Friday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while critiquing fonts. (h/t @CMehring)

Home series losses don't happen too often for the Brewers this season, but that's what happened this week as the Mets took last night's series finale to leave town with two wins in three games. Ron Roenicke said the Brewers were outplayed in the series.

Prince Fielder was the only Brewer with multiple hits in last night's game, finishing 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a walk. Entering the game, six of Fielder's last seven hits had been home runs. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs has a look at Fielder's strikeout rate, which has decreased dramatically this season.

Here's a distraction he almost certainly doesn't need: Prince's father Cecil is working on a book deal and is making public statements again about wanting to mend his relationship with his son. (h/t BBTF)

But, then again, here's a distraction he's handling well: Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports stopped by Brewers Live last night and credited Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun for the way they've handled their contract situations.

Other notes from the field:

• TheJay noted that the Brewers, who have played getaway-day night games on the road multiple times this season, forced the Mets to play one last night.
• Dennis Krause filled in for Cory Provus on the radio last night as he tended to a family matter.
• Aaron Rodgers threw out the first pitch.
• The Polish won the Sausage Race for the second straight day.

Casey McGehee went 0-for-4 with a strikeout last night, a day after snapping his 0-for-27 streak. Josh Wussow, however, thinks McGehee may be turning the corner after last night's final at bat. McGehee said he was overwhelmed by the fan response to his hit on Wednesday.

Moving on, the Brewers open a very important three game set tonight against the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Our series preview will be up this afternoon, but in the meantime Tom Singer of MLB.com has you covered. Greg Schimmel of the Washington Post is calling tonight's Narveson/Lohse matchup the game of the day.

When the two teams take the field tonight, Tony LaRussa will be managing his 5000th game while Ron Roenicke is in charge of his 64th. This is one of several things you already know if you've read this morning's edition of Around the NL Central, which is also packed full of vitamins and minerals.

Looking back a day, Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker has more thoughts on Kameron Loe's role in Wednesday's game. He's second guessing Ron Roenicke's decision to allow Loe to face multiple switch hitters.

Once the Brewers are done with the Cardinals this weekend, they'll travel to Chicago to open a four game set against the Cubs on Monday. Ryan Dempster has been dealing with a hip issue but is still expected to start in the series opener.

Even Plunk Everyone doesn't like Mark Kotsay: He's gone 1537 plate appearances without being hit by a pitch, the second highest active streak in baseball.

Elsewhere in non-productive players: J.D. of View From Bernie's Chalet wants the Brewers to DFA Wil Nieves (and his .384 OPS). He'd like to see George Kottaras back in a Brewer uniform and Mat Gamel called up before interleague play.

Meanwhile in injury notes: Takashi Saito is ready to begin a rehab assignment. He's expected to pitch for Wisconsin on Sunday, then join the Nashville Sounds before returning to Milwaukee.

Elsewhere in the minors:

• The affiliates went 4-0 last night, with Wily Peralta and Tyler Thornburg combining to strike out 20 batters in wins for Huntsville and Wisconsin. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Here are video highlights from Wisconsin's 5-4 win over Lake County.
• Nashville's win last night was their sixth in seven games, and they've outscored opponents 50-9 over the last five games.
• Timber Rattler Mike Walker, who is hitting .282/.408/.489 this season, will participate in the Midwest League Home Run Derby.

And in draft notes:

• One player has already agreed to terms: 41st round pick 3B Jalen Harris. He's an interesting story, as he was born deaf and hears via a cochlear implant. (h/t @SessileFielder)
• The Brewers have also signed undrafted free agent Brandon Macias, a shortstop from Kansas. (h/t @SessileFielder)
• Several of the Brewer draft picks are still active in the College World Series. Toby Harrmann's Twitter feed has a list of places where you can see potential future Brewers on TV this weekend.
• Tyler Maas of The AV Club has a review of the Brewers' early picks.

Looking for some new food options for your next trip to Miller Park? John and Cait took a moment to review and provide directions to several barbecue-related items.

By the way, Miller Park's seating capacity of 41,900 makes it baseball's 18th biggest stadium.

In power rankings: Yahoo has the Brewers at five, up five spots.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Fired manager Bob Geren and named Bob Melvin interim manager.
Blue Jays: Released outfielder DeWayne Wise.
Marlins: Signed infielder Jose Lopez to a minor league deal.
Mets: Designated infielder Nick Evans for assignment.
Pirates: Placed catcher Chris Snyder on the DL with a back injury.
Twins: Placed outfielder Denard Span on the 7-day DL with a concussion.

Today in former Brewers:

• The Astros have called up catcher Carlos Corporan. He'll be making his first major league appearance since singling in his only major league at bat as a Brewer in 2009.
• Bill Hall, recently released by the Astros, is drawing interest from the Orioles and Nationals.
• Paul Molitor and Robin Yount are two of just 32 major leaguers who have been on base 4000 times.
• Graeme Lloyd made Rob Neyer's list of pitchers who should have been butlers.
  

Here's an interesting trend to watch as the season goes along: There have already been 111 extra inning games this season, setting a pace to break the previous record.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to protect my face.

Drink up.