Some things to read while hanging on to it.
The Brewers only won three games in nine tries in St. Louis this season, but one of those wins came last night as Tyler Thornburg and Sean Halton powered the crew to a 5-3 victory. morineko has the recap, if you missed it.
Thornburg's hot streak as a starter continued last night, as he held the Cardinals to just two runs on three hits over six innings. Tom Haudricourt has a story on his transition from struggling Nashville Sound to dominant Brewer, and Thornburg credited Kyle Lohse with helping him figure it out. (h/t @AdamMcCalvy)
Meanwhile, Sean Halton with a home run and drove in three runs last night, but that still wasn't enough to win him a full-time opportunity at first base. Ron Roenicke told reporters after the game that the organization still wants to see Juan Francisco (and inexplicably, Yuniesky Betancourt) play first down the stretch.
Other notes from the field:
- Scooter Gennett had two hits yesterday, but he also missed the sign on a squeeze bunt play that led to Norichika Aoki getting hung out to dry between third and home. (h/t @AdamMcCalvy)
Let's wrap up the Cardinals series with a look at this week's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker:
Day | Player | Distance |
Tuesday | Logan Schafer | 368 feet |
Wednesday | No home runs | |
Thursday | Sean Halton | 364 feet |
The Brewers returned home last night and will open a three-game series with the Reds tonight. Kyle Lohse will take on Mat Latos in the opener, and Joey Nowak has the MLB.com preview.
If you're heading out to tonight's game, get your picture taken with one of baseball's "middle of the road" statues. Larry Granillo of Baseball Nation ranked the statues outside all 30 MLB parks and has Miller Park 21st.
If you're going to the ballpark tomorrow, on the other hand, you might be one of the last people to witness the daytime glare at Miller Park. The team is working on installing tinted glass along the first base side of the park to eliminate glare issues for right handed batters during day games and left fielders in the evening.
Of course, last night's win didn't bring the Brewers back into playoff contention. Jaymes Langrehr of The Outside Corner has a post-mortem on their 2013 season.
Khris Davis has been out for a week now, but the hot bat he was swinging before his wrist injury has many of us thinking about ways to get him into the 2014 lineup. Moving Ryan Braun to first base would free up a spot for Davis in left field, but you can count Enrique Bakemeyer of The Brewers Bar among those against it.
Moving Braun to first base would almost certainly end Corey Hart's tenure in Milwaukee. Hart is scheduled to visit the team during the upcoming homestand in what could be one of his final Brewer appearances.
Rob Wooten, Brandon Kintzler (a day after throwing 30 pitches in relief) and Jim Henderson pitched in last night's game, but Burke Badenhop did not. Earlier in the day I wondered why Badenhop has been shifted into mop-up duty as the season has gone along.
In the minors:
- Gord Ash told Adam McCalvy (reported via Twitter) that Hunter Morris is likely to play winter ball, assuming MLB and the Caribbean Leagues reach a new talent-sharing agreement in time.
- Efforts to build a new stadium in Biloxi, Mississippi could have an impact on the future of the Huntsville Stars. Brewerfan.net has the latest on proposals to open a new ballpark in 2015.
Let's go around the NL Central:
- The Pirates moved back into a tie for first place with a 3-1 win over the Cubs. Jeff Locke pitched seven innings and allowed a single run for the victory.
- The Brewers, as you likely know, beat the Cardinals last night.
- The Reds were off Thursday.
You can read more about those games and all of last night's action in the Friday edition of Around the Bases at SBNation,com.
Here are today's updated standings and probables:
Team | W | L | GB | Today | Time | Matchup |
Pirates | 85 | 61 | -- | v CHC | 6:05p | Charlie Morton v Jake Arrieta |
Cardinals | 85 | 61 | -- | v SEA | 7:15p | Adam Wainwright v Hisashi Iwakuma |
Reds | 83 | 64 | 2.5 | @ MIL | 7:10p | Mat Latos v Kyle Lohse |
Brewers | 63 | 82 | 21.5 | v CIN | 7:10p | |
Cubs | 62 | 84 | 23 | @ PIT | 6:05p |
Today in former Brewers: The Padres have promoted Trevor Hoffman, and his new title is "upper-level pitching coordinator and special assistant to the general manager."
This is relevant to nothing but I enjoyed it, so maybe you will too: Baseball Nation has a video look at the history of baseball video games.
This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 38th anniversary of catcher Darrell Porter's ninth consecutive game with a walk, setting a franchise record that stands to this day. No Brewer has a streak longer than six games this season.
Now, if you'll excuse me, the cup's been empty for hours.
Drink up.