Thursday's Frosty Mug: Everyone's still here

Some things to read while making excuses.

Today's biggest news is no news: The 2013 MLB trade deadline came and went yesterday and the Brewers made no moves. This may not be a surprising development, but it is a bit of a letdown: 74% of voters in this week's BCB Tracking Poll said they would be disappointed if the Brewers failed to make any trades.

Back on the field, the Brewers fell behind early and came up short in their effort to complete a sweep of the Cubs, losing 6-1 at Wrigley Field. Nicole has the recap, if you missed it.

Jonathan Lucroy went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles last night but his most notable contribution may have come in the field, where he started at first base for the first time in his career. Adam McCalvy has Twitter photos from his pre-game instruction on fielding short hops, throwing to a covering pitcher and double plays. Jaymes Langrehr noted on Twitter that Lucroy is the 12th Brewer to start a game at first in 270 games since Prince Fielder's departure.

Other notes from the field:

• Last night was the first time Wily Peralta had allowed multiple home runs in a game this season (Twitter link).
• Jean Segura was held out of the lineup yesterday but Ron Roenicke said it was a planned off day to help him recover from a series of bumps and bruises. (Twitter link)
• The game was halted by rain in the sixth inning, but resumed following a one hour, six minute delay (Twitter link).

Let's wrap up the Cubs series with a look at the week's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker Online:

The Brewers may have had a quiet day on the trade front yesterday, but they did make one transaction: Yovani Gallardo has been placed on the DL with his sore hamstring and replaced on the roster by Scooter Gennett, who was already with the team as the 26th man for Tuesday's doubleheader (Twitter link). Gennett drew a walk as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning last night.

The Brewers are off today before opening a brief homestand against the Nationals tomorrow night. Tom Gorzelanny will take on Jordan Zimmermann in the opening game, and Tom Schad has the MLB.com preview.

Unfortunately, yesterday's quiet trade deadline isn't going to do much to excite Brewer fans for the remaining two months of the 2013 season, with the pennant race a foregone conclusion and a largely depleted roster limping to the finish. If you're looking for reasons to continue to watch this team, Brandon Berg of Chippewa.com has some for you.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 1-5 yesterday but the lone win came from Nashville, where Jimmy Nelson pitched five scoreless innings in the Sounds' 3-2 win over Las Vegas. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Mark Rogers also pitched two scoreless innings for the AZL Brewers yesterday in his first game appearance since May (Twitter link).
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has notes from Wisconsin's 6-3 loss to Kane County.

Around baseball:

Astros: Released first baseman Carlos Pena.
Athletics: Designated infielder Adam Rosales for assignment.
Blue Jays: Placed pitcher Dustin McGowan on the DL with a side injury.
Cardinals: Placed outfielder Shane Robinson on the DL with a strained shoulder.
Dodgers: Acquired catcher Drew Butera from the Twins for a PTBNL or cash.
Orioles: Acquired pitcher Bud Norris and international bonus money from the Astros for outfielder L.J. Hoes, a minor league pitcher and a competitive balance draft pick and placed pitcher Jason Hammel on the DL with right flexor mass tightness.
Padres: Acquired pitcher Ian Kennedy from the Diamondbacks for reliever Joe Thatcher, a minor league pitcher and a competitive balance draft pick.
Pirates: Acquired infielder Robert Andino from the Mariners for a PTBNL.
Rays: Placed pitcher Matt Moore on the DL with elbow soreness.
Royals: Acquired outfielder Justin Maxwell from the Astros for a minor league pitcher.

And with that, the 2013 trade deadline is behind us. For fans of most teams the deadline was a letdown, but should we be surprised? David Cohen of The Good Phight has a great post today on the volume of hype leading up to this year's non-events and the role we as fans play in perpetuating it.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Pirates continued to expand on their lead in the division with a 5-4 win over the Cardinals last night. Russell Martin's eighth inning RBI single gave Pittsburgh the lead and eventually the win.
• The Reds snapped their losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Padres. Brandon Phillips had three hits in the game, including a solo home run.
• The Cubs, of course, beat the Brewers.

You can read more about last night's action across baseball in Beyond the Box Score's Smallest Sample Size.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

The Cubs aren't on WGN tonight, and it's starting to look increasingly unlikely that their games will continue to appear there in the future. Bleed Cubbie Blue has a look at the series of events that could lead the Cubs to leave a broadcast partner they've had since the 1940's.

I haven't broken out the "today in umpiring" subheading for a while, which I guess is a sign that either confrontational umpire behavior is down across baseball or we've just stopped noticing it. Certainly we can all agree that Eric Cooper approaching the mound to escalate an argument with Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett is over the line, though...right?

Of course, not all umpiring is bad umpiring. Larry Granillo of Baseball Nation has a great look this morning at various times umpires have admitted their mistakes over the years.

Today In Brewer History was off this morning, but to fill in the gap our friend Chris Jensen of Baseball: State by State stopped by with a profile of Burleigh Grimes, Wisconsin's best August-born player.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd rather game by myself.

Drink up.