Monday- A walkoff series loss

Some things to read while knowing your limitations.

The Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to clinch a road series win on Sunday but it was all for naught, as a baserunning gaffe in the top of the ninth and a walkoff hit in the bottom half led to a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it.

After the game, Ron Roenicke expressed his displeasure with a pair of poor decisions that contributed to the loss: Rickie Weeks (who drove in the tying run with a single, to be fair) getting thrown out as the back half of a double steal for the second out in the top of the ninth, and Khris Davis airmailing the cutoff man to allow the walkoff run to score from first on a double in the bottom half.

A day earlier, the Brewers failed to overcome a disaster start from Matt Garza in an 8-3 loss. Garza allowed five runs on five hits and two walks and recorded just one out in the first inning of the shortest start of his MLB career. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a look at some other Brewers who have failed to escape the first inning over the years. Marco Estrada, by the way, pitched 5 2/3 innings in relief and allowed three runs on five hits, but no home runs. He threw just six warm-up pitches before coming into the game.

Meanwhile, this weekend’s games featured the return of Jean Segura, who was away from the team for a week after the death of his 9-month-old son. Segura told reporters the ballpark was where he needed to be, and he started all three games in the Nationals series and had three hits. He received a standing ovation from the fans in Washington before his first at bat on Friday. Beisbol’s Org, by the way, listed Segura as a hitter to watch in the second half.

• When the Brewers scored to tie the game in the ninth inning Sunday, it was the first time a team has scored against Nationals closer Rafael Soriano since June 10 (h/t @AdamMcCalvy).
• Ryan Braun effectively stole a run in the third inning on Sunday, scoring from second on Jonathan Lucroy’s ground ball to pitcher Gio Gonzalez. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com talked to Braun about how he did it.
• Gonzalez started Sunday’s game for Washington and pitched just 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks. He was scheduled to pitch on Saturday but air travel issues delayed his return to the team after the All Star break.
• Zach Duke pitched a scoreless seventh inning and has not allowed a run in his last 11 appearances.
• Saturday’s game featured a confusing moment when Ron Roenicke attempted to send Rickie Weeks up to pinch hit in the eighth inning, but the veteran second baseman couldn’t find his helmet. Martin Maldonado hit instead and singled, later coming around to score on Ryan Braun’s home run.
• Weeks’ start Sunday was his first since July 7.
• Will Smith was unavailable to pitch out of the bullpen due to back spasms on Friday but was available again on Saturday and struck out the side in a scoreless inning on Sunday.
• Two Marine Corps veterans joined the Brewers in Washington as part of the Wounded Warrior project, and the team wore T-shirts given to them by the soldiers for their trip home after the series.

The Brewers returned home Sunday night (where Will Smith found a bird in his apartment), and will open a series with the Cincinnati Reds at Miller Park tonight. Wily Peralta will face Mat Latos at 7:10 p.m. in the first of three games, and Caitlin Swieca has the MLB.com preview.

Tonight’s game will go on as scheduled despite a fire early this morning at the Friday’s Front Row Sports Grill inside Miller Park. The fire broke out in the restaurant’s kitchen and spread through some duct work, but no one was injured. The damage caused was largely due to the water used to put out the blaze, which flooded some meeting rooms. In addition, the elevators and escalators in the left field corner are currently out of service.

The non-waiver trade deadline is just 10 days away, but at the moment it looks like the Brewers’ biggest addition in July might come from within the organization. Reliever Jim Henderson recently had his rehab assignment moved from Double-A Huntsville to Triple-A Nashville and should be ready to rejoin the team soon. “Persistent rain” was limiting Henderson’s ability to pitch as often as the Brewers would have liked for the Stars.

Carlos Gomez went 0-for-4 on Sunday but is still having his best MLB season at this point. Tim Brown of Yahoo has a look at how Gomez is succeeding in the leadoff spot despite an unconventional approach to that role.

Aramis Ramirez went 0-for-3 but walked and scored a run on Sunday, so Brewers cleanup hitters (primarily Ramirez and Gomez) are hitting a combined .279/.337/.405 (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging) through 99 games this season. That puts them roughly in the middle of the pack across baseball, and Nick Ashbourne of Beyond the Box Score wants to know what happened to baseball’s cleanup men.

Ryan Braun had a hit and two walks in the final game of the Nationals series, and is now riding an eight-game hitting streak. Braun is hitting .349/.419/.590 in his last 21 games, and Scott Lindholm of Beyond the Box Score listed him on the “greater value than salary” side of his graph showing baseball’s best right fielders.

