Tuesday's Frosty Mug: The Texas Two-Game

Some things to read while calling your agent.

Fresh off an off day yesterday, the Brewers open a weird two-game set against the Rangers at 7:10 tonight with Wily Peralta taking the mound against Justin Grimm. This will be just the second time the Rangers have ever visited Miller Park.

This Rangers series kicks off a remarkably tough stretch in the schedule for the Brewers, as five of their next six opponents are above .500 and the Dodgers are the lone exception. @Mass_Haas also notes that 19 of the Brewers' first 30 games were at home, so they've got some road games to make up the rest of the way.

The Rangers are coming to town in the height of the Yuniesky Betancourt Golden Era, as he enters play today hitting .277/.306/.525 in his first 29 games back in Milwaukee. Adam McCalvy followed Yuni to an autograph signing Monday to talk about his hot start and his efforts to learn English. Andrew Wagner of the AP also has a story on Betancourt's surprising start.

Elsewhere in off-day profiles, Lori Nickel of the JS has a great story on Burke Badenhop, who passed up a career in economics to play professional baseball.

Carlos Gomez enters play tonight leading all NL hitters with a .368 batting average as part of the best start of his career. Bovada is taking notice, as they're now giving Gomez 12:1 odds to win the National League MVP award. Gomez's 1.059 OPS in 2013 is almost .300 points better than his career-high .768 from 2012.

I took a beating from Nicole yesterday for forgetting to mention Sunday's throwback unis in homage to the 1913 American Association Milwaukee Brewers. I won't forget again today, as the Borchert Field blog has a great recap of their day at the park.

Elsewhere in glances back, The Book of Gorman named the weather as the MVP for the Cardinals series. Temperatures are in the 60s in Milwaukee again today, putting us in the somewhat gray area for the Miller Park roof for tonight.

In the minors:

• Congratulations are due out this morning to Brevard County pitcher Drew Gagnon, who was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week after throwing seven perfect innings on Wednesday.
• The affiliates went 3-0 yesterday and Khris Davis hit one of Nashville's three homers in their 9-5 win over Round Rock, snapping a long losing streak. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has pictures and more from Wisconsin's 3-1 win over Great Lakes, their fifth consecutive victory.

Back in Milwaukee, the Brewers held a ceremony yesterday to induct Gene Conley into the Milwaukee Braves Honor Roll at Miller Park. Conley made All Star appearances as a pitcher for the Braves in 1954 and 1955.

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

Finally, I know I've already mentioned it once but here's your reminder to go get your tickets now for the 2013 Miller Park Drunk Pants Party. As of this writing the party is about 25% funded, but Nicole, Hangwith'em Rach and I and some other Brewer writers you may recognize are already on board for the best tailgate party of the summer.

Around baseball:

Astros: Designated outfielders Rick Ankiel and Fernando Martinez for assignment.
Cubs: Designated reliever Kameron Loe for assignment.
Dodgers: Placed second baseman Mark Ellis on the DL with a quad strain and are expected to DL infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. with a groin strain.
Indians: Placed reliever Vinnie Pestano on the DL with elbow tendonitis.
Red Sox: Placed closer Andrew Bailey on the DL with biceps inflammation.

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

• The Reds dropped half a game in the standings with a 7-4 loss to the Braves, who took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and never trailed.
• The Cubs made up a rainout with a 9-2 win over the Rangers at Wrigley. One of Anthony Rizzo's three hits was his ninth home run, and he leads all NL players with 18 extra base hits.
• The Cardinals, Pirates and Brewers were all off Monday.

Here are the updated standings and today's probables:

Today in former Brewers:

• Pinstriped Bible has a profile of Lyle Overbay, a late addition to the Yankees roster that is paying dividends.
• Jeremy Blachman of NotGraphs noted Charlie O'Brien's role in a company that sells deer-scented products.

And in baseball economics: Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball notes that the Marlins' attendance is down almost 40% in the second year of their new ballpark, threatening to set a modern record for second-year declines. The Brewers saw their attendance drop around 30% in their second season at Miller Park.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks Seattle Pilot Steve Whitaker's 70th birthday, while Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes it's been 1000 days since Dave Bush gave up four consecutive home runs to the Diamondbacks in 2010. Today is also 2003 Brewer Mark Smith's 43rd birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his eleven career HBP are the fifth most ever for a player born on May 7.

Now, if you'll excuse me, these shorts don't fit.

Drink up.