So it seems that hitting Ryan Braun to load the bases in the seventh with only one out and a one run lead was not such a good idea.

Quick Quotes

"They beat us again, and that's disappointing."

-Kirk Gibson

"We know the way the game works, I wasn't surprised I got hit; I was surprised I got hit in that situation and circumstances, with the go-ahead run at second base and the tying run at third base, and they were ahead. I was a little surprised by that. But we hit a couple of their guys -- it wasn't intentional, but that's the way the game works sometimes."

-Ryan Braun

"The biggest part today was not hanging that breaking ball. I was locating the fastball and keeping the curveball in the dirt."

-Mike Bolsinger

Daily Digest

Brewers Get Best Of Diamondbacks in Heated Affair

Didi Gregorius was "hit" (we think, but cannot actually confirm) by Kyle Lohse early in the game. Lohse started leaving balls up in the zone somewhere in the fifth inning. Then Chris Owings was hit in the back up around the head later in the game. The ball caromed into his helmet, making a very disgusting sound, but leaving Owngs unhurt. A few high pitches later, Mike Bolsinger had his tower buzzed while trying to bunt. The response to all of this, and to pent-up frustrations in general was that Evan Marshal went out and threw at Ryan Braun - twice. After the first pitch sailed behind Braun, the umpire walked the replacement ball out to Marshal to talk with him. On the next pitch, Marshal hit Braun squarely in the wallet and was tossed. This loaded the bases with a meager one-run lead. Jonathan Lucroy, one of the hottest hitters on the planet this season came up and hit the very next pitch deep into left center for a grand slam.

History and Bad Blood at Work in Brewers/B'backs Outing

The litany of past incidents between the Brewers and Diamondbacks probably starts with how the Diamondbacks were ousted from the 2011 post season. That Ryan Braun was intentionally hit probably surprises no one. What was surprising is how the moment came about.

Milwaukee Responds to Braun/Marshal Incident

It doesn't look like the Brewers are buying that the HBP was accidental either.

D'backs, Towers "Baffled" by Cahill's Struggles

Trevor Cahill's troubles have been an enigma plaguing the Diamondbacks for almost a year and a half now. Now the right-hander is in Reno trying to get right again, but his performance since the demotion has still been erratic. Hopefully 1:1 time with Dave Duncan can do something for the struggling hurler.

Around MLB

Royals Feast on Scherzer, Claim First Place

The Kansas City Royals have been hot of late, winning nine in a row. The Tigers have been awful of late, including the last two games against those same Royal. On Monday night, the Royals abused Tigers ace Justin Verlander. On Tuesday night, they took their shot at reigning Cy Young Award champion Max Scherzer. Scherzer was forced to throw over fifty pitches in the second inning, the worst inning of his career, in which he gave up seven earned runs en route to giving up 10 runs (all earned) on ten hits (two HR) and a walk in four innings. The Royals went on to win 11-4 and claimed a half-game lead of first place in the AL Central.

Johnny Cueto's Epic Fail

Johnny Cueto is not now, nor will he ever be Bo Jackson.

Milwaukee's Jean Segura

Last year it looked like Milwaukee's acquisition of Jean Segura had been highway robbery. Now his struggles continue to haunt the Milwaukee offense as the struggle to remain in first place. What a difference a year makes, oi in Segura's case, just a few months.

Athletics Acquire Brad Mills

Not really much to this, other than the following which would seem to be somewhat of a motivator for Mills to perform well when he gets his chance to replace Pomeranz in the Oakland rotation.

Athletics&src=hash">#Athletics acquired Mills from #Brewers for $1. Expected to move into rotation shortly.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 17, 2014

That's right, $1. That is not a typo.

Video Highlights

Brock Holt

This one is going to be played for years.

Detroit Tigers

Nothing is going right for them these days, not even pitches to the backstop with a runner on third. Warning: Do not let Gerardo Parra watch this clip.

There won't necessarily be any particular logical flow here, and don't expect any particular conclusion. But everyone else on the Internet seems to have weighed in, so why should I be any different?

I didn't watch much of the game last night live. The last I saw, the score was 4-2 to the D-backs, and Mrs. Snakepit and I then settled down to watch a movie. When that finished, I quickly checked the score, and we had apparently been the victim of another bullpen meltdown, conceding five runs in the seventh inning. No great shock there. It wasn't until I looked on Twitter, where I had a scan running on the word "Dbacks", for possible Tweets of the Week, that I discovered something more than the usual had happened. 2,415 mentions? Mostly from apparently miffed Brewers fans? Ooh, let's check the post-game show.

Watching the condensed version does give a different perspective on the game, condensing things in to a shorter time-frame, which is not necessarily representative of how things unfolded. It's like watching a movie on fast-forward, and that makes a big difference with respect to rhythm and pacing. BANG! Owings gets a pitch that knocks his helmet off. WHOOSH! There goes one over Bolsinger's head as he's squared around to bunt. SWISH! It's a pitch behind Braun's back. SPLAT! Well, he won't be injecting any PEDs in there for a bit. BOOM! Grand-slam. Haven't seen anything as action-packed since Chapter 19 of The Matrix.

Apparently, everyone has strong opinions on this. Everyone, it seems, bar me. I'm kinda ambivalent about the whole thing. Still, to act as devil's advocate for a bit, I do feel there's a certain point where, even if it's not deliberate, you do have to remind an opponent gently (or otherwise), that a 90 mph pitch has about as much energy as a .22 bullet from a handgun. [Thank you, Neil deGrasse Tyson for dropping that knowledge bomb!] Tagging an opponent on the butt seems neither an inappropriate, nor excessive, way to do so. But the whole vagueness of the "unwritten rules" is certainly an irritant.

I don't actually have too much of an issue with the plunking in game terms either. There's one out, the tying run is already on third base, the go-ahead one on second, first base is open and you have the opposition's best hitter at the plate. Putting him on is by no means an irrational move. If Gibson had held up four fingers, Marshall had walked Braun and the grand-slam had followed, I sincerely doubt there have been anything like such a reaction. What is kinda weird is the fact we apparently didn't have anyone - specifically, Ziegler - warming up in the bullpen. Suspect Gibson expected Marshall to hit Braun with the first pitch, and warnings would then be issued.

