Monday- Using the Fiers escape

Some things to read while cleaning house.

A disappointing weekend ended on an up note on Sunday, as the Milwaukee Brewers rode yet another strong outing from Mike Fiers to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and avoided a sweep. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it.

Fiers has four wins in as many starts this season, and he’s earned them all. He allowed two runs on just two hits over seven innings on Sunday, becoming the second pitcher in the majors this season to allow three hits or less and pitch six innings or more in four consecutive starts (h/t @CaitlinSwieca). When Fiers walked Pedro Alvarez in the second inning, it snapped a streak of 23 consecutive batters retired (h/t @joe_block).

Francisco Rodriguez worked around Andrew McCutchen’s solo home run to record his National League-leading 39th save on Sunday, and he’s also closing in on another milestone: The final out of Sunday’s game was the 999th strikeout of his career. With one more strikeout, he’ll become just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to reach 1,000 while pitching exclusively in relief. Former Brewers Jesse Orosco and Trevor Hoffman, and former Milwaukee Brave Don McMahon are among the others on that list.

Rodriguez has been a bargain for the Brewers this season at $3.25 million, but it’s worth noting that he’ll be a free agent coming off a big year this winter. Jaymes Langrehr is already starting to worry in our Tweet of the Day:

Francisco Rodriguez is going to get a multi-year extension for way too much money.

— Jaymes Langrehr (@JaymesL) August 24, 2014

• The Pirates still have not swept the Brewers at Miller Park since 2004 (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• With Sunday’s win, the Brewers improved to 73-75 at Miller Park since the start of the 2013 season. They went a combined 106-56 at home in 2011 and 2012 (h/t @AndrewGruman).
• Jonathan Lucroy’s double in the fourth inning Sunday was his 43rd of the season (h/t @AndrewGruman). He continues to lead all of baseball in that category and is tied for the 10th-most in a single season in franchise history. He needs 10 more to tie Lyle Overbay’s franchise record.
• Jeremy Jeffress pitched a scoreless eighth inning on Sunday and has allowed a run in just one of his 15 appearances as a Brewer (h/t @MikeVassallo13).
• Jean Segura committed two errors in Friday’s loss, then was out of the starting lineup for both Saturday and Sunday’s games for what Ron Roenicke classified as a “mental break.” Sunday was Segura’s bobblehead day.
• Speaking of Segura’s bobble, 42,761 fans paid to attend Sunday’s game and receive one. That’s the Brewers’ 12th sellout of the season (h/t @Haudricourt).
• The Polish, Polish again and Italian won the weekend’s Sausage Races, in that order.

After Sunday’s game, the Brewers boarded a plane for the West Coast, and they’ll open a series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park this evening. Kyle Lohse is scheduled to face Eric Stults when the two teams take the field at 9:10 p.m., and Matthew DeFranks has the MLB.com preview.

By the time the Brewers return home, it’ll already be September, and active MLB rosters are allowed to expand for the season’s final month. The Brewers aren’t ready to talk about Wei-Chung Wang or any of the other players that could rejoin or join the team for the stretch run, but Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has a look at some of the candidates.

Wily Peralta had a bad day on Saturday, allowing eight runs and three home runs over just five innings in what eventually became a 10-2 loss. He’s still one of baseball’s most-improved pitchers this season, though, and Justin Schultz of Beyond the Box Score has a look at how his fastball has gotten better in the last year.

Meanwhile, another starting pitcher is inching back towards big league action. Matt Garza pitched a bullpen session on Sunday for the first time since going on the disabled list almost three weeks ago and reported no issues. Garza is likely to make a rehab appearance in the minors before rejoining the team sometime in early September.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 2-3 on Sunday, with one of the wins coming from Nashville, where the Sounds scored eight runs in the seventh inning en route to a 14-2 win over Sacramento. You can read about all of the day’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has highlights and more from Wisconsin’s 4-2 loss to Beloit, which included outfielder Johnny Davis making a spectacular catch to rob a home run. 
• Despite the loss on Sunday, Wisconsin remains two games up on Peoria for the Midwest League Western Division’s final playoff spot with eight games to play.
• David Goforth didn’t pitch for Huntsville on Sunday, but the reliever still has 27 saves in 52 appearances for the Stars this season and has struck out 46 batters in 62 2/3 innings. Bernie Pleskoff of MLB.com says Goforth could be a closer in the majors.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with reliever Tim Dillard, who recently joined the Sounds for the eighth consecutive season.
• The AZL Brewers have just four games left on their schedule, and Shaun P. Kernahan of Grading on the Curve has a look at the top 2014 draft picks on their roster.

Closer to home, the Brewers are on the road this week, but the animal lovers among us may be tempted to stop by Miller Park anyway to pick up a copy of the team’s 2015 pet calendars. Proceeds from the project benefit the Wisconsin Humane Society.

Of course, the Brewers still have some work to do before they’re ready to move on to 2015. The Brewer Nation has a press release on the events planned for the team’s annual “Fan Appreciation Night,” scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27.

And in power rankings:

• Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the Brewers as the National League’s third-best team this week, same as last week.
• Beisbol’s Org has the Brewers as baseball’s seventh-best team.
• Nats Insider also has the Brewers seventh, up a spot from last week.

If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, I’ll be making my weekly appearance on The Talking Cheeseheads with Ben Larson this afternoon. Listen in live on Sports Fan 100.5 in Wausau or Sports Talk AM 1090 WAQE in Rice Lake, or follow the link above for the archived audio later.
 
Around baseball:

Athletics: Acquired catcher Geovany Soto from the Rangers for cash and placed reliever Sean Doolittle on the DL with an intercostal strain.
Diamondbacks: Released pitcher Lucas Harrell.
Indians: Placed catcher Yan Gomes on the seven-day DL with a concussion and acquired catcher Chris Gimenez from the Rangers for future considerations.
Orioles: Designated infielder Cord Phelps for assignment.
Phillies: Designated infielder Reid Brignac for assignment.
Pirates: Claimed pitcher Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Padres and designated infielder Tommy Field for assignment.
Red Sox: Placed shortstop Xander Bogaerts on the seven-day DL with a concussion and signed Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo to a six-year, $72 million contract.
Rockies: Placed outfielder Michael Cuddyer on the DL with a hamstring strain.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals lost two of three to the Phillies over the weekend, including a 7-1 defeat on Sunday. St. Louis starter Justin Masterson lasted just three innings and allowed at least one run in each of them.
• The Reds won the last two games to clinch a four-game series split with the Braves, picking up a 5-3 victory on Sunday. Shortstop Zack Cosart had three of Cincinnati’s 10 hits.
• The Cubs swept a weekend series with the AL East-leading Orioles, closing it out with a 2-1 win on Sunday. Outfielder Arismendy Alcantara had two hits for Chicago, including a solo home run.
• The Brewers, as you likely know, lost two of three to the Pirates this weekend but salvaged a 4-3 win on Sunday.

As of this writing, Baseball Prospectus gives the Brewers an 87.6 percent shot to make the postseason and a 53.2 percent chance to win the NL Central. The former number is down 2.8 percent since Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the play of the day on Sunday was made in Los Angeles, where the Mets turned a 5-4-3-2 triple play on the Dodgers. Many fans might remember that the Brewers turned a somewhat similar-looking 4-6-3-2 play against the same team in 2011.
 
Today in former Brewers:

• Michael Trzinski of Reviewing the Brew continued his look at the best minor league teams in Brewers franchise history with a piece on the 1986 El Paso Diablos. That team featured catchers Charlie O’Brien and Bill Schroeder, outfielder Mike Felder, reliever Chuck Crim and more.