Thursday- Slamming for success

Some things to read while entertaining your audience.

When the Milwaukee Brewers signed Mark Reynolds a few months ago, I have to admit many of us were skeptical. Reynolds is second on the Brewers with nine home runs, though, and his grand slam Wednesday night helped the Crew snap a four-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it.

Carlos Gomez also had three hits (including his 10th home run) on Wednesday, but the most notable part of his day may have come off the field: He was one of several players from both the Brewers and Braves who visited a boy in the hospital Tuesday night and Wednesday after he was hit by a Gomez foul ball during Tuesday’s game. The boy is expected to recover from his injuries.

Gomez leads the Brewers with his 10 home runs, but last night’s two-run shot was his first non-solo long ball of the season (h/t @MikeVassallo13). He’s on pace to go deep 34 times in 2014.

Other notes from the field:

• The Brewers cancelled batting practice before Wednesday’s game, and responded by scoring four runs on four hits in the first inning.
• Mark Reynolds’ grand slam was the first allowed by Braves pitcher Ervin Santana in 276 career appearances (h/t @joe_block).
• Lee Tunnell served as the Brewers’ pitching coach Wednesday night while Rick Kranitz was away attending his son’s high school graduation (h/t @Brewers).
• Jonathan Lucroy went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks last night and is 6-for-10 with three walks in the Braves series (h/t @joe_block).
• This was only the Brewers’ fourth win by a margin of five runs or more in 2014 (h/t @joe_block). 
• With the win, they also improved to 24-1 when scoring at least four runs in a game (h/t @MikeVassallo13).

The Brewers will get a chance to salvage a split of the four-game series in Atlanta when Matt Garza takes the mound against Aaron Harang at 6:10 p.m. tonight. Joe Morgan has the MLB.com preview.
 
The Brewers got good news on the field Wednesday but bad news from the trainer’s room, where Yovani Gallardo was still hobbled by a sprained ankle suffered during Tuesday’s loss. He’ll remain on the active roster for now but is unlikely to make his next scheduled start on Sunday.

By Sunday, both Jim Henderson and Tom Gorzelanny may be close to being ready to rejoin the Brewers. Yesterday, Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball looked at some players that could be moved to make room on the roster for the two relievers. Gorzelanny, by the way, pitched two innings for Brevard County again on Wednesday night and allowed a solo home run but nothing else while striking out four of the six batters he retired (h/t @AndrewGruman).

The Brewers will also see another old friend starting for the other side on Sunday. On Wednesday, the Marlins announced that Randy Wolf will get the start against his former team in the final game of that series, making his first major league start since 2012.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 3-2 on Wednesday with Nashville sweeping a doubleheader against Omaha. You can read more about all of yesterday’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights and more from Wisconsin’s 8-2 loss to Kane County.
• Hunter Morris had two hits and drew a walk for Nashville in the second half of the doubleheader Wednesday night and is now hitting .289/.333/.459 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging) in Triple A. Benjamin Orr of Reviewing the Brew wants to know why the Brewers haven’t called him up to play first base.
• The @BrewersPD Twitter feed reports the organization has released right-handed pitcher Leonard Lorenzo. The 22-year-old Dominican hurler has pitched five professional seasons in the Brewers organization, including 17 appearances for Wisconsin in 2013.

If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, I’ll be making my weekly appearance on The Sports Den with Downtown Ollie Burrows on Sports Fan 100.5 in Wausau at 5:30 p.m. today. Follow that link to listen in live or check back tomorrow for the archived audio.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Placed infielder Juan Uribe on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Red Sox: Placed pitcher Felix Doubront on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Reds: Placed first baseman Joey Votto on the DL with a quad strain.
White Sox: Designated reliever Frank Francisco for assignment.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals needed 12 innings to do it, but they edged out the Diamondbacks 3-2 on Allen Craig’s walkoff ground ball. St. Louis starting pitcher Michael Wacha was pitching a shutout but had to leave the game in the sixth inning after being hit on the right elbow by teammate Matt Adams’ foul line drive. He’s day-to-day with a contusion.
• The Reds scored two runs in the fourth inning and made it stand up in a 2-1 win over the Nationals. Alfredo Simon allowed a single run on five hits over seven innings for the victory.
• The Pirates won a wild game with the Orioles, as the two teams combined to score 14 runs in the first two innings of an eventual 9-8 Pittsburgh victory. Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Ike Davis each had three hits for the Pirates.
• The Cubs gave up a two-run single to Yankees catcher John Ryan Murphy to clinch a 4-2, 13-inning loss at Wrigley Field Wednesday night. Jose Veras picked up the loss and has allowed 12 runs on 21 baserunners over 8 1/3 innings this season.
• The Brewers, as you’ve likely heard, beat the Braves 6-1.

Here are today’s updated standings and probables:

 Of course, none of yesterday’s action could top the Tigers/Indians game in Cleveland. The two teams were tied at 10 in the bottom of the 13th when Detroit reliever Al Alburquerque balked home the walkoff run.

Today in former Brewers:

• The Mariners placed Corey Hart on the DL earlier this week, and Scott Weber of Lookout Landing has a look at how the Mariners could save millions in playing time incentives with him on the shelf.
• Greg Vaughn, who the Brewers selected fourth overall in the 1986 draft, will represent the Brewers at this year’s draft.