What I didn't realize, is that no other team has ever hit anyone on purpose in the history of baseball. At least, that's the only conclusion to be drawn from the hysterical over-reaction on Twitter, Reddit, etc. which followed. Where were all these moral guardians of the game when Zack Greinke was drilling Diamondbacks last season? Discussing it with one Brewer fan, what pissed him off was more the high-fives which Marshall got from the dugout and the standing ovation. It was strangely like pro wrestling, an illusion presented as straight-faced reality. Last night was an obvious reality which, for once, failed to be cloaked in the usual cloud of deniability.

Even among Diamondbacks fans, there was sharp division. Neither side exactly showed tolerance of or respect for alternative viewpoints, basically painting the other side as knuckle-dragging Neanderthals or lily-livered cowards respectively. It wasn't pretty, and we should all try to remember that what unites us - being Diamondback fans - is much larger than a difference of opinion over a single managerial decision. Did it "cost us the game"? Maybe, maybe not. If Lucroy had hit his home-run, with or without Braun on base, we'd still have lost, so I'm inclined to think that was a far bigger factor.

But in the end, it's at most one game of 162, 0.6% of the schedule, in a season which was already shaping up to be the most forgettable one over the past decade of Diamondbacks history. If we were in a pennant race, I might feel more strongly. But save for the unlikely event that we now go on a Dodgers-like tear, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this will rapidly be reduced to a minor footnote in the annals of team history. I doubt there will even be any carry forward to tonight; from what I've heard, that wouldn't be Ron Roenicke's style of play, especially with the Brewers' season not being dead in the water like ours.

The Dodgers' ace turned his 'A' game into an historic night at Dodger Stadium against a decimated Rockies lineup.

Starting Josh Rutledge and Kyle Parker at the corner infield spots against baseball's best pitcher was never an ideal scenario, but Clayton Kershaw brought his absolute best stuff to the mound tonight and accomplished one of the rarest feats in baseball, a no-hitter, in the Dodgers' 8-0 win over the Rockies.

The no-no completed a Dodgers sweep of the Rockies and sent Colorado back home with a 3-3 road trip after their sweep of the Giants in San Francisco.

Kershaw struck out 15 Rockies hitters, a career-high for him, and had all of his pitches working at their peak, with an especially nasty curveball that accounted for six of his punchouts. He threw 107 pitches in the game, 79 for strikes. It was the second no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher this season with Josh Beckett having thrown one on May 25 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

As a Rockies fan, I'm not at all upset at what happened tonight. Kershaw was a master at work, and that it was the Rockies were on the other end of it isn't really their fault. Honestly, getting no-hit by the likes of Bud Smith is one thing, but with Kershaw it's another. He's been the best pitcher in baseball for years and this was coming, the only question was when and against whom.

Any team would have been shut down by Kershaw tonight and they all could very well have been no-hit. It was just one of those things as a baseball fan that you have to appreciate. Kershaw's game score of 102 was the second-highest for a nine inning game in baseball history, trailing only Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game in 1998. We just witnessed something historic, appreciate it.

Only an error by Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez on Corey Dickerson's ground ball in the seventh inning prevented Kershaw from throwing the 24th perfect game in MLB history. The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter with the lone base runner reaching on an error was Jonathan Sanchez in 2009.

Los Angeles third baseman Miguel Rojas made an excellent play going to his right to cut down Troy Tulowitzki in the seventh to preserve Kershaw's no-hitter.

Needless to say, Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa was not nearly as sharp as his counterpart, allowing eight runs, seven earned, on six hits in 3 1/3 innings of work, walking five and striking out just one. It took him 86 pitches to record 10 outs. On the bright side, the Rockies' much-maligned bullpen threw 4 2/3 shutout innings in relief of De La Rosa, allowing just three hits and a walk.

The Rockies will have an off day tomorrow as they return home for a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Source: FanGraphs

After all the furor surrounding last night's game, this one was a bland, vanilla pudding in contrast. But there are times when a bland, vanilla pudding is just what you want, and Tony Campana provided a bland, vanilla walk-off win for the D-backs.

Record: 31-44. Pace: 67-95. Change on 2013/2010/2004: -10/+2/+4.

If anyone tuned in expecting carnage, they'd be extremely disappointed. No-one got hit, and the nearest to an incident was Miguel Montero getting tangled with a Brewers infielder as he tried to break up a double-play [hit into by Martin Prado, natch]. The pic is on top of the quick recap, but it wasn't as Tony Jaa-esque as it seems, and Miggy seemed more bemused than anything. Otherwise, this was just another of 162 games, and to be honest, it's probably for the best. Not that this stopped Ryan Braun from his usual welcome, though hearts were in mouths when he send one to the deepest part of the park in the top of the first, before it died in Tony Campana's glove.

The Diamondbacks made the most of some poor Brewers defense in their half. Gerardo Parra roped one down the line, that bounced along long enough for him to reach third. Chris Owings then bounced one off Mark Reynolds' glove at first, for an infield RBI single, and the visitors then took a pair of tailor-made double-play balls, and turned them into a fielder's choice and a reached on error. Paul Goldschmidt then alertly took third base on a ball that didn't get all that far from the Brewers' catcher, and came home as Aaron Hill legged out his grounder to avoid a double-play, making the score 2-0 to Arizona after one.

The errors were infectious, as Miguel Montero clanked a foul pop-up to open the second - the batter then walked on four straight pitches, and it looked like that might hurt us, as the next Brewer singled to center. However, Miley coaxed a ground-ball to Hill, who recovered after almost doing the splits - described by Bob Brenly as looking like a giraffe bending down for a drink! - to start the double-play, and Miley got the first of his eight strikeouts to end the inning. As Songbird pointed out in the Gameday Thread, Miley is now sixth in the NL for strikeouts this year, with 93, between Adam Wainwright and Zack Greinke.

Wade did walk four batters tonight, but the good thing is, he was generally missing low, which is the kind of mistake where you will at least get the ball back. He struck out the side in the third, but his old nemesis, the home-run ball, came back to bite him in the fourth. Worse still, it came one out after consecutive singles that opened the frame. It was by no means a bad pitch, again down in the zone, and barely a strike, but Khris Davis golfed it just far enough to go into the pool area for a three-run shot. I note the roof was open, and wonder if it might have been a harmless fly ball with the roof closed.

His 17 home-runs allowed puts Miley second in the majors, behind the Brewers' Marco Estrada, so between that and his strikeouts, it seems he's not a fan of balls in play! He settled down after the long-ball, retiring 13 of the next 13 batters faced, until apparently tiring in the eighth inning, just not being able to get the third out. His night ended with back-to-back walks, and a final line of 7.2 innings pitched, three runs allowed on five hits and four walks, with those eight strikeouts. It was another no-decision for Wade, and he now has one victory over his last 13 starts, but this was a solid outing.

