Some things to read while checking the laundry.
Back on Aug. 17, the Milwaukee Brewers surprised the baseball world by finishing off a three-game road sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the National League’s best teams. That was almost a month ago, however, and until Sunday, the Brewers hadn’t won a series since. They snapped that streak by beating the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 on Sunday, and Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap if you missed it.
The Brewers broke the game open in the seventh inning on Sunday behind a three-run home run for Matt Clark, his third in his first nine major league games. Jim Hoehn of MLB.com is the latest to talk to Clark about his voyage from being a minor league free agent in July to contributing to a pennant race in September.
Matt Garza’s contributions, on the other hand, were a little more expected. Garza needed just 85 pitches to complete six innings on Sunday and allowed a single run on four hits and three walks in his first quality start since going on the disabled list in early August.
Other notes from the field:
- Mark Reynolds hit his 22nd home run of the season on Sunday and is now tied for the team lead (h/t @joe_block). It was his first home run since Aug. 14 (h/t @AndrewGruman).
- Marco Estrada pitched a scoreless eighth inning on Sunday and has now gone 9 1/3 innings without allowing a run (h/t @joe_block).
- Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake pitched a quality start on Sunday, allowing three runs over six innings, but complained of a “dead arm” after the game. Leake has thrown a career-high 202 1/3 innings this season and leads the National League with 208 hits allowed. This came just two days after teammate Mat Latos was scratched from Friday’s scheduled start with a bone bruise in his elbow.
- Despite leading 9-1 in the ninth inning on Sunday, Ron Roenicke challenged a safe call on what would have been an infield hit for the Reds in the ninth inning. The call was overturned.
- The Brewers tumblr has a gif of Carlos Gomez making a great falling catch in right center field during Sunday’s game.
- Hector Gomez went 1-for-3 with a strikeout on Saturday in his first MLB start since 2011.
- 45,205 fans paid to see Saturday night’s game and receive a bobblehead featuring Hank the Dog. That was the third-largest home crowd of the season to date.
- That big crowd combined with a test of baseball’s new security procedures led to Saturday’s game being delayed by 15 minutes to allow fans more time to get into the park.
- The Brewers have three home games remaining and have drawn 2,682,227 fans to Miller Park this season. That’s already the eighth-highest mark in franchise history.
- The Hot Dog won Sunday’s Sausage Race, and Bratwurst was victorious on Friday. I was unable to find Saturday’s result.
Mike Fiers is scheduled to pitch against Adam Wainwright on Wednesday in his first appearance since hitting Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton in the face with a pitch on Thursday. Fiers was fined but not suspended after Major League Baseball determined his actions led to the benches clearing in the fifth inning of that game. The only player to receive a suspension for the game’s series of incidents was Marlins pitcher Anthony DeSclafani, who was given three games for hitting Carlos Gomez after both benches had been warned. He appealed his punishment. Both Fiers and Ron Roenicke reported they’ve reached out to Marlins manager Mike Redmond, but as of Friday, neither had heard back. The incident also served as a jumping-off point for Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs to discuss the concept of “pitching rattled.”
Meanwhile, the Brewers will not see Cardinals pitcher John Lackey this week. St. Louis is using its off day on Monday to skip his spot in the rotation after he allowed 13 runs over 14.1 innings in his last four outings. Lackey has a 5.05 ERA and opponents are batting .309 with a .350 on-base percentage and .511 slugging since he joined the Cardinals.
Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy combined for five of the Brewers’ 15 hits on Sunday, and each continue to build a case for postseason award consideration. Paul Swydan of FanGraphs listed Lucroy as one of the “no-doubt top-of-the-ballot candidates” for Most Valuable Player and listed Gomez among the other candidates, and Jasper Scherer of MLB Daily Dish listed both players among 10 contracts that “seem too good to be true.”
Francisco Rodriguez didn’t get a save this weekend but did pick up a win after pitching a scoreless ninth in a tie game on Friday night. Rodriguez has a 4.50 ERA in 20 appearances in nonsave situations this season, and Bill Berg of Reviewing the Brew has a look at how that number compares to his career splits for similar outings.
The Brewers have now won four of five games since a stretch in which they lost 13 of 14, continuing a trend of inconsistency that has become one of the stories of their season. Tim Muma of Brewers Mix is the latest to take a look at the similarities and differences in the offense during hot and cold streaks.
In the minors:
- Wisconsin Timber Rattlers catcher/DH Clint Coulter was in Milwaukee on Saturday to be honored as the Brewers’ minor league player of the year, and he talked to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the season and a possible position change.
- Coulter’s Wisconsin team was eliminated from the Midwest League playoffs by Kane County, which went on to win the league championship.
- Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has a recap of the 2014 Dominican Summer League Brewers’ season.
I mentioned it once last week, but turnout numbers have been low so I’ll ask you again to please take a moment to participate in Tom Tango’s 2014 Fan Scouting Report on the Brewers defense. It only takes a minute, and the results tend to get more accurate as more fans take part.
Today in power rankings:
- Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times has the Brewers 15th, down three spots from last week.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the Brewers as the National League’s sixth-best team, down a spot from last week.
