With the non-waiver trade deadline coming to a fast and furious close last night, I wanted to take a look back to see what kind of return teams received from last season's biggest trades. There were a lot of minor league players exchanging hands and it's interesting to see what kind of talent teams were giving up in barter for established veterans and short term rentals.

Milwaukee trades Greinke

One of the biggest deals of last July saw 2009 Cy Young winner Zack Greinke move from Milwaukee to Los Angeles and Greinke proved to be an expensive rental piece for the Angels. The Angels fell off the pace in the second half of 2012 and cruised to a third place finish after the trade. Greinke was stellar in red and white however, earning a 6-2 record with a 3.53 ERA in 13 starts.

The Angels were unable to resign the free agent in the off season and lost him to the crosstown rival Dodgers. In return for the former Royal, the Angels gave up three players who are all providing quality returns for the Brewers from the major league level on down.

Brewers received:

Jean Segura- A career .313 hitter in the minors, Segura has made the seamless transition to the majors this season, batting .317 with 12 home runs for the Brewers. Segura was rated the #55 prospect in the minors by Baseball America prior to the trade.

Johnny Hellweg- A former 16th round pick by Anaheim, Hellweg was putting up strong numbers in Double-A last year. This season Hellweg is having a dominant Triple-A with a 2.28 ERA while displaying a top notch curveball. The 24 year-old was given three major league starts early in July, but failed to impress with a 10.97 ERA.

Ariel Pena - Repeating Double-A after a slow finish last year, had a strong season prior to the trade with a 2.99 ERA and a 8.74 K/9. The 24 year-old has one of the best sliders in the Brewers system and has produced a 4.14 ERA through 21 games at Double-A Huntsville this season.

Cubs ship Dempster and Maholm

The Rangers were looking to bolster their rotation last July when they acquired Ryan Dempster from the Cubs. The Rangers finished the season with a chance to advance in the playoffs, but lost out on the inaugural Wild Card playoff game to the Baltimore Orioles. Dempster went 7-3 in his 12 starts for the Rangers, but produced a lofty 5.09 ERA in the process. In return the Cubs received a couple of solid prospects.

The Cubs continued to clean house as they also sent Paul Maholm to the Braves for a possible future No. 1 starter. Maholm has been a solid No. 5 starter in the Braves rotation, but went on the disabled list on July 22nd and was replaced by phenom Alex Wood.

Cubs received:

Arodys Vizcaino - Has made Baseball America's Top 100 list for four consecutive seasons. Originally part a deal which brought Javier Lopez to the Braves in exchange for Melky Cabrera. Vizcaino underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2012 and then arthroscopic surgery in May of this year to clean out a calcium build up. Is not expected to pitch again until 2014.

Christian Villanueva - A solid defensive third baseman who shows some pop, the 22 year-old has struggled to make contact at the Double-A level. Batting just .263 with 14 home runs, the Mexico native has nearly exceeded 100 strikeouts thus far in the season.

Kyle Hendricks- Has been stellar in his first full season of Double-A, pitching a 1.87 ERA with a 7-3 record in 20 starts. The California native has ratcheted up his ground ball rate this year to limit the number of hits, while still maintaining a decent strikeout rate of 7.3 K/9.

Phillies deal Pence

The San Francisco Giants were looking for the final piece of the puzzle in a push for their 2012 World Series run. Hunter Pence was acquired to add punch to their outfield and while his output was well below average, he did create this magical gif moment while hitting .286 in the World Series. In return the Phillies received Nate Schierholtz and two prospects who haven't been impressive in their initial year in Philadelphia's system.

Phillies received:

Tommy Joseph - A catching prospect with a clearer path to the majors now that he isn't behind the 26 year-old Buster Posey. The Arizona native is a strong defensive catcher with some serious home run power. This year Joseph has been hampered by injuries which have landed him on the disabled list three separate times.

Seth Rosin- Showed some serious strikeout potential in High-A last year, has since fallen off with his promotion to Double-A Reading. The 24 year-old has maintained a 4.34 ERA in 21 starts and a 6.4 K/9 this season.

Some things to read while trying to figure out what happened here.

This is my fifth season writing the Frosty Mug every weekday, and this is honestly the first time I can ever recall saying this: There's no news today. The Brewers were off last night and apparently so was everyone else, because I don't have a single top story for you this morning.

At least there will be baseball again tonight: Tom Gorzelanny takes on Jordan Zimmermann as the Brewers and Nationals open a three game set at Miller Park at 7:10. Miller Park Drunk has a post loosely based on the premise of this weekend series.

If the Brewers find themselves in a save situation tonight, it's safe to assume Jim Henderson will get the ball for the ninth inning. Henderson has recorded three saves in the last week, and Todd Rosiak talked to him about returning to the closer role.

I also don't have any trade deadline news to report, because the deadline has come and gone. MLB Trade Rumors has a primer on how the trade rules change during the August waiver period.

The rules change again on September 1, when teams are allowed to expand their rosters. The Brewer Nation has a look at some of the players we may see as September callups.

Meanwhile, looking much further ahead, the Wisconsin Sports Blog attempted to predict a Brewer Opening Day lineup for 2016. The only real leap I noticed was playing Victor Roache in right field.

The Brewers are 4-3 in their last seven games, but as I noted last night they're going to have to do better than that the rest of the way to dig out of this hole:

If the Brewers go 4-3 in every 7 game stretch the rest of the way, they'll finish around 76-86.

— Brew Crew Ball (@BrewCrewBall) August 2, 2013

Here's another example of how far they've fallen: Tim Brown of Yahoo has them 27th in this week's power rankings, and that's actually up a spot from a week ago.

In the minors:

• He's currently off the 40-man roster, but it's possible Chris Narveson is just about ready for a return to the big leagues. He threw seven scoreless innings for Nashville last night (Twitter link) and has quality starts in four of his last six outings.
• Kevin Massoth of MLB.com has a story on Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Victor Roache and Tyrone Taylor, two prospects with very different histories chasing a common goal.
• Roache went 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts in Wisconsin's 6-2 loss to Kane County last night. Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has more from the game.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Brewer minor league hitting instructor Al LeBoeuf.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, I'll be making my weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM WSCO in Appleton at 2 pm today. I'll be in studio for an hour taking your calls, tweets and emails, so get your questions in and get your voice heard.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Placed outfielder Melky Cabrera on the DL with a knee injury.
Diamondbacks: Placed catcher Miguel Montero on the DL with a lower back strain.
Nationals: Promoted GM Mike Rizzo to team president and gave him a long-term contract extension.
Pirates: Released infielder Brandon Inge.
Rays: Released pitcher Ramon Martinez.
Red Sox: Reliever Brandon Lyon has opted out of his minor league deal and is now a free agent.
Rockies: Designated pitcher Josh Sullivan for assignment.
Royals: Placed second baseman Chris Getz on the DL with a sore knee.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals avoided a five-game sweep in Pittsburgh by trouncing the Pirates 13-0 yesterday. Eight St. Louis players drove in a run in the game, while Joe Kelly pitched six scoreless innings.
• The Cubs lost 6-4 in their series opener against the Dodgers. Yasiel Puig homered in the ninth inning to provide an insurance run.
• The Reds and Brewers were off Thursday.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

The Brewers are 26-29 at Miller Park this season, but 20-33 on the road. As it turns out, significant home-road splits are a trend across baseball this year: Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) notes that there are only three NL teams with winning records in away games.

If you attend tonight's Brewer game, you may notice that (gasp!) there are women present. Stacey May Fowles of TheWalrus.ca noticed an article on the increasing number of women attending baseball games and pokes holes in the argument that they're all just there to drink and ogle men in baseball pants. (h/t BBTF)

I thought I had a lot of time on my hands with the off day yesterday, but apparently Larry Granillo of Baseball Nation had more: He spent the day checking to see if various baseball events in Peanuts and The Simpsons actually could've had plausible box scores.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 21st anniversary of Rollie Fingers' induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Today's other bits of history are also reliever-related: Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that David Weathers made his major league debut on this day in 1991, and Francisco Cordero made his in 1999.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some ice.

Drink up.

Tonight is the first game of the Brewers' announced plan to give every ticketholder a $10 voucher at the ballpark. That certainly could be interesting.