In the minors:

• Reliever Kevin Shackelford, whom the Brewers designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Double-A Huntsville. Because this is his first outright, he did not have the right to refuse the assignment.
• The U.S.-based affiliates went 2-3 on Sunday, and one of the wins came from Helena, where 2013 second-round pick Devin Williams picked up a win in relief in the H-Brewers’ 4-2 win over Grand Junction. Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has short recaps of all of the day’s games.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights and more from Wisconsin’s 3-0 win over Dayton. Catcher and top prospect Clint Coulter was hit in the head by a pitch, but remained in the game.
• Dennis Punzel of the Wisconsin State Journal has a story on Coulter’s progress in his second full professional season.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has interviews with Sounds first baseman/outfielder Sean Halton and reliever Donovan Hand.
• Friday was the final day for teams to sign their picks from the 2014 draft, and the deadline came and went without the Brewers making any final moves. The organization was able to sign each of their first 16 selections this year, with Canadian high school pitcher Ben Onyshko standing out as the top unsigned player.
• The Brewers received an extra pick in the 2014 draft (No. 41 overall) as part of Major League Baseball’s Competitive Balance Lottery, which gives 12 small-market/small-revenue teams an opportunity to receive an extra draft pick at the end of the first or second round. The lottery for the 2015 draft will take place on Wednesday, and this year, the Brewers are one of 13 teams eligible for the first-round picks and one of 15 teams eligible for the second block of selections.
• The Brewers’ Double-A affiliate in Huntsville is scheduled to move into a new facility in Biloxi, Miss., next season, but it’s possible their new ballpark won’t be ready until midseason. The Florida Times-Union has a story on construction delays and overbudget bids that could wipe out Biloxi’s first-half home schedule.

Jordan Mader of Brew Crew Ball used the Street trade linked above as a reminder that trading for relievers can be an expensive proposition.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals took two of three from the Dodgers over the weekend but missed a chance for a sweep on Sunday night, losing 4-3. Adrian Gonzalez’s ninth-inning RBI-single drove home the winning run.
• The Pirates moved into third place by sweeping the Rockies, wrapping up the series with a 5-3 win on Sunday. Colorado led the game 3-0 in the second inning and allowed five unanswered runs.
• The Reds fell to fourth after getting swept by the Yankees in New York. Brian McCann was credited with the walkoff hit in Sunday’s 3-2 Yankees win when his popup to the right side of the infield fell in and the winning run scored.
• The Cubs lost all three games to the Diamondbacks over the weekend, including a 3-2 defeat on Sunday. Jake Arrieta pitched a quality start in the loss.

Tommy Rancel of ESPN’s Sweetspot blog says we should count on seeing a great battle in the Central down the stretch.

With three off days left on their schedule for July (including today), the Cardinals are going down to a four-man rotation to rest starting pitcher Shelby Miller. Miller has been dealing with back pain for a while now, but worked around two hits and a walk to pitch a scoreless inning on Sunday night.

Today in former Brewers:

• Casey McGehee is having a big season for the Marlins despite a significant decrease in his power numbers, as he hit just his second home run of the season on Sunday. Christina Kahrl of ESPN is the latest to write a story about McGehee’s resurgence in Miami.
• Jim Bouton was never a Brewer, but because of his book Ball Four, he’s probably the most-remembered member of the Seattle Pilots. He’s planning on releasing yet another updated version of the book soon, and talked to Stan Grossfield of The Boston Globe about his life after baseball (h/t BBTF).
• Graham Womack of Baseball: Past and Present listed Hank Aaron as the player he expected to be the best in baseball for the 1960’s decade, but found that Willie Mays was actually ranked higher by Wins Above Replacement. 
• Michael Trzinski of Reviewing the Brew listed the 1982 El Paso Diablos as the 15th-best Brewers minor league team of all time. The team featured future Brewers Randy Ready, Dion James, Jaime Cocanower and Bob Gibson.

Today’s most interesting statistical note comes from Baseball In-Depth, which notes that MLB pitchers are recording 2.63 strikeouts per walk this season, easily the highest rate since before 2000. The figure has risen pretty significantly on average over the last 15 years.

And in baseball economics: The Blue Jays enter play today in the thick of the AL playoff race with a 51-48 record. They’re a possible candidate to buy at the trade deadline, but Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun (via Bluebird Banter) says they can’t afford to add payroll.

Finally, with help from Brewerfan.net and the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to:

• Wisconsin Timber Rattler Taylor Williams, who turns 23.
• Rob Wooten, who turns 29.
• 2008 Brewer CC Sabathia, who turns 34.
• 1998-2007 Brewer Geoff Jenkins, who turns 40 (Today In Brewer History).
• 2001 Brewer and UW-Madison alum Lance Painter, who turns 47.
• Seattle Pilot, 1970-71 and 1974-77 Brewer Mike Hegan, who would have turned 72 (Today In Brewer History).
• 1961 Milwaukee Brave Moe Drabowsky, who would have turned 79.