DuWayne Steurer

While Laureano isn't a defensive whiz, we'd still have Davis as a late inning replacement. Laureano isn't having a great season at the plate, but he's got a recent history of having some pretty good offensive numbers, and a history of being better than Taylor. If he can be had for a price that doesn't include any top 7 - 10 prospects, I'd be willing to roll the dice.

While Laureano isn't a defensive whiz, we'd still have Davis as a late inning replacement. Laureano isn't having a great season at the plate, but he's got a recent history of having some pretty good offensive numbers, and a history of being better than Taylor. If he can be had for a price that doesn't include any top 7 - 10 prospects, I'd be willing to roll the dice.

The Brewers came back from the break looking to hold on to first in the NL Central with a four game series against the Colorado Rockies. With a 1 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals and the trade deadline looming, the Crew had to make this home stand count. Game 1 -- Brewers 6, Rockies 5 (13) It took a while, but they got it done. All-Star starter Corbin Burnes wasn't sharp, using 108 pitches to get through five innings. He gave up only a pair of runs, but just didn't seem to have his command. He struck out five and gave up a two-run dinger to Charlie Blackmon in the third. The Brewers offense gave Burnes the lead back quickly in the bottom of the frame, with Willy Adames hitting his 20th home run of the season, and Andrew McCutchen hitting a two run shot with Rowdy Tellez aboard. Burnes left the game with the lead but Trevor Gott got into two-out trouble with a walk and a double and the Rockies tied the game in the sixth. The score stayed 3-3 until the 10th when the Rockies scored two with the Manfred man and a sacrifice fly. With two outs in the bottom of the tenth, it looked like the Rockies were about to put the game away when Hunter Renfroe tied it back up. Both offenses were held in check until the bottom of the 13th, when Luis Urias sent the few remaining faithful fans home happy with a little flare basehit to score Jonathan Davis from second base for the walkoff winner. With his two innings of scoreless work, Brent Suter vultures his way to 2-3 on the season and the Brewers open up after the break with a win. Game 2 -- Brewers 9, Rockies 4 Box Score The Rockies tagged starter Brandon Woodruff with a run in the first, and after that he continued his recent run of excellent work, pitching six, striking out eight, and giving up just that one run. On the other side of the ledger, the Brewers gave Woody all the run support he needed and then some, tallying three times in the fourth, and then putting up a five spot in the sixth inning to basically cement the game away. The three runs in the fourth came courtesy of another tater off the bat of Renfroe. Renfroe has been exactly as advertised, and just what the Brewers need in the middle of the order. Hopefully he stays a little more healthy in the second half, because his big bat was clutch in this series. The Brewers knocked around former teammates Jose Urena for five runs, and then hit another former Brewer, Jhoulys Chacin , for a pair in the sixth to run the score to 8-1. The Rockies scored three in the ninth off of Connor Sadzeck , who has since been moved down to Nashville, but never got close enough to threaten. Woodruff moved his record to 8-3 with the victory. Game 3 -- Brewers 10, Rockies 9 Box Score What didn't happen? Lead changes, late rallies, pinch-hit homers, you name it. Anyone that turned this one off early missed out. The Crew hopped out to a 5-2 lead after four innings, with Urias hitting a two-run double in the first, and Renfroe hitting his third homerun in three days. Eric Lauer wasn't exactly cruising, but had worked through four, and had a comfortable lead. With one out in the fourth, he walked a man, gave up a two-run homerun to Kris Bryant, and walked another. Jandel Gustave came in to relieve and got out of the inning with the 5-4 lead intact. The Rockies struck again in the sixth, getting a pair of runs off of Gustave before manager Craig Counsell replace him with Hoby Milner who worked out of the jam. The Brewers came right back in the bottom of the frame when Tyrone Taylor pinch hit a solo homerun and tied the game back up at six. The tie was short lived as the Rockies Elias Diaz slapped a two-run single off of Brewers reliever Brad Boxberger to push the lead back to 8-6. In the bottom of the 7th, Mike Brosseau double home McCutchen to pull within a run, and then the big inning came for the Crew. Victor Caratini and Taylor started the 8th inning with ground outs. WIth two outs and no one on base, Christian Yelich drew a walk. Adames followed up with a single. Tellez singled to score Yelich and pull the Crew once again back within a run. This all brought McCutchen to the plate. It's entirely arguable that ball could have been caught, but it certainly was scorched. Rockies centerfielder Yonathan Daza got a bad read on it, broke in, and realized right away he was burned. With a better read, maybe he catches that ball and we have a completely different outcome, but that's baseball. It's possible he didn't realize how hard the ball was smoked right off the bat. Either way, it was a huge moment and the Brewers headed to the ninth with a two run lead for closer Josh Hader . Hader gave up a triple and a single, but struck out two and got the save. He's clearly still working through some issues, but had enough going today to get the job done. Suter gets yet another win in relief, and moves to 3-3 and Hader gets save 28. Game 4 -- Rockies 2, Brewers 0 Box Score The offense just shut it down Monday. But we can talk about newly signed Aaron Ashby pitching what was probably the best start of his MLB career to date. He went seven strong innings, struck out nine, gave up five hits and one walk, and just two runs. This is what the Brewers thought they were getting when they committed five years (and a few team option years) to him, and this is hopefully a glimpse of the future for Ashby if he can reign in his talent and become more consistent with location. Unfortunately for Ashby, Rockies starter Kyle Freeland was just as good and then some, completely shutting down the Brewers on four hits through seven innings. The Crew mounted a late rally, getting a pair of runners in the ninth, but Rockies closer Daniel Bard shut the door and the Brewers weren't able to complete the four game sweep. View full article