Meanwhile, Matt Garza had settled down after his wobbly start, and the Diamondbacks weren't able to do much more. We did make it 3-0 on Chris Owings' lead-off triple and Goldschmidt's RBI single in the third, but Garza then faced the minimum from there through one out in the eighth. Our only base runner was a Montero single to lead off the sixth, but it seems even putting Hill between him and Prado isn't enough to prevent the latter from hitting into another double-play, as mentioned above. With one out in the eighth, Owings double, leaving him a homer short of the cycle, but Goldie grounded out and, after a pitching change, Montero K'd.

Brad Ziegler came in out of the bullpen for the Diamondbacks, and retired all four batters faced, three by strikeout, stranding the two he inherited from Miley in the eighth. In the 9th, Martin Prado sent the ball to the gap in left-center for a one-out double, but David Peralta grounded out weakly on the first pitch. That brought up Tony Campana with two outs, hitting a bland, vanilla .136 for the season to that point. I braced myself ready for extra innings, and I wasn't the only one: In the spirit of reconciliation that filled the ballpark this evening, I won't award it Comment of the Night. But I did consider it...

Of course, YCPB, and Campana squeezed the ball past the despairing grab of the Brewers' second baseman, for the first walk-off hit of his career.

[Click to enlarge, at fangraphs.com]
Jonathan Lucroy: Tony Campana, +30.9%
Yovani Gallardo: Ziegler, +21.8%; Owings, +17.9%; Miley, +10.9%
Nyjer Morgan: David Peralta, -10.2%
Ryan Braun: Aaron Hill, -10.0%

A calm, restrained and F-bomb free Gameday Thread tonight. So that's nice. DbacksSkins came out on top, ahead of TolkienBard and JoeCB1991. Also present: AJV19, BrokeNBattleX, DeadmanG, Edwong81, GuruB, Jim McLennan, Majabe, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, Noah Jarosh, SongBird, Zavada's Moustache, ford.williams.10, hotclaws, onedotfive, preston.salisbury and txzona. Comment of the night goes to Preston, for his response to a suggestion the Brewers' defense was due to their sampling of their namesake's product.

Ah, no opportunity to poke fun at mainstream American beer, left unrewarded. Despite the W, we still remain at the bottom of the NL West, as the Padres somehow managed to beat the Mariners in a Felix Hernandez start. Still, it was Tony Gwynn Tribute Night, so we'll give them this one. We're back at it tomorrow for the series finale: bear in mind it's an afternoon game, without TV coverage. Yovani Gallardo goes up against Chase Anderson, with a first pitch at 12:40pm.

Today's lessons include more on the Braun plunking, the debate between Jonathan Lucroy and Yadier Molina, and more.

Yesterday's Results

Diamondbacks 4, Brewers 3

The Diamondbacks took an early 3-0 lead, but the Brewers responded with a three-run inning thanks to a three-run home run from Khris Davis. Matt Garza pitched 7 2/3 innings, stabilizing after a shaky start to the game. However, beyond the three-run home run, the Brewers offense couldn't get going. That led to the Diamondbacks walking off in the ninth inning from a Gerardo Parra single.

The Diamondbacks made a mistake by going after Ryan Braun.

How ridiculous was it that the Diamondbacks went after Ryan Braun on Tuesday? There's so many reasons why it was a bad move. We got two different opinions on it yesterday. First, Noah looked at the idiocy behind plunking a player. After that, Derek thanked the people that hate Braun so much that they will trade success for revenge. It's a ridiculous move that was made on Tuesday, and it cost the Diamondbacks a win. Hate towards Braun will always be there, but when it's enough for a team to throw a game, it's gone too far.

Cram Session

Brewers vs. Diamondbacks

• Jim McLennan of AZ Snake Pit has a different take on the incident between Evan Marshall and Ryan Braun.
• Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel got Jonathan Lucroy's opinion on throwing at players: It won't happen while he's catching.
• Ryan Topp of Disciples of Uecker found a radio interview from Kirk Gibson asking about a possiblesituation in which he would have a pitcher throw at Ryan Braun.
• David G. Temple of FanGraphs looks at how the Diamondbacks' chances of winning the game were affected by their decision to put Braun on base.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot notes that the Diamondbacks are defending the game and in last place while doing it.
• Miller Park Drunk wonders if the irrational hate toward Ryan Braun will ever end.
• Jess Lemont of The Brewers Bar found some tabasco sauce in the background of Roenicke's interviewfrom Tuesday night.

Jonathan Lucroy vs. Yadier Molina

• Dave Radcliffe of Reviewing the Brew wonders why some fans are so angry at a commercial that was meant to be humorous.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot looks at the debate between Yadier Molina and Jonathan Lucroy.

Other Notes

• Adam McCalvy notes that Jim Henderson threw off of a mound for the first time since his setback yesterday.
• Will Marco Estrada's home run rate even out? Neil Weiberg of Beyond the Box Score thinks that it should balance out as the season goes on.
• The Brewers may have an issue at shortstop. Mike Petrillo of FanGraphs analyzed the position and noticed some very low production for the Brewers.
• Could it be possible to see a Brewers-Royals world series? Grant Brisbee argues that it would be the best possible matchup.
• Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker thinks that the success the Brewers have found in 2014 should lead to a successful 2015 as well.
• Steven Jewell of Reviewing the Brew profiled Scooter Gennett and what to expect from him going forward.
• Wei-Chung Wang Wednesday had another installment yesterday, this time involving the Wang Chung band itself.

Minor League Update

(MILB.com didn't record a score for last night's DSL Brewers game.)

News & Notes

• Shawn Zarraga of Huntsville is listed on Fangraphs as one of Carson Cistulli's five most compelling fringe prospects.
• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com thinks the Brewers had the best draft this year.

Check out morineko's daily minor league update for a more in-depth look at yesterday's minor league results.

Division Update

• Mets 3, Cardinals 2
• Reds 11, Pirates 4
• Cubs 6, Marlins 1

Today's Division Games

• Reds (Homer Bailey) @ Pirates (Jeff Locke) - 11:35 am
• Phillies (David Buchanan) @ Cardinals (Shelby Miller) - 7:15 pm
• Cubs have the day off.

Today's Action

The Brewers conclude their series against the Diamondbacks this afternoon. Yovani Gallardo will match up against Chase Anderson in the series finale. First pitch is at 2:40 pm, and Adam Lichtenstein of MLB.com has the preview.

