Thursday- Too much to overcome

Some things to read while wrapping things in bacon.

The Milwaukee Brewers allowed three runs in the first inning Wednesday night and fought back to take a tie game into the bottom of the ninth, but fell just short in a 4-3, walkoff loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it.

Starting pitcher Matt Garza didn’t get much help from his defense while allowing those three runs in the first inning, but settled down after that and pitched 7 2/3, allowing the aforementioned three runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He’s now pitched five consecutive quality starts and has a 2.41 ERA over those outings, although he’s also allowed eight unearned runs over that time.

All three Brewers runs scored on a Khris Davis home run in the fourth inning. Davis now has a new career-high with 12 honers, and @joe_block notes he’s on pace for 26 and 75 RBIs on the season.

• Carlos Gomez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a single Wednesday in his first game action since Sunday. His hitting streak is at 14 games and his on-base streak is now up to 31.
• Jonathan Lucroy would have an even longer streak if not for one failed pinch-hit appearance. He’s reached base safely in 37 consecutive starts.

The series wraps up this afternoon when Yovani Gallardo takes on Chase Anderson at 2:40 p.m. Adam Lichtenstein has the MLB.com preview.
 
After today’s game, the Brewers will move on to Colorado, where baseball’s most homer-friendly pitcher is scheduled to start the opening game against the Rockies in baseball’s most homer-friendly stadium. Marco Estrada’s tendency to give up the long ball has drawn much criticism lately, but Neil Weinberg of Beyond the Box Score says it’s a forgivable issue. Bill Chuck of Gammons Daily also notes that Estrada is one of 10 MLB pitchers who have made at least 10 starts but induced three or fewer double plays.

Despite having multiple hits in five consecutive starts, Scooter Gennett was held out of the starting lineup Wednesday night with Diamondbacks lefty Wade Miley on the mound. Steven Jewell of Reviewing the Brew says the second baseman’s performance has been “enough to ensure him a spot in the lineup for the foreseeable future.”

Jim Henderson still hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since May 1, but he took a big step toward returning on Wednesday when he pitched a bullpen session at Chase Field. The Brewers’ former closer threw 25 pitches, all fastballs, in the outing and reported no lingering issues from the shoulder injury that has him on the disabled list.

Meanwhile in St. Louis, the “fun police” are on patrol. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny talked to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com to complain about the “attack ad” the Brewers released earlier this week that encouraged fans to vote for Jonathan Lucroy over Yadier Molina to start the All-Star game, and he was not amused. The Cardinals also nixed FS Midwest’s attempt to make a video response. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked why the Brewers aren’t allowed to have any fun. 

The rest of baseball, however, may be warming to the possibility of a contending team in Milwaukee. Yesterday, Grant Brisbee of SB Nation suggested that Brewers/Royals could be the best possible World Series matchup.

If the Brewers make the World Series, it will be at least partially due to the contributions of Jonathan Lucroy, who remained hot with a 1-for-2, two-walk game Wednesday. Fifty-seven percent of voters in this ESPN Sweetspot poll think he should start the All Star Game. 

Fans around baseball are also still talking about the events from the seventh inning Tuesday, when Diamondbacks reliever Evan Marshall hit Ryan Braun with a pitch (on the second try), was ejected and greeted by his teammates at the dugout rail like some kind of conquering hero. You know an act was egregious when even your own fan base doesn’t support it, and as of this writing, 49 percent of voters in this AZ Snakepit poll say the plunking was not justified. Tim Brown of Yahoo also says the Diamondbacks committed a faux pas by celebrating the HBP.

Braun went 0-for-4 on Wednesday, so maybe the fans in Arizona didn’t boo him loudly enough. Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball has a thank you for all the fans that appear to have motivated Braun with their displeasure in road games this season.

Jean Segura also went 0-for-4 in the game and is now hitting .243/.272/.322 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging) on the season. Mike Petriello of FanGraphs listed the Brewers as a contending team with an underpublicized problem at shortstop.

Wei-Chung Wang did not pitch in Wednesday’s game and has appeared in just two of the team’s 17 contests in June. Wei-Chung Wang Wednesday has gone international, though, as the Brewers received a video from Nick Feldman of the Wang Chung band and his son, Max, from the UK.

In the next week and a half, the Brewers will face the Rockies, Nationals and Rockies again before heading north of the border to take on the Blue Jays July 1-2. Maybe while they’re there, the Brewers can reminisce about facing Roger Clemens, who Matthew Kory of Sports on Earth named as the best pitcher against them. The Brewers faced Clemens a combined 40 times during his tenure as a member of the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Astros.

In the minors:

• Two more top draft picks are under contract, as the Brewers announced the signings of eighth-round pick J.B. Kole and 10th-round pick Javier Salas, both right-handed pitchers, on Wednesday (h/t @Brewers). The Brewers have now signed each of their first 12 picks in the 2014 draft.
• Back on the field, the affiliates went 1-2 on Wednesday, and the lone win came from Brevard County, where the Manatees completed a sweep with a 5-2 win over Dunedin. You can read about all of the day’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
• Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs listed Huntsville catcher Shawn Zarraga among his “Fringe Five,” a weekly look at top-performing minor leaguers who are not included on most top prospect lists.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds pitching coach Fred Dabney.
• It’ll be years before we know for sure, but Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com says the Brewers had baseball’s best 2014 draft.

If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 WSCO in Appleton has been archived and can be heard here. We spent around 40 minutes on Wednesday talking about Kirk Gibson, intentional HBPs and more.
 
Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Placed pitcher Brett Cecil on the DL with a groin strain.
Indians: Designated pitcher Josh Outman for assignment.
Marlins: Signed pitcher Brad Penny to a minor league deal. Also, pitcher Randy Wolf rejected an outright assignment to the minors and is now a free agent.
Tigers: Designated reliever Evan Reed for assignment.

Of course, the top story around baseball this morning is Clayton Kershaw, who struck out 15 and did not allow a walk while pitching a no-hitter against the Rockies Wednesday night. The only thing standing between Kershaw and perfection was a Hanley Ramirez error in the seventh inning.
 
Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals snapped their five-game winning streak with a 3-2 loss to the Mets. Bartolo Colon held St. Louis to a single run on four hits over eight innings. He also doubled and scored a run.
• The Reds blew out the Pirates, winning 11-4. At one point in the third inning, Cincinnati had seven consecutive batters reach base, and they all scored (h/t @AdamMcCalvy). Pirates center fielder Gregory Polanco had a hit in the game and is the first Pirate ever to have at least one in his first eight MLB games.
• The Cubs clinched a series win in Miami with a 6-1 victory on Wednesday. Nate Schierholtz’ three-run home run was the big blow.