Wednesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while making sure you remember.

If you missed last night's game you missed a lot, as the Brewers beat the Dodgers 5-4 on a walkoff, pinch hit double by George Kottaras to snap their four game losing streak. We've got the recap here, if you missed it.

Using George Kottaras as a pinch hitter in that spot was a gutsy move that could have backfired on Ron Roenicke: Kottaras hit for Cesar Izturis, who was the Brewers' only available shortstop yesterday with Alex Gonzalez still away from the team. If the Brewers had forced extra innings Roenicke said he would have moved Aramis Ramirez to short and played Mat Gamel at third.

Alex Gonzalez, by the way, is expected to rejoin the team today after some complications with the birth of his new son led to his wife remaining in the hospital for an extra day. His absence forced the Brewers to play a man short last night: The paternity list can only be used for a maximum of three days, so Gonzalez had to be activated even though he wasn't with the team.

Aramis Ramirez continued his early struggles last night, going 0-for-4 to drop his 2012 line to .108/.163/.154. Todd Rosiak is reporting that he dropped by Ron Roenicke's office before yesterday's game to talk about his struggles.

Other notes from the field:

• By Win Percentage Added, Kottaras' double was the seventh greatest pinch hit performance in Brewer franchise history.
• We have video highlights of last night's turning points and a transcript of Ron Roenicke's postgame comments.
• If you'd like to see George Kottaras' walkoff double but can't wait for video to load, LOLBrewers turned it into a series of gifs.
• The Brewers have now won 47 consecutive games when leading after seven innings.
• Ryan Braun was hit by a pitch last night, and Plunk Everyone notes that he's now tied for tenth on the Brewer all time list with 38 HBP.
• George Kottaras, Javy Guerra and Andre Ethier are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
• Mat Gamel circled the bases in 19.55 seconds following his first homer of 2012, and Andre Ethier went around in 23.04 seconds following his go-ahead shot off Francisco Rodriguez.
• Just 27,159 fans paid to see last night's game.
• The Hot Dog won the Sausage Race.

The Brewers and Dodgers continue their series tonight when Zack Greinke takes on Chris Capuano at 7:10. Zack Meisel of MLB.com has the preview.

If you're planning on tailgating before tonight's game, don't bring anything that will blow away. The Weather Channel is predicting temperatures in the low 60's around game time, but 20+ mph winds. I'm operating under the assumption the Miller Park roof will be closed again tonight.

Ryan Braun's HBP was his only time on base last night, as he went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Before the game Don Mattingly told Adam McCalvy that teams are going to pitch Braun differently this season without Prince Fielder to protect him in the lineup.

Doing the math in my head, it seems likely that more former Dodgers than former Brewers have managed the Crew. John Steinmiller notes that Ron Roenicke is the fourth Brewer manager who played under Tommy Lasorda in Los Angeles. Davey Lopes, Jerry Royster and Phil Garner were the others.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 1-2 on a rain-abbreviated day, with Jed Bradley pitching six shutout innings in Brevard County's 5-0 win over Lakeland. You can read about that and big nights for Cody Hawn, Drew Gagnon and Seth Harvey in today's Minor League Notes.
• Rattler Radio has video highlights from Wisconsin's 2-0 win and 5-1 loss against Burlington.
• Eric Arnett pitched a scoreless inning for Brevard County last night in his 2012 debut.
• The 2012 draft order is finalized, and the Brewers will have the 27th, 28th and 38th selections.

I'm heading to Miller Park tonight and tomorrow and will likely try out some more new food while I'm there this week. John Steinmiller and Caitlin Moyer tried the Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese and the Bacon Sloppy Joe this week, and their opinions seemed to differ pretty strongly from mine.

In power rankings:

• View From Bernie's Chalet dropped the Brewers six spots to 20th.
• Sports Illustrated and FanGraphs have the Brewers 24th(!).

If you're reading today's Mug before 7 pm, there's still time to make your Prognostikegger predictions for tonight's and tomorrow's games. I got shut out last night, so you'll still have a good chance of beating me this week.

Around baseball:

Diamondbacks: Placed infielder Geoff Blum on the DL with a side injury.
Indians: Placed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on the bereavement list.
Orioles: Claimed catcher Luis Exposito off waivers from the Red Sox and designated infielder Josh Bell for assignment.
Reds: Placed infielder Miguel Cairo on the DL with a hamstring strain.

The Brewers weren't the only walkoff in the division last night, as the Cardinals edged out the Reds 2-1 in ten innings on a Matt Carpenter sac fly. You already know that and more if you've read this morning's edition of Around The NL Central.

Here's something most of us have probably never thought about: As part of an upcoming story, Jeff Fletcher counted all of the baseballs used during last night's Giants game. The final count was 98.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the second anniversary of the Brewers scoring ten runs in the first inning en route to a 11-7 win over the Nationals in 2010. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also the 21st anniversary of Robin Yount's 500th double. Today is also Brady Clark's 39th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 54 career HBP are the most ever for a player born on April 18.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to wash this off.

Drink up.