Once those fans get to their seats (hopefully before 7:10) they'll get to see Tom Gorzelanny (2.83 ERA, 3.81 FIP) making his sixth Brewer start. Gorzelanny was roughed up a bit but emerged victorious against the Rockies on Saturday, allowing four runs on six hits over 5.1 innings. He walked one and struck out four in that game.

For a guy who wasn't expected to see significant time in the rotation this season, Gorzelanny has pitched pretty well in a starting role. He has a 3.52 ERA after four starts, walking just five and striking out 22 over 23 innings during that span. Overall his 2.83 ERA is the lowest of his career, although he also posted a low number (2.88) as a reliever with the Nationals last season.

As I just mentioned, Gorzelanny was a member of the Nationals in 2011 and 2012. He's also faced them twice this year in relief, allowing just one run on a single hit over 3.2 combined innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Two current Nats have faced him ten times or more:

He'll face righthander Jordan Zimmermann (3.19 ERA, 3.41 FIP), who by now you'll likely recall is a native of Auburndale, Wisconsin*. Zimmermann is making his 103rd career major league start, his 22nd of 2013 and his first since Friday, when he allowed five runs on six hits over 6.2 innings against the Mets.

* - If you're worried you'll forget, it's ok. I'm sure BA and Rock will remind you ceaselessly tonight.

If Zimmermann has one flaw in his armor, it might be the long ball. He's given up multiple homers in three of his last five appearances and eleven overall in his last 67.1 innings. He has a 4.81 ERA over that time. He'll throw a mid-90's fastball but also works in a heavy dose of sliders (about 20% of all pitches) along with a curve and the occasional changeup.

Zimmermann beat the Brewers on July 1, holding them to four runs on nine hits over six innings with no walks and five strikeouts. Juan Francisco and Rickie Weeks homered in that game. No current Brewers have faced Zimmermann ten times or more.

As of this writing I haven't seen tonight's lineup. If you have, please drop it in the comments.

And in the bullpen:

• Rob Wooten pitched one inning (12 pitches) on Wednesday, and also pitched on Monday and Tuesday.
• Alfredo Figaro pitched two innings (26 pitches) on Wednesday.
• Jim Henderson, Brandon Kintzler, Burke Badenhop, John Axford and Michael Gonzalez all last pitched on Tuesday.

It should be a nice night for baseball in Milwaukee tonight. Expect a game time temperature around 75 under mostly cloudy skies with winds blowing out to left.

For the second time in a week the Brewers have had a starter leave a game early due to injury. On Tuesday it was Yovani Gallardo with a strained hamstring, and tonight Tom Gorzelanny was chased in the second inning after getting hit on the left wrist by a line drive.

Gorzelanny attempted to throw a warmup pitch following the hit but could barely throw and immediately went back to the dugout. He recorded just three outs in the contest before giving way to Alfredo Figaro.

The good news is that Andrew Gruman is reporting that X-rays were negative on Gorzelanny's arm, so it appears we're just looking at a bruise of some kind. We don't have any update at this point on whether he's expected to miss a start. If he does, Figaro is likely to take his place in the rotation.

After throwing a scoreless first inning tonight Gorzelanny has a career-low 2.78 ERA over 38 appearances, including six starts.

W: Jordan Zimmermann (13-6)
L: Alfredo Figaro (1-3)
S:

HR: Jonathan Lucroy (16), Bryce Harper (16)

MVP: Alfredo Figaro (+.138 WPA)
LVP: Caleb Gindl (-100)

Box Score
Win Expectancy Graph

Well, at least everyone who attended tonight's game got a voucher for free food.

The Brewers had no answers for Jordan Zimmermann tonight, as the Auburndale native held them scoreless for six innings. They brought the tying run to the plate following Jonathan Lucroy's solo home run in the eighth, but scored just one run in the game despite the fact that all five of their hits went for extra bases.

All told, the Brewers actually rebounded pretty after Tom Gorzelanny had to leave the game in the second inning. The Brewer starting pitcher was hit on the wrist with a line drive and was unable to continue, but x-rays were negative. That forced Alfredo Figaro into early duty, and he allowed a single run on two hits over four innings.

The only Brewer with multiple hits tonight was Rickie Weeks, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and was hit by a pitch. This was only Weeks' second multi-hit game in his last 17 appearances. He also committed an error in the ninth inning that allowed Washington's fourth run to score.

This series continues tomorrow night when Donovan Hand takes on Dan Haren at 6:10.

Via Fangraphs (click to embiggen)

• More nudging the zone than pounding it:Jordan Zimmermann (+38.2%) walks 4 while fanning 5 in 6 innings--6 scoreless innings.
• Who gave him that splitter? Ryan Mattheus (+6.2%) seems to have healed up just fine, throwing a shutdown 7th with a strikeout and two groundouts.
• Gain some WPA, lose some WPA:Ian Desmond (-1.8%) doubles (+7.8%), steals third and scores on an errant throw (+5.2%) to get the Nats on the board in the 3rd. Then he GDPs to end the 6th with the bases loaded (-11.3%).
• Not over:Bryce Harper (+12.7%) hits a solo shot to lead off the 6th (+11.7%). Anthony Rendon (+2.6%) singles in a run with two outs in the 7th (+8.7%).
• Where's the power?Jayson Werth (+10.9%) is 3-4 with a double.
• Pitch it: Rafael Soriano (+6.4%) has a delightfully undramatic 1-2-3 ninth for the shutdown and the save.

On this day in 1991 the Brewers got blown out by the Rangers, losing 14-5 at home. Bill Wegman was the starting pitcher for the Crew in this one, but credit for the loss might also belong to his teammates.

The first four batters to face Wegman in the game reached on a single, a throwing error by first baseman Paul Molitor, another single, and a dropped line drive by Molitor that was also ruled an error. At that point the Brewers should've been out of the inning, but the scoring was far from over.

Ten more batters came to the plate in the first as the Rangers plated eight runs on seven singles, chasing Wegman from the contest. To date he's still the only pitcher in franchise history to allow eight unearned runs in an outing.

You can make the case that this disaster was a turning point in Wegman's season: The Brewers won eleven of his 12 remaining starts as he posted a 2.23 ERA over 97 innings.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to 2005-06 Brewer Justin Lehr. He turns 36.

Today is also the second anniversary of Casey McGehee's three homer game against the Cardinals in 2011 and Rollie Fingers' season-ending back surgery in 1984. We covered those events in this space last year and two years ago, respectively.

Good morning prospect watchers. Here is an approximate schedule of where things stand around here.

***Remaining Top 20 Pre-Season organization reviews: Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, and Milwaukee Brewers. That is the order in which I intend to write them although that isn't set in stone and could be changed by current events or the whims of my emotions. My goal is to have all of them finished by next Friday.

***Prospect Retrospectives in the work queue: Jeff Kent, C.J. Wilson, Chris Davis, LaTroy Hawkins. All of these were by request, but exact order I write them is undetermined. You can request others if you like.

***Upcoming Prospect of the Day pool: Marcus Semien is set for Monday, Chad Bettis for Tuesday, Drake Britton, Engel Beltre, Victor Black, Michael Choice are all line. Order may get moved around depending on current events.

***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday thread.

***There were several key promotions yesterday. The Pittsburgh Pirates promoted right-hander Jameson Taillon.
Now assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis, he had a 3.67 ERA in 110 innings for Double-A Altoona with a 106/36 K/BB with 112 hits allowed. He has pitched very well in eight of his last nine starts. The lone exception was a bad outing on July 13, when he gave up 10 runs in 3.1 innings on 13 hits. Without that one bad game, he would have a 2.94 ERA. The promotion is deserved and I expect he will continue to pitch well in Triple-A.

***The Boston Red Soxpromoted right-handerAnthony Ranaudo to Triple-A Pawtucket. He had a 2.95 ERA with a 106/40 K/BB in 110 innings for Double-A Portland, re-establishing himself as a top prospect after a mediocre 2011 and an injury-plagued 2012.This promotion is also well-deserved, and a good showing in August will put him on course for a major league trial in 2014 or perhaps even this September.

