Friday- 14 for Fiers

Some things to read while remembering how far you’ve come.

The Milwaukee Brewers had to be hoping for more than two wins out of their four games in Chicago, but they clinched a split with a 6-2 win over the Cubs on Thursday afternoon. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it.

Mike Fiers was the story on Thursday, as he continues to burst onto the scene in his first opportunity to start in the big leagues in over a year. Fiers pitched six shutout innings in the game, allowed three hits, walked just one batter and 14 of the 18 outs he recorded were via strikeout. You Can’t Predict Baseball notes that he’s one of just eight pitchers in MLB history to strike out 14 or more in six innings or less. He’s one of just two pitchers ever to do that without allowing a run (Max Scherzer for the Tigers on May 30, 2010).

Furthermore, Fiers’s 14 strikeouts were tied for the second-most in a game in franchise history (h/t @joe_block). Only Ben Sheets had more with 18 strikeouts in a game against the Braves in 2004, and @mhouk13 notes that Lyle Overbay also played in that game. Fiers was the first Brewer to record 10 strikeouts in a game since he also did it in September of 2012 against the Astros (h/t @MikeVassallo13). Maybe now the WGN crew will remember his name:

Name Name has 10 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/Qtne5hbJsd

— Amy R. (@AmyOnTheSide) August 14, 2014

Fiers got plenty of support from a Brewer offense that has struggled recently but had no problem hitting the ball hard against Cubs starter Edwin Jackson. That shouldn’t be surprising, as Tony Blengino of FanGraphs notes that Jackson is dead-last in all of baseball at limiting solid contact.

• Ryan Braun sat out Thursday’s game to rest his ailing thumb, which has flared up again over the last few days. 
• Elian Herrera started at shortstop on Thursday and had three hits. He has 12 hits in 25 at bats since rejoining the Brewers on July 12 (h/t @AndrewGruman).
• Khris Davis hit his 20th home run of the season on Thursday and is one of 11 National Leaguers to reach that mark this season. @MikeVassallo13 notes that his 31 home runs since July 23, 2013 are the third-most among NL outfielders.
• Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro had a hit in all four games in the series and now has a 13-game hitting streak overall.

After Thursday’s game the Brewers boarded a plane for Los Angeles, where they’ll open a weekend series with the Dodgers at 9:10 p.m. tonight. Jimmy Nelson will face Zack Greinke in the first of three games, and Caitlin Sweica has the MLB.com preview.

Ron Roenicke didn’t have to make many high leverage in-game decisions on Thursday as the Brewers spent most of the afternoon with a comfortable lead. Ben Lindbergh of Grantland has an interesting study showing Ron Roenicke as one of baseball’s least “meddling” managers (h/t Bluebird Banter). He’s more likely than most to sacrifice but much less likely to intentionally walk batters, call for pitchouts, challenge a call or alter his lineup.

Roenicke may have to make a tough decision, however, if Kyle Lohse is unavailable to make his next start. Lohse received treatment on his sore ankle before Thursday’s game and remains day-to-day. Because of Monday’s off day, the Brewers could skip Lohse’s turn in the rotation if needed without having to use an additional starter or pitch anyone on short rest.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 2-4 on Thursday and one of the wins came from Nashville, where the Sounds got a quality start from Michael Blazek and a save from Rob Wooten in a 4-2 win over El Paso. You can read about all of the day’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has postgame audio and photos from a rough night for Wisconsin, as they lost 10-0 to Clinton. They remain, however, two games up on the field for the final wild card spot in the Midwest League Western Division.
• On Thursday the Brewers announced a four-year extension to their player development contract with the Helena Brewers. The two teams have been affiliates since 2003, and now will be through at least 2018.
• Wei-Chung Wang is on a rehab assignment with Wisconsin after posting an 11.12 ERA in 13 appearances for the Brewers this season, and Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs says his changeup was the second-least effective pitch thrown at least 50 times in a major league game this season.

Today in power rankings: Tim Brown of Yahoo has the Brewers seventh, up one spot.

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

• First, I’ll be in-studio on The Big One with Marques Pfaff on 95.3 WSCO in Appleton at around 2:30 today. I’ll be live taking your calls, emails and tweets, so listen in and get your voice heard.
• I’ll also be making my weekly appearance on The Sports Den with Downtown Ollie Burrows on Sports Fan 100.5 in Wausau at 5:30.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Placed shortstop Jed Lowrie on the DL with a broken finger.
Mets: Re-signed first baseman/outfielder Bobby Abreu to a minor league deal.
Pirates: Claimed reliever John Axford off waivers from the Indians and designated infielder Matt Hague for assignment.
Reds: Placed pitcher Homer Bailey on the DL with a forearm strain.

Meanwhile, across baseball yesterday the big story was Rob Manfred’s election to serve as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball when Bud Selig retires following the season. Manfred has serves as MLB’s chief operating officer for almost a year now, and has been employed full-time by the league since 1998.

Furthermore, it appears Brewers owner Mark Attanasio played a key role in getting Manfred elected. 23 of baseball’s 30 teams needed to vote in favor of appointing Manfred to the position, and on the first two ballots Attanasio was one of eight owners that voted for Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball spotted a report that Attanasio switched his vote for the third ballot, giving Manfred enough votes to win the job.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals are back in second place this morning after a 4-3 win over the Padres on Thursday. The game swing in the ninth on a controversial call by much-maligned umpire Bob Davidson.
• The Pirates dropped a game in the standings with a 5-2 loss to the Tigers. Francisco Liriano pitched a quality start but got the loss.
• The Reds fell below .500 with a 7-3 loss to the Rockies. Ryan Ludwick went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run in the game but it was not enough.
• The Brewers, as you likely know, clinched a series split with a 6-2 win over the Cubs.

The Brewers remain in first place this morning despite having a 16-22 record since July 1. Curt Hogg of Disciples of Uecker has a long read on the unlikely nature of this team’s success.

With that said, the Brewers are starting to think about selling postseason tickets. Current season ticket holders will get the first shot at playoff tickets for this year’s potential games, but Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a list of ways you can put a deposit down for tickets for next season and get the opportunity to buy playoff tickets.

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

• 2007 Brewer Mel Stocker, who turns 34.
• 2000-01 Brewer Allen Levrault, who turns 37.
• 2004 Brewer Ben Ford, who turns 39.
• 1997 Brewer Jeff Huson, who turns 50.
• 1972 Brewer Billy Conigliaro, who turns 67.
• 1972 Brewer Tommie Reynolds, who turns 73.
• 1953-60 Milwaukee Brave Joey Jay, who turns 79.

Plunk Everyone notes that Jay’s 36 career hit batsmen are the fourth-most ever for a pitcher born on August 15.

Today is also the third anniversary of the Brewers turning a triple play against the Dodgers in 2011, the 32nd anniversary of Cecil Cooper getting his 1000th hit as a Brewer in 1982 and the 45th anniversary of Billy Williams becoming the oldest Brewer/Seattle Pilot ever to make his MLB debut in 1969. 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 to cast some more pugs (h/t Aaron Gleeman).

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.