If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, I’ll be appearing on The Big One with Marques Pfaff on 95.3 WSCO in Appleton at 4 p.m. today. I’ll be live in-studio taking your calls, emails and tweets, so listen in and get your voice heard.
Around baseball:
Dodgers: Designated pitcher Red Patterson for assignment.
Orioles: First baseman Chris Davis has been suspended for 25 games (including possible postseason games) after testing positive for amphetamines.
Rockies: Pitcher Boone Logan is out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery.
Let’s go around the NL Central:
- The Cardinals completed a sweep with a 4-1 win over the Rockies on Sunday. Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth inning for his National League-leading 44th save.
- The Pirates completed a series victory over the Cubs with a 7-3 win on Sunday. That game featured Pittsburgh turning a 5-4-3 triple play, the first triple play in PNC Park’s 14-year history.
- The Brewers, as you likely know, wrapped up a series win with a 9-2 victory over the Reds on Sunday.
| Team | W | L | GB | Today | Matchup |
| Cardinals | 83 | 67 | — | OFF | |
| Pirates | 79 | 70 | 3.5 | OFF | |
| Brewers | 78 | 72 | 5 | OFF | |
| Reds | 71 | 79 | 12 | @ Cubs, 7:05 p.m. | Alfredo Simon vs Travis Wood |
| Cubs | 65 | 84 | 17.5 | vs Reds, 7:05 p.m. | Travis Wood vs Alfredo Simon |
Meanwhile, the Braves were swept by the Rangers over the weekend, leaving the Brewers as the only imminent threat to the Pirates for the final Wild Card spot:
| Team | W | L | GB | Today | Matchup |
| Giants | 82 | 67 | +3 | @ Diamondbacks, 8:40 p.m. | Ryan Vogelsong vs Wade Miley |
| Pirates | 79 | 70 | — | OFF | |
| Brewers | 78 | 72 | 1.5 | OFF | |
| Braves | 75 | 74 | 4 | vs Nationals, 6:10 p.m. | Ervin Santana vs Stephen Strasburg |
Will Leitch of Sports on Earth predicted the Brewers would go 9-6 in their final 15 games to get to 85 wins, and says that’s the bare minimum needed to maintain any postseason hopes. The Brewers are now 2-1 in those 15 games with 12 to play.
It’s also time for our daily reminder that things could certainly be worse: The Cubs and Astros were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention over the weekend. The White Sox could join them today.
Today in former Brewers:
- The Royals are clinging to the American League’s final playoff spot after losing to the Red Sox on Sunday, and Ned Yost is the center of criticism again. This time, his strongly defined bullpen roles were the concern, as he refused to bring in his “seventh-inning guy” in a key situation in the sixth. The result was a grand slam and an 8-4 loss.
- After two players were hit in the face by pitches on Thursday, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny talked to Joe Harris of MLB.com about experiencing the same thing as a member of the Brewers in 1998.
- Michael Trzinski of Reviewing the Brew lists the 1991 El Paso Diablos as the eighth-best minor league team in Brewers franchise history. That team featured John Jaha, Pat Listach, Dave Nilsson and more.
- Minor leaguer Cutter Dykstra, whom the Brewers traded to the Nationals in the Nyjer Morgan deal in early 2011, has re-signed with Washington on a minor league deal. The 2008 second-round pick has a .271 career batting average with a .363 on-base percentage and .375 slugging in seven minor league seasons.
- Exactly one former Brewer qualified for Lookout Landing’s Sporcle quiz asking you to name the players who have led off a game with a home run as a member of the Mariners.
Today’s interesting statistical note comes from Brad Templeman of Baseball In-Depth, who notes that major leaguers have a combined OPS (on-base plus slugging) of just .701 this season, down 13 points from 2013 and 67 points from 2006. In a related note, the Reds’ outfield has the lowest OPS as a unit in that franchise’s last 100 years.
And in baseball economics:
- The Rangers are believed to have lost about $13 million in revenue due to declining ticket sales this season, and Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News says that could impact their payroll for 2015 (h/t BBTF). He estimates that number by using $35 per unsold ticket, which might actually be a little low when you factor in in-stadium purchases and parking.
- Twins pitcher Phil Hughes is likely to lose a scheduled start at the end of the season after being pushed back a day due to a rainout on Friday, and missing the start could cost him a $500,000 contract incentive.
With help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- 2001 Brewer Elvis Pena, who turns 38.
- Brewers pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who turns 56.
- 1972-73 Brewer Frank Linzy, who turns 74.
Finally, we close with sad news today as former Milwaukee Brave Frank Torre has passed away. He was 82. Frank was perhaps best known for being Joe’s brother but played first base for five seasons in Milwaukee between 1956-60, including a 1958 season in which he hit .309 with a .386 on-base percentage and .444 slugging. Torre wasn’t much of a power hitter but did homer twice in the 1957 World Series as the Braves brought home the only championship in Milwaukee baseball history. Our condolences go out to those touched by this loss. Jim Hoehn of MLB.com talked to Bob Uecker about his former teammate.
Drink up.
Don’t forget to follow Kyle on Twitter @BrewFrostyMug, and check out and “like” the Mug’s Facebook page. The Frosty Mug runs mornings Monday-Friday and is brought to you by Legends of the Field, a sports memorabilia company you can trust.
