Tuesday- It’s only one game

Some things to read while running home.

All good things must come to an end, and that’s what happened yesterday for the Milwaukee Brewers, as they lost 4-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park. Nicole Haase of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it. The loss ended a nine-game winning streak for the Crew, but they’re still the owners of MLB’s best record at 10-3.

Matt Garza allowed all four runs last night, becoming the first Brewer starting pitcher to allow three or more earned runs in a game since Sept.15 of last season (h/t @AndrewGruman). Dayn Perry of CBS Sports has a gif of his reaction after allowing a three-run home run in the sixth inning.

The other big story from last night’s game was the long-awaited debut of reliever and Rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang, who worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless ninth after waiting two weeks to get into a game. Wang is the first-ever Taiwanese Brewer, and the youngest Taiwanese player in MLB history (h/t @MikeVassallo13). He also received his first MLB paycheck yesterday, so he likely had some cash available to celebrate.

Other notes from the field:

The Cardinals beat the Brewers yesterday without catcher and perennial MVP candidate Yadier Molina, who missed a game for the first time this season. He’ll almost certainly be back in the lineup tonight.

• They also played about half the game without the services of third baseman Matt Carpenter, who was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Bob Davidson.
• Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn worked seven scoreless innings last night and recorded 11 strikeouts, but the 114 pitches he threw while doing so were the ninth-most in the majors this season.
• TOOTBLAN Tracker has video of the Brewers throwing out Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday trying to score from first on a double during the sixth inning.
• Ryan Braun went 0-for-4 last night, snapping a seven-game hitting streak.
• MLB.com has video of Ron Roenicke’s postgame comments. I also got out of bed to scribble down this Roenicke quote, but it’s not in the video so now I’m wondering if I dreamed it.
• The Brewers, who took the hypothetical “Baseball World Championship belt” away from the Red Sox and had defended it against the Phillies and Pirates, now need to win the next two games to retain it.
• The Italian won the Sausage Race.

The Brewers will get a chance to bounce back tonight when Marco Estrada takes on Shelby Miller and the Cardinals at 7:10 p.m.. Jenifer Langosch has the MLB.com preview. Mike Bauman of MLB.com also has more on this meeting between the first and second place teams in the NL Central.

Today is Jackie Robinson Day around baseball, a day set aside to honor the legacy of the man who broke the game’s color barrier 67 years ago today. All players across baseball will wear  No. 42 tonight, and @AndrewGruman notes that it’ll likely mean the end of the Brewers’ streak of home games in their retro uniforms. They had worn the ball-and-glove logo for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday’s games.

The Brewers may have to get through a day or two this week without the services of bullpen coach Lee Tunnell, whose mother passed away yesterday after a battle with breast cancer (h/t @AdamMcCalvy). Our condolences go out to Tunnell and his family.

Milwaukee will look to open a new winning streak tonight, but before they do, it’s time to wrap up the old one:

• Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs has a look at how the Brewers have changed their projected trajectory by running out to an early lead in the NL Central.
• Tyler Kepner of the New York Times came to Milwaukee to do a story on how aggressiveness has factored into the Brewers’ early success.
• Cory DeBenedetto of Gammons Daily has a look at the streak by the numbers.
• @jh_moore notes that the Brewers went nearly 10 full games without trailing by more than one run at any point.
• @JPCadorin caught a SportsCenter graphic comparing the Brewers’ winning streak to the dismal season the Milwaukee Bucks are wrapping up tonight.

Scooter Gennett went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts last night, but he continues to receive the lion’s share of playing time at second base in place of Rickie Weeks. Weeks has made just 19 plate appearances in the Brewers’ first 13 games, with 14 of them coming against left-handed pitchers. Before the game yesterday, though, Ron Roenicke told reporters that the platoon at the position will continue.

On the other side of second base, Jean Segura had two of the Brewers’ three hits last night to raise his season batting line to .261/.306/.348 (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging). He hasn’t been elevating the ball much this season, and Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball has a look at why.

Meanwhile, Khris Davis sat out for the second consecutive game yesterday while Logan Schafer started in left field. Before the game, Bill Chuck of Gammons Daily noted that Davis’ 41 plate appearances were the fourth-most in all of baseball by a position player that still hadn’t drawn a walk.

