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Friday's Frosty Mug: Davis and dismay

The Brewer bats were mostly silent at Miller Park last night, and we're talking about that and more in today's news roundup.

By Kyle Lobner
Mike McGinnis

Some things to read while tagging along.

The Brewers' first night back at Miller Park was a bit of a letdown, as the Crew managed just six hits in a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Morineko has the recap, if you missed it.

Last night's biggest news, though, had nothing to do with the game's final result. Carlos Gomez left the game in the fourth inning with what's being described as a strained knee after crashing into the outfield wall, and will undergo an MRI this morning. The level of concern over the injury depends on who you ask: Ron Roenicke suggested the initial prognosis isn't as bad as it was when Mat Gamel and Alex Gonzalez tore their ACLs (h/t Adam McCalvy), but Gomez was on crutches in the clubhouse last night and complaining of a lot of pain.

Gomez posted the following on Twitter following last night's game:

The Brewers' lone run last night scored on an absolute bomb by Khris Davis, who hit a ball to the base of Bernie's slide in left. You can see the video here. The Brewers estimated the distance at 458 feet (h/t @AdamMcCalvy), while Hit Tracker has it at a much more modest 434. That inflated number, though, was enough to draw the attention of Reds pitcher Tony Cingrani:

Other notes from the field:

  • Rob Wooten pitched a perfect ninth last night and remains unscored upon in his first eleven major league innings (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
  • Manny Parra also had a scoreless outing last night and has a 0.86 ERA in his last 26 appearances for the Reds. (h/t @AndrewGruman)
  • The Brat won the sausage race.

The series continues tonight when Tom Gorzelanny takes on Mike Leake at 7:10. Jeremy Warnemuende has the MLB.com preview.

Brandon Kintzler pitched a scoreless eighth last night, and you can make a solid case he should come into the game anytime the Brewers need to get a tough lefty out. Even before last night's game, he was holding lefties to a .130 batting average this season. That's the best mark for a right hander in all of baseball. (h/t @joe_block)

Elsewhere in effective pitchers, Tyler Thornburg still seems like a likely candidate to be sent down when Yovani Gallardo comes off the DL this weekend. Curt Hogg of Reviewing the Brew, though, wonders if Thornburg is here to stay.

Juan Francisco went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts last night, which isn't exactly the best encore for his two-homer performance on Wednesday. Before the game, though, Ron Roenicke talked to reporters about how Francisco continues to impress him with his power.

Jeff Bianchi started at second base in place of Rickie Weeks last night and had two hits, but was also caught stealing twice. Weeks' season is now officially over as he had surgery to repair the torn tendon in his hamstring yesterday. He's expected to be ready to go for spring training.

It's been a few days since we've talked about Ryan Braun, which is actually kind of refreshing. Today we have something that might pass for actual news, though, as 60 Minutes is reporting that Alex Rodriguez's camp, not MLB, is the one that leaked the fact that Braun's name was on the Biogenesis documents.

Around baseball yesterday the big story was an announced plan to institute a "challenge" system for instant replay in 2014. The plan still needs to be approved before it can begin, though, and you can count Doug Melvin among those that will likely vote no.

In the minors:

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, I'll be making my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM WSCO in Appleton at 2 today. I'll be in studio for most of an hour taking your calls, emails and tweets, so listen in live and join the show.

Around baseball:

Cardinals: Placed catcher Tony Cruz on the DL with a stress fracture in his forearm.
Padres: Placed catcher Nick Hundley on the paternity list.
Rays: Designated infielder Ryan Roberts for assignment.
Royals: Designated second baseman Elliot Johnson for assignment.
Yankees: Signed 1B/3B Mark Reynolds and announced that pitcher Mike Zagurski has opted out of his minor league deal and is now a free agent.

Let's go around the NL Central:

  • Matt Holliday's single through the middle was the difference as the Cardinals walked off with a 6-5, 12 inning win over the Pirates last night. The two teams used ten relievers, who combined to allow two runs over 13.2 innings of work.
  • The Reds, of course, beat the Brewers.
  • The Cubs were off Thursday.

You can read more about those games and all of Thursday's action in Beyond the Box Score's Smallest Sample Size.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

Team W L GB Today Time Matchup
Pirates 71 49 -- v ARI 6:05p Gerrit Cole v Brandon McCarthy
Cardinals 69 51 2 @ CHC 3:05p Jake Westbrook v Jake Arrieta
Reds 69 52 2.5 @ MIL 7:10p Mike Leake v Tom Gorzellany
Cubs 52 68 19 v STL 3:05p
Brewers 52 69 19.5 v CIN 7:10p

This has almost nothing to do with the Brewers, but it might be the coolest story of its kind you'll hear this year: One man is biking across the country and back to attend a game at all 30 MLB stadiums this year to help raise money for children with hearing loss. He was in Milwaukee on May 21. (h/t Big League Stew)

Today In Brewer History was off this morning, but here are today's other bits of history:

  • Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 43 years since the Brewers drew 40,000 fans to County Stadium for the first time, 33 years since Robin Yount's 1000th hit and 30 years since Jim Slaton pitched 7.1 scoreless innings in relief.
  • Today also would have been Madison native, UW-Whitewater alum, Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Gene Brabender's 72nd birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 20 career plunkings are the third most ever for a pitcher born on August 16.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm staying here for a while.

Drink up.

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