***Ripple effect in the Colorado Rockies system, as Jonathan Gray's promotion to Modesto kicks Eddie Butler upstairs to the Double-A Texas League and the Tulsa Drillers. The 2012 supplemental first round pick out of Radford has thrived in A-ball, posting a combined 2.07 ERA with a 118/46 K/BB in 122 innings combined between Modesto in the California League and Asheville in the South Atlantic League. He's allowed just 83 hits and a 2.27 GO/AO ratio. Again, the promotion is deserved.

***Melotticus has a good fanpost up with a list of National League prospect sleepers.

***According to Prospect Insider, Mariners lefty Danny Hultzen is unlikely to pitch in real games again this year as he deals with shoulder problems. The good news is that the pain has subsided, but the Mariners are being cautious with him as he focuses on building up his arm strength and making some mechanical tweaks.

More from Minor League Ball:

• San Diego Padres Top 20 2013 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
• Minor League Ball Gameday, August 2
• Rockies minor league pitchers Michael Mason and Jesse Meaux arrested
• New York Mets Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
• Prospect Retrospective: Marco Scutaro
• Prospects from the biggest deadline trades of 2012
• Minor League Ball Gameday, August 1
• Manny Ramirez experiment may be nearing the end
• Houston Astros Top 20 2013 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
• Chicago Cubs Top 20 2013 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
• Quiroli releases 20 best MiLBers to follow on Twitter list
• Minor League Ball Gameday, July 31

What we learned this week is a new feature on Brew Crew Ball that is starting this week, and is the result of one of your suggestions from the suggestion box. It will run every Saturday morning.

Good morning everyone. Today, we take a look back at the week and see what we learned about the Brewers. This week, we will take a look at some lessons from the trade deadline, the development of Brewers players, and more.

The Brewers couldn't get the value they wanted for their players.

For many weeks, many fans have been talking about how the Brewers need to trade every piece of value they have in players to restock the farm system. Last week, the Brewers made the first of those trades, sending Francisco Rodriguez to Baltimore for minor league infielder Nick Delmonico. What we didn't know at the time was that it would be the only trade the Brewers would make before the non-waiver trading deadline.

There are a variety of reasons that the Brewers didn't make any trades at the deadline. There were injuries, declining performance, high contracts, an overall quiet market, and value was just not available. Whatever the reasons were, the Brewers decided to stay where they are at the trade deadline. It's still possible to see some moves before the end of August (when players must be on 40-man rosters to count for the postseason), but the big splash many of us were hoping for is probably not happening until the current season is over.

The Brewers traded Francisco Rodriguez at the right time.

More of a side note here to the point above. Francisco Rodriguez has struggled in his first few appearances in Baltimore, much more than anyone was expecting. After allowing a total of two home runs and three earned runs in his 24 2/3 innings in Milwaukee, he has already allowed four home runs and four earned runs in his first four innings in Baltimore. Call it regression, call it bad luck, call it whatever you want. It looks like the Brewers made a good trade at the right time.

Jonathan Lucroy can play first base.

There's been discussion around BCB about Lucroy playing first base for a while, and this week, the Brewers took the first step towards this. At Lucroy's suggestion, he made his first career start at first base on Wednesday night. It was a rough outing for him, and he did end up committing an error on the night. However, the overall goal was a success, as they got Lucroy's bat back into the lineup and got two doubles from him for the game.

Of course, Lucroy has no plans of changing positions anytime soon. The time at first base is not much more than getting his bat into the lineup to get a day off from catcher. He still plans to stay primarily at catcher.

The injury situation isn't improving anytime soon.

Two more injuries were added to the list this week. On Tuesday, Yovani Gallardo left his start early with a strained left hamstring. He may not have needed the full fifteen days to recover, but the situation required him to go on the disabled list. This was followed up on Friday by a random injury as Tom Gorzelanny was nailed in the left elbow by a line drive. X-rays came back negative, and he's currently listed as day-to-day.

That's just two more injuries added to a long list that has been building all season. If Gorzelanny needs a DL stint, he would be the eighth player currently on the DL, the fourth "starting pitcher" currently on the DL, and the seventh "starting pitcher" to end up on the DL (Burgos, Estrada, Fiers, Figaro, Gallardo, and Rogers have also ended up on the DL). In short, Brewers starting pitchers (in addition to several other positions) have had problems staying off of the DL.

Caleb Gindl can handle playing at the major league level.

Taking a look at the top players in terms of WAR over the last week, leading the list is Jonathan Lucroy (0.5) followed by Carlos Gomez (0.4). In third (0.3), there's a tie between Jean Segura and...Caleb Gindl. Before last night's game, Gindl had recorded multiple hits in five straight starts and at least one hit in seven straight starts. He also recorded five doubles and three RBI in those games. There's still a long way to go to prove he can be a regular contributor at the MLB level, but that's a start.

Fans will show up for a good deal.

Early this week, the Brewers announced a plan they were putting in place to reward loyal fans who came out to games in August by giving everyone who came to a game in August a $10 voucher good for almost anything at the park. The organization announced the estimated cost at $3.6 million (which, coincidentally, is right around how much money the Brewers are saving from Braun's contract). In the first game with the vouchers, the Brewers seemed to gain a little in attendance from it. After seeing crowds in the 30,000 to 33,000 averaged on Friday over the last few months, the Brewers drew 34,824 last night. In addition, our own NPetrashek reported the concession stands, team stores, and other areas were swamped with fans. It's only one game, but so far, it looks like the promotion is working.

There are times to mourn and times to celebrate.

Many of us already knew this, but we got a reminder of it this week. The week started with some sad news, as the Brewers organization announced that former great George Scott had passed away at the age of 69. It then ended on a positive note, as the organization celebrated the career of Robin Yount at Friday's game, which marked the twentieth anniversary of his retirement. It's a reminder of how fast things can change. We should celebrate the good times and mourn the bad, because it all can change quickly.

Have any suggestions on how to improve this new feature? Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Donovan Hand, Milwaukee's 27-year-old rookie right-hander, threw a 15-pitch, 1-2-3 top of the first inning against the Washington Nationals in the second of three in Miller Park tonight in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dan Haren's 20th start of 2013 began with Brewers' second baseman Rickie Weeks doubling to left on a 2-1 cutter from the Nats' right-hander, but Norichika Aoki bunted Weeks over to third/gave up an out and Jean Segura K'd swinging on a 1-2 cutter for the first two outs of the opening frame. The Nationals' 32-year-old, 11-year veteran walked Jonathan Lucroy to put runners on the corners with two down, then got a line drive to short out of Carlos Gomez that Ian Desmond caught to end a 23-pitch bottom of the inning. 0-0 after one.

Jayson Werth collected his fourth hit in five at bats in Milwaukee in the first AB of the Nationals' second. Adam LaRoche was 1 for 12 one at bat into the fourth game on the current road trip after grounding weakly to first with Werth on the move. Ian Desmond worked the count full and took the first walk of the night from Donovan Hand and he and Werth pulled a double steal on the Brewers' right-hander to put two in scoring position for Anthony Rendon, whose sac fly to right was deep enough to bring Werth in, in spite of a strong throw in by Norichika Aoki. 1-0 Nationals after one and a half in Miller Park.

Khris Davis singled through short to start the home-half of the second, but a 2-2 cutter got Jeff Bianchi swinging for out no.1 and Haren's second K. Yuniesky Betancourt started his first at bat of the night 11 for 27 (.407/.414/.407) in his career against Dan Haren, but was 11 for 28 when flew out to left for the second out of what ended being a 22-pitch second when Donovan Hand K'd swinging through a 1-2 fastball. 1-0 Nats after two. 45 pitches for Haren.

Dan Haren singled to right on an 0-1 fastball to start the top of the third, but Denard Span K'd swinging for an unproductive first out of the frame, Bryce Harper popped up on a 3-1 pitch and slammed his bat in the batter's box before running it out and Ryan Zimmerman flew to deep left-center where Kris Davis made a leaping catch at the wall to pull down a potential extra base hit. 1-0 Nats after two and a half. Haren was up to 57 pitch overall after a quick, 12-pitch bottom of the inning.

