Wednesday- Hanging by a thread

 
Some things to read while being a little too prepared.

The Milwaukee Brewers narrowly avoided being mathematically eliminated from postseason contention on Tuesday, but needed help to do so after a 3-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds dropped their record to 9-22 in their last 31 games. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it.

With the loss and Pittsburgh’s win, the Pirates are now guaranteed a playoff berth and the Brewers are locked into third place in the NL Central despite having led the division for a franchise-record 150 days (h/t @AdamMcCalvy). The Brewers were only saved from elimination by the Giants’ late-Tuesday loss to the Dodgers.

The Brewers’ lone run Tuesday scored on Carlos Gomez’ solo home run in the sixth inning, and he’s now tied with Khris Davis and Mark Reynolds for the team lead with 22 on the season. Gomez is only the 18th player in franchise history to have two seasons with 22 home runs or more, and the 15th to do it in back-to-back seasons.

Including their single run on Thursday, the Brewers are now averaging just 2.87 runs per game over the aforementioned 9-22 stretch. The numbers get even worse if you eliminate a 10-run game early in that span. Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal says a one-dimensional offense doomed the Brewers’ season, and Tim Muma of Brewers Mix also says the bats’ late fade is to blame for this collapse.

• The Brewers have scored two runs or fewer in each of their last six games (h/t @AdamMcCalvy).
• This is only the fifth time in franchise history the Brewers have scored six runs or fewer combined in a six-game span. The franchise low is five, set in April and May of 1972 (h/t @joe_block). 
• The Reds’ back-to-back home runs in the first inning were their first since the third game of the season (h/t @m_sheldon).
• Marco Estrada pitched two scoreless innings on Tuesday and is now unscored upon in his last eight appearances, spanning 14 2/3 innings (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Tuesday’s national anthem at Great American Ball Park was performed by a solo whistler (h/t @AdamMcCalvy).

The series continues at 6:10 p.m. tonight when Kyle Lohse takes on rookie Daniel Corcino. Manny Randhawa has the MLB.com preview.

With the Brewers’ playoff hopes all but over, it will be interesting to see how Ron Roenicke handles playing time for his regulars and September callups over the season’s final stretch. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball says Matt Clark and Jason Rogers should start all of the team’s remaining games.

Clark and Rogers could give these guys something to talk about: Doug Melvin and his staff spent Monday and Tuesday performing their player and team evaluations. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talked to Melvin about the challenges of evaluating a team that’s struggling down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the Brewers will see a trio of rookie starting pitchers when they face the Cubs at home this weekend. Chicago is moving Edwin Jackson to the bullpen for the season’s final week and will start Eric Jokisch, Tsuyoshi Wada and Kyle Hendricks to wrap up the season at Miller Park. Jokisch will be making his first major league start.

Martin Maldonado will probably get at least one start behind the plate over the next few days to wrap up a season in which he’s appeared in just 50 games and made 120 plate appearances. Jim Owczarski of OnMilwaukee.com talked to the Brewers’ backup about his catching gear, getting to pitch in a major league game for the first time and more.

Of course, 50 games probably sounds like a lot to Wei-Chung Wang. The Brewers’ Rule 5 pick has appeared in just 14 major league games this season and only one since July 10. Andrew Gruman of Fox Sports Wisconsin talked to Wang about what he’s learned during a season on the bench in the majors and his preparations for the Arizona Fall League.

In the minors:

• Work is underway to find a replacement for amateur scouting director Bruce Seid, who passed away unexpectedly earlier in September. Doug Melvin told reporters he’s considering both internal and external candidates to replace Seid, who had been in that role since 2009.
• The Brewers were none too happy last week when they learned they’d have a new Triple-A affiliate in 2015 after spending a decade in Nashville, and now Sounds owner Frank Ward has spoken publicly about the reason: a perceived lack of Brewers commitment to winning at the Triple-A level. The Sounds went 77-67 in 2014 but had finished below .500 in each of the three previous seasons, including 57-87 and 67-77 records in 2013 and 2012.
• The organization recently re-signed a player development contract with the Brevard County Manatees, but that team’s future in its current home remains a question mark. The Manatees’ ballpark is also the spring training home of the Nationals, but the Nats and Astros continue to negotiate with Palm Beach County, Fla., about the possibility of constructing a new shared facility.
• Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs has a look back at Kodi Medeiros’ professional debut season as compared to the other players selected in the first round of the 2014 draft.

Around baseball:

Giants: Outfielder Angel Pagan will miss the remainder of the season after having back surgery.
Mets: Signed general manager Sandy Alderson to a three-year contract extension.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• Wellington Castillo’s two-out, walkoff single in the 10th inning was the difference as the Cubs edged the Cardinals 4-3. St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday hit his 20th home run in the loss and has now reached that mark in nine consecutive seasons.
• As I mentioned earlier, the Pirates clinched a playoff berth with their 3-2 win over the Braves. Andrew McCutchen was on base four times with two hits and two walks, and the Pirates are now 5-1 in their last six games despite scoring just 12 runs over that span.
• As you likely know, the Brewers lost 3-1 to the Reds.

Finally, with help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to:

• 2012 Brewer Travis Ishikawa, who turns 31.
• 1996 Brewer Kevin Koslofski, who turns 48.
• 1991 Brewer Chris George, who turns 48.
• 1972 Brewer Curt Motton, who would have turned 74.

Today is also the third anniversary of Brewers closer John Axford setting a franchise record with 45 saves in 2011, the sixth anniversary of the Brewers beating the Pirates 4-2 despite collecting just two hits in 2008 and the 15th anniversary of Astros outfielder Bill Spiers being attacked by a fan on the field at Milwaukee County Stadium. Follow the links for those events’ respective entries in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have dreams to pursue.

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.