Challenger Jonathan Lucroy's attack ad against Yadier Molina has left the five-time incumbent's campaign divided as the All-Star race heads down the home stretch.

On Monday, the National League All-Star race heated up with Jonathan Lucroy (C, MIL) launching an unprecedented attack ad on five-time incumbent Yadier Molina (C, STL).

The online ad attacks Molina for being a Cardinal and calls for a change at catcher for the NL All-Star squad:

Yadier Molina is a great catcher, but did you know he plays for the St. Louis Cardinals? Do you want another St. Louis Cardinal to star in an All-Star Game? Isn't there a better way?

At least one independent poll has Lucroy surging and some Molina supporters fear that the race may be tightening.

"Earlier in the year, folks viewed the Milwaukee effort as a cute challenge that would quickly fade," said Dr. James Davis, a University of Missouri political science professor specializing in the All-Star Game. "With this ad, there’s a fear that Lucroy can close some ground on the strength of his record with Milwaukee and his anti-Cardinal framing of the race. It appeals to his base in Milwaukee and voters in places like Cincinnati. Think about it. How many Reds fans even know their starting catcher’s name? But they know Molina and will vote for the anti-Molina candidate. It’s a shrewd political gambit that the Lucroy campaign is running."

The Lucroy campaign’s shot across the Molina campaign’s bow has the St. Louis-based operation scrambling, according to several senior aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about internal campaign strategy or tactics. The Molina campaign has divided into two camps: one who wants an immediate and forceful rebuttal and another who feel the incumbent should stay above the fray because of his sizable lead in internal tracking polls. According to those familiar with internal deliberations, Campaign Field Manager Mike Matheny sided with those who advocated for the avoidance of a head-on confrontation with the Lucroy campaign.

It wasn’t until Wednesday—two days after the Lucroy spot first ran—that Matheny made himself available to the press on the subject, stating:

"I think you have to take it in the nature in which it was meant and it was meant to be geared toward their fan base," Matheny said. "It was just amazing that it was that much directed at our organization. I think that part probably caught me off-guard the most.

"Not saying that's surprising. We've gone through this the last few years, especially last year with the Cardinal Way stuff getting blown way out of proportion. I think it can put a bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouth. But in defense of the recognition that our guys have had -- whether it's having a number of guys on the All-Star team -- that stuff isn't just handed out. These guys have worked hard for that. They have deserved it, and they have earned it, and I don't think that's anything for us to apologize for."

Matheny’s statement to the media came in concert with the candidate himself sending out a tweet, stating that he loved haters and seemingly challenging non-Cardinals fans to vote against him.

The disjointed response has the St. Louis brain trust scrambling. "I love Mike," said a senior staff member. "He’s a people person, a great motivator. But when it comes to campaign strategy and tactics, he’s in over his head. The way the campaign has handled Lucroy’s attacks shows his shortcomings in this area. So do his bunt orders and pitching changes."

"No one is better on defense than Yadi," said another senior aide. "When it comes to fielding security, Lucroy can’t hold a candle to him. No one can. Why aren’t we beating Lucroy over the head with Yadi’s superior record on defense issues?"

But not everyone at Molina campaign headquarters is concerned.

"The Lucroy campaign is desperate," said Deputy Field Manager Jose Oquendo. "They have no chance, so they’ve resorted to cynical political attacks on Yadi. We aren’t going to join them down in the gutter to sling mud. All-Star voters will reject their politics-as-usual approach to the catcher race and re-elect Yadi."

Lucroy campaign surrogates have hit the airwaves to complement the new ad blitz. In response to a question for a comparison between Molina and Lucroy on MLBN’s Intentional Talk program, former Cardinal and current Brewer Kyle Lohse said, "I’m not here to talk about the past. I don’t think voters want to hear about the past. This election will be decided by who is the best All-Star catcher candidate for the future of the League. And I think that candidate is Jonathan Lucroy. That’s why I’m voting Lucroy for NL All-Star catcher."

Jason LaRue, former Cardinals catcher and a Molina campaign surrogate also appearing on the show, scoffed at any comparison between Lucroy and Molina. "I’ve served with Yadier Molina," said LaRue. "And Lucroy is no Molina."

The veil of Midwest nice has been lifted and a good ol’ fashioned bare-knuckle political fight has broken out in the NL Central. Will it change the outcome in this year’s All-Star vote? Only time will tell.

Can Kyle Lohse or another starter make it onto the NL All-Star team?

This is part seven of a nine-part series where we look at each position in the National League for the All-Star roster. We will see how different contributors constructed their All-Star rosters, as well as which players deserve to make the team. Check the storystream in the right bar for previous entries in the series.

After naming our starting position players, it's time to move on to the pitchers. Starting pitchers receive the bulk of the attention, and that's no different here. Depending on the manager & player choices, most of the pitchers will be starters. There are some established names out there that should be on the team, and there are also a few newer names out there. How will all of this affect the team?

I have to admit that this post ended up being longer than I had hoped for. There's a lot to discuss when it comes to the starting pitchers. Let's begin.

The Candidates

Here are the top 25 candidates by fWAR:

The Contributors Vote

Couple notes on all of this. The voters were asked to assemble a 13-man pitching staff, of which a minimum of three players must be relievers. The starter order is mostly inconsequential, with the only exception who is at SP #1. That is the pitcher that would start the game. Three alternates were also selected to replace SPs who drop out due to Sunday starts. These were assembled around two weeks ago, so some stats have changed. I'm sure some of these voters would rearrange their staffs a little if they re-voted today.

The voters had plenty to say here:

Cheeseandcorn: "I had the toughest time trying to figure out what to do with Julio Teheran - he's got an elite ERA, but all of his peripherals suggest he's doing it an insane amount of luck. I ended up slipping him in at the last minute after Lohse's disaster start on Friday [6/6]. Tough to leave someone out in favor of a guy with an ERA a run and a half higher."

Derek Harvey: "Yes Kyle Lohse made my team. Yeah, maybe it's a bit of a homer pick, but he's actually (the time of doing this) 10th in fWAR so I think it's entirely defensible. And I think Lohse is better than both Jason Hammel who is ahead of him and Ian Kennedy who is tied with him. Also, yeah Aaron Harang totally deserves the nod. I don't think he's this good but who cares? He's been great this season and that should be enough."

Fred Hofstetter: "Whiffs and velocity prioritized. Strikeouters preferred to pitch-to-contacters."