Jayson Werth was 2 for 2 tonight and 5 for 6 two at bats into his second game in Milwaukee after singling to the right side of second to start the fourth, but a fly to left by Adam LaRoche and a 6-4-3 DP followed in a scoreless top of the inning for Donovan Hand. Dan Haren retired Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez on five pitches for the first two outs of the Brewers' fourth, but he walked Khris Davis with two down before Jeff Bianchi's fly to Denard Span in center ended a 14-pitch inning that had Haren up to 71 pitches overall. Still 1-0 Nats.

Make that 2-0. Wilson Ramos hit home run no.7 of 2013 out to left field on a 1-0 slider from Donovan Hand to put the Brewers in a two-run hole in the top of the fifth. Khris Davis and Carlos Gomez converged on Ramos' blast, but had it sail over their gloves and the wall for a one-out solo blast. 2-0 Nationals after four and a half. Yuniesky Betancourt was 12 for 29 career vs Haren after singling to left to start the Milwaukee fifth, but he got greedy and got himself thrown out at second on a strong throw in by Bryce Harper. Haren needed just five pitches to get the next two outs for a six-pitch frame that had him at 77 overall after five.

Adam LaRoche took a first-pitch fastball to left field for an opposite solo blast, his first home run since July 22nd and his first hit of the series against Milwaukee in Miller Park. LaRoche's two-out home run, no. 15 of 2013 for the first baseman, put the Nationals up 3-0 after five and a half in the Brewers' home. Dan Haren retired the Brewers' batters in order in the bottom of the inning, and the 14-pitch frame had him up to 91 pitches total after six scoreless.

Donovan Hand was up to 92 pitches overall when he was done setting the Nationals down in order in the top of the seventh. An 0-2 fastball to Carlos Gomez got Dan Haren his 6th K in 6 1/3 IP. Khris Davis hit a weak grounder to third that got Haren two quick outs on four pitches. Jeff Bianchi got sharp grounder by Ryan Zimmerman's backhand for a two-out single in the bottom of the inning, but Yuniesky Betancourt was 12 for 30 career vs Haren after he lined out to left to end an 11-pitch seventh that had Haren at 102 overall, up 3-0.

Brewers' right-hander Rob Wooten threw a quick, 1-2-3 top of the eighth against the Nationals.

Dan Haren's Line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 102 P, 70 S, 5/3 GO/FO.

Tyler Clippard threw a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 top of the eighth, striking Norichika Aoki out for just the 25th time in 463 plate appearances this season.

Roger Bernadina K'd looking for the first at bat of the ninth. Adam LaRoche's groundout made it two quick outs for Rob Wooten. Ian Desmond singled to right with two down and Anthony Rendon did the same before Wilson Ramos grounded out to end the top of the ninth.

Cue his music... "Pitch it, Soriano! Pitch it, Soriano! Strike him out, Soriano! Srike him out, Soriano!"Rafael Soriano came out for the bottom of the ninth looking for save no. 28 of 2013. Jean Segura grounded back to the mound and Soriano made the play. ONE! Jonathan Lucroy grounded out to third. TWO!! Carlos Gomez flew out to center. Ballgame.

Work's done! Untuck that jersey, son!!

Nationals 54-56

Via Fangraphs (click to embiggen)

• Ace?Dan Haren (+43.2% pitching, +4.8% hitting.) throws 7 shutout innings with 6 Ks and 2 walks. He is 1-2 at the plate with a HBP.
  
• Someone should talk about this:Jayson Werth (+10.6%) continues to be awesome on offense, going 2-3 and getting into position to score the winning run on the front end of a double steal in the second (+4.8%).
• Stat padderz:Wilson Ramos (+6.3%) and Adam LaRoche (+3.8%) hit a pair of meaningless junk-time solo shots in the 5th (+11.6%) and 6th (+9.5%), respectively.
• Shutdown:Tyler Clippard (+6.0%) throws a perfect aeyth, with a K and 2 groundouts.
• Didn't need them anyway: The top 3 spots in the order go 0-12 with 2 Ks and -21.8% WPA.
  

Washington beat Milwaukee, 3-0. Dan Haren threw seven scoreless for the win. The Nationals took the first two games of three from the Brewers on the road in Miller Park. But when Jayson Werth was lifted from the game before the bottom of the sixth after grounding out to leave him 2 for 3 tonight and 5 for 7 in the series in Wisconsin, most people following the team this season probably feared the worst. After the Nats' win, Nationals' manager Davey Johnson told reporters that the 34-year-old outfielder had just tweaked his groin.

"The same area that he pulled before,"Johnson said, referring to a groin issue from earlier this season, not the hamstring issues which landed Werth on the DL. "So I'm not going to take any chances," the Nats' skipper explained, "I took him out. And I'm going to probably give him tomorrow off, hopefully he's going to be good to go on Monday. But, that's the same groin. Evidently he went down for a ball in the corner or something and kind of messed it up a little bit."

Before he left the game, however, the hot-hitting Nationals' outfielder, who was 36 for 94 (.383/.460/.638) over the last 28 games before tonight, made an important contribution to the Nats' 3-0 win. Werth let Adam LaRoche use his bat and the struggling first baseman hit his first home run since July 22nd to put the Nationals up by three runs. It was just the just the second hit in 14 at bats for LaRoche on the current road trip.

"Adam grabbed his bat and went out there and hit one out with [Werth's] bat," the Nats' skipper recounted. "He figured he'd take the hot hitter's bat out there, so we got a kick out of that." Told it was Desmond's suggestion, Johnson said, "I wouldn't doubt it. These guys are something. They're all over each other. There was a lot of hazing going on before the ballgame so it's a good feeling."

Dan Haren put together his second strong start in a row after throwing seven good innings against the New York Mets last time out in the nation's capital. Haren threw a lot of pitches early tonight in Miller Park, but settled in and ended up at 102 pitches overall in 7.0 scoreless in which he allowed just four hits and two walks. "Haren pitched great," Johnson said, "He had a rough start. I thought as the game went on his rhythm got better and his location got better and he made better pitches. Great effort. We needed it. We were short in the pen. It was a great job."

It was Haren's first road win since May 2nd. He now has a 2.16 ERA in 25 IP since returning from the DL, and he's kept the ball in the park in four of his last five starts after giving up home runs in all but four of his first 15 outings this season.

"I know his shoulder is feeling a lot better and that's the good news," Johnson said when asked what's been different for the 32-year-old right-hander. "But probably the same thing why he's pitching better. He's not having to do as much to put something on it, and the ball is lively coming out of his hand, but that was a great effort. He had a bunch of pitches first couple innings and settled down and really pitched good and finished [at 102 pitches]."

Haren was (0-8) in 11 starts going back to the beginning of May before earning back-to-back wins in his last two outings. Going on the DL for just the second time in his 11-year career wasn't something Haren wanted to do, but the shot he got during that period of rest seems to have rejuvenated the veteran starter.

"He's A Veteran. He's Got It Now." - Johnson on Haren

Photo © Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

"He's got a great resume coming in," his manager said after the Nats' 54th win. "And I know he wasn't proud of the way it was going, but I think he felt better than he did in the year before because he struggled the year before in the first half and then came on in the second half and I think he felt coming in he was a lot healthier. Just sometimes a new league, whatever, you struggle a little bit, but he's certainly pitching good now and that's the good thing."

Taylor Jordan throws for the Nationals tomorrow in the series finale as they look to sweep the three-game set with the Brewers before heading home for three with Atlanta.

In the last installment of our "fill-in" Roundups, I take a look at the action from Saturday and point out a few things that stood out to me while going through box scores. Lucky for all of you, Ray is back from vacation this week!

Pitchers' duel in Tampa Bay

Cy Young winners, Tim Lincecum and David Price, matched each other run for run, pitch for pitch and strikeout for strikeout. Each pitcher allowed a run in the third inning which would end up being all that the opposing offenses could muster against them (Wil Myers hit a walkoff single in the 10^th inning). Lincecum threw seven innings while allowing six hits and punching out seven. Most importantly, Lincecum only walked one batter. Price went nine innings for the fourth time in his last six starts giving up five hits with five strikeouts and without walking anyone. Price has been nothing short of dominant since his return from the DL - he has a 40:1 K:BB ratio with a 1.56 ERA in 57.1 innings pitched.

