PHOENIX – The return of Craig Counsell to Maryvale turned out to be, well, not all that memorable.

The erstwhile skipper of the Milwaukee Brewers, now at the helm of the rival Chicago Cubs, exchanged lineup cards at home plate with Pat Murphy, heard a small smattering of boos a few times from the crowd of 3,996 at American Family Fields of Phoenix and exchanged pleasantries with a few ex-staff members and players.

And the game followed suit, with the Brewers dropping their fourth straight in the Cactus League, 6-1.

"It was fun. A lot of fun," Murphy said afterward. "It was weird seeing him in those colors. But that's what reality is right now. Move on. Every time we see each other we'll exchange pleasantries. But we're both worried about getting our clubs ready to play the regular season."

It was a far cry from what will take place at American Family Field in Milwaukee the first time the teams square off in the regular season May 27-30. Even most of the Chicago media corps was MIA; Cody Bellinger's return news conference in Mesa took precedence on that side.

The teams meet for the first time May 3-5 at Wrigley Field.

Willy Adames made a point to go over and greet Counsell before the game, and the two had a pleasant conversation.

"It was really weird, obviously," he said. "Every time I see him I'm going to go say hi, because I'm always grateful. I mean, you can't just forget what he's done for this organization."

The Cubs opened a one-run lead into a commanding one by plating four in the sixth against non-roster invitee Harold Chirino. The two teams play once more in the spring, with an 8:05 p.m. game at Sloan Field in Mesa on March 12.

Three observations from Cubs-Brewers

Ten pitchers took the mound for the Brewers with non-roster invitee Rob Zastryzny starting and going an inning and Trevor Megill following with an inning.

Third up was JB Bukauskas, who struck out all three batters he faced. His total of six punchouts after two appearances leads all Milwaukee pitchers, and he's allowed only a hit and a walk as well.

Bukauskas was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners last April but injuries limited him to five appearances out of the Brewers bullpen the rest of the way. The right-hander has been awarded a rare fourth minor-league option, so he figures to be part of the group that will be shuttling back and forth between Milwaukee and Class AAA Nashville this year.

"He's pitched great twice that I've seen him," Murphy said. "I remember him throwing the ball good last season at the end. He's been really good. He'll be in the major leagues at some point for us, I guarantee it."

Milwaukee's offense has been spotty at best since debuting with 11 runs in winning the opener Saturday, scoring three times on Sunday, three times on Monday, four times on Tuesday and once on Wednesday – all losses as the Brewers dropped to 1-4.

"There's been some great stuff every day," Murphy said. "Again, we're playing guys that might be in Double-A. We're playing guys that might not be with the Brewers. We're not playing to win, even though I joke about it. We're playing winning baseball. I hope we win; that feels better. But this has no effect.

"It's about how the guys are playing, how they're competing. We're playing with 3-4 guys out of the lineup every day and maybe 4-5 innings of major-league pitching. The rest, you're just really pulling for those guys."

Fans will be heartened to hear that reinforcements will be coming soon, with Christian Yelich and Rhys Hoskins eyeing Friday's game against the San Diego Padres in Maryvale for their spring opener.

Murphy said the Brewers debut of Gary Sánchez is a little further off as he continues to deal with a banged-up right hand and wrist. Sánchez did his first catching in a live batting-practice session Tuesday, and took his first rounds of batting practice himself on Wednesday.

Despite the delay, Murphy indicated there's still plenty of time for Sánchez to prepare himself for the March 28 opener.

Quotable

"Trust the guy behind you. It's hard to do when you try and earn your keep and you get a 3-0 breaking ball in the dirt, but you're hoping that it'll be over the plate. 'Well, maybe I can still make contact.' You know, you've got to just be willing to pass the baton," Murphy, discussing a successful offensive philosophy.

Jackson Chourio watch

Chourio, starting in left field and batting fifth, went 0 for 3 and also committed an error in the first inning that led to the first run scoring. He's currently batting .333 with an OPS of .733 on the spring.

"It's coming. It's coming," Murphy said. "There's a lot on that kid. I'm not going to be easy on him, but I'm trying to play him a lot and he'll get some of this out from underneath him. Defensively, he's a little bit not in rhythm, but I think he'll get there very soon.

"This kid can hit, and it'll come. It's going to show up."

Coming up

Brewers at Rangers, 2:05 p.m. Thursday. Milwaukee RHP Joe Ross vs. Texas RHP Nathan Eovaldi. Webcast – Brewers.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Craig Counsell's Cubs beat Brewers in manager's return to Maryvale