Some things to read while waiting to read this.
It was a wild, back-and-forth night at PNC Park last night with the Brewers taking a 5-0 lead early but needing a sac fly in the eighth to steal a 7-6 victory from the Pirates. Eric has the recap, if you missed it.
The Brewers won last night despite a career-high 13 hits allowed by Kyle Lohse (h/t @AdamMcCalvy), although one of those hits was a somewhat dubious scoring decision. Four runs scored in the fifth inning after Norichika Aoki dropped a fly ball in right center that would have been the third out. Felix Pie was given a double on the play. Aoki told McCalvy (relayed via Twitter) that he briefly lost the ball in the lights but should have caught it.
Last night's win did come with some cost, though, as the Brewers unwittingly helped the Cardinals gain a game on the field in the NL Central standings. The Brew Crew Project is thinking about winner's remorse this morning.
I'll admit that I'd prefer the Pirates or even the Reds beat out the Cardinals to win the NL Central, but if either of those teams struggle to beat the now 58-73 Brewers I'm not going to feel bad for them. Just because I want these teams to win doesn't mean they shouldn't have to earn it.
Other notes from the field:
- Jim Henderson recorded the final three outs for his 22nd save last night and set a new franchise record by recording a save in 12 consecutive relief appearances.
- The Brewers are now 49-0 when leading after eight innings this season. (h/t @MikeVassallo13)
- Aramis Ramirez had four hits last night, including his 350th career home run (h/t @AdamMcCalvy).
- Ramirez is now five runs away from 1000 for his career (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
- Khris Davis went 0-for-5, snapping an eleven game hitting streak.
- Norichika Aoki was on base five times last night, going 2-for-2 with three walks. There have been five instances this season where a Brewer reached safely five times in a game, and Aoki has three of them.
- The Brewers scored a run in the first inning last night for the first time in their last 28 games. That snapped the fourth longest MLB drought in the last 93 years (h/t @AndrewGruman).
The series continues tonight when Tom Gorzelanny takes on Charlie Morton and his former teammates at 6:05. Cash Kruth has the MLB.com preview.
With last night's win the Brewers are now 12-11 in August and two wins away from clinching their second winning month of the season. They're still 15 games under .500 overall, but Jack Moore makes a good point in our Tweet of the Day:
Brewers hold on and they'll be a game over .500 outside the month of May. That terrible month remains the story of the season.
— Jack Moore (@jh_moore) August 28, 2013
Despite his rough night last night, Khris Davis continues to turn heads with his impressive month of August and the hot streak may be having an impact on his long term role in the organization. After insisting for quite some time that Davis is only a left fielder, the Brewers are now saying they might be willing to re-explore moving him to first base or right field (FanShot).
Speaking of Davis, Paul Swydan of FanGraphs is the latest to take a look at his sudden burst onto the scene in the majors.
In the middle of a wild game last night the Brewers got a 1-2-3 eighth inning from Brandon Kintzler, who has allowed earned runs in just two of his last 29 appearances. Tom Haudricourt talked to him about his evolution into a key setup role with this team.
You may not be ready to think about it yet, but we're only a little more than a month away from the 2013 Arizona Fall League getting underway. This year the Brewers will contribute six players to the Surprise Saguaros, a team they'll share with prospects from the Indians, Orioles, Rangers and Red Sox organizations. The 2013 Brewer representatives are:
- 2011 first round pick Taylor Jungmann, who has a 4.38 ERA in 133.2 innings for Huntsville this season.
- Outfielder Mitch Haniger, the #38 overall pick in the 2012 draft, who is hitting .266/.349/.436 in 125 games between Wisconsin and Brevard County in 2013.
- Hard-throwing righthander David Goforth, who has a 3.15 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 123 innings between Brevard County and Huntsville.
- Huntsville first baseman Jason Rogers, who is second in the Brewer organization with 22 home runs and leads all Milwaukee minor leaguers with 85 RBI.
- Reliever Kevin Shackelford, who has a 3.24 ERA over 42 appearances between High-A and AA.
- Huntsville catcher Adam Weisenburger, who has hit .251/.367/.394 in 63 games for the Stars.
Elsewhere in the minors:
- Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights and more from Wisconsin's 8-7 walkoff win over Kane County yesterday.
- The Timber Rattlers now find themselves just a game and a half out of the playoffs with seven games remaining. Kevin Kimmes of Cream City Cables has everything you need to know about their postseason hopes.
- Brewers Farm Report talked to Mitch Haniger about his 2013 season and recovery from a knee injury that cost him most of 2012.
If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM WSCO in Appleton has been archived and can be heard here. Come for the talk about Khris Davis, but stick around for a discussion of former Brewer #8s like Mike Hegan, Mark Loretta and Dickie Thon.
Around baseball:
Diamondbacks: Designated outfielder Jason Kubel for assignment.
Padres: Released pitcher Edinson Volquez.
Pirates: Acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck from the Mets for a minor leaguer and a PTBNL and designated infielder/outfielder Russ Canzler for assignment.
Royals: Signed first baseman Carlos Pena to a minor league deal.
The Byrd trade, in a great coincidence, came hours before the Mets' scheduled Marlon Byrd t-shirt night. That might actually be better than the Brewers trading Bob Wickman the day before his scheduled poster giveaway in 2000.
Let's go around the NL Central:
- Tuesday was a big day for the Cardinals, as their 6-1 win over the Reds allowed them to gain a game on both of their divisional rivals. Carlos Beltran had two hits and scored twice for St. Louis.
- The Cubs hung a rare loss on NL MVP candidate Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, winning 3-2 in Los Angeles. All nine Cub hits in the game were singles.
- The Brewers, of course, beat the Pirates.
You can read more about those games and all of last night's action in Noah's Wednesday edition of Around the Bases at SBNation.com.
Here are today's updated standings and probables:
Team | W | L | GB | Today | Time | Matchup |
Cardinals | 78 | 54 | -- | v CIN | 7:15p | Adam Wainwright v Homer Bailey |
Pirates | 76 | 55 | 1.5 | v MIL | 6:05p | Charlie Morton v Tom Gorzelanny |
Reds | 74 | 59 | 4.5 | @ STL | 7:15p | |
Brewers | 58 | 73 | 19.5 | @ PIT | 6:05p | |
Cubs | 56 | 76 | 22 | @ LAD | 2:10p | Edwin Jackson v Ricky Nolasco |
Now, if you'll excuse me, Pac-Man looks dehydrated.
Drink up.