Tuesday- Beating a rival

Some things to read while learning new tricks.

The Milwaukee Brewers have won three consecutive series, and they’ve put themselves in position to take a fourth after beating the Minnesota Twins 6-2 at Miller Park Monday night. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it. Bill Berg of Reviewing the Brew notes that the win snapped a five-game losing streak against Minnesota dating back to June of 2012.

Matt Garza needed 111 pitches to do it, but he picked up the win by working 6 1/3 scoreless innings Monday. It was his first scoreless appearance as a Brewer (h/t @Todd_Rosiak) and the second time in as many starts that he’s thrown 110 pitches or more. 

The Brewers scored two of their six runs on Mark Reynolds’ home run in the fifth inning (h/t @joe_block). He’s tied for third in the National League with 13, and is now on pace for 36. 

• 28,708 fans paid to see Monday night’s game (h/t @AndrewGruman).
• The Bratwurst won the Sausage Race.

The Milwaukee portion of this home-and-home series wraps up tonight at 7:10 p.m., with Yovani Gallardo taking on Samuel Deduno. Alex Smith has the MLB.com preview.

After tonight’s game, the Brewers move on to Minnesota to play the Target Field portion of the series, and a familiar face will be back in the lineup: Aramis Ramirez went 2-for-4 Monday to wrap up a brief rehab assignment with Wisconsin, and he’s expected to rejoin the Brewers Wednesday. Ron Roenicke told reporters he anticipates having the veteran third baseman DH on Wednesday, then potentially return in the field on Thursday.

It remains to be seen, however, if Ramirez will get his old spot in the lineup back. Tim Young of Brewer Rat has a look at the decision to move Carlos Gomez from first to fourth in the batting order during Ramirez’s absence, and wonders if the Brewers will move him back to the top of the lineup when their usual cleanup hitter returns.

The spotlight is shining a little brighter on Gomez this week, as the onetime Twins prospect and center fielder continues to blossom into an All Star and MVP candidate for Milwaukee. The 2013 Gold Glove-winner is entering the week with at least one new fan, as Matt Yallof of MLB.com is climbing on the bandwagon.

We have a bunch more on Gomez today:

• Gomez was moved into the cleanup spot toward the end of May, and it’s hard to argue with his results since the transition. Over the weekend, he was named the Brewers player of the month for May after hitting .354/.448/.598 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging) in 22 appearances, with 12 extra-base hits, 16 RBIs and seven stolen bases in eight attempts. Will Smith was also named the pitcher of the month.
• Bill Chuck of Gammons Daily notes his 1.045 OPS was the 10th-best in all of baseball for the month. 
• Gomez was the only Brewer selected in the first round of ESPN’s Franchise Player Draft, with former MLB manager Manny Acta taking him 21st overall. Jonathan Lucroy was the only Brewer selected in the second round, going No. 53 overall.

Gomez has four of the Brewers’ 10 longest home runs in 2014, but he missed out on this list: Mike Oz of Big League Stew notes that Rickie Weeks (464 feet against the Cubs on May 18) hit one of baseball’s five longest home runs in the month of May.

Elsewhere in lineup composition, Jean Segura had a hit and scored a run last night out of the leadoff spot. Adam Wieser of Disciples of Uecker has a look at the argument that the Brewers are “protecting” Segura in the lineup by having Ryan Braun hit behind him.

Kyle Lohse is the only Brewers starting pitcher who won’t face the Twins this week, as he pitched against the Cubs on Sunday and will open the Pirates series on Friday. The Brewers tumblr has a gif of Lohse being interviewed on FS Wisconsin Monday night while a teammate wearing a Kyle Lohse mask looks on.

In the minors:

• The Brewers’ U.S.-based affiliates went 3-3 yesterday, with Taylor Jungmann pitching another quality start in Nashville’s 4-1 win over Iowa. Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has short recaps from all of yesterday’s action.
• Huntsville lost yesterday but still clinched a Southern League playoff berth due to Tennessee’s loss to Birmingham. Outfielder Mitch Haniger tweeted a photo of the celebration.
• I was in attendance for Wisconsin’s game and a half yesterday and have a recap of Aramis Ramirez’s rehab stint and more over at Brew Crew Ball.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has postgame audio and pictures from a wet day at Neuroscience Group Field.
• The Brewers announced their minor league monthly awards yesterday, and May’s honorees are a pair of familiar names: Huntsville third baseman Jason Rogers and Nashville pitcher Jimmy Nelson. 
• Congratulations are also due out today to Huntsville pitcher Andy Moye, the Southern League’s Pitcher of the Week. Moye worked six innings and allowed just one hit in an outing against Tennessee on Friday.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds manager Rick Sweet.
• The Huntsville Stars will be moving to Biloxi for the 2015 season, and the franchise has narrowed its possible name change options down to six: The Beacon, Black Jacks, Mullets, Schooners, Shrimpers and Shuckers.
• With the 2014 MLB Draft coming up in a couple of days, Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has a look back at the players selected last year. 

Back in Milwaukee, if you’re planning on attending tonight’s game, you might be interested in checking out this week’s offering from the Double Clutch stand on the Loge Level: They’re serving a Cajun Seared Walleye Reuben for the Twins series.

Today in power rankings: Jonah Keri of Grantland has the Brewers fourth in all of baseball this week, up one spot.

If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, I have a couple of options for you: 

• My weekly appearance on The Talking Cheeseheads with Ben Larson has been archived and can be heard here.
• I’ll also be making my weekly Tuesday appearance on The Watercooler with Jimmie Kaska on Sports Radio 1400 in Eau Claire this afternoon. Follow the @BrewFrostyMug Twitter feed for an update on when that segment will air.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a five-year contract extension worth at least $10 million with club options for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Marlins: Signed reliever Kevin Gregg to a one-year, $1.4 million contract.
Mets: Placed outfielder Juan Lagares on the DL with a ribcage strain.
Royals: Claimed pitcher Blake Wood off waivers from the Indians and designated pitcher Justin Marks for assignment.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Brewers may owe former manager Ned Yost and the Royals a favor after they beat the Cardinals 6-0 in St. Louis last night. Danny Duffy and three relievers combined to pitch a three-hit shutout.
• The Pirates collected 16 hits in their 10-3 rout of the Padres. Neil Walker was on base five times with a double, two singles and two HBPs, and drove in three runs.
• The Brewers, as you’ve likely heard, beat the Twins 6-2.
• The Reds and Cubs were off on Monday.

Today in former Brewers:

• Paul Molitor is back in Milwaukee this week as a coach with the Twins, and he talked to reporters about returning to the city where he played 15 of his 21 MLB seasons.
• 2011 Brewer Danny Ray Herrera has signed with the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League.

Finally, with help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to 2002 Brewer Robert Machado. He turns 41.

Today is also the fourth anniversary of Chris Capuano rejoining the Brewers in 2010 after missing more than two years due to arm injuries, the 11th anniversary of the Brewers making Rickie Weeks the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft and the 29th anniversary of the Brewers selecting B.J. Surhoff with the No. 1 overall pick in 1985. Follow the links for those events’ respective entries in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a new bed.

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.