Benintendi has a career .352 OBP, so if he does regress, it's not likely to be much. He hasn't been good in CF, but he's been serviceable when he plays there. We're talking 50 - 60 games at this point, so the run diff between him and an average CF (Taylor) would be 3-4 runs maybe. Taylor's carrying a .275 OBP. Just not good enough to be playing every day for this team that's struggling to score runs. Benintendi fits the profile perfectly (Like JFS says above) of what the offense needs..... literally just a guy to not make outs. Get on base, move the order to the next guy, and move runners around.

We've played McCutchen in CF in a pinch, and Benintendi's a good defensive LF. Let's not pretend that Benintendi's defense won't be passable for 60-ish games to get that .400-ish OBP in the lineup. We've been playing Jon Davis and his .250 slg percentage out there for the last 3 weeks after having Cain and his .450 OPS out there for the majority of the first 2 months. Benintendi would have to be a near butcher in CF to not make the upgrade to the offense worth the risk at this point.

The Brewers close out the first half of the season with a four game set at the Giants. After dropping a series to the Pirates and splitting a pair with the Twins, the Crew look to head into the break on a high note and hang on to first place in the National League central division. Game 1 -- Brewers 3, Giants 2 (10) https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN202207140.shtml Corbin Burnes took the hill for the Brewers and threw 7 1/3 innings, throwing a season high 115 pitches, and topping 100 pitches for the sixth time in the last seven games. Burnes wasn't super sharp tonight, walking three, but minimized the damage, allowing only four hits and two runs in the third inning. One of the runs was unearned, resulting from an earlier Victor Caratini passed ball. Run support was at a minimum for Burnes again tonight, as the Brewers offense struggled to scratch across runs. The Brewers loaded the bases in the fourth with one out, but managed just one run on an Andrew McCutchen sacrifice fly. WIth the Giants holding on to a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, Willy Adames roped an RBI single to knot the game at two. With two men on and only one out, again the Brewers could muster no further offense the rest of the inning. The game stayed 2-2 until the tenth inning, when Jonathan Davis came up with Christian Yelich stationed at third base and tapped a slow roller down the third base line that died on the grass and drove in Yelich. In the bottom of the frame, Devin Williams protected the lead with a three up three down inning and leaving the Giants ghost runner stranded at third. Trevor Gott struck out two batters in the ninth to pick up the win and get to 2-2, and Williams gets the save, his sixth on the year. Game 2 -- Giants 8, Brewers 5 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN202207150.shtml Brandon Woodruff started and really worked to get through 5 2/3 innings tonight. Woodruff threw 112 pitches in less than six innings, and at times it looked like four innings was all manager Craig Counsell was going to be able to tease out of his starter. This was the first start since Woodruff has come back from the IL that he's really showed command issues, but he battled through and gave the team almost six innings of two run baseball. The Brewers trailed by two until the fifth, when a defensive blunder by LaMonte Wade Jr with two outs extended the inning. Two batters later, a bases clearing double by Andrew McCutchen gave the Brewers their first lead of the game. A bases loaded walk to Luis Urias ended the scoring and the Brewers were up 5-2. The Brewers entered the ninth inning up by that same score and closer Josh Hader coming