Tuesday- Waiting on Wei-Chung

Some things to read while saving the day.

The Milwaukee Brewers trailed by just one run heading into the bottom of the eighth inning last night but bottomed out in that frame. Rookie reliever Wei-Chung Wang allowed five runs while recording just two outs as the Atlanta Braves ran away with a 9-3 victory in the first of four games at Turner Field. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it.

With Wang unable to complete the eighth inning, the Brewers sent first baseman Lyle Overbay to the mound to record the final out. Overbay retired Ryan Doumit while becoming the second position player to pitch in a game for the Brewers this season, and now Grant Brisbee of SB Nation is going to have to update his list all over again. Overbay broke someone’s pitch tracking algorithm by throwing three 81-82 mph “changeups” and two 78-79 mph “fastballs” (h/t @JaymesL). 

Carlos Gomez had a hit and drew a walk Monday night in his first game action since leaving last Tuesday’s game early with tightness in his lower back. He told Joe Morgan of MLB.com that he was still weak after the back injury and a bout with a stomach virus, but “sometimes you don’t have to be 100 percent to play.”

The aforementioned walk might have been the most interesting part of Gomez’s night, as bases on balls have been a relatively rare event for him in his career. Kevin Ruprecht of Beyond the Box Score has a look at the numbers suggesting he’s improved his plate discipline. Meanwhile, Peter Marzano of Call to the Pen has Gomez as the NL’s likely All Star starter in center field.

• This was only the second time this season the Brewers have gone back-to-back games without a quality start (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Khris Davis briefly lost his glove over the left field fence while chasing Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman’s home run in the third inning, but a fan threw it back to him.
• It was a night of unusual homers for the Braves: John Autin of High Heat Stats notes that Freeman’s homer was only his fourth left-field shot of his career and Ryan Doumit’s eighth-inning blast was the Braves’ first pinch-hit homer since June 10 of last year.
• Wei-Chung Wang hit Braves outfielder Jason Heyward with a pitch in the eighth inning, picking up the first hit batsman of his MLB career. Plunk Everyone has more on the accomplishment.
• The Brewers are now 8-1 on the season when Martin Maldonado starts at catcher (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Maldonado was called for catcher’s interference on what would otherwise have been a Justin Upton flyout in the sixth inning (h/t @Haudricourt).
• Darryl Hamilton joined Joe Block on the radio Monday night in place of Bob Uecker, who is taking the Atlanta and Miami trips off.

The Brewers will get a chance to bounce back tonight when Yovani Gallardo takes on Julio Teheran at 6:10 p.m. Matt Slovin has the MLB.com preview.
 
Jonathan Lucroy will probably be back behind the plate tonight after making a rare start at first base on Monday. He went 3-for-4 just hours after Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball wrote about how he should get more playing time at first base while Aramis Ramirez is out.

We won’t see Aramis Ramirez during a game in the Braves series, but he did get on the field before Monday’s game to do some light jogging in the outfield. He reported some pain in his strained hamstring but said he plans to run again on Tuesday. There’s still not a clear timetable for his return.

Will Smith was one of three relievers who did not appear in Monday’s game, meaning there’s a strong chance he’ll pitch tonight. Smith grew up in nearby Newman, Ga., and Caitlin Moyer has quotes and photos from the friends and family who attended his first game back in Georgia.

The Brewers used a bunch of relievers Monday night after a short start from Wily Peralta, who needed 101 pitches to get through five innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits. Peralta’s ERA is still only 2.18, though, and Alec Dopp of Gammons Daily has a look at how his slider may factor into his improvement.

With Carlos Gomez back in the lineup Monday night, the Brewers got a little bit taller, but they still had appearances from Elian Herrera, Jean Segura, Brandon Kintzler and Rickie Weeks, and Baseball Reference lists all four players as just 5 feet, 10 inches tall. Big League Stew has a bunch of infographics from the MLB census, and one of them shows the Brewers as the shortest team in baseball.

Like Gomez, Tom Gorzelanny is listed at 6-foot-3, and he could be back in the big leagues soon. The Brevard County Manatees have a story on his ongoing rehab assignment, which has included a pair of scoreless two-inning appearances.

If the Brewers decide to call up a reliever before Gorzelanny (or Jim Henderson) is ready, it likely won’t be Alfredo Figaro. He was placed on the seven-day DL in Nashville yesterday (h/t @BrewersPD). 

In the minors:

• Congratulations are due out this morning to Huntsville pitcher Drew Gagnon, who was named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week for May 12-18 after pitching 7 2/3 scoreless innings against Birmingham on Friday night. Gagnon has a 2.36 ERA over nine starts for the Stars this season.
• The affiliates went 2-1 on Monday, and the performance of the day came from Brevard County, where Damien Magnifico pitched a two-hit shutout in the Manatees’ 1-0 win over Jupiter. You can read more about all of yesterday’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
• Wisconsin’s scheduled home game with Kane County was rained out on Monday night and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader today. I’ll be in attendance and will have both a Timber Rattlers Notebook and game recap at Brew Crew Ball.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds manager Rick Sweet.

Today in power rankings:

• Jonah Keri of Grantland has downgraded the Brewers a spot to No. 4. 
• ESPN has the Brewers holding steady at No. 4.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Acquired pitcher Raul Valdes from the Astros for cash.
Marlins: Released reliever Carlos Marmol and signed infielder Miguel Tejada to a minor league deal.
Phillies: Re-signed reliever Shawn Camp to a minor league deal.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The best game of Monday night was played in Washington, where the Reds blew a ninth-inning lead, scored two in the top of the 15th to take a 4-2 advantage and held on for a 4-3 victory over the Nationals. Todd Frazier went 3-for-6 in the game, scored two runs and drove in a pair with the go-ahead home run.
• The Brewers, as you’ve likely heard, dropped a 9-3 loss in Atlanta.
• The Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs were off on Monday.

Today in former Brewers: Prince Fielder’s rough season in Texas took a turn to the absurd when the Rangers gave away Fielder bobbleheads with “Arlington” misspelled.

Finally, with help from Brewerfan.net, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to Nashville Sounds pitcher Ariel Pena. He turns 25.

Today is also the second anniversary of Jonathan Lucroy tying a franchise record by driving in seven runs in a 16-4 win over the Twins in 2012 and the third anniversary of Prince Fielder powering the Brewers to a 7-6, 14-inning win over the Rockies with a walkoff home run in 2011. Follow the links for those events’ respective entries in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball.
 
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going outside.

Drink up.

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