Francisco Rodriguez got the night off again last night and will be fully rested if the Brewers are looking to preserve a lead in the ninth inning tonight. Alec Dopp of Gammons Daily has a look at how K-Rod has been effective this season despite his fastball velocity being down a bit.

In the minors:

 The affiliates went 1-0 yesterday, with Brevard County picking up an 8-5 win over Lakeland in the only scheduled game that wasn’t impacted by weather. You can read more about it in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.

• The Manatees, by the way, turned a triple play in that game. Right fielder Michael Reed caught a fly ball at the wall and threw in to Orlando Arcia, who doubled off a pair of runners that had strayed too far from their bases.
• Wisconsin’s scheduled home game Monday was snowed out, and conditions don’t look a lot better in Appleton today. If they do play today, though, then I’ll be there covering it for Brew Crew Ball.
• Hopefully, wintry conditions won’t cool off Wisconsin catcher Clint Coulter’s bat: He was named the Midwest League Player of the Week after hitting three home runs in two games over the weekend.

Back in Milwaukee, the Brewers unveiled the Carlos Gomez bobblehead they’ll be giving away on April 27 yesterday. I’ll agree with Adam McCalvy’s assessment: I think this might be the most realistic bobblehead I’ve ever seen.

If you apply for these jobs today, maybe you could be working for the team by the 27th: The Brewers are hiring for a pair of positions in their Baseball Systems department.

When you start that job, maybe you could do Carson Cistulli of NotGraphs a favor and move the center field camera. He says Miller Park features the second-worst camera shot in all of baseball.

Today in power rankings:

• MLB.com has moved the Brewers all the way up to the No. 1 spot.
• ESPN has them No. 2.
• Jonah Keri of Grantland has them No. 10, and has an extended explanation why.

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

• I spent Monday afternoon guest-hosting The Home Stretch on 95.3 WSCO in Appleton, and you can follow these links for archived audio from my interviews with Bill Pollock of The Missourinet, J.R. Radcliffe of MLB.com and Alec Dopp of Gammons Daily.
• I also made my weekly Monday appearance on Talking Cheeseheads with Ben Larson, and you can hear the spot at around 67:00 in the archived audio.

Around baseball:

Padres: Signed second baseman Jedd Gyorko to a five-year, $35 million contract extension with a club option for 2020. 
Rangers: Designated pitcher Daniel McCutchen for assignment. 
White Sox: Signed pitcher Frank Francisco to a minor league deal. 

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• Monday’s Pirates/Reds game had to be suspended in the seventh inning due to rain, but before that, the two teams combined for 10 home runs (including three pairs of back-to-back shots) en route to a 7-7 tie. The game will be completed today before tonight’s regularly scheduled game.
• The Cardinals, as you likely know, wrapped up the Brewers’ win streak with a 4-0 shutout victory.
• The Cubs were off Monday.

Here are today’s updated standings and probables:

Today in former Brewers: Kevin Ruprecht of Beyond the Box Score is using standard deviations to demonstrate just how dominant Ben Sheets was in 2004 and 2006.

Today’s statistical note comes via Baseball Reference, where they’re now tracking average time of game. The Brewers are one of just four teams averaging less than three hours per contest this season. The Cubs are playing the longest games, averaging 3:23.

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 Zach Quintana, who turns 20.
• 1996-2001 Brewer Jeromy Burnitz, who turns 45. I covered his birthday in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball two years ago.
• 1977 Brewer Barry Cort, who turns 57.
• 1964 Milwaukee Brave Ed Bailey, who would have turned 83.

Plunk Everyone notes that Burnitz’s 78 career HBP are the most ever for a position player born on April 15. Bailey is fifth on that list with 25.

Today is also the 27th anniversary of one of the most notable pitching performances in franchise history, as Juan Nieves threw the Brewers’ only no-hitter on this day in 1987. I covered that event in Today In Brewer History three years ago.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need more dirt.

Drink up.

Don’t forget to follow Kyle on Twitter @BrewFrostyMug, and check out and “like” the Mug’s new Facebook page. The Frosty Mug runs mornings Monday-Friday and is brought to you by Legends of the Field, a sports memorablila company you can trust.