Monday's Frosty Mug: The most improbable outcome

Some things to read while cleaning up at the factory.

I guess opening a Monday Mug by quoting myself may be a little arrogant, but with my apologies:

If you'd asked me on 4/13 what the Brewers' record would be in their next seven games, 7-0 might have been my eighth guess. Remarkable.

— Brew Crew Ball (@BrewCrewBall) April 21, 2013

The Brewers are winners of seven straight for just the 22nd time in franchise history following a 4-2 win over the Cubs yesterday, and Noah has the recap.

Looking back a day, Hiram Burgos picked up his first major league victory in Saturday's win. Mike Vassallo notes that he's the first Brewer pitcher to win his major league debut since Yovani Gallardo in 2007, and his teammates commemorated the occasion with a variety of "gifts." As of yesterday morning the Brewers hadn't decided when or if Burgos would make another major league start. Before the outing, Burgos was the "Prospect of the Day" at Minor League Ball.

And looking back another day, Friday's game featured one of the more bizarre baserunning moments you'll ever see as Jean Segura went from second back to first on a rundown. BrewGIFs has a gif of the play, or you can see the full video of it here. The play left everyone in uncertain territory regarding the rules, and JP has a look at various possible interpretations. For what it's worth, TOOTBLAN Tracker says Segura was not guilty of a TOOTBLAN on the play. Unfortunately, this play will likely overshadow Segura's unassisted double play from Thursday.

So the Brewers enter play today a game over .500 about a week after being six games under. Dave Radcliffe of Yahoo has a look at five things the Brewers have done to turn their season around and four things they need to do to keep it going.

Other notes from the field:

• Ryan Braun was ejected in the eighth inning Sunday for throwing his bat following a (bad) called strike three. BrewGIFs captured the moment for posterity.
• Also, Braun's home run yesterday was the 207th of his career. His next one will tie him with Gorman Thomas for fourth on the Brewer all-time list.
• Jonathan Lucroy sat out Sunday's game but is still carrying a six game hitting streak. The longest streak of his career was ten games, done most recently last September.
• Carlos Gomez's single Sunday was his 500th major league hit. He's also our reigning Brewer of the Week.
• We've got video of Ron Roenicke's postgame comments from Sunday.
• Logan Schafer's RBI bunt Saturday was the Brewers' first successful squeeze of 2013.
• The Italian won Friday's Sausage Race, with Chorizo winning on Saturday and Sunday.
• Caitlin Moyer has photos and gifs from several postgame celebrations on the homestand.

Here are the weekend's home run distances and trot times, with help from Hit Tracker Online and Larry Granillo of Baseball Prospectus:

Day	Hitter	Distance	Trot Time
Friday	Carlos Gomez	401 feet	17.97 seconds
Friday	Ryan Braun	387 feet	21.4 seconds
Saturday	Jonathan Lucroy	394 feet	21.34 seconds
Sunday	Ryan Braun	404 feet	Not yet available

Braun's home runs were two of his three hits this weekend, and four of his last five hits over a span of almost two weeks have all been long balls. Todd Rosiak talked to Braun about his unusual stretch.

I've already mentioned that Carlos Gomez is our Brewer of the Week, but he's also attracting attention elsehwere: TheDupes.net named him one of their Offensive Players of the Week. Jim Henderson was also mentioned among their Pitchers of the Week.

Looking ahead, the Brewers headed west following last night's game and will open a series against the Padres at 9:10 tonight. Kyle Lohse is expected to face Jason Marquis in game one, and Tyler Emerick has the MLB.com preview.

While most of the Brewers had a pretty good weekend, Rickie Weeks went 1-for-9 (with three walks, at least) and is now hitting .085/.189/.149 since being moved to the cleanup spot for the first time on April 7. Ron Roenicke told reporters he discussed giving Weeks the day off yesterday but opted not to. The Brew Crew Project is ready to give up, saying "The best days of Rickie Weeks may be behind him."

At least the cleanup issue should resolve itself relatively soon. Aramis Ramirez is making progress in his rehab and told reporters he's hoping to return to the lineup when the Brewers return home on April 29. He hasn't appeared in a game since spraining his knee (again) on April 5.

Meanwhile, the news is not good for Taylor Green. His sore hip was not responding to treatment and he'll have season-ending surgery tomorrow.

Somewhere in between Ramirez's relatively good news and Green's tough break, we have Mark Rogers. He's scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Huntsville tomorrow but still has not regained his lost velocity.

Elsewhere in the minors:

• The affiliates went 2-2 last night but the best moment may have come from one of their losses: 2012 first round pick Victor Roache homered in his first professional at bat in Wisconsin's 12-5 loss to Quad Cities. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Rattler Radio has video highlights from the Wisconsin game, including Roache's homer and a foul ball moment that will make you cringe.
• The Brewers have released veteran reliever Jim Hoey after just three appearances for Nashville. He had allowed eleven runs over 3.1 innings.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has interviews with Sounds outfielder Cole Garner and reliever Rob Wooten.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull from Friday has been archived. We spent a full hour in studio talking all things Brewers leading into the Cubs series.

Around baseball:

Angels: Placed third baseman Alberto Callaspo on the DL with a calf strain.
Cubs: Designated infielder Alberto Gonzalez for assignment and claimed outfielder Julio Borbon off waivers from the Rangers.
Dodgers: Placed pitcher Chad Billingsley on the DL with elbow discomfort.
Indians: Placed pitcher Brett Myers on the disabled list with a forearm strain.
Marlins: Designated pitcher John Maine for assignment.
Mets: Designated pitcher Aaron Laffey for assignment.
Nationals: Placed third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Padres: Placed pitcher Tyson Ross on the DL with a dislocated non-throwing shoulder.
Rangers: Claimed pitcher Charlie Leesman off waivers from the White Sox.
Reds: Placed catcher Ryan Hanigan on the DL with an oblique strain.
Rockies: Placed pitcher Jhoulys Chacin on the DL with a back strain.
White Sox: Placed outfielder Dayan Viciedo on the DL with an oblique strain.

The Cubs claimed Borbon off waivers on Friday, he arrived in Milwaukee during the eighth inning of that night's game and in the ninth inning Dale Sveum used him as a pinch runner. He was caught stealing to end the game.

Let's take a quick look around the NL Central:

• The Reds are winners of six of their last seven and completed a series victory on Sunday with a 10-6 win over the Marlins, scoring eight runs in the seventh inning.
• The Braves entered this weekend as the hottest team in baseball but the Pirates cooled them off en route to a three game sweep and a 4-2 win yesterday. They're 9-3 since their 1-5 start.
• The Cardinals are clinging to a tie for second place following a late inning meltdown that led to a 7-3 loss to the Phillies yesterday. Philadelphia scored a run in the seventh to tie the game and four in the eighth to ice the win.
• Finally, of course, the Brewers beat the Cubs 4-2 to secure their seventh consecutive win.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the second anniversary of Yovani Gallardo's ninth career home run, making him the Brewers' all-time leader among pitchers. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also the 74th anniversary of Fred Haney's MLB managerial debut with the 1939 St. Louis Browns. Haney is better known for his work at the helm of the Milwaukee Braves' 1957 World Series championship team.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting back in the tank.

Drink up.