Peavy wins his first start for Boston

Jake Peavy turned in one of his best outings of the season in terms of ESPN's Game Score in his first start wearing a Boston jersey. Peavy tossed seven innings of two-run ball against the Diamondbacks on Saturday night. He gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Andrew and I discussed Peavy's value in our podcast on Thursday night and believe that Peavy will see a slight boost in his production moving to a winning team with a good offense and defense despite the moce to the AL East.

Michael Saunders has himself a day

Saunders hit two home runs on Saturday night as the Mariners put it to the Orioles 8-4. It was his second straight game with a home run and he now has ten on the year to go with eleven steals. Saunders will never hit for a high average because he's likely always going to strikeout too much but he walks a lot and I believe he could have add some nice value down the stretch for teams in need of an outfielder. I think he can hit another six to eight home runs and steal ten more bases. Seattle didn't make any moves at the deadline so they still have Kendry Morales, Raul Ibanez and Kyle Seager - not murder's row but a lineup that should produce some runs.

Round ‘Em Up

Yoenis Cespedes hits his seventeenth home run of the year. He's batting .321 with two home runs and nine RBIs in his last six games.

Yasiel Puig left his game in the eighth inning after injuring his hand on a diving catch the inning before. Puig had been wearing a protective brace on his wrist since injuring it diving head first into first base on June 8^th. The injury was diagnosed as a thumb contusion and is believed not to be serious.

Wilson Ramos and Adam LaRoche homered in the Nationals' 3-0 win over the Brewers. In twenty games since the beginning of July, Ramos is hitting .309 with five home runs and eighteen RBIs. LaRoche is a notorious second half performer as he's hit fifty points higher in the second half than in the first half. He also has only three fewer home runs in the second half than he does in the first half for his career despite having roughly nine hundred fewer plate appearances. He could be a nice buy low candidate if you have the chance to acquire him.

Max Scherzer wins his sixteenth game going two outs into the eighth against the White Sox with six strikeouts and three walks. Joaquin Benoit saves his ninth game in as many chances and has a .50 ERA with a 23:4 K:BB since being named the closer.

Devin Mesoraco hit two home runs and is hitting .333 since winning the full time gig.

Jacoby Ellsbury became the first player to steal forty bases this season.

Matt Wieters hit his fifteenth home run of the year and added a rare stolen base as well.

Francisco Liriano pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out five batters against the Rockies en route to his twelfth win. He also walked five batters and, while he's kept the free passes under control this year, we all know too well his struggles in the past and some have been waiting for Liriano to falter. I'm not too worried.

Brandon Beachy's second start since returning from Tommy John surgery went much better than his first outing. Beachy allowed three earned runs (although one of the runs scored after he left the game) and struck out four batters while walking two in six and a third.

Justin Maxwell hit a game-winning pinch hit home run in the twelfth inning to break his new team's tie with the Mets on Saturday afternoon. Maxwell has always intrigued me because of his power/speed potential and, if he can find a way to get into the lineup every day, he's a guy I like to help out late in the year.

The Indians stole six bases against the Marlins, half of them coming from Michael Bourn.

Shelby Miller and Jose Fernandez are getting most of the attention this year and it is deservedly so. Fernandez' teammate, Jacob Turner is having an excellent year as well. He turned in his ninth quality start in eleven outings this season.

More from Fake Teams:

• Around the League - AL and NL
• Jose Fernandez: The Youngest Ace in Baseball
• Waiver Wire: 10 Under 10%
• Fake Teams Podcast Episode 22: A Little Too Comfortable
• Streamer Report: Weekend Streamers

Taylor Jordan faces the Milwaukee Brewers for the second time in his first major league run. Last week in D.C., the 24-year-old right-hander faced the New York Mets, against whom he'd made his MLB debut back on June 29th in Citi Field in NY. In his first start with Washington, the Nationals' '09 9th Round pick gave up five hits and three runs, one earned in 4 1/3 IP of a 5-1 loss to New York. The second time around, Jordan held the Mets at bay, giving up just five hits and one earned run in six innings on the mound in which he struck out seven. Nats' skipper Davey Johnson talked afterwards about what seeing a team for the second time says about a pitcher's growth.

"It gives you a good read on how your stuff is," Johnson explained, "they know what you throw and still don't hit you." The Nationals manager didn't, however, think the right-hander had his best stuff last Sunday in D.C. "I don't think [Jordan] was as sharp as he was last time out," he said. "But he threw awful good and made pitches when he had to. And the slider keeps getting better."

After 90 1/3 IP in the minors on his way up through High-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg and now 35 1/3 IP in the majors for the Nationals, Jordan is quickly approaching the innings limit the Nats have set for him in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. D.C. GM Mike Rizzo declined to offer specifics on when exactly Jordan would be done when he was asked on this past week's edition of "The Mike Rizzo Show" on 106.7 the FAN in D.C.

"He'll be shut down at some time, when we feel it's prudent to shut him down via our protocol," Rizzo told the show's hosts. "We've got a pretty good idea of when it's going to be, we just don't want to make that public right now."

Though the Nationals won't offer specifics about when Jordan's first full-year back from surgery will end, he'll get at least one more start this afternoon in Milwaukee's Miller Park. In order to help the Nats take three from the Brewers, however, he'll have to outduel right-hander Kyle Lohse, who's on something of a hot streak. Lohse held the Nats' hitters to one run on four hits in eight innings of work in a 4-1 Milwaukee win earlier this season and he's given up just one earned run over his last three starts and 19 IP, posting a 0.47 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .208/.240/.306 line.

Game Time: 2:10 pm EDT from Wisconsin...

More from Federal Baseball:

• Nationals 3-0 Over Brewers: Jayson Werth With Groin Issue; Dan Haren Strong Again
• Game 110 WPA: More good baseball? Nats 3, MIL 0
• Dan Haren With Seven Scoreless In 3-0 Nationals' Win Over The Brewers
• Ross Detwiler's Return To Nationals' Rotation This Season Unlikely According To Davey Johnson
• Nationals' Saturday Night Lineup: Denard Span On Top; Dan Haren On Hill vs The Brewers

There was some bad news after Washington's 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers last night in Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nationals' manager Davey Johnson told reporters that 34-year-old outfielder Jayson Werth, who left the game in the bottom of the sixth, had tweaked his groin.

"The same area that he pulled before,"Johnson told reporters, noting that Werth had suffered a similar groin issue earlier this season. "So I'm not going to take any chances," the Nats' manager said, "I took him out. And I'm going to probably give him tomorrow off. Hopefully he's going to be good to go on Monday. But, that's the same groin. Evidently he went down for a ball in the corner or something and kind of messed it up a little bit." Losing Werth for any length of time at this point would be a tough blow to a Nationals team struggling to stay relevant in the division and Wild Card races.

Over his last 29 games, the Nationals' right fielder is a somewhat ridiculous 38 for 97 (.392/.466/.639) with three doubles, seven home runs, 15 walks and 14 Ks in 116 PAs. Before leaving the game last night, Werth was 2 for 3 with a run scored on a slick sliding play at home on an Anthony Rendon sac fly and 5 for 7 in the series in Miller Park, leaving him with a .313/.382/.509 line on the year in his third season in D.C. after signing a 7-year/$126M contract with the Nationals in December of 2010.

Before the Nationals announced their lineup for the series finale in Milwaukee, however, Werth told reporters that he planned on playing in the third game of three with the Brewers:

No Nats lineup yet, but Jayson Werth says he'll try to play. Feeling good. But he also said, "A day can go a long way."

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 4, 2013

When the Nationals announced today's lineup, Werth was penciled in batting fourth and playing right field in Miller Park:

Today's lineup at MIL: Span 8, Harper 7, Zimmerman 5, Werth 9, LaRoche 3, Desmond 6, Lombarozzi 4, Suzuki 2, Jordan 1

— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) August 4, 2013

The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN Yahoo leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.

