homered in the third inning to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past their Double-A affiliate Biloxi 7-4 on Saturday.

Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed two runs in five innings. He also struck out four.

Biloxi took a 1-0 lead before Braun and Santana hit solo home runs that put the Brewers ahead for good.

The Brewers open the regular season on Monday at home against San Francisco.

STARTING TIME

Anderson had a bounce back performance for Milwaukee. He was hit around in his final major league spring training start Monday against Cincinnati, where he surrendered four runs on seven hits and four walks in four innings.

Things went much more smoothly on Saturday.

''It was probably the best I felt all spring. I was able to locate the fastball down,'' he said. ''I had a couple of bad pitches the first part of the game, just trying to get my feel and tempo going, but other than that I felt really good. Everything was pretty much in sync from the get-go and I was happy with how it went.''

Anderson completed major league spring training with a 9.82 ERA. He was 6-6 with a 4.30 ERA last season for Arizona.

BASH BREWERS

Brewers: Braun homered for the third straight game, a third-inning shot that hit off the top of the center field wall 400 feet away. It was the second homer in the inning for the Brewers as Santana hit a solo homer to right earlier with the wind blowing across MGM Park from left to right.

''That's a good way to go into the season,'' Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

Two of the Brewers' prospects - Brett Phillips and Jacob Nottingham - hit homers for the Double-A Shuckers. Nottingham, acquired from Oakland this offseason for Khris Davis, hit a solo homer in the fourth. Phillips, who came to Milwaukee's organization last year in the Carlos Gomez trade with Houston, hit a two-run shot in the sixth.

''It's easy to be excited about those guys,'' Counsell said. ''It was fun to see.''

TRAINER'S ROOM

Brewers: Right-hander Matt Garza was removed early from the Brewers' last major league spring training game Friday early with right shoulder tightness. Garza lasted just 3 1/3 innings before being pulled.

''Today is kind of his recovery day. We won't know much today,'' he said. ''He'll progress as normal. We have some dates to play with so we can push him back if we have to. Sunday will be his bullpen day and we'll probably have more information after that. We'll know more tomorrow.''

Garza made six starts this spring, posting a 4.50 ERA in 22 innings.

NEXT UP

The Brewers will have an off day Sunday before opening the season Monday at home against the San Francisco Giants. Wily Peralta will start for Milwaukee against Madison Bumgarner.