in. Seven batters, three home runs, and six runs later, the Giants were walking off an 8-5 win, and the Brewers and their fans are left wondering what's going on with the all star closer who was all but unhittable for the first 2 1/2 months of the season. Hader's E.R.A. has risen to an unsightly 4.50, and he's surrendering home runs at an alarming rate. The Brewers and Hader will have to figure it out, and hopefully soon, as the team's dwindling playoff odds definitely hinge to a degree on their massively successful closer. Hader's loss drops him to 0-4. Game 3 -- Giants 2, Brewers 1 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN202207160.shtml The Balk Game. That's what this game is going to be known as from now on. If the Brewers turn things around and win the division walking away, this one probably just recedes into nothing, and gets forgotten. If the Brewers lose the division by a game, it could be one of those "that was a pivotal turning point" games that gets talked about (along with the walk off grand slam from the day before) for at least a few years to come. Brewers starter Eric Lauer and Giants hurler Alex Cobb treated fans to a magnificent pitchers duel for seven-plus innings, with Lauer giving up two hits and one run on a solo homerun, and Cobb surrendering just one run on a double and a sacrifice fly. Lauer went seven innings, and Cobb went 7 1/3, and then the game was turned over to the respective bullpens. The Brewers had an opportunity in the eighth inning to do more but with Jonathan Davis on second base and one out, the inning ended with a strikeout-throw out double play as Davis was caught stealing third base by plenty. In the bottom of the eighth, Brewers skipper Craig Counsell turned to Brent Suter to hold down the Giants, due to the majority of the Giants bench bats being left handed. With two outs and two on, Counsell handed the ball to Jandel Gustave, who hit Evan Longoria to load the bases. WIth Mike Yastremski up, the home plate umpire called a balk as Gustave appeared to step off to get a new sign, and give the Giants the lead run in what had been a 1-1 game. Decide for yourself. The Brewers got a runner to second base with nobody out in the ninth, but couldn't bring him around, and lose 2-1. Brent Suter gets saddled with the unfortunate loss and is 1-3 on the season. Game 4 -- Giants 9, Brewers 5 https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355608 The final score presented here is one of those "it wasn't that close" scores. The Giants got a run off of opener Aaron Ashby in the first, a run off of him in the second, and then knocked around Jason Alexander for seven runs in five innings, building up a 9-1 lead. The Brewers opened the scoring today with a Willy Adames homerun in the first, his 19th, but that was, unfortunately, not a portent of things to come, as the Giants scored nine unanswered runs before the Brewers tallied two in the seventh and two in the eighth. The slumping Rowdy Tellez was able to sock his 18th homerun late in the game, and the Brewers have to hope that can be a jump start for his offense after the break. Tellez has put up just a .429 OPS the last two weeks, and for the last month is hitting just .157, with most of his .705 OPS coming from the streak of ten straight extra base hits he strung together recently. Connor Sadzeck made his season debut for the Crew, throwing two scoreless innings at the tail end of the game. Sadzeck pitched well for the Nashville squad this season, and appears in the majors for the first time since 2019. Aaron Ashby takes the loss for his one inning of work, and his record drops to 2-7. The Brewers head into the All Star Break at 50-43, holding on to a slim 1/2 game margin on the St. Louis Cardinals in the central division. View full article