Before I get into Monday's streamers, let's take a look at how Jason's and Alex's picks fared this weekend:

Friday's Streamers

Andrew Cashner vs. NYY - 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W

Samuel Deduno vs. HOU - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Tom Gorzelanny vs. WAS - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Combined stats: 14 IP, 12 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 8 K, W, 2.57 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

Saturday's Streamers

Bruce Chen at Mets - 6 IP, 4 H, ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Ivan Nova at Padres - 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 8 K, W

Jacob Turner vs. Indians - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Combined stats: 19 IP, 14 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 22 K, W, 1.42 ERA, 0.89 WHIP

Monday's Streamers

Jose Quintana vs Yankees

Quintana is owned in under 10% of ESPN leagues and he gets to face the Yankees who are struggling with injuries and dealing with the Alex Rodriguez suspension. He has made 22 starts this season and put up a respectable 5 wins, 3.62 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.

Chad Gaudin vs Brewers

Gaudin is owned in 8.2% of ESPN leagues and gets to face the decimated Brewers lineup that is without Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez. Gaudin has pitched very well of late, giving up one run or less in five of his last six starts.

Jeremy Guthrie vs Twins

Guthrie is owned in 14.5% of ESPN leagues and limited the Twins to just two runs over six innings in his last start. Guthrie is one of those hit or miss starters and I see him pitching well vs the Twins once again.

A.J. Burnett is enjoying the greatest season of his career at 36 years old and is the anchor of a surprisingly dominant pitching staff in Pittsburgh. Kenley Jansen is officially on perfect game watch and is there any other reliever more unlucky than Danny Farquhar this season? Also, will somebody please tell Ruben Amaro Jr. to start trading some assets and look to the future?

The Smallest Sample Size -- Game Results for 8/4/13

Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports

Rangers 4, Athletics 0

A.J. Griffin has a 49.1% flyball rate. Pair that with a 12.8% HR/FB rate and it's a pretty bad combination. The Rangers were able to take an early lead in the first after Ian Kinsler reached second on an error and Adrian Beltre singled him home. From there, Griffin gave up homeruns to Nelson Cruz and Mitch Moreland and basically stuck a fork in Oakland's chances to come back. After Moreland's homerun in the 7th, the Rangers win expectancy jumped to 94.9%. The Athletics simply couldn't get anything going against a dominant Derek Holland who tallied 10 strikeouts in eight innings, good for a small-sample-size FIP of 1.29.

Blue Jays 6, Angels 5

Dane De La Rosa and Ernesto Frieri struggled to close out the game for the Angels, again. After C.J. Wilson was able to get Jose Reyes to ground out to start the eighth, the Angels had a win expectancy of 95.8%. Tiring and becoming more hittable, Rajai Davis and Jose Bautista tallied singles and suddenly Wilson was about to face the tying run at the plate. Edwin Encarnacion reached on an error that allowed Davis to score after a stolen base and then Maicer Izturis was able to hit a single to bring Joey Bats home. After five pitchers used in one inning, the Angels saw their lead dissipate from 5-2 to 5-4 but their win expectancy was still high at 87.4%. Brett Cecil and Neil Wagner ran through Mark Trumbo, Erick Aybar and Chris Iannetta in the bottom half. Frieri struggled with his control to start the ninth and allowed two baserunners before giving way to De La Rosa who promptly gave up two singles and a clutch stolen base from Rajai Davis. The tables had turned and Anaheim was staring at an 18.8% win expectancy. There was still hope but Casey Janssen hurled a perfect inning in an intense situation (2.53 pLI) while recording his 21st Shutdown.

Dodgers 1, Cubs 0

Nate Schierholtz and Dioner Navarro tried to get something going for the Cubs offense but Stephen Fife and the lights-out Dodgers bullpen proved to be too much. Carlos Villanueva pitched excellently, only allowing one run on five baserunners through six innings yet was still hung with a loss (#killthewin). Fife was chased after five and a third since he allowed nine baserunners but gave way to Chris Withrow (2.77 pLI), who provided the most WPA for either team (.36) via one and two-thirds perfect innings. Kenley Jansen lowered his FIP AGAIN somehow (down to 1.94) with his eighth consecutive inning without allowing a hit or walk. One more inning without a hit or a walk and Jansen will have thrown a perfect game. With a 1.94 FIP, 2.02 xFIP and a 1.55 SIERA to go along with 30 Shutdowns and an absurd 8.78 K/BB, Jansen has been absolutely incredible at the back-end of the Los Angeles bullpen.

Hanley Ramirez has easily been the Dodgers' best player this year as he's accumulated 3.5 fWAR in only 206 plate appearances. Yesterday, he left the game after crashing into the stands and jamming his shoulder. Scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, Dodger and baseball fans alike should be holding their breath in hopes that another extended absence isn't required for one of the most exciting players in baseball right now.

Brewers 8, Nationals 5

Taylor Jordan and the Nationals were cruising until the sixth inning (82.2% win expectancy) when the wheels fell off. Jordan only allowed six baserunners in five and a third but four of them came across home plate to score. Fernando Abad (-.43 WPA) relieved the rookie in the sixth and proceeded to melt down, allowing both inherited runners and two more to score. Kyle Lohse pitched decently with six baserunners in five innings to go along with two strikeouts. Somehow, John Axford recorded a Meltdown (-.06 WPA) in his inning of work but still got the win (Kill the win).

Photo credit: Getty Images

Twins 3, Astros 2

Justin Morneau quickly put the Twins on top of the Astros during the first inning but the lead was gone by the sixth after consecutive singles from Brett Wallace and Chris Carter. Both teams bounced around in win expectancy until Oswaldo Arcia homered (78.5% WE) off of Brad Peacock. Speaking of Peacock, he struck out ten over seven innings and only allowed four hits but two of them ended up being homeruns. Four members of the Twins bullpen were able to record Shutdowns in relief of Mike Pelfrey.

Rays 4, Giants 3

Evan Longoria finally got a hit! And didn't strike out! Wil Myers started off the game with two-run shot off of Guillermo Moscoso but the Rays saw their lead disappear and win expectancy plummet after Brandon Crawford tripled in the fourth. Both Bruce Bochy and Joe Maddon were quick to pull the hook on their struggling starters as each threw less than five innings. Alex Torres continued to be a serious difference maker for the Tampa Bay bullpen, striking out two over an inning and a third and recording his ninth Shutdown in just 34.1 innings. Jake McGee, Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney were able to throw Shutdowns during their high leverage situations too. As a group, the Rays bullpen only allowed one baserunner in four innings whereas San Francisco's Sandy Rosario and Jose Mijares allowed five in just over three innings.

Mariners 3, Orioles 2

After blowing a gigantic lead earlier this week, the Mariners bullpen shut out the Orioles over three innings yesterday. Joe Saunders and Wei-Yin Chen were neck and neck until Henry Blanco (.35 WPA) hit a two-run homer in the seventh. The Orioles had a short-lived expectancy to win (76.6%) during the sixth only for their chances to plummet during the seventh (35.5%).

Speaking of Mariners bullpen, Danny Farquhar has a 1.97 FIP, 2.13 xFIP and 2.15 SIERA but a .368 BABIP that leads to a ballooned 5.09 ERA. With a 14.1% swinging strike rate and a 36.1% strikeout percentage, it's safe to say that his ERA will regress. Tom Wilhelmsen may be ousted from the closer role for an extended amount of time if Farquhar continues to excel.

Pirates 5, Rockies 1

The Pirates aren't showing any signs of slowing down as they ran through Juan Nicasio and the Rockies Sunday. They were in complete control before the first inning ended. Their lowest win expectancy after Andrew McCutchen's run scoring single leveled off at 55.4% in the third. Thanks to another dominant performance from a wily ol' veteran, they were never in danger of losing this game.

A.J. Burnett's career resurgence during his twilight years in Pittsburgh continues! Hurling nine innings of one-run ball, Burnett, 36 years old, is fourth in strikeout percentage in the National League. The three pitchers ahead of him are an average of 22.3 years old. Old school baseball lives!! Sporting the lowest FIP (2.94), xFIP (2.99) and SIERA (3.25) of his career, Burnett is the real deal in 2013.

Red Sox 4, Diamondbacks 0

Brandon McCarthy's first start off of the disabled list came at an inconvenient time. The Red Sox are playing some extremely motivated baseball and they ran the tall right-hander's pitch count up quickly. Arizona skipper, Kirk Gibson, pulled McCarthy after four and a third, having allowed eight baserunners and two runs but struck out five. Meanwhile, Felix Doubront posted yet another quality start, this time pitching seven shutout innings and striking out five. The teams were evenly matched until the fifth when things seemed to fall apart for Arizona. By the end of the inning, the Red Sox went from having a 45.4% win expectancy to 76.4%.

