Tuesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while taking a stand.

Maybe everyone should strain their Achilles: The Brewers only had three hits last night, but one of them was a pinch hit, go ahead solo shot from Jim Edmonds in the eighth inning. Edmonds is hitting .400/.464/.960 while playing on a sore Achilles since the All Star break, with six of his ten hits going for extra bases. Last night's home run was just the fourth pinch hit home run of his career. John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer got Bronson Arroyo's thoughts on the at bat.

The Brewers only had three hits (and one walk) last night, but two of the hits were home runs. The other came from Rickie Weeks, and traveled 447 feet to center field. Hit Tracker Online hasn't updated yet this morning but, assuming they use the 447 number, it'll be Weeks' second longest homer of the season, behind his May 7 shot off of Edwin Jackson. (h/t Jack Moore) Weeks has six home runs in the team's last nine games.

Weeks also scored a run for the tenth consecutive game, the fourth longest streak in the majors this season. The Brewers' franchise record is 16, held by Paul Molitor and Weeks. Weeks' current 10 game streak is the sixth longest in Brewer history.

Other notes from the field:

• Adam McCalvy noted that the team's current five game winning streak matches their longest of the season, and they still have 16 games left against the Cardinals and Reds.
• The Brewers' three hits came from the #1 spot (Weeks) and the #9 spot (Wolf and Edmonds). The Brewers' 2-8 hitters combined to go 0-for-19 with a walk and an HBP. 
• The HBP came from Prince Fielder, who was hit by Bronson Arroyo. Plunk Everyone has more.
• Jim Edmonds, Rickie Weeks and Randy Wolf are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
• CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances at 0.8%.
• Here are last night's MLB.com video highlights.
• Last night's contest took just 2:10, the quickest Brewer game of the season.

Corey Hart was unavailable once again yesterday as he continues to rehab his bruised wrist. Joe Inglett started in his place and went 0-for-3. Hart played catch yesterday for the first time since injuring the wrist on Friday, but there's still no announced timetable for his return.

Elsewhere in trade notes:

• Jon Paul Morosi says Corey Hart likely won't be healthy in time to be traded, so Prince Fielder is the Brewers' only chance to add young pitching.
• Adam McCalvy has a look at the Brewers' options with Fielder.
• Dave Bush reportedly isn't drawing much interest.
• If you've ever wondered how much work goes into a midseason trade, Trenni Kusnierek has your answer.

Elsewhere in injury notes, the Brewers may need to make a roster move in the bullpen soon. LaTroy Hawkins pitched two successful innings for Nashville last night and is expected to be reevaluated by team doctors in the next day or two.

In the minors:

• Jeremy Jeffress is on the move again. After just eight games in the Florida State League, Jeffress has been promoted to Huntsville. The Brewers Bar considers the possibility that Jeffress could be a Brewer by season's end.
• The affiliates went 3-3 yesterday, with Nashville scoring seven runs in the first inning en route to a 12-6 win over Albuquerque. Lorenzo Cain went 3-for-5 in the game with a walk and two triples, both in the first inning. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Jody Gerut made his first rehab appearance in Arizona yesterday, and went 0-for-2 with two walks.
• We don't talk much about the Dominican Summer League, where the Brewers have their own facility and team this year for the first time in many years. I don't spend much time on DSL players because even the best are likely several years away from AA, much less the majors. With that said, there's one guy in the Brewer camp with a name you might recognize: Raul Mondesi Jr.
• Elsewhere in the DSL, three Brewers in the team's new Dominican program were suspended for 50 games after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
  
• MLB Bonus Baby has the Brewers projected to pick 10th in their updated 2011 draft order.

Once again, the Brewers are seeing the effects of a disappointing season in the standings: As of June 30, local TV ratings for Brewer broadcasts were down 27% from last season.

On power rankings:

• MLB FanHouse has the Brewers at 12, up six spots.
• Craig Calcaterra has the Brewers at 21, down one spot.
• WhatifSports has the Brewers at 21, up one spot.

Our field of ten is complete, but other nominations for the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame continue to come in. Today, Anonymous Eagle has Bo Ellis, Acme Packing Company has Don Hutson and Jerry Kramer, and Bucky's 5th Quarter has Bo Ryan.

Around baseball:

Marlins: Placed outfielder Chris Coghlan on he DL with a torn meniscus.
Mets: Placed catcher Rod Barajas on the DL with an oblique strain (h/t hotstove.com)

It's been widely speculated for years that players and umpires handle situations differently to accelerate the pace of play in blowouts and on getaway days. That might not actually be true, though: Jeremy Greenhouse of The Baseball Analysts wasn't able to find any proof of either.

Jason Kendall joined relatively elite company last night as he caught his 2000th major league game. (The Royals lost, 19-1.) Kendall is just the fifth catcher ever to reach 2000, but the WAR count would suggest he probably shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as three of the others:

On this day in 1979 the Brewers beat the Yankees 6-5 behind three home runs from Cecil Cooper. Cooper hit 201 home runs in eleven seasons as a Brewer, but that was his only three homer game.

Happy birthday today to:

• Racine native Shane Rawley, who played 12 seasons in the majors (1978-1989) with four teams, and turns 55 today.
• 2003-2005 Brewer bench coach Rich Dauer, who turns 58.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to rewrite history.

Drink up.