Monday- Regaining momentum

Some things to read while shaving.

The Milwaukee Brewers are still just 2-10 in July, but it’s hard to overstate the importance of their second win, an 11-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it. With the win, the Brewers remain in first place in the NL Central.

The divisional lead was on the line Sunday after the Brewers blew a 6.5-game advantage over the Cardinals in just 14 days. The two teams were tied in the standings after St. Louis won on Friday and Saturday, but the Brewers are still in first place this morning for the 100th consecutive day (h/t @joe_block).

The Brewers picked up the much-needed win behind a strong performance from Wily Peralta, who allowed a single unearned run on just three hits over seven innings. He only threw 80 pitches in the game and probably could have gone longer, but he exited due to cramping in his legs (h/t @AndrewGruman). Peralta now leads the Brewers with 10 wins on the season and is only the 18th pitcher in franchise history to reach that mark before the All Star break (h/t @joe_block).

With that said, the games on the field were a side note this weekend compared to the awful news the Brewers received off the field. Shortly after Friday night’s game, Jean Segura and his Brewers teammates learned that his 9-month-old son, Janniel, had passed away. Segura left the team and returned to the Dominican Republic, and it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to return. Ron Roenicke said Peralta is expected to get in contact with him during the All-Star break (h/t @Todd_Rosiak). Segura was placed on the bereavement list and replaced on the active roster by Elian Herrera.

• With Segura still away from the team and Jeff Bianchi limited by a sore elbow, Herrera got the start at shortstop on Sunday and went 5-for-5 with a double. It was only the 38th five-hit game in franchise history, and the first since Jonathan Lucroy did it on May 31 of last season. Herrera’s previous career high for hits in a game was three, set as a member of the Dodgers in 2012.
• Herrera, Robin Yount (1982), Mark Loretta (2000) and Segura (six in 2012) are the only Brewers shortstops ever to have five hits in a game (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez were both hit by pitches on Sunday. Weeks extended his career franchise record to 122, and Gomez is now tied for the MLB lead with 11 in 2014. Plunk Everyone has more on both accomplishments.
• Will Smith pitched a scoreless eighth inning Sunday in his 49th appearance of the season. He’s the first Brewers pitcher ever to appear in that many games before the All-Star break (h/t @joe_block).
• Ryan Braun went 2-for-4 with a walk and drove in two runs on Sunday in his first appearance batting third since June 3 (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Khris Davis hit a solo home run Sunday and now leads the Brewers with 15 (h/t @joe_block).
• All three weekend games were televised to a national audience, including an MLB Network game with Bob Costas Friday night. Bob Uecker joined Costas for the middle innings of that game, and Costas talked to MLB.com about some of his favorite memories from working with the Brewers legend.
• Elsewhere in commentary, Gabe Kapler joined Brian Anderson for Saturday’s FS Wisconsin broadcast. He drew some fire and later apologized for calling it “poetic justice” that Jonathan Lucroy will get to start the All-Star game (more on that later), and said Brewers fans shouldn’t panic over their struggles in July.
• Sunday was the 30th anniversary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Kyle Lohse served as the honorary chair of their special tailgate party outside Miller Park.
• Former Brewer George Kottaras appeared as a pinch hitter in both Saturday and Sunday’s games in his first appearances since being claimed off waivers by the Cardinals. Rich Rovito of MLB.com has a story on his adjustment to life with St. Louis.
• Elsewhere in highlights from Saturday, Mark Townsend of Big League Stew has a Vine video of Carlos Gomez attempting (and failing) to break his bat over his knee during the fifth inning of an ugly loss.
• Kevin Kimmes of Cream City Cables documented his ballpark experience from Sunday, including a picture that made the rounds on social media.
• The Italian, Polish and Bratwurst won the weekend’s Sausage Races, in that order.

The All-Star break begins today, so the Brewers won’t take the field again until traveling to Washington to face the Nationals on Friday. Kyle Lohse will take on Stephen Strasburg in the first game of the season’s second half, and Joe Morgan has the MLB.com preview. The Brewers are planning on sticking with their rotational alignment coming out of the break, with Lohse, Matt Garza and Yovani Gallardo pitching in that order against the Nationals and Jimmy Nelson and Wily Peralta following in that order against the Reds.

Of course, between now and then, a handful of the Brewers have some business to attend to in Minnesota. Four Brewers will take part in this week’s All-Star game, with three starting for the National League. Lucroy became the third starter on Friday when elected NL representative Yadier Molina withdrew from the game with a thumb injury. Aramis Ramirez and Gomez will also start, and Francisco Rodriguez will be in the bullpen. All four players were presented with their All-Star jerseys before Saturday’s game.

Speaking of Lucroy, he had a hit on Sunday but his hot bat has cooled a bit, as he’s hitting just .171/.255/.341 (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging) in 11 games in July. Nonetheless, David Golebiewski of Gammons Daily has a look at Lucroy’s command of the strike zone as a hitter and a catcher.

At least the Brewers picked up a win on Sunday to keep us from having to spend this entire week talking about their losing streak. Before the win, Vince Morales of Miller Park Drunk made a list of reasons not to freak out about the team’s extended skid. Christina Kahrl of ESPN is still making the case for the Brewers to win the NL Central.

It remains to be seen if the team’s recent challenges will spur Doug Melvin and company to make a move before the trade deadline. Tim Young of Brewer Rat has a reaction to the recent news that the Brewers are “very interested” in Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy. Meanwhile, Nick Michalski of The Brewers Bar would like to see the Brewers go back in time and sign Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau.