Jordan Mader: "I am not sure how or why Kyle Lohse is having a all-star caliber season at 35, but I am certainly not complaining. Samardzija is on the fence for me but watch me hold his win/loss record and WPA against him-- I don't think that makes him a worse pitcher, but the All-Star game is about results and he hasn't gotten them. "

Noah Jarosh: " I could have gone any number of ways on the starting pitching. The first 3-5 are all obvious. The rest? Could be anyone else. Ian Kennedy, Cliff Lee, Jordan Zimmermann, Jason Hammel...the list goes on. There are sure to be snubs on the pitching side. There normally are, but I mean there are some legit hard decisions in this case."

NPetrashek: "Only real debate here was whether Cueto or Strasburg would start.  1.68 ERA and an 80% strand rate means Cueto gets the nod.  Lot of names we've become accustomed to on the starter list. Meanwhile, let's all give up for the Aaron Harang revival tour.  And the ageless Tim Hudson, who probably isn't going to get nearly enough love.  Smardzija is pretty much a pity pick ... he's pitched pretty well, but man does his team suck.  I'm told I have to pick a Met and Padre, and Jonathan Niese and Andrew Cashner qualify, respectively.  Also having pretty good years."

Analysis

There's a lot of selections here, so let's try to break it down. First of all, there's a clear top tier here. Stephen Strasburg, Adam Wainwright, and Johnny Cueto are the clear best of the league. Wainwright and Cueto were unanimous picks, and Strasburg was on 7 of 8 rosters. There's no debating if they should be on the roster, the only debate is which one should start the game. That was divided among the voters (though Tim Hudson also got a vote here). After the top three, the selection gets a little tougher. There were no unanimous selections.

Jeff Samardzija is one of the more interesting cases. He is fourth in fWAR, but he didn't make every roster. He was named as a starter on 6 of 8, and an alternate on the other two. I almost left him off mine. The reason is that while the stats are good, it comes down to the W-L record. It may sound stupid, but that's still a factor in making these decisions. A .500 record won't hurt a player, but having too many losses (like Samardzija) does make it hard to put that player in the game.

Here are some of the other selections that were named on most (but not all) rosters. Madison Bumgarner is up there in stats but only made 7 of the 8 rosters. Zack Greinke made every vote, but one voter put him as an alternate. Tim Hudson made 5 of the 8 rosters, and teammate Julio Teheran did the same. After that, it got a bit tougher. Michael Wacha made 4 rosters, with 2 alternate selections. Clayton Kershaw was only on 2 ballots (though I'm sure that would change if there was a re-vote today). Cliff Lee also made 2 ballots, though also got 2 alternate picks. Jason Hammel, Andrew Cashner, and Jonathan Niese also made appearances.

The one case we haven't talked about yet is Kyle Lohse. Among the Brewers starters, he has the best chance of making the team. Wily Peralta might have an outside chance, but the best choice would be Kyle Lohse. He was named to four rosters, and also had an alternate selection. Does Kyle Lohse deserve to make the All-Star team? His case isn't much worse than anyone else's case. Once you get beyond the top 3-4 pitchers, they start to blend together a bit. It could end up coming down to who has the hottest streak before rosters are announced, and Kyle Lohse has as good of a chance as anyone else of getting a spot.

What do you think? Does Kyle Lohse deserve a spot on the team? Did the voters snub any good candidates? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Your Vote

If you've been following the series so far, you know the drill now. It's time to name your staff. There's a lot of choices here, need to name at least eight starters for your staff. Make your selections, the results will be out with the last part of the series. Poll is open until noon tomorrow.

There appeared to be no fallout from Tuesday night bean ball game when the Diamondbacks and Brewers took to the field for game three of the four game set.

Quick Quotes

"I think that was the softest ball he hit all night. He hit the ball hard all night and can't get a hit. He hits a nubber through the middle and wins the game. It's pretty good for him."

-Wade Miley

"Martin's at third, so I knew all I had to do was find a way to put a ball in play and beat it to first. So just getting a ball in play, hitting it on the ground [was key], because hitting it in the air pretty good wasn't working."

-Tony Campana

"He's got a nice slider that he buried, and we chased it some. But he locates well, and as long as you can get those pitches inside, you're going to be tough to hit."

-Ron Roenicke

Daily Digest

Diamondbacks Win on Campana's First Walk-Off

Once again, Wade Miley allowed a home run to the opposition at Chase Field. This time however, he still managed to limit the damage, making it through 7 /23 innings allowing only three runs on five hits while striking out eight. Then, Tony Campana (you read that right) came through with a soft hit off the end of his bat that trickled its way back through the middle of the infield to push across the go-ahead run in the form of Martin Prado.

Related:Craig Grialou's Recap

Bean Ball Fallout

Owings is back on the field. Arroyo speaks out, and Gibson is ready to move on.

Related:Grit vs Win Expectancy

Daniel Hudson on the Mend

The two-time Tommy John recipient has stepped up his throwing program and is encouraged by his progress. He hopes to rejoin the team during this season and get a few games of work in in order to put himself into a proper routine to prepare for next season.

Around MLB

Kershaw Perfect, But Ramirez Not

Clayton Kershaw was dominant against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. He struck out fifteen batter. He didn't allow a hit. He didn't even walk anyone. But Kershaw was stuck having to "settle" for a no-no, as Hanley Ramirez committed a two-base throwing error in the seventh inning.

Padres Remember Tony Gwynn

The Padres were home on Wednesday night to take on the Mariners. It was their first game home since the passing of team legend and baseball icon, Tony Gwynn. They wasted no time making sure to publicly honor the man known to many as Mr. Padre.

New Number One Prospects?

Jim Callis takes a look at what 2014 draftees likely sit as the new organizational number one prospects. Some familiar names are on his list.

Video Highlights

Clayton Kershaw

Corey Dickerson didn't stand a chance as Kershaw tallies his 15^th K of the game and completes the no-no.

Bartolo Colon

The pudgy 12-year veteran is not exactly known for his hitting prowess. In fact, quite the opposite. So it was a bit of extra amusement for fans, teammates, and commentators alike when he hit the first extra-base hit of his career on Wednesday. (I really wouldn't want to be Lance Lynn there.)

Nelson Cruz

The Baltimore slugger does his best Roy Hobbs impersonation.

Alex Gordon

Fourth inning, two outs, runner on second, the Tigers' J.D. Martinez dumped a Texas Leaguer in left center field to score a run - until Alex Gordon did that thing he does.