Cardinals 15, Reds 2

Mike Leake was due for some regression and it came in a big way yesterday in Cincinnati. Chased after five innings and seven earned runs, Leake gave way to the bullpen only for Pedro Villarreal, Sam LeCure and Logan Ondrusek to combine for another eight allowed runs.

Lance Lynn has been getting some tremendous run support throughout most of his starts but yesterday was just a whole other story. David Freese (1.060 wOBA yesterday), Matt Adams (.595) and Tony Cruz (.733) all hit homeruns but practically everybody up and down the St. Louis lineup was getting on base. Lynn was dominant and clearly not pitching to the score. In eight innings, he struck out eleven while only allowing four hits, two walks and two runs.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Royals 6, Mets 2

Zack Wheeler and the Mets had a fair chance at coming back and winning the game against the Royals until the fifth inning. After Marlon Byrd misplayed a fly ball and allowed David Lough to reach second, the run eventually scored thanks to a sacrifice out that moved pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson to third followed by a poorly-timed wild pitch. Then, Wheeler's lack of command and another error by Byrd led to two more runs crossing home plate. At the end of the fifth, the Mets win expectancy was 10%. They were able to load the bases against Ervin Santana but could only squeeze one run out of their rally in the sixth. From there on out, the Royals were in complete control with an 88.2% win expectancy that increased as the game went on.

Indians 2, Marlins 0

Scott Kazmir mowed through the Marlins, racking up seven strikeouts and only allowing four baserunners over six shutout innings. Bryan Shaw allowed two hits but struck out the side in a high-leverage situation (3.12 pLI). Kazmir, Shaw, Joe Smith and Chris Perez combined for the complete game shut of the hapless Marlins with all three relievers racking up Shutdowns. Nate Eovaldi pitched well as he only allowed one run in seven innings to an intimidating offense but Miami only really threatened to make this a game during the seventh inning. Also, Chad Qualls allowed his first earned run since June 30th.

Tigers 3, White Sox 2

The AL Central is on a tear right now. Detroit, Cleveland and Kansas City just can't stop winning whereas the White Sox just can't stop losing. But, at first, it didn't look Detroit would keep its hot streak alive. The White Sox took an early lead after Adam Dunn hit an absolute bomb to center field but saw their win expectancy fade in the seventh. Andre Rienzo pitched another decent game as he went six innings while striking out three and allowing two runs. Rick Porcello hurled 7.2 innings of one-run ball only for Drew Smyly to take over and melt down with a homerun to Paul Konerko in relief. Torii Hunter (.375 WPA) had a walk-off single in the 12th to complete Dylan Axelrod's Meltdown (-.224 WPA).

Padres 6, Yankees 3

Phil Hughes had no trade value before the July 31st trade deadline and it doesn't look like he'll have much more before the August 31st revocable waivers deadline. Lasting only two and two-thirds yesterday at Petco Park, Hughes gave up five runs on nine baserunners. Ian Kennedy, making his first start with the Padres, struggled with control but was able to limit the damage to just two runs in over five innings. Curtis Granderson was able to get on base in each of his plate appearances via three walks and a hit but the lower half of the New York lineup just couldn't bring him across home plate. By the third inning, San Diego had an 82.9% win expectancy.The Yankees never threatened after Hughes' disastrous two-plus innings.

Phillies 1, Braves 4

Alex Wood shined on Sunday night, only allowing four baserunners and one run in six innings. Meanwhile, Cliff Lee, making his first start in almost two weeks as he dealt with a strained neck, struggled early on and ran into too many three-ball counts. After Chris Johnson singled and brought home two runs in the first, the Phillies were out of it. Their win expectancy was at 32.1% after those two runs were scored and it never eclipsed 40% throughout the rest of the game. The Phillies are down to a .1% shot at making the playoffs and have no choice but to be very active in the August revocable waivers period.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs.

Mike Mulvenna is a writer at Beyond The Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @mkmulv.

More from Beyond the Box Score:

• Lineouts! 08/04/13: Jose Fernandez, Big Contracts, and SABR Recap
• What to do about Ellsbury
• The Smallest Sample Size 08/04/13: Low scores across the board
• Lineouts! 08/03/13: A-Rod, hot teams, and the Bucs
• What Can Granderson Offer the Wounded Yankees?

Some things to read while accepting your punishment.

The Brewers wrapped up a brief homestand and narrowly avoided getting swept with an 8-5 win over the Nationals yesterday. Noah has the recap, if you missed it.

Other notes from the field:

• Kyle Lohse had faced 925 consecutive batters without hitting one before hitting two Nationals in the second inning yesterday. Plunk Everyone has more on the accomplishment.
• Michael Gonzalez's appearance on Sunday (.2 IP, 1 HR) was his 56th appearance of the season. He's tied for second in all of baseball in that category. (Twitter link)
• Before being shut out on Saturday the Brewers had scored at least one run in 86 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors. (Twitter link) That honor now belongs to the Braves, who have scored in 36 straight contests.
• The Brewers failed to score Saturday despite Rickie Weeks' 117th career HBP. Plunk Everyone notes that he's now tied for 49th on the all time list.
• 105,569 combined fans paid to see this weekend's games, which included Harvey Kuenn bobbleheads on Sunday and $10 giveaway vouchers all weekend.
• Reader @Jcollins205 reported seeing a line of fans waiting to get into the team store on the Terrace Level for the first time ever.
• The Hot Dog, Polish and Chorizo won this weekend's sausage races, in that order.

It won't take long to wrap up the Nationals series with a look at this weekend's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker Online and Larry Granillo:

The Brewers headed out to the west coast following yesterday's game and will open a four-game set with the Giants tonight. Tyler Thornburg will take on Chad Gaudin in the opener, and Andrew Simon has the MLB.com preview.

Aramis Ramirez is unlikely to appear in the Giants series, but could rejoin the team over the weekend. Ron Roenicke told reporters that Ramirez could be activated and used as the DH when the Brewers head to Seattle on Friday and Texas next week.

Reliever Michael Gonzalez is headed west with the team this week, but by the time they return home on August 15 there's a strong chance he'll be pitching for someone else. The Brewers placed Gonzalez on revocable waivers in the interest of working out a possible trade over the weekend. This isn't really all that surprising, as most teams put multiple players on waivers if they think any trades might be possible.

It wouldn't be surprising to discover that John Axford is also on trade waivers. Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs notes that Axford and Alfredo Figaro were the beneficiaries of the two wildest swings in all of baseball last week.

Even if Gonzalez and Axford remain with the team, the Brewers will almost certainly have to make another roster move to add a pitcher before Wednesday. Tom Gorzelanny left Friday's start early and is unlikely to pitch this week after getting hit on his throwing arm by a line drive. Ron Roenicke told reporters Gorzelanny's replacement is likely to be called up from the minors if needed.

Elsewhere in injured pitchers, Noah took a great look this weekend at Yovani Gallardo's 2013 velocity drop and how it compares to other pitchers who have thrown lots of pitches over the last four and a half years. After reading that post, I feel like Gallardo's struggles may have been more predictable than I previously thought.

The news is better, however, on Marco Estrada. He pitched 2.2 innings for Nashville on Friday and is expected to make one more rehab appearance before rejoining the team as early as next week.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are running out of prospective big league debuts. @Mass_Haas notes on Twitter that every healthy position player on the 40-man roster has already appeared in a game for the Brewers this season.

Caleb Gindl is one of the players that's already debuted this season, and his hot start continued with a triple yesterday. He's our reigning Brewer of the Week, and the tenth Brewer to win that honor this season.

In the minors:

• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has notes and highlights from Wisconsin's 6-1 win over Beloit on Sunday, which included a Victor Roache homer over the scoreboard in left.
• Mark Rogers took a big step forward in his rehab Sunday, pitching two innings for Brevard County (Twitter link). He allowed two runs on three hits after retiring the first five batters in order.
• This morning Alec has a look at the Brewers who have raised and lowered their stock in July.
• Disciples of Uecker collected some video of top Brewer prospects, including 2013 top pick Devin Williams.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds pitching coach Fred Dabney.