Making an impact move at the trade deadline can be a challenge, especially when extenuating circumstances limit your possible list of acquisition candidates. Mike Bates of SB Nation has a look at 10 players whose contracts or other factors will prevent them from being traded.

Unless the Brewers make a trade for a starting pitcher, Jimmy Nelson is expected to continue to get opportunities to prove he belongs in the rotation. Nelson had a rough debut on Saturday, but before the game, he was profiled by John Sickels of Minor League Ball.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 4-2 on Sunday, and one of the wins came from Brevard County, where Damien Magnifico allowed a single run over eight innings in the Manatees’ 7-5 win over Charlotte. Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has short recaps of all of the day’s games in today’s edition of Around the Horn.
• Wisconsin picked up a 13-4 win over Quad Cities with Jim Slaton in attendance for their “Brewers Sunday” promotion. Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights, postgame audio and more from the game.
• The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game was also played on Sunday, but if you blinked, you might have missed the lone Brewers representative’s appearance. Pitcher Jorge Lopez entered the game in the bottom of the eighth, retired one batter on a groundout and was lifted from the game. Adam McCalvy talked to Lopez about his season with Brevard County and about his 13-month-old son, who is in the hospital in Miami awaiting an intestinal transplant.

If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, I’ll be making my weekly appearance on The Talking Cheeseheads with Ben Larson later this afternoon. Listen in live on Sports Fan 100.5 in Wausau or Sports Talk AM 1090 WAQE in Rice Lake or follow the above link later for the archived audio.

Looking further ahead, I’ve just been informed I’ll be guest-hosting The Home Stretch on 95.3 WSCO in Appleton from 2-4 Tuesday. I’m still working on a guest list, but I already know I’ll be spending at least one segment with JP Cadorin of Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

Around baseball:

Astros: Placed pitcher Colin McHugh on the DL with a fingernail issue.
Athletics: Placed infielder Alberto Callaspo on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Cardinals: Designated outfielder Mike O’Neill for assignment.
Giants: Designated outfielder Brandon Hicks for assignment.
Indians: Acquired reliever Nick Maronde from the Angels for cash.
Mariners: Placed outfielder Michael Saunders on the DL with an oblique strain.
Orioles: Placed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez on the DL with an ankle sprain.
Reds: Placed second baseman Brandon Phillips on the DL with a torn ligament in his thumb and placed outfielder Skip Schumaker on the seven-day DL with a concussion. Also, pitcher Chien-Ming Wang has opted out of his minor league deal and is now a free agent.
Rockies: Released reliever Manny Corpas.
Yankees: Designated relievers Matt Daley and Jim Miller for assignment and acquired pitcher Jeff Francis from the Athletics for cash.
 
Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Reds took two of three from the Pirates this weekend to remain close to first place, and picked up a 6-3 win on Sunday. The three games in the series were decided by a total of five runs.
• The Cubs are 2-8 in their last 10 games and lost 10-7 to the Braves on Sunday. Cubs infielder Arismendy Alcantara hit his first MLB home run in the loss.
• The Brewers, as you’ve likely heard, avoided a sweep by beating the Cardinals 11-2 on Sunday.

This is the fourth time in franchise history (and the third time since 2007) the Brewers have led their division at the All Star break (h/t @MikeVassallo13). The four teams atop the division standings have come together a bit over the last week or so, but that’s not unusual. Check out what Jack Moore spotted in our Tweet of the Day:

This is the fourth time in the last six years the top 3 NL Central teams have been separated by 2.5 games or less at the All-Star break

— Jack Moore (@jh_moore) July 13, 2014

Moore has much more on the race over at Sports on Earth.
 
Looking back a couple of days further, Reds closer Aroldis Chapman pitched in Friday night’s win over the Pirates and struck out the side to record his 20th save of the season. In that appearance, he also set an MLB record by recording at least one strikeout in 40 consecutive relief appearances. The record was previously held by Cubs closer Bruce Sutter and had stood for 37 years.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s strangest statistical quirk came in San Francisco. Catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Madison Bumgarner each hit grand slams in the Giants’ 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks, becoming the first batterymates in MLB history to each hit slams. It was Bumgarner’s second of the season.

Elsewhere in unusual moments, Scott Weber of Lookout Landing documented one of the worst umpire ejections you’ll see all year: Bob Davidson escalating a situation involving Mariners infielder Brad Miller, then tossing Miller while the player was walking away. Brewers fans may recall that Davidson once ejected a fan at Miller Park.

Today in former Brewers:

• Casey McGehee’s successful comeback with the Marlins has been one of this season’s most surprising stories, and Justin Schultz of Beyond the Box Score has a look at his clutch performances.
• Randy Wolf has opted out of his minor league contract with the Orioles and is now a free agent. Bill Baer of Crashburn Alley says the Phillies should consider re-signing him.
• Bryan Kilpatrick of Purple Row says reliever LaTroy Hawkins is “a prime candidate” to be traded in the next few weeks.
• Diane Firstman of ESPN’s Sweetspot blog listed Derrick Turnbow as one of the strangest All-Star selections of all time.

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

• 2009 Brewer Mike Burns, who turns 36. 
• 2000-02 Brewer Jose Hernandez, who turns 45 (Today In Brewer History).
• 1995 Brewer Derrick May, who turns 46.
• Seattle Pilot and 1970-71 Brewer Danny Walton, who turns 67.

Plunk Everyone notes that Hernandez’s 24 career HBP are the second-most ever for a position player born on July 14.

Today is also the 15th anniversary of the crane accident during Miller Park’s construction that killed three ironworkers and delayed the opening of the ballpark by a full season. I covered that event in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball three years ago.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to inch forward a bit.

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.