Chase Anderson starts for the Diamondbacks, and Didi Gregorius plays third. We may also see the major-league debut of Matt Stites. Well, since the game isn't on TV, "see" is such a relative term...

Yovani Gallardo RHP, 4-4, 3.51

Chase Anderson RHP, 5-1, 3.21

Diamondbacks Lineup

1. Gerardo Parra - RF
2. Chris Owings - SS
3. Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
4. Aaron Hill - 2B
5. David Peralta - CF
6. Cody Ross - LF
7. Didi Gregorius - 3B
8. Tuffy Gosewisch - C
9. Chase Anderson - P

Untelevised day baseball! S'alright, since I'll probably be paying more attention to the England-Uruguay game, also going on this afternoon - just as soon as I can figure out how to paint my face like a Uruguayan flag. [I'm not sure why, but my spell-checker has ni problems with "Uruguayan", but coughed up a hairball the other day at "Ghanaian". Seems to have learned it this time though, not that it's a word likely to cross my keyboard for at least another four years] A win this afternoon would give us another shot at overtaking the Padres, if they go down to the Mariners later in the day.

The big news today in the line-up is Gregorius making his first ever start in the majors at third-base. In fact, it does not appear he has even played there in the minor-leagues, so this promised to be an entirely new experience for him, manning the hot corner. See how that works out. Also interesting to see Peralta batting the highest he has ever started a game, at #5. Obviously, that's in part because Miguel Montero is getting to rest, this being a day game after a night game. Gallardo has had his way with us - he is undefeated in nine starts against Arizona, going 6-0 with a 1.93 ERA - so this will be a tough one.

There were no fireworks in the series finale as the good guys took game 4.

Winning Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo

Losing Pitcher: Chris Anderson

SV: Francisco Rodriguez

Boxscore

Win Expectancy Chart

It was a day for the pitchers in Arizona (until the fifth inning that is). Chase Anderson didn't give up a hit until an Aramis Ramirez lead off double in the fifth inning. A line drive from Lyle Overbay ricocheted off the pitching mound to give the Brewers the first run of the game. Somehow Elian Herrera was able to get his popup to shallow center to fall allowing Overbay to score for the second run of the inning.

In the sixth inning Chase Anderson did his best Matt Garza impression. On a high chopped grounder Anderson's throw to first was wide allowing Jean Segura to get to second base safely. A batter later Aramis Ramirez drove him in. This would be Anderson's final inning allowing 3 runs, but only 2 earned.

Yovani Gallardo had a great game. He didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning and got Paul Goldschmidt to strike out twice. Like with Anderson, the fifth inning proved problematic for Gallardo. He allowed a pair of base hits before a fielder's choice (botched double play) allowed a run to score.

Gallardo would not allow another run to score and exited after 7 strong innings. He only got 4 strikeouts, but didn't walk a single batter and induced a 63.6% ground ball rate. He left in line for the win with a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning a rare event took place. Scooter Gennett lined a double off a lefty, Oliver Perez in this case. It proved fortuitous as Carlos Gomez drove Gennett in with a line drive of his own. Originally called safe at second, upon review the umpires said the throw beat him and the inning ended. The run still scored though and the Brewers found themselves with a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

Zach Duke and Rob Wooten combined for a scoreless eighth inning and Francisco Rodriguez easily secured the save in the ninth to give the Brewers their 44th win of the season. The win also gives the Brewers the season series victory over the Diamondbacks winning 4 out of 7 games.

The Brewers head to Colorado as they finish up this tour of the National League West. Start time is 7:40 pm CT. Marco Estrada will face Christian Bergman.

More from Brew Crew Ball

Follow @BrewCrewBallFollow @SBNationMLB

• Brewers All Star campaign video could hurt Jonathan Lucroy's chances at making roster
• Marveling at Marco Estrada's Season
• 2014 BCB NL All-Star Roster Vote: Starting Pitchers
• What we learned: June 19, 2014
• Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 4: Rough first inning comes back to haunt

The Brewers are the surprise leaders of the NL Central, after a lousy 2013. Let's see what's up with these guys.

The Milwaukee Brewers lost 88 games last year. Hey, so did the Rockies! But while the Rockies are muddling along with half their roster on the Disabled List, the Brewers are cooking with fire, leading the NL Central by 3.5 games with their 43-29 record. They're doing that by riding the contributions of a few star players and some solid regulars, with competent starting pitching holding down the fort. Basically, it was the Rockies' plan for 2014, before it all went haywire.

And those stars sure are something. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy might be the most underrated--or perhaps just under-noticed--player in the big leagues. Through nearly 300 plate appearances, he is slashing .341/.405/.536, good for an elite 161 wRC+. By most accounts, his pitch framing is probably the best in the game. He's only 28 years old. Lucroy might hide behind an emotionless, lunchpail-carrying demeanor, but he's one of the best in the game, as his 5th best in baseball 3.5 WAR can attest.

And in perfect compliment to the stoic Lucroy is the emotional, sometimes outrageous, totally awesome Carlos Gomez. Gomez plays center field with reckless abandon, takes might hacks at the plate, and occasionally ruffles feathers with his flamboyant play. Per fWAR, though, he's been basically equivalent in value to Lucroy. They are like a mismatched buddy cop comedy; Lucroy is the uptight by-the-booker who does the job with boring precision, while Gomez is the wacky, out of control loose cannon who nevertheless gets results. And Brian McCann would be the crusty old chief who wants to take Gomez's badge and weapon.

Three paragraphs into a Brewers summary and we haven't even mentioned Ryan Braun. The noted liar, PED user, and excellent player is having a down year by his standards--but a down year for Braun is a 122 wRC+. The power is still good, but he's riding the lowest walk rate--5.8%--of his career. Coupled with a BABIP 35 points lower than his career rate, and his 2014 numbers are slightly depressed from his elite baseline. Will he get back there, or is the 30 year old--who is presumably clean now--entering his decline phase?

Those three guys aren't the only offensive players contributing. Scooter Gennett--who apparently is not an informant for a gumshoe detective--is pulling a steady .300 average while playing a good second base. Mark Reynolds (1B), Khris Davis (OF), and Aramis Ramirez (3B) are a trio of hacking corner players who have combined for 33 home runs so far. Jean Segura is a slick fielding short stop with significant upside, despite a heavy slump to start the year.

