Friday's Frosty Mug: Back where it all began

Some things to read while running out for more oregano.

The Brewers wrapped up a four-game set in San Francisco with a whimper yesterday, managing just three hits in a 4-1 loss. Nicole has the recap, if you missed it.

The Brewers played a man short yesterday before placing Rickie Weeks on the DL with a hamstring strain following the game. Scooter Gennett has been recalled from Nashville and will rejoin the team tonight. Weeks' injury complicated the Brewers' roster plans a bit: Aramis Ramirez had been expected to come off the DL tonight but now is expected to wait at least one more day.

Other notes from the field:

• Brandon Belt's first inning home run off Donovan Hand yesterday was the Giants' first long ball at home in 101 innings. (h/t @joe_block)
• The Brewers are now 1-10 on Thursdays this season. (h/t @AdamMcCalvy)
• The Brewers need 14 more wins in their final 47 games to avoid the second 100 loss season in franchise history.

Let's wrap up the Giants series with a look at this week's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker and Larry Granillo of Wezen-ball (Tuesday and Wednesday):

Gomez's trot Tuesday was the quickest in all of baseball.

The Brewers' final west coast swing of 2013 continues tonight as they open a series in Seattle, with Kyle Lohse taking on Joe Saunders at 9:10. Cash Kruth and Jason Mastrodonato teamed up for the MLB.com preview.

At this point it appears likely Lohse will be a Brewer for the relative long haul, but that could change: Yesterday word leaked out that the Brewers had placed Lohse on revocable trade waivers, which would allow them to deal him to a claiming team or to any team if he goes unclaimed. This transaction by itself isn't major news, but it does give us something to keep an eye on.

The Brewers' visit to Seattle tonight will be the first time these two teams have played in Seattle since 1997, and the first time since the Brewers moved to the NL. Joe Block notes on Twitter that, following this season, San Diego at Toronto will be the only possible interleague matchup that has still never happened.

If you only click one link in today's Mug, I'd make it this one: Eno Sarris of FanGraphs sat down with Jonathan Lucroy this week to talk about the art of pitch receiving and why he's consistently seen as one of baseball's best in that category.

Juan Francisco had one of the Brewers' three hits yesterday, but also had a pair of strikeouts. Noah mentioned a resemblance you may also have noticed in our Tweet of the Day:

Realization: Juan Francisco is basically Russell Branyan. Through first 260 games: Branyan .227/.309/.465, Francisco .250/.306/.443.

— Noah Jarosh (@NoahJarosh) August 8, 2013

Carlos Gomez went 0-for-4 yesterday and also struck out three times. The Brewer Nation has video from an MLB Network feature on Gomez's breakout season.

Entering play tonight the Brewers are fifth in the NL with 47 sac bunts this season, a slight improvement over their #2 ranking from a year ago. If you're interested in joining the crusade to stop wasting outs, then Brian Kenny of MLB Network has a t-shirt you should probably see.

In the minors:

• John Sickels of Minor League Ball has a great look back at his 2013 preseason top prospects list with a brief paragraph on the season each player has experienced.
• The affiliates went 3-3 yesterday but with a little luck it could have been 5-1. Huntsville was a 2-1 loser in 13 innings and Wisconsin dropped a 2-1 game in ten. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights and more from the aforementioned Wisconsin game.
• Bernie Pleskoff of MLB.com has a scouting report on 2013 top draft pick Devin Williams that's encouraging in more or less every way.

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 3:20 today. We're shifting the timing a bit so I can hang out with Justin at his pool party at Tanner's Sports Grill and Bar in Kimberly, so stop out and have some fun with us if you're in the area.

Around baseball:

Astros: Designated pitcher Travis Blackley for assignment.
Athletics: Claimed infielder Adam Rosales off waivers from the Rangers.
Cubs: Placed pitcher Matt Guerrier (elbow discomfort) and outfielder Thomas Neal (dislocated shoulder) on the DL.
Giants: Designated catcher Guillermo Quiroz for assignment.
Indians: Designated 1B/3B Mark Reynolds for assignment.
Phillies: Claimed outfielder Casper Wells off waivers from the White Sox.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Pirates needed ten innings to do it, but wrapped up a sweep of the Marlins with a 5-4 win yesterday. Russell Martin's walkoff single gave Pittsburgh 70 wins on the season.
• The Cardinals dropped another game in the standings after losing 5-1 to the red-hot Dodgers. Catcher A.J. Ellis' three-run homer was the big blow,
• The Phillies blew out the Cubs 12-1, plating nine runs on eleven hits off Jeff Samardzija. Anthony Rizzo's lone hit in the game was his 32nd double, giving him the NL's second-highest total.
• The Brewers, of course, lost to the Giants.
• The Reds were off Thursday.

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

Here are today's standings and probables:

The Brewers recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first on-field Sausage Race, and it's an event that has been frequently imitated across baseball in the years that followed. Frank Jackson of The Hardball Times, though, has suggestions to further expand the field with races for all 30 teams.

Today In Brewer History was off this morning, but we do have a bunch of stuff to cover in today's bits of history:

• If you missed it yesterday, go back and check out Nicole's post on the AAGPBL reenactment taking place at Alverno on Sunday. Nicole did a great job hearing from lots of people involved regarding the league and the reasons why they re-enact it.
• Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that today is the 21st anniversary of the Brewers retiring Rollie Fingers' number in 1992 and the 19th anniversary of Teddy Higuera's final MLB game in 1994.
• nullacct continued his "Face of the Franchise" series by naming Ben Oglivie the face of the 1970's Brewers.
• Today is Ted Simmons' 64th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 39 career HBP are the second most ever for a player born on August 9.
• Today is also Scott Karl's 42nd birthday, and his 33 career plunkings are the fourth most ever for a pitcher born on this day.
• Finally, today is 1994-95 Brewer Bob Scanlan's 47th birthday, and Gaslamp Ball has a post commemorating the career of the current Padres broadcaster.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's still real to me.

Drink up.