Tuesday's Frosty Mug: Gindl's Day

Some things to read while your hat weighs you down.

Yesterday was a huge day for rookie outfielder Caleb Gindl, as he collected three hits, scored three times and drove in three runs in the Brewers' 6-1 win over the Cubs. We've got the recap, if you missed it.

Gindl's heroics made a winner of Wily Peralta, who allowed a single unearned run on five hits over six innings. @MikeVassallo13 notes that Peralta has now pitched four consecutive quality starts.

Other notes from the field:

• Jean Segura went 1-for-5 with a double yesterday, giving him extra base hits in back-to-back games for the first time since June. (h/t @joe_block)
• Cubs starter Edwin Jackson and manager Dale Sveum had a visible disagreement in the dugout after Jackson was removed from the game early.
• We've got video from Ron Roenicke's postgame press conference.
• The Italian won the sausage race.

The series continues tonight when Marco Estrada takes on Jeff Samardzija at 7:10. Quinn Roberts has the MLB.com preview.

The Brewers have already moved to a six-man rotation for September, but they still have one starter on the outside looking in. Adam McCalvy reports that Jimmy Nelson still could get to start a game at some point over the next couple of weeks.

Sean Halton was the hero in Sunday's walkoff win, and celebrated his accomplishment by sitting on the bench on Monday. Adam McCalvy talked to him about his first season in the majors, and Nick Michalski of The Brewers Bar says Halton has earned playing time at first base.

Jonathan Lucroy played first base yesterday instead, as Martin Maldonado settled in behind the plate to catch Wily Peralta. Lucroy is still third among all NL catchers in games caught this season, and yesterday we took a look at his durability. Lucroy is also the Brewer nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Brewers have won four of their last five games, but Jonah Keri is not impressed. He still has them 25th overall in his power rankings.

In the minors:

• Helena kept their season alive by scoring six runs in the first inning en route to a 7-5 win in the Pioneer League championship series. morineko has the recap, if you missed it.
• The series moves on to a winner-take-all third game tonight, and 2013 third round pick Barrett Astin will be on the mound for the Brewers. (h/t @AdamMcCalvy)
• If you see Jim Henderson pitching in the minors next season, it's because Donovan Hand donated him.

Closer to home, Ryan Braun continues to work to rehab his image in advance of next season's return to the Brewers. Big League Stew used a scene from Swingers to simulate what his phone calls to season ticket holders might have sounded like.

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 2:30 today. I'll be on for at least half an hour answering your questions, so listen in and get involved.

Around baseball:

Orioles: Designated infielder Wilson Betemit for assignment.
Reds: Designated pitchers Josh Ravin and Kyle Lotzkar for assignment.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Pirates narrowly avoided being no-hit in a 2-0 loss to the Padres. Andrew Cashner took a perfect game into the seventh inning and pitched a complete game one-hitter.
• The Cardinals missed a chance to gain ground, losing 6-2 to the Rockies. Colorado blew the game open in the eighth with a four-run inning.
• The Reds closed the gap a bit by beating the Astros 6-1 in Houston. Shin-Soo Choo drew three walks in the game and he and teammate Joey Votto have combined to collect 224 free passes this season.
• The Brewers, of course, beat the Cubs.

You can read more about those games and all of yesterday's action in today's edition of Around the Bases at SBNation.com/MLB.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

Team	W	L	GB	Today	Time	Matchup
Pirates	87	63	--	v SDP	6:05p	Jeff Locke v Eric Stults
Cardinals	87	63	--	@ COL	7:40p	Joe Kelly v Juan Nicasio
Reds	85	66	2.5	@ HOU	7:10p	Mike Leake v Jordan Lyles
Brewers	66	83	18	v CHC	7:10p	Marco Estrada v Jeff Samardzija
Cubs	63	87	21.5	@ MIL	7:10p

Today in former Brewers:

• LaTroy Hawkins is 40 years old and has appeared in 67 games for the Mets this season, posting a 3.15 ERA. He says he'd like to pitch again next season.
• Baseball Card Vandals had some fun with a Jerry Ruess Brewers card.

It's time once again for me to mention that Tangotiger's 2013 Fans Scouting Report remains open and he could use your help evaluating the Brewer defense (FanShot). As of this writing 16 Brewers fans have participated, which makes us one of the least represented fanbases.

With the free agent market getting thin at times, it's possible more teams will look to Japan for help in the future. The NPB posting system has made acquiring Japanese players a bit of a challenge at times, but Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk has details on a proposed change to the process that could significantly alter the situation. If these rules had been in place two years ago there's almost no way the Brewers would've gotten Norichika Aoki.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 30th anniversary of Don Money's final major league game. Money played eleven seasons as a Brewer before retiring and getting into coaching.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's getting too popular.

Drink up.