With the Crew coming off a lackluster home stand, they looked to rebound against their cross border American League rival Minnesota Twins. The lineup was bolstered with the return of Hunter Renfroe from the IL after a second extended stay for hamstring issues. Game 1 -- Brewers 6, Twins 3 Box Score Game one of the series was only occasionally stalled by rain, thunder, and lightning, as the Brewers and Twins waited at times for the ground crew to pull the tarp out only to immediately take it back off the field. Three separate weather delays held the game up, but ultimately the game was able to be completed in its entirety. The Brewers jumped out to a quick lead on a two-run, opposite-field poke from Andrew McCutchen. With his early season struggles well behind him, McCutchen has put up a .941 OPS with five home runs over the last 28 days. With so many injuries to the outfield, McCutchen has been forced into action in the field more than the Brewers had likely planned, and his -.4 dWAR undoes some of his offensive value, but he's been one of the offensive anchors for the past six to eight weeks. Brewers starter Jason Alexander gave up single tallies in the second and fourth innings, while the Brewers offense was held in check by Twins starter Josh Winder through the fourth after the McCutchen home run. In the fifth inning, light-hitting Jonathan Davis slapped a single to center to score Hunter Renfroe and restore the Brewers lead at 3-2. With two outs and Davis on base, Willy Adames hit a towering home run to left that either the cameraman lost, or hasn't come down yet. Given the rain delay between his last inning, and possibly other factors, manager Craig Counsell pulled Alexander in favor of reliever Jandel Gustave who pitched a scoreless fifth inning. The Brewers stretched the lead to 6-2 on a Jace Peterson RBI single in the sixth inning. The Twins struck back for one off of recently-struggling reliever Brad Boxberger. The Brewers will have to have Boxberger get things figured out quickly with Josh Hader also running into some trouble closing games out as of late as well. With no further drama (or rain delays) on the night, the Brewers brought Hader in, and he emphatically slammed the door, striking out the side in the ninth. Gustave gets the win to bump his record to 2-0 on the season and Hader records save number 27. Game 2 -- Twins 4, Brewers 1 Box Score The Brewers offense went dormant again, providing just one run on a solo home run by Peterson. Starter Aaron Ashby went just 4 1/3 innings, with his pitch count ballooning over 100. He allowed six hits and three walks but allowed just one run in his short stint. Despite Ashby's short start and the Brewers lack of offense, the bullpen locked things down for the bulk of the afternoon, as Trevor Gott, Boxberger, and Devin Williams held the Twins in check until the ninth inning. The Brewers offense was held punchless as well, offering up just the noted solo homerun by Peterson against Twins starter Joe Ryan in the third inning. The Crew managed just four hits on the day, went 0-6 with men in scoring position, and left six men on base all told. Going into the bottom of the ninth, each of the first two Twins reached base against Brewers all-star closer Hader, and the third batter of the inning, Jose Miranda, ended it all with a monstrous three-run second deck shot. The loss drops Hader to 0-3 on the season as the Brewers left Minnesota with a split in the short two-game set. View full article

I'm not in favor of trading Tellez for Bell, but this idea that Tellez is a decent defensive first baseman is something I think people are just gauging on the ol' eye test. Both fangraphs and BR have him as pretty much near the bottom of the NL as far as defensive first basemen go, and the whole "I watch the games" just isn't as good as the data that breaks down the information that we have. On top of that, he's our guy, and we're biased to a large degree. He's not good at defense, even though he may make a nifty play from time to time, and that certainly colors our perceptions of his value on defense. He's a .4 WAR 1st baseman past the halfway point, and if a clear upgrade could be found (honestly, there probably isn't) that doesn't include top tier prospects or cost certainty (which Rowdy is, over Bell) for the next few years, the Brewers have to at least explore it.

Jerry Augustine is, happily, still with us.

fortunate to get one in this series and unlucky that we didnt get two. that's baseball.

