Wednesday's Frosty Mug: Brewer News, Links And Notes

Some things to read while panic sets in.

The Brewers evened up their series in Miami last night with an 8-4 win over the Marlins. We've got the recap, if you missed it.

The Brewer offensive production came from some unlikely sources last night as Norichika Aoki and Jeff Bianchi, who entered the game with a combined eight career home runs, each homered to account for five of the eight Brewer runs, and Aoki drove in another with a double. Here are Aoki and Bianchi's trot times and distances:

The pair of unlikely homers helped the Brewers overcome a rough outing from Shaun Marcum, who allowed four runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings and tied a Marlins Park record by allowing two home runs in the spacious new facility.

Other notes from the field:

• Marlins reliever A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth last night and became the first Marlin ever to strike out the side in his major league debut.
• Carlos Gomez was hit by a pitch last night, the 79th time a Brewer has been hit this season. Plunk Everyone has more on the Brewers' approaching a franchise record.
• Aramis Ramirez was also hit or nearly hit by a pitch last night, but was called out when the umpire ruled the ball hit his bat and the catcher caught it cleanly for strike three. Big League Stew has video of the incident.
• We've got a look at the game's turning points.

The series continues tonight with Wily Peralta's first major league start, as he takes on Nathan Eovaldi at 6:10. Adam Rosenbloom has the MLB.com preview.

Peralta's performance tonight may help shape the plans for the starting rotation for the rest of September. Adam McCalvy reports that the organization is considering moving to a six-man rotation down the stretch to get more opportunities for pitchers while also keeping their inning count down.

Kameron Loe faced a single batter in last night's game and retired him on two pitches. Robert J. Baumann of NotGraphs' Leaderboards of Laziness* show that Loe is among the MLB leaders in fewest pitchers thrown per batter faced. Carlos Gomez and new former Brewer Cesar Izturis are also among the leaders in least pitches seen per plate appearance, and Rickie Weeks has one of baseball's lowest swing percentages.

* - Tongue-in-cheek, people.

It hasn't drawn a lot of attention lately but the Brewers have an interesting decision pending this winter regarding shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who has a team option on his contract for 2013. Gonzalez has been out since April with a torn ACL but joined the team yesterday and played catch on the field. If the organization decides to start Jean Segura in AAA in 2013 then Gonzalez could be an interesting veteran option.

In the minors:

• Brewerfan.net has a look at the minor leaguers who will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter unless they're added to the 40 man roster. Notables include pitchers Hiram Burgos and Nick Bucci and outfielders Khris and Kentrail Davis.
• While most of the Brewer affiliates have wrapped up their season Helena plays on for another week and beat Billings 11-5 last night. You can read more about that in today's Minor League Notes.
• The season also continues for Wisconsin, who opens their three game playoff series in Burlington tonight. They'll be home tomorrow night and Friday (if necessary).
• The Brewers' player development contract with AAA Nashville expires following this season and Nashville City Paper is reporting the organization wants to see progress on a new ballpark before renewing the deal. The reality is that the Brewers probably don't have many options even if they do decide to leave.
• Congratulations are due out today to Brevard County third baseman Mike Walker, who was named Florida State League player of the week, Nashville pitcher Hiram Burgos, the Pacific Coast League's pitcher of the week, and Manatees pitcher Taylor Jungmann, the Brewer minor league pitcher of the month for August.
• Seedlings to Stars has a look at the Brewers that will take part in the Arizona Fall League.

If you haven't yet, please take a moment today to vote in our BCB Tracking Poll. It will remain open through the day today and results will be posted tomorrow.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, I've got options for you today in the past and future:

• My weekly appearance on The Watercooler with Jimmie Kaska on Sports Radio 1400 in Eau Claire from yesterday has been archived.
• I'll be making my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM/AM 1570 The Score in Appleton sometime between 3-5 today.

Finally, congratulations are due out to Saberilliterate, yesterday's winner in our SB Nation Pick 6 contest. Today's games start at 11:35, so you're running out of time to get your picks in.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Placed pitcher Javy Guerra on the DL with an oblique strain.
Giants: Designated pitcher Eric Hacker for assignment.
Mariners: Designated outfielder Johermyn Chavez for assignment.
Padres: Designated pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and catcher Eddy Rodriguez for assignment.
Red Sox: Acquired catcher Guillermo Quiroz from the Mariners for cash.

I've already mentioned The Book Blog's Fans Scouting Report once in this space, but I wanted to bring it up again because there's still time to vote and help evaluate the Brewer defense. As of this writing 28 fans have voted on the Brewers. We can do better. Go do it now.

Every September we spend some time discussing Doug Melvin's complaints about expanded rosters, but this year something may actually be done about them: Scott Miller of CBS says MLB is discussing changing the rules.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 31st anniversary of Jim Slaton taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning in 1981. Today is also 1991 Brewer Candy Maldonado's 52nd birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 41 career HBP are the third most ever for a player born on September 5.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my pants are dirty again.

Drink up.