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Yesterday's Results
Phillies 4, Brewers 1
The Brewers couldn't get back on track last night. Kyle Lohse did his best to give the Brewers offense a chance, holding the Phillies to four runs in eight innings. However, the offense fell flat again, managing only one run off of the Phillies.
Marco Estrada should go to the bullpen.
Over the last few weeks, the discussion about moving Marco Estrada to the bullpen has intensified. He's continued to struggle with giving up home runs, and while the results haven't been terrible all of the time, he just hasn't managed to get that home run rate under control. In addition to that, Derek looked at Estrada's splits yesterday and found some trends that would suggest he would be better as a reliever. Estrada tends to perform well when facing batters for the first time, but gets worse as the batting order comes back around. Maybe placing him in the bullpen is the best move for everyone at this point.
The Brewers should look to trade with contenders.
As the trade deadline gets closer, more and more rumors will come out about who is getting traded and who is not. The teams that are selling typically can set their prices for some of the better players, since more teams than ever are turning out to be buyers. Instead of looking to trade with the teams out of the division races, Jordan suggests that the Brewers should look to trade with contenders. Obviously, these trades wouldn't involve such high-profile players, but could involve moving smaller pieces to improve the team. By trading from a surplus area to a team that has a surplus of a Brewers need, they could potentially pull off a trade that wouldn't cost as much and could help strengthen a weaker area of the team.
Cram Session
- Add Erasmo Ramirez to the list of players the Brewers are looking at. Reports came out yesterday that the Brewers are interested in acquiring the Mariners pitcher.
- Two Brewers starters are overperforming on this list: Chris Teeter of Beyond the Box Score looked at the players with the biggest differentials between ERA and FIP.
- Over on Reviewing the Brew, Steven Jewell has a profile of Francisco Rodriguez.
- Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker has a proposal to help the starting rotation: a six-man rotation.
- As the NL Central race gets closer, Sam Clancy of Reviewing the Brew breaks down the race and looks at the current contenders.
Minor League Update
| Team | Level | Record | Yesterday | Today |
| Nashville Sounds | AAA | 49-45 | Memphis 8, NAshville 1 | Nashville @ Memphis |
| Huntsville Stars | AA | 55-35 | OFF | Huntsville @ Chattanooga |
| Brevard County Manatees | A+ | 47-36 | Brevard County 3, Lakeland 1 | Brevard County @ Lakeland |
| Wisconsin Timber Rattlers | A | 46-42 | Wisconsin 5, Cedar Rapids 2 | Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids |
| DSL Brewers | R | 17-17 | DSL Pirates 6, DSL Brewers 4 | DSL Brewers @ DSL Braves |
| Helena Brewers | R | 9-14 | Orem 8, Helena 3 | Helena @ Orem |
| AZL Brewers | R | 9-7 | OFF | AZL Brewers @ AZL White Sox |
Check out morineko's daily minor league update for a more in-depth look at yesterday's minor league results.
Division Update
| Team | W | L | GB |
| Brewers | 52 | 40 | - |
| Cardinals | 50 | 42 | 2 |
| Reds | 49 | 42 | 2.5 |
| Pirates | 47 | 44 | 4.5 |
| Cubs | 38 | 52 | 13 |
Today's Division Games
- Cubs (Kyle Hendricks) @ Reds (Homer Bailey) - 11:35 am
- Pirates (Edinson Volquez) @ Cardinals (Shelby Miller) - 6:15 pm
Today's Action
The Brewers finish off their four games series against the Phillies this afternoon. David Buchanan starts for the Phillies, and Matt Garza takes the mound for the Brewers. First pitch is at 1:10 pm, and MLB.com has the preview.