Perhaps most important for the Brewers, though is their health, particularly in their rotation. Only one guy outside their Opening Day rotation has made a start. I know, fancy that. Jerks. Anyway, while they might not have an ace, they are getting innings and quality from just about all five guys in equal measure, sort of like the Rockies' Jhoulys De La Chatwood from 2013. Well, that's not entirely accurate; Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Wily Peralta, and Matt Garza have all been steadily good. Marco Estrada, though, has been maybe the worst pitcher to maintain his job all year, with a 5.93 FIP and -0.9 fWAR so far. That's worse than Juan Nicasio's 5.62. Hell, it's worst in the league. We get him in the first game; how long can he prevent the Rockies from getting a hit?

Tangent: this has been my first year doing the Know Your Foe feature. And you know what, I've learned something while doing these: the teams that win the most games aren't always the most talented. They don't have the most stars. They don't even have the most depth. They just keep their dang guys on the field. Why can't the Rockies keep their dang guys on the field? Who holds the secrets to player health, and why is he ignoring the Rockies, year after year? What have WE done to deserve this? Tangent over.

Fransisco Rodriguez--I am legitimately surprised he is still a major leaguer--has 22 saves while striking out better than a batter per inning. Zach Duke and Will Smith have both been getting jiggy with it all year, to the tune of ERAs in the low ones. The rest of their bullpen is somewhat shaky, but if they have a lead they generally keep it.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is your division leading Milwaukee Brewers. Going line-by-line, I don't really see how they are better than the Rockies. If anything, they are a sign of hope. At the beginning of any year, the best you can do is aggregate a bunch of quality players and see what they do. See if they can stay healthy. The Brewers have gotten positive outcomes, while the Rockies have gotten whacked, yet again. So enjoy this series with Milwaukee. Try and see them through the lens that we viewed the Rockies at the start of the year. Remember it when 2015 rolls around.

Brewers Hitting

Brewers Pitching

Matchups

Friday, June 20: Marco Estrada vs. Christian Bergman

Saturday, June 21: Wily Peralta vs. TBA

• I, personally, can't wait to see what TBA brings to the table. He's always been something of a mystery his whole career, but he can't help but be intriguing. I predict a long career for TBA
  

Sunday, June 22: Kyle Lohse vs. Tyler Matzek

Yovani Gallardo continues to own the Diamondbacks, as the offense proved largely incapable of handling him at Chase this afternoon. Milwaukee too three of four, as Chase Anderson's run support continues to regress to the mean.

Guess soco will be along in due course with the full recap, but while we're waiting... Both starters got out of the gate well, trading no hitters until the bottom of the fourth, when Chris Owings singled with one out. However, it was the visitors who got on the board first, scoring twice in the fifth, the first run coming on an RBI double by former D-back Lyle Overbay. Arizona got one back in their half, on a groundout by Didi Gregorius, but a Chase Anderson throwing error helped lead to a third run for Milwaukee. He left after six, having allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, with no walks and four strikeouts.

Oliver Perez, Matt Stites and J.J. Putz took things the rest of the way. Stites made his major-league debut, working two-third of an inning, and giving up a hit which allowed a runner inherited from Perez to score. The score would have looked a bit uglier, except for the Brewers running into some outs on the basepaths, courtesy of Tuffy Gosewisch and Gerardo Parra. David Peralta and Cody Ross each had two hits for the D-backs, who now wait for the arrival of the slumping Giants, hoping they'll be easier prey for the snakes.

Friedrich, who owns a 7.89 ERA in Triple-A, hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2012.

The Rockies are expected to call up left-handed pitcher Christian Friedrich from Triple-A Colorado Springs to start against the Brewers on Saturday, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding.

Friedrich will take the rotation spot of Juan Nicasio, who was optioned to the minors earlier in the week after allowing three runs on four hits and four walks in only two innings in San Francisco on Sunday. The Rockies, with their off day on Thursday, could have pushed everyone in the rotation up a day and avoided making a move. However, with Jorge De La Rosa dealing with back pain, which has led to ineffectiveness, and Jhoulys Chacin not too far removed from an injury that cost him the first month of the season, the club likely feels it's best keep things as they are.

That brings us to Friedrich, who has been flat-out awful for the Sky Sox this year. He owns a 7.89 ERA in 13 starts, surrendering 91 hits--including 11 home runs--in 67⅓ innings. That said, he boasts decent peripherals and, unlike most of the other options in the minors, has big league experience. Friedrich showed flashes of brilliance in an otherwise forgettable rookie season in 2012, finishing with a 6.16 ERA in 16 starts. The then-24-year-old struck out almost eight batters per nine innings and walked a modest 3.2 per nine but was plagued by the same hittability that has resulted in his poor Triple-A numbers this season.

Rockies promote Kyle Parker, option Juan Nicasio

Colorado shook up its rotation and bench earlier in the week.

Friedrich is already on the 40-man roster, so the Rockies won't have to make a move in that regard. As far as the 25-man roster goes, Kyle Parker is probably going to be the victim of the impending crunch, but that's only speculation as of right now.

Harding notes that the other two realistic options, Triple-A left-hander Pedro Hernandez and Double-A right-hander Jon Gray, probably won't be considered due to their status of not being on the 40-man. Like Friedrich, Hernandez has major league experience, but it came with zero success and poor peripherals to boot. Meanwhile, Gray simply isn't ready; he's having trouble consistently getting through five innings on fewer than 90 pitches and hasn't had great command this season. That's not affecting him much against Texas League hitters, but that could be a whole different story if the Rockies were to decide to rush him to the majors.

The Rockies have already used 10 starting pitchers in 2014, notes Harding, and that's tied with the Rangers for the most in baseball. What began as pretty good--or, at the very least, certainly underrated--starting pitching depth has become an absolute dumpster fire as a result of injuries and poor performance. Brett Anderson, Tyler Chatwood, Jordan Lyles and Eddie Butler are all on the disabled list with assorted injuries while Nicasio and Franklin Morales have been booted from the rotation as a result of long stretches of ineffective outings.

The system went 4 for 5 tonight.

Three teams started the second-half of the season on a positive note.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs rubbed the noses of the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 6-2.

Tsuyoshi Wadagot his seventh win after he tossed 6.2 innings and allowed two runs on four hits, including a solo home run. Wada struck out seven and walked two.

Yoanner Negrin relieved Wada and went the rest of the way for his first save. He pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits. He struck out four and walked one.

With a man on in the seventh inning, third baseman Kris Bryant hit a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall for his first hit and first home run in Triple-A. Bryant was 1 for 4.

Let's go to the videotape.

Center fielder Arismendy Alcantara was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and one RBI.

