Wednesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while talking to a cardiologist.

Kameron Loe was last night's unlikely hero, getting the Brewers out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the sixth inning to preserve a one run lead. Adam McCalvy noted that it was Loe's 37th scoreless appearance in 2011. That's the most of any Brewer:

By recording the final three outs last night John Axford converted his 25th consecutive save, tying Doug Jones' franchise record. Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar has a deeper look at Axford's performance during the streak. The ground ball that Kosuke Fukudome hit to Rickie Weeks with two outs, by the way, has been changed from an error to a hit.

Ryan Braun had the Brewers' only multi-hit game last night, going 3-for-4 with a double. Three hits pushed his average up to .326, the highest it's been since he was hitting .328 on May 5. He has a hit in six straight games and has now had four streaks that long or longer this season: He had an eleven-gamer in April, a 13 game streak in May and a 23 that stretched from June into July. His home run trot on Sunday, by the way, clocked in at 21.3 seconds.

Other notes from the field:

• Aramis Ramirez's home run was his ninth in July: He only had ten from April-June.
• Casey McGehee's triple was his first of the season and the third of his career. He had one each in 2009 and 2010.
• Craig Counsell was the only Brewer bench player who got into the game last night. He struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth and is now 0-for his last 35.
• Kerry Wood wasn't with the Cubs last night. He's battling the flu and the team doesn't know when he'll be back.
• While the Brewers did not make an error last night, Marlon Byrd made the Cubs' MLB-leading 89th. The Brewers are fifth in the NL with 69.
• Kameron Loe, Ryan Braun and John Axford are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
• The hot dog won last night's Sausage Race.
• Last night's attendance was 39,183, buoyed a bit by 5000 free tickets the team recently gave away.

The two teams meet again tonight, and Quinn Roberts of MLB.com has the preview.

Four days remain until the non-waiver trade deadline, and the consensus opinion seems to be that the Brewers need to make a move before it gets here. Eric Seidman of FanGraphs has the Brewers #3 on his list of trade deadline necessities.

Carlos Beltran still doesn't seem to fill a Brewer need, but Doug Melvin refused to comment on the possibility the Brewers could be trying to work out a deal to bring him to Milwaukee. Meanwhile, Melvin did acknowledge that the Mets have until September 1 to select the PTBNLs from the Francisco Rodriguez deal.

If Mitch Stetter was healthy he'd probably be on this team, but instead he's likely facing surgery to repair some irritation in his hip. He's almost certainly out for the rest of 2011.

Shaun Marcum has been everything the Brewers could have hoped for this season. Pocketdoppler has a transcript of his recent appearance on Fox Sports Radio where he talked about this team and life in Milwaukee.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 3-1 last night, and seven different Sounds had multi-hit games in Nashville's 11-9, ten inning win over Oklahoma City. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Taylor Green was one of the seven, as he went 2-for-5 with his 27th double of the season. MLB Depth Charts says Green is knocking down the door to the majors.
• Nashville pitcher Frankie De La Cruz, who struck out ten and came within one out of recording a complete game on Saturday, has been named the PCL Pitcher of the Week.
• Huntsville pitcher Wily Peralta is the prospect of the day at Minor League Ball.
• Mass Haas is reporting that 2011 35th round pick Doug Elliot has decided to retire after just four professional games.
• Brevard County trainer Tommy Craig will represent the Brewers in the Arizona Fall League.
• Rattler Radio has photos from last night's overnight fire alarm at Wisconsin's team hotel in Clinton.

In power rankings:

• FanGraphs has the Brewers seventh, down two spots.
• Beyond the Box Score has the Brewers eighth.
• Craig Calcaterra has the Brewers 13th, down two spots.

If you'd like more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, the View From Bernie's Chalet podcast is up. This week's topics include the road trip, aggressiveness and the trade deadline.

Around baseball:

Braves: Are expected to place catcher Brian McCann on the DL with a strained oblique.
Giants: Bench coach Ron Wotus was suspended for one game for his actions after being ejected from Saturday's game.
Nationals: Acquired outfielder Jonny Gomes from the Reds for two minor leaguers. (FanShot)
Rockies: Placed first baseman Jason Giambi on the DL with a quad strain.

The Reds/Nationals trade came roughly four hours after Reds GM Walt Jocketty told reporters the team wasn't close on any deals. That shows you how much "we're not close" means.

If you've been around the internet at all this morning you've probably seen some mention of this play, where umpire Jerry Meals's blown call at the plate gave the Braves a 19th inning win over the Pirates after six hours and 32 minutes of baseball. Pittsburgh has lodged an official protest of the outcome, even though protests of judgment calls like that aren't actually permissible. That was not, however, the only controversial call that impacted the NL Central race last night: The Cardinals beat the Astros 3-1 on an Albert Pujols home run that appeared to bounce off the top of the wall and back into play. (h/t Houston Chronicle) Umpires watched the replay and confirmed their decision. You know about these games and more if you've read this morning's edition of Around the NL Central.

Speaking of the Pirates, this week's edition of A Simple Kind of Fan has a look at the reasons why they're probably not going to stick around in the NL Central race. Brewers in 11 has stretch run previews for Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The Reds lost last night to drop to 50-53 and five games back, but John Fay says they still see themselves as buyers.

I haven't been doing much Hall of Fame coverage this year, but this story and video of Roberto Alomar taking a guy's shirt during the parade was simply too good to pass up. By the way, 1990 Brewer Dave Parker still thinks he should be enshrined.

That's all I've got for you today, unless you need help finding a new agent. (h/t @BrewerfanToby)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to put the shoe on the other foot.

Drink up.