I didn't go into a lot of detail in the article about this, but I just want to add that the Pirates handling of Cam Vieaux was shameful, IMO. Letting a reliever throw almost 60 pitches in one inning is plainly, inexcusable. Not even having a guy getting ready to throw when he clearly didn't have his stuff, and wrapping it around "saving his bullpen" is just not even poor management, it's shameful. Now, Cam Vieaux is a 28 year old rookie who most people have never heard of, isn't on any radars or whatever, isn't a high profile prospect or stud, and probably doesn't have a 10 - 15 year career in front of him, but that's not the point. Throwing a guy for 56 pitches in one inning is just a massive setup for failure, and there's a reason you don't do it, and that's because guys arms aren't conditioned for it.

I didn't go into a lot of detail in the article about this, but I just want to add that the Pirates handling of Cam Vieaux was shameful, IMO. Letting a reliever throw almost 60 pitches in one inning is plainly, inexcusable. Not even having a guy getting ready to throw when he clearly didn't have his stuff, and wrapping it around "saving his bullpen" is just not even poor management, it's shameful. Now, Cam Vieaux is a 28 year old rookie who most people have never heard of, isn't on any radars or whatever, isn't a high profile prospect or stud, and probably doesn't have a 10 - 15 year career in front of him, but that's not the point. Throwing a guy for 56 pitches in one inning is just a massive setup for failure, and there's a reason you don't do it, and that's because guys arms aren't conditioned for it.

Before returning home for the 4th of July, the Brewers play four in the Steel City. The Brewers come into the series 6-0 on the season against the Bucs. Red hot Rowdy Tellez has a pair of multi-homerun games in the last week, and looks to add onto his total. Game 1 -- Pirates 8, Brewers 7 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT202206300.shtml Beleaguered Brewers starter Adrian Houser was knocked around again, giving up five runs in just 2 1/3 innings before leaving the game with what was later called "elbow tightness". While Houser has not pitched well of late, an already banged up Brewers rotation can ill afford another long IL stay from yet another starter. Christian Yelich continued his hot hitting from the leadoff spot, knocking an RBI triple in the third inning, and scoring on an RBI groundout, and went two for five on the night. The big story for the night was Pittsburgh backup catcher Michael Perez, who came into the game with a career OPS below .550 and just twelve career homeruns in over 500 plate appearances, who hammered three home runs on the night. Hitting one off of Houser, another off of Brent Suter, and finally, tagging Jason Alexander in the sixth inning, for three of the five homeruns the Pirates hit on the night. Down 8-4, the Brewers put up a rally in the ninth inning, with Jace Peterson and Yelich reaching on Singles, and Willy Adames hitting an RBI double. After Rowdy Tellez drove in another run with a groundout, Andrew McCutchen walked and Kolten Wong singled to bring the Crew to within a run at 8-7, but the rally was snuffed out as Luis Urias flew out to end the game. Houser takes the loss, and his record drops to 4-8 on the season. Game 2 -- Brewers 19, Pirates 2 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT202207010.shtml That's not a typo. The Brewers put up a nineteen spot on the Pirates. Corbin Burnes , who hasn't exactly been the beneficiary of heavy run support, watched his offense put up a seven spot in the second inning. Burnes struggled a bit with the command tonight, walking four and hitting a batter, but he gave up just one hit and one run. In that second inning, the Brewers batted around and then some, with Urias, Keston Hiura, and Tellez all hitting home runs for the Brewers, and chasing Pirates starter Austin Brice from the game after just 1 2/3 innings. The homerun from Tellez, his 16th, was a three run shot that tied him for the team lead with Adames at sixteen, just before the halfway point of the season. Tellez notched two more RBI in the fourth inning with a two run double, giving him five RBI for the night, and pushing the Brewers lead to 9-0. In the eighth inning, the Pirates brought in reliever Cam Vieaux, and the Brewers proceeded to knock the rookie reliever around. The first ten batters reached base as Vieaux pitched to fourteen batters and threw 56 pitches in the inning. Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters after the game that he was saving his bullpen. The most pitches thrown in an inning since that data has been kept (1988) is 62, by Russ Ortiz. A notorious record to be chasing, to be sure. During the Brewers eighth inning, with the game well in hand, there wasn't much else to do but add to the Brewers run differential, and that's just what Willy did with the bases loaded. Pirates first baseman Josh VanMeter moved to the mound for the ninth, and Victor Caratini greeted him with his sixth home run of the season, pushing the score to 18-2, and the Brewers closed out the scoring with a groundout RBI from Mike Brosseau. Manager Craig Counsell turned to Brosseau to close this one out, and he nearly pitched a clean ninth inning, aside from an error from second baseman Hiura. With the easy win, Burnes moves to 7-4 Game 3 - Pirates 7, Brewers 4 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT202207020.shtml Aaron Ashby returned from the IL to take the mound for the Crew as the Brewers tried to earn at least a split of the series. The Brewers struck in the top of the first with a two out RBI single from Wong. The Brewers lost a golden opportunity in the second when with men on second and third with just one out, Yelich lined out and Peterson was doubled off of third base to end the inning. Ashby worked through the first pair of frames with just a walk and a single, punching out four Pirates batters. In the third, he ran into trouble, and with one run already in, surrendered a home run to Brian Reynolds . In the fourth inning, the Pirates exciting rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz took Ashby deep, and Ashby's day came to a close at just 3 2/3 innings. Yelich brought the Brewers back within a pair with his eighth home run in the top of the fifth, In the bottom of the frame, Trevor Gott allowed a pair of walks, and was one out away from getting out of the inning when he was relieved by Hoby Milner. The normally reliable Milner surrendered a pair of base hits before getting the third out and the Brewers were down 7-2. The Brewers grabbed a pair of runs back in the eighth on a solo home run by Wong and an RBI double by Peterson, but ultimately couldn't muster a rally in the ninth. The Brewers had baserunners in every inning today, but hit into a pair of double plays and burned a runner caught stealing a base. Ashby's record drops to 1-6 and the Brewers head into the series finale needing a win to get the split. Game 4 -- Brewers 2, Pirates 0 https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355416 Brandon Woodruff 's second start back from the IL wasn't quite as good as the first one, but the result was the same. Six innings, no runs allowed, and eight strikeouts today as the Brewers shutout the Pirates behind another solid start from Woodruff. For the second start in a row, Woodruff didn't walk a batter. The Brewers offense didn't do much for Woodruff today, but in the fifth inning, Omar Narvaez provided all the offense the Brewers would need. Narvaez's third homerun of the season made it 2-0 Brewers, and that would be all the margin the Crew would need. After Woodruff pitched six innings, the usual lockdown trio of Brad Boxberger, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader picked up the last three innings. Unusually, all three of them had runners on base today. Boxberger gave up a walk and a hit, but worked out of the seventh, and Hader loaded the bases in the ninth with a walk, a single, and a batter reaching on a strikeout/wild pitch combo. Despite all the traffic, he secured his 25th save in game number 81, making a winner of Woodruff, who is now 7-3 on the season. The Brewers will now head home and face the Cubs. View full article

