SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Milwaukee Brewers dropped their fifth straight Cactus League game, a 7-5 decision to the Texas Rangers, on Thursday afternoon at Surprise Stadium.

The result aside, there were more positives emanating from the performance than in recent days.

Starter Joe Ross looked good in his two-inning stint. Abner Uribe tossed a scoreless inning. Youngster Tyler Woessner struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning of work.

"Great to have Joe back out there. He can certainly help us," manager Pat Murphy said of Ross, who's vying for a spot in the Brewers' starting rotation. I'm excited for him. I know what he's been through. We need him, and he's got high expectations for himself.

"Really cool to see it happening."

BOX SCORE: Rangers 7, Brewers 5

Offensively, Joey Ortiz hammered a two-run home run. Brock Wilken, Brice Turang and Eric Haase had two hits apiece as Milwaukee actually out-hit Texas, 11-8.

Even Cooper Pratt got a ninth-inning plate appearance, lining out to center on the first pitch he saw.

Three observations from Brewers-Rangers

Ross doesn't know the exact timeframe. All he knows is it had been a really long time between spring-training appearances before he took the mound for his start against the Rangers.

To be exact, his last spring outing came on March 23, 2021 while pitching for the Washington Nationals.

"I myself haven't counted the days, but I feel really good," said Ross, who missed most of 2021 and all of 2022 and 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In two innings, the right-hander allowed a hit, a run (on a play at the plate where the runner appeared to be out) and a walk with two strikeouts and a hit batter.

"It was kind of a benchmark, being on a mound in a spring-training game," he continued. "All part of the process, obviously, with all the rehab that I've done. I've been feeling pretty good, and I'm excited for the next outing and the season overall."

Ross said he's working on a second version of his slider, with more of a curveball shape, and he threw several of them to (mostly) good success as he tries to distinguish himself.

"The changeup I would say I've worked on the most the last year, year and a half," Ross said. "The (second slider) is kind of a tinkering-with-my-grip kind of thing. Just trying to add a little bit more depth and maybe a little change in velo."

Ortiz, meanwhile, had a counterintuitive day as he blasted a two-run, game-tying homer out to left (and almost out of the ballpark completely) off Texas closer José Leclerc in the sixth and committed a throwing error in his second start at shortstop.

"Their closer's not in great shape, not in great form, but credit to Joey," Murphy said. "It's not easy coming to a new team and do some things. He's played good defense. He's getting his feet wet."

After going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, first-round draft choice Wilken is hitting a cool .714 (5 for 7) with a team-leading four RBI in five games.

"He's definitely impressive," said Murphy. "It's easy to see how talented he is. But spring-training results, you don't get an extra draft pick or something for that, you know what I'm saying?"

Quotable

"They've been going hard every day and you know, that's something that these guys need. They go at it," Murphy on giving his players a "show-and-go" day, meaning the players suiting up for the Rangers game needed only to show up in Maryvale, collect their gear and head to Surprise. Murphy said he's considering one show-and-go per week for the rest of the spring.

Jackson Chourio watch

Starting in left field and batting second, Chourio went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. Through four games his batting average is .231 (3 for 13).

Coming up

Padres at Brewers, 2:10 p.m. Friday, San Diego RHP Jairo Iriarte vs. Milwaukee RHP Bryse Wilson. Webcast – Brewers.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rangers 7, Brewers 5: Joe Ross takes a step forward