Wednesday's Frosty Mug: Shut out and shut up

Some things to read with less facial hair.

Before last night's game no Brewer pitcher had thrown a complete game since April of 2011, and it looked like we might continue to wait another 407 games for the next one. Wily Peralta changed all that, though, needing just 113 pitches to go the distance in a 2-0 win over the Reds. Eric has the recap, if you missed it.

Logan Schafer was a late addition to last night's lineup after Norichika Aoki was scratched with left elbow tightness, but he powered the Brewer offense with his first major league home run.

Other notes from the field:

• Last night's game was the first time Wily Peralta's mother had seem him pitch a professional game in person.
• It was also Peralta's first professional shutout at any level.
• Joe Block reports that Peralta is the first Brewer rookie to pitch a shutout since Ben Sheets in 2001.
• Peralta outdueled Reds starter Tony Cingrani, who became the fifth opposing pitcher to strike out ten Brewers in a game this season and the first to lose while doing so.
• The Hot Dog won the sausage race.

The series wraps up today as Johnny Hellweg gets another shot in the rotation and will take on Mike Leake at 1:10. Jeremy Warnemuende has the MLB.com preview.

Ryan Braun played six innings in last night's game before being lifted for a defensive replacement, a planned step in his recovery from a thumb injury that kept him out most of a month. Unfortunately, Braun's return wasn't his biggest news yesterday: ESPN (The Worldwide Leader in Premature Suspension Reporting) came out with a story alleging that Braun has refused to cooperate with MLB's BioGenesis investigation and is expected to be one of several players suspended following the All Star break. Here's much more on the story:

• Braun gave a statement following last night's game where he declined to go into specifics but continued to assert that "the truth has not changed" and some of the circulating reports are inaccurate.
• Craig Calcaterra wants to know how MLB can try to suspend Braun 100 games for refusing to cooperate with an investigation, while Melky Cabrera only got 50 for openly trying to mislead an investigation with a phony website.
• Jeff Passan of Yahoo, as you might imagine, has another piece critical of Braun.

Elsewhere in ongoing stories, here are this morning's trade deadline notes:

• Mark Emery of MLB.com reports that the Indians could be interested in Yovani Gallardo.
• True Blue LA spotted a piece by Danny Knobler of CBS suggesting that the Dodgers could be interested in John Axford, Francisco Rodriguez and/or Michael Gonzalez.

Carlos Gomez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout last night, but his excellent defensive play continues to draw him positive attention. J.P. Breen of Disciples of Uecker has another look as his remarkable skills in the field, and BrewGIFs has a couple more looks at his game-saving play from Monday. Gomez, by the way, dominates Kristin Zenz of PocketDoppler's list of 2013's top defensive plays and is being touted as a Gold Glove candidate. Gomez, Jean Segura and Ryan Braun, not surprisingly, make Jason Brannon of Baseball Nation's Last Place All Stars.

Looking ahead to this weekend's Diamondbacks series: Tom Gorzelanny's strong outing on Sunday earned him another opportunity in the rotation. He'll start against Arizona on Friday, making Donovan Hand available out of the bullpen.

Looking further ahead, if the Brewers continue to struggle it's possible change could be on the horizon for this franchise. Bklynbrewcrew has a FanPost looking at candidates to fill the general manager seat if the Brewers opt to move on from Doug Melvin.

If the Brewers do opt to tear down and rebuild going forward, then it'll probably be a while before they climb on this list: James Esatto of The Read Zone ranks the franchise 25th among MLB teams all time. (h/t BBTF)

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 2-1 last night and Nick Ramirez went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles in Brevard County's 10-2 win over Clearwater. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Wily Peralta is one of 24 players who have graduated off of John Sickels of Minor League Ball's preseason list of the game's top 150 prospects.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds pitcher Jimmy Nelson.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull (moved to Tuesday this week) on 95.3 FM WSCO in Appleton has been archived. I spent an hour in studio yesterday talking about the trade deadline, Rickie Weeks and much more.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Released catcher Ramon Hernandez.
Cardinals: Released 1B/3B Ty Wigginton.
Cubs: Released pitcher Shawn Camp.
Giants: Designated outfielder Cole Gillespie for assignment.
Mets: Pitcher Shaun Marcum will require hand surgery and is out for the season.
Padres: Team president and CEO Tom Garfinkel has resigned.
Pirates: Placed second baseman Neil Walker on the DL with soreness in his side.
Rockies: Acquired pitcher Mitchell Boggs from the Cardinals for international bonus money.
Tigers: Placed second baseman Omar Infante on the DL with a sprained ankle.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals expanded their new lead in the division with a 9-5 win over the Astros last night. Second baseman Matt Carpenter had three hits, scored three times and drove in three runs.
• The Pirates continue to fade, as their 2-1 loss to the Athletics was their fourth straight and fifth in six games. Pittsburgh's lone run scored on Pedro Alvarez's 23rd home run.
• The Cubs got a pair of home runs from Alfonso Soriano in their 7-2 win over the Angels. They're now 22-18 since May 25.
• The Brewers, of course, beat the Reds 2-0.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the tenth anniversary of Greg Vaughn's final major league game. Here are today's other bits of history:

• Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 7000 days since Jeff Cirillo's major league debut.
• Nullacct has launched a new series in the FanPosts looking at the "face" of each team in franchise history. He's started off by looking at Mike Marshall as the face of the Seattle Pilots.
• Jonah Keri of Grantland has a look back at the 50th anniversary of Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal hooking up in history's greatest pitching duel.
• Mike Tanier of Sports on Earth has Mike Hegan, Derrick Turnbow and Brewer broadcaster Davey Nelson on his list of the weakest All Stars of all time.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready for winter.

Drink up.