my jaw dropped. running full speed doing a full out dive going away from home plate? into the wall? if Davis can keep his OBP north of 330 or so I like what he offers as a bench bat/defensive replace.ement

my jaw dropped. running full speed doing a full out dive going away from home plate? into the wall? if Davis can keep his OBP north of 330 or so I like what he offers as a bench bat/defensive replace.ement

The Brewers headed to Florida for a short two-game series against the tough Tampa Bay Rays. Brandon Woodruff returned to boost the Brewers rotation, and Kolten Wong also returned from the IL after a three week stint to help the Crew take on the Rays. Game 1 -- Brewers 5, Rays 3 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TBA/TBA202206280.shtml Brandon Woodruff returned from the IL and the Brewers threw him into action against the Rays, with manager Craig Counsell telling reporters pre-game that Woodruff would be on a 75-80 pitch limit. Woodruff was brilliant in his return from the one month layoff, striking out ten, allowing just one run on two hits. Woodruff hit 99 on the radar a handful of times, and looked sharp right from the get-go, striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced, going through the first three innings in order. In the fourth inning, Woodruff gave up a double and an RBI single, but didn't allow another runner through the remainder of his start. The 99-mph cheddar he threw past Brett Phillips to strike out the side had to be the highlight of his night. A healthy, dealing Woodruff is a huge boost to the Brewers rotation, obviously. While Woodruff's early season numbers look fairly pedestrian, most of his peripheral numbers are right in line with last years near-Cy Young numbers. If last night's stellar outing is any indication, maybe now the Brewers will get the results to go along with the performance the rest of the way. Only time will tell, but the Brewers are a better team with Woodruff than without. All that aside, the Brewers entered the sixth inning down 1-0, and looked to make Woody's fantastic return all for naught. With two down and a man on second base, Andrew McCutchen continued his hot hitting. The Brewers tacked on two more in the inning with an no doubt shot from Luis Urias . In the eighth inning, Urias added an RBI double to make it 5-1 Brewers. Things got a little bit interesting in the bottom of the frame when Counsell brought in starter Jason Alexander to get some work, and he walked the first two batters, gave up a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to allow the Rays to pull within two. Devin Williams came in to finish out the inning, but using a starter, and a rookie at that to work the eighth inning is an interesting strategy, and one that almost backfired on Counsell. To be sure, he doesn't want to overuse Williams, but in the end, he ended up using him anyways. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth to notch his 23rd save. Woodruff secured the win thanks to the Brewers big rally in the sixth, and bumps his record on the season to 6-3. The Brewers roll into Wednesday looking for the sweep in the two game set. Game 2 -- Brewers 5, Rays 3 https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355365 Brewers starter Eric Lauer struggled once again, lasting just 4 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and two walks, while throwing 92 pitches over his start today. While he did allow just three runs, Lauer worked in and out of trouble the entire time, and struggled to find the zone, while his E.R.A bumped up over 4.00 for the season now. Lauer's day might have been worse if not for this catch by Jonathan Davis. Rowdy Tellez homered in the second, a solo home run to put the Brewers up 1-0. Down 2-1 in the fifth inning, Urias hit his second homerun in as many days. The Rays tied it back up in the fifth, but solo home runs by Tellez in the eighth and super utility man Jace Peterson in the ninth inning put the Crew back up 5-3. Tellez's second two-homer game in a week has him now at fifteen on the season and brought his OPS up to a solid .818 nearing the halfway point. The catwalk home runs make the Trop interesting, if not aesthetically pleasing. Hader allowed a few baserunners in the ninth, but ultimately locked down save number 24, and the Brewers get the short series sweep in Tampa. Brad Boxberger picked up the win with an inning of scoreless relief, moving his record to 2-1. The bullpen did a nice job overall today, with Jandel Gustave, Hoby Milner , Boxberger, Williams, and Hader combining for 4 2/3 scoreless innings of one hit ball in relief of Lauer. Next up, The Brewers, Tellez, and his home run road show travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in a 4-game set at PNC Park. Hopefully we'll get to see a few river shots, but barring that, a few Brew Crew wins. View full article

this is all spot on. analytics can tell you that you score more runs the way the game is played now and I think most of us would agree that looking at the data etc etc etc , but the phrase that keeps being said is "it's not asesthetically pleasing" Watching guys like wade boggs and Tony gwynn hit was fun. Ricky Henderson stealing 130 bases was cool! even if I know that getting caught 42 (!!!!) times nullified a lot of the positive value of his 130 steals. it's just things we don't see anymore. guys don't hit .370. guys don't steal 80+ bags. it's definitely a different game.

this is all spot on. analytics can tell you that you score more runs the way the game is played now and I think most of us would agree that looking at the data etc etc etc , but the phrase that keeps being said is "it's not asesthetically pleasing" Watching guys like wade boggs and Tony gwynn hit was fun. Ricky Henderson stealing 130 bases was cool! even if I know that getting caught 42 (!!!!) times nullified a lot of the positive value of his 130 steals. it's just things we don't see anymore. guys don't hit .370. guys don't steal 80+ bags. it's definitely a different game.

Craig Counsell had the worst stance ever. and there's no way it helped him hit. ?

Craig Counsell had the worst stance ever. and there's no way it helped him hit. ?