Brewers opting to stay course with Peralta

PHILADELPHIA — New month, same question: What to do about the Brewers’ slumping Opening Day starter?

Wily Peralta was hit hard again Sunday, allowing six Phillies runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-1 loss at Citizens Bank Park. His ERA after a dozen starts is 6.79, worst in the Majors for a starter. Yet the Brewers plan to stay the course with Peralta, manager Craig Counsell said.

“We’ve got five guys; he’s one of our five guys,” Counsell said. “We need him. That would be my sense right now.”

But the Brewers need better, Counsell said several times. Peralta concurred.

“Pretty much the same thing over and over,” said Peralta, who added later, “It’s time I step up and do my job.”

The Brewers already sent one struggling starter to the Minor Leagues this season, optioning Taylor Jungmann after the right-hander went 0-4 with a 9.15 ERA in his first five starts. Peralta, like Jungmann, has a Minor League option left.

So what makes this situation different?

“I think we have to have alternatives,” Counsell said. “We have to look …

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