Thursday- Missed opportunities

 
Some things to read while learning the signs.

The Milwaukee Brewers had a series victory slip through their fingers Wednesday night, blowing a 2-0 lead and losing 3-2 to the San Diego Padres in 10 innings. Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball has a recap, if you missed it.

The game turned in the ninth inning when Francisco Rodriguez fell behind in the count to Padres catcher Rene Rivera and allowed a solo home run that tied the game at 2-all. Ron Roenicke, unhappy with the strike zone during that at bat, was ejected for the fourth time this season and later ripped into Triple-A fill-in umpire Mark Ripperger for inconsistent application of a poor zone. Ripperger is not a full-time MLB umpire but has already ejected three managers and three players from games this season.

The third pitch K-Rod threw to Rene Rivera was right down the middle, and Rivera turned it into the 12th home run Rodriguez has allowed this season. That matches Rodriguez’s single-season career high (h/t @Haudricourt).

Yovani Gallardo received a no-decision Wednesday despite a solid, if unspectacular outing. He pitched six shutout innings but needed 109 pitches to do so, benefited from three double plays and failed to record a strikeout for the first time in 209 major league starts (h/t @AdamMcCalvy). He was the first pitcher to throw at least 109 pitches in a single outing without recording a strikeout since Jeremy Guthrie did it for the Royals in June of 2013.

• The Brewers are now 63-3 when leading after eight innings this season (h/t @Haudricourt).
• Francisco Rodriguez’s strikeout to end the ninth inning was the 1,000th of his career. He’s one of just five pitchers in MLB history to reach that mark while pitching exclusively in relief.
• Yovani Gallardo, meanwhile, remains four strikeouts shy of tying Ben Sheets for the Brewers franchise record. 
• Lyle Overbay had two of the Brewers’ six hits on Wednesday, and @jh_moore notes that he’s outhit Juan Francisco since May 24.
• The Brewers successfully challenged a safe call on a would-be infield hit in the eighth inning, and it was overturned in just 41 seconds.
• Before Wednesday’s game, the Brewers had gone more than two months without an extra-inning contest (h/t @Todd_Rosiak). Their 53 consecutive games decided in regulation was the sixth-longest streak in franchise history.

Will Smith pitched a scoreless eighth inning on Wednesday to preserve a one-run lead and has allowed runs in two of his 11 outings in August. Steven Jewell of Reviewing the Brew has a look at his hot-and-cold season.

The Brewers largely struggled to hit Padres rookie Odrisamer Despaigne on Wednesday night, just one day after they struggled to hit San Diego ace Tyson Ross. Curt Hogg of Disciples of Uecker has a look at how the Brewers’ plate discipline failed them in their loss to Ross.

Of course, struggling to hit Ross interrupted the Brewers’ recent trend of hitting well against baseball’s elite pitchers. Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker has a look at the challenges involved in attaching a narrative to this team.

Solid starting pitching has been one of the constants for the Brewers this season, and it could get even better when Matt Garza is ready to come off the disabled list. Garza is skipping a suggested minor league rehab assignment and will throw a simulated game on Friday before likely being activated sometime next week.

It appears likely that Jimmy Nelson will be the odd man out in the rotation when Garza returns, and that might help preserve his arm for future seasons. Nelson has already pitched a career-high 163 2/3 innings this season, and Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball looks at the possibility that the Brewers could shut him down. Nelson threw a fair number of those innings in Triple-A and was named the Pacific Coast League’s Pitcher of the Year.

I’ve already mentioned that the Brewers got a big night from Lyle Overbay on Wednesday, but apparently they’re still looking for potential upgrades at first base. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports they claimed Justin Morneau off trade waivers from the Rockies but were unable to reach a deal.

In the minors:

• The affiliates went 2-4 on Wednesday with one of the wins coming from Brevard County, where Wei-Chung Wang pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs while striking out eight in the Manatees’ 3-2 win over Lakeland. You can read about all of the day’s action in Around the Horn at Miller Park Prospects.
• Justin Rocke of the Manatees has more on Wang’s big day.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has postgame audio, highlights and more from Wisconsin’s 1-0 loss to Burlington. Wisconsin is now two games up on Peoria and Quad Cities for the final playoff spot in the Midwest League Western Division with five games to play.
• Congratulations are due out this morning to top outfield prospect Tyrone Taylor, who was promoted from Brevard County to Huntsville (h/t @Mass_Haas). Taylor is still only 20 and hit .278 with a .331 OBP and .396 slugging in 130 games in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League this season. He’ll now get to play in the Southern League playoffs before appearing in the Arizona Fall League.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Designated reliever Sergio Santos for assignment.
Cubs: Placed outfielders Ryan Sweeney (hamstring strain) and Justin Ruggiano (ankle inflammation) on the DL.
Rockies: Placed pitcher Boone Logan (elbow inflammation) and catcher Wilin Rosario (wrist inflammation) on the DL.
Yankees: Signed outfielder Chris Young to a minor league deal.

Let’s go around the NL Central:

• The Pirates are drifting back into the picture in the Central after a 3-1 win over the Cardinals Wednesday night. Ike Davis homered off Adam Wainwright to power Pittsburgh to the victory.
• The Reds took advantage of three Cubs errors in a 7-5 win at Great American Ball Park. Nine different Cincinnati players had at least one hit in the game.
• The Brewers, as you probably know, lost 3-2 to the Padres in 10 innings.

Today in former Brewers: Ned Yost has drawn some fire this week for calling out Royals fans for their poor attendance in a rare contending season for his team. Kansas City ranks 11th out of 15 American League teams in attendance and averaged 23,300 tickets sold per game through their first 63 home dates.

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

• AZL Brewer Daniel Leonardo, who turns 19.
• 1953-56 Milwaukee Braves manager Charlie Grimm, who would have turned 116 (Today In Brewer History).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to come up with a new story.

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.