Back in Milwaukee, the Brewers drew nice crowds for the weekend series against the Nationals but attendance is still significantly down overall. On Sunday Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball noted on Twitter that the Brewers are averaging 3,422 fewer fans per game than they were at this point last year, the sixth largest drop in baseball.

There are also plenty of seats available on the Ryan Braun bandwagon. Over the weekend Nike became the latest company to cut ties with the 2011 NL MVP.

If you weren't around the site this weekend you missed the debut of a new Saturday feature titled "What we learned this week." Check out the inaugural installment and make plans to check back each Saturday for a recap of what you might have missed during the week.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Placed reliever Steve Delabar on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Braves: Placed catcher Gerald Laird on the DL with a kidney stone.
Cubs: Designated outfielder Julio Borbon for assignment and placed infielder Luis Valbuena on the DL with an oblique strain.
Diamondbacks: Designated reliever Tony Sipp for assignment.
Dodgers: Released pitcher Ted Lilly.
Mets: Are expected to place third baseman David Wright (hamstring) and pitcher Josh Edgin (stress fracture in ribs) on the DL.
Nationals: Placed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Padres: Signed shortstop Ronny Cedeno to a minor league deal.
Phillies: Placed pitcher Jonathan Pettibone on the DL with a shoulder strain and designated reliever J.C. Ramirez for assignment.
Rangers: Claimed infielder Adam Rosales off waivers from the Athletics.
Royals: Placed catcher Salvador Perez on the 7-day DL with a concussion and placed pitcher Wade Davis on emergency leave.
White Sox: Are expected to release outfielder DeWayne Wise.
Yankees: Designated outfielder Thomas Neal for assignment.

I've previously reported that Mariners manager Eric Wedge was away from the team and dealing with a medical issue. That issue has since been revealed to be a stroke, and Wedge will not rejoin the team this week.

Today has a chance to be a major day for transactions around baseball, as MLB is expected to announce the BioGenesis suspensions at 11 am Central time. With that said, they were also expected to announce suspensions last week and the week before, so temper your expectations. Cubie Rue adds a sense of perspective to some of the talk radio blather on this issue.

Meanwhile, today's most fascinating read may have come from the New York Times, which details how this entire scandal came to light because of a dispute over $4,000. (h/t BBTF)

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Pirates finished off a series win over the Rockies with a complete game, 5-1 victory from A.J. Burnett on Sunday. Russell Martin's three-run homer provided a majority of the offense.
• The Cardinals scored four or more runs in three different innings en route to a 15-2 victory over the Reds Sunday to complete a series win. St. Louis had ten extra base hits in the game.
• The Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the Cubs with a 1-0 win yesterday behind Stephen Fife and three relievers. Los Angeles has now won 14 consecutive road games.
• The Brewers, of course, avoided getting swept by beating the Nationals 8-5 yesterday.

You can read more about those games and all of last night's action in Beyond the Box Score's Smallest Sample Size.

Here are today's standings and probables:

Today in former Brewers:

• 2013 Cactus League Brewer Donnie Murphy has been called up by the Cubs.
• Mark Simon of ESPN named Lorenzo Cain as his defensive player of the month for July.
• Bless You Boys has a gif of Prince Fielder sliding into third base with his usual amount of grace and finesse.

Today in umpiring: The Crawfish Boxes documented how 9.4 seconds outside the batters box led to minor leaguer Vinnie Catricala becoming the victim of a one-pitch strikeout.

Today In Brewer History was off this morning, but I do have one bit of history: Today is Menasha, Wisconsin native Eric Hinske's 36th birthday and Plunk Everyone notes that his 30 career HBP are the third most ever for a player born on August 5.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have integrity to uphold.

Drink up.

We're still waiting for official word on MLB's BioGenesis suspensions (see update below), but it's becoming increasingly likely that one of the players suspended will have a tie to the Brewers. Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz was a Brewer briefly in 2005 before being sent to Texas in the Carlos Lee deal in 2006.

To date the faces of the BioGenesis investigation have been Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez, two longtime productive major leaguers. Braun and A-Rod didn't have clear turning points in their career where you could suspect some kind of rule breaking took place, they were just good players who remained good. In Cruz, though, baseball has a different kind of example. Cruz may be a textbook example of the reason why players will always try to cheat.

Cruz joined the Brewers in December of 2004, and Milwaukee was already his third organization. He'd been traded for players like Jorge Velandia and Keith Ginter. The Brewers gave him his first seven MLB plate appearances before including him as a throw-in in the Carlos Lee trade. Following the 2007 season Cruz was a career .231/.282/.385 hitter. The Rangers designated him for assignment the next spring, and he went unclaimed on waivers.

We don't know when Nelson Cruz first came across BioGenesis or started taking performance enhancing drugs, but if this was the point it'd be easy to understand why. At 26 years old, Cruz's major league career might have reached its conclusion. If someone had approached him with a potential miracle drug to try, he really wouldn't have had much to lose.

Cruz made it back to the big leagues with the Rangers in August of 2008, hitting .330/.421/.609 down the stretch. He was an All Star in 2009, hitting 33 home runs after never producing more than nine in any previous season. He has an .852 OPS over the last six seasons with 142 home runs, has played in two All Star Games and been a member of three playoff teams. He's also been paid about $20 million over that time.

Over the coming days, weeks and months we're going to see a lot of hand-wringing and moralizing about how Cruz and others have sullied baseball's good name. How they've sacrificed their own integrity for personal benefit. Perhaps they deserve some of that. They cheated, and they got caught.

With that said, for every player like Cruz there are dozens more who have spent their entire lives in pursuit of a single goal, MLB stardom, and instead found themselves just short of that dream. I'm not asking you to feel sorry for them. But before you condemn them as reprehensible human beings or worse, I'd ask you to put yourself in their shoes for a moment and consider the possibility that you might've done the same thing.

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the following players have been suspended -

• Nelson Cruz, as expected.
• Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta
• Phillies reliever Antonio Bastardo
• Mets infielder Jordany Valdespin
• Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera
• Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli
• Mariners catcher Jesus Montero
• Astros pitcher Segio Escalona
• Padres pitcher Fautino De Los Santos
• Yankees outfielder Fernando Martinez
• Free agent pitcher Jordan Norberto

Major League Baseball announced the suspension of 13 players on Monday for their involvement in the Biogenesis scandal.

The list is headlined by New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is expected to appeal what amounts to a 211-game suspension. He is "penciled in" the lineup for the Yankees' game on Monday night against the Chicago White Sox.

Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta and San Diego Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera -- all 2013 MLB All-Stars -- accepted 50-game suspensions and will begin serving them immediately. All three players will be eligible to return for postseason play, which is good news for the Rangers and Tigers, who are in playoff contention.

New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, who is on the disabled list, and Philadelphia Phillies reliever Antonio Bastardo are the only other big-leaguers who will serve suspensions.

Minor-leaguers Jesus Montero (Mariners), Jordany Valdespin (Mets), Cesar Puello (Mets), Fernando Martinez (Yankees) and Sergio Escalona (Astros), as well as free-agents Fautino De Los Santos and Jordan Norberto, will also serve 50-game bans.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon and San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal were also included on the list of players involved with the South Florida clinic, but since they already served suspensions due to positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, the league opted against further punishment.

Also named in the report, but cleared of any wrongdoing by the league, were Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez and Baltimore Orioles infielder Danny Valencia.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun was already given a 65-game suspension by the league for his involvement, and will miss the rest of this season as a result.

*****

How does this affect the Colorado Rockies? Well, as you can see above, none of the players levied with bans are from the Rockies organization, so there will be no direct impact.

As far as indirect impact, Everth Cabrera began his professional career with the Rockies, last appearing for a club affiliate in 2008, when he hit .284/.361/.399 in 121 games at High-A Asheville. The Rockies lost Cabrera to the Padres prior to the 2009 season in the Rule 5 Draft.

The Rockies will face the Padres six times while Cabrera is out. Against Colorado in 2013, the 26-year-old Nicaraguan has hit .333/.377/.509 in 13 games, 10 of which were won by the Rockies.