First baseman Josh Vitters was 2 for 4 with an RBI and one run scored.

Welington Castillo was supposed to play in this game as he starts his rehab stint, but because of a long rain delay and a wet field, Iowa manager Marty Pevey decided not to play him.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies won their first game of the second-half in walk-off fashion,  4-3 over the Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers).

No complaints about Dae-Eun Rhee's start tonight. Rhee allowed a home run to the first batter of the game and not much after that. Rhee went six innings and allowed one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Hunter Cervenka started the top of the ninth with a 3-2 lead, but a double and an RBI single later and he was out of the game. Cervenka retired one batter. Newly-demoted Frank Batista took over for Cervenka and struck out both batters he faced and got the win when Tennessee pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth.

Stephen Bruno singled with one out in the ninth and went to second base on an errant pickoff throw. Then the newly-demoted Christian Villanueva singled him home to win the game.

Bruno was 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI in addition to that one run. Villanueva was 2 for 5.

Right fielder Rubi Silva hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give Tennessee a 3-1 lead at the time. It was his fifth home run this year. Silva was 3 for 4.

Catcher Charles Cutler was 2 for 4.

Former Smokies pitcher (and Cubs minor league pitcher of the year) Nick Struck started this game for Chattanooga.

Daytona Cubs

It was a miserable first half for the Daytona Cubs, who finished with a 26-42 record. But they are 1-0 in the second half after a 7-4 win over the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers).

It was the second straight tough start for Felix Peña, who allowed four runs on seven hits over 3.1 innings. He struck out four and walked three.

Starling Peralta took over for Pena and got the win when Daytona overcame a 4-3 deficit with three runs in the seventh inning. Peralta was brilliant as he faced 14 batters (4.2 innings) and retired all of them, four by a strikeout.

Andrew McKirahan picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth. He gave up a one-out double, but nothing else. He did not strike anyone out.

DH Dan Vogelbach gave Daytona an early 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. It was his sixth home run of the season. Vogelbach was 3 for 5 with a double and the home run. He scored two runs.

Center fielder Albert Almora was 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Pin-Chieh Chen left this game in the third inning. I presume he was injured but I have no information on this at this time.

Kane County Cougars

The Cougars had a very successful first half, running away with the Western Division title. They picked up where they left off with a 7-0 boiling of the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins) in a game that ended in the bottom of the fifth because of rain.

It was a three-hit shut out for Daury Torrez, albeit of the five-inning variety. He gave up three hits. He struck out one and didn't walk anyone.

Kane County scored all seven runs in the third inning. Center fielder Jacob Hannemann hit a two-run inside-the-park home run in the third inning. It was his third home run of the season and he was 2 for 3 in this game.

Second baseman Danny Lockhart also had a two-run single in that inning. He was 1 for 2.

Left fielder Kyle Schwarber was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored in the 3rd.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks turned green against the Eugene Emeralds (Padres), 8-7 in eleven innings.

Tyler Ihrig started and allowed four runs on six hits over six innings. But mostly it was on a three-run home run in the first inning. Ihrig did strike out seven and he only walked one.

Alberto Diaz took the loss. He allowed one run on three hits over 1.1 innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Catcher Justin Marra hit a two-run home run in the top of the third inning, his third of the season. Marra also had a double in a 2 for 6 night. He scored three runs and had three RBI.

Left fielder Kevin Brown was 3 for 5 with two doubles and a walk. He scored three runs.

The Hawks failed to take advantage of the five errors committed by Eugene.

AN Contributor Phil Naessens shares his memories of All Star Games past and opines about the Milwaukee Brewers getting nasty with the St. Louis Cardinals while promoting Jonathan Lucroy

Next to the World Series my favorite event on the MLB calendar has to be the All Star Game. I fell in love with it as a kid and now as I'm rapidly approaching my 49^th year on this planet; it still holds the same sway over me as it did back then. Please allow me to explain before I get to the main point of this posting.

I'm a product of the seventies. We didn't have cable TV and baseball coverage on the TV wasn't like it is today. We were lucky to have a couple of local games a week, we had Saturday afternoon nationally televised games and we also had Monday Night Baseball. The only time you got "full coverage" was during the post season. We were introduced to stars of the game not on our local team by listening to the radio, watching the local news, collecting baseball cards and reading the box scores. If the star of choice wasn't on your local team or on a team good enough to make the playoffs you didn't get to "see" him play "live" very often if even it all.

The All Star game was different. It made our baseball cards and box scores come alive. The greatest players in the game were all assembled in one place, wearing their team colors and were ready, willing and able to put on a show. The game usually occurred on or near my birthday and my family and I would gather around the TV eating pepperoni pies, chicken parms, hot dogs, Pepsi Colas and watch the game together. Those were good times and still bring a smile to my face and a tear in my eye remembering what was and won't ever be again.

I still remember the elation I felt being able to vote for my favorite players. I used to beg my pops to take me to the ballpark so I could cast my ballot. There were so many names to choose from and it was, and still is, almost impossible to vote and leave off a deserving player. I'd cast my ballot then run around looking for discarded unused ballots and vote again. When the man came around during the 7^th inning to collect the ballots I would hand him several and he would wink, smile and I would feel proud at how clever I thought I was not even thinking there were thousands of kids who did the same exact thing.

Man those were good days!

Of course these ballots would lead to many a disagreement on the playground. We would argue amongst ourselves about why we made the right selection and why the others didn't. Some argued we should only vote for "our" guys while others refused to vote for any player on a team they hated. Our choices weren't always baseball only; I voted for Ted Simmons one season only because I had a Ted Simmons model blue ring Adirondack bat so of course I wanted to see him swing it. One of my buddies voted for Bert Campanaris because he thought the nickname "Campy" was cool. Kids being kids, fans being fans was what we were and to hell with what anyone thought. After all it was our game, right?

Back then campaigns to vote for a certain player didn't exist. There weren't any promos on the local telecast attempting to sway the vote they only promoted the ballot itself. It was an unwritten rule that you picked at least 2 from your own team and then pick who you liked from the rest of the ballot. The only time you ever heard a player mention it was actually at the game itself when they being interviewed and to the man they talked about how honored they were that the fans chose them over so many other deserving players.

Times sure have changed for the All Star Game since those days of my youth. The individual team uniforms have been replaced with special jerseys and thanks to the Internet you can vote up to 25 times from the comfort of your own home. The winning League gets home field advantage in the World Series and playground arguments are more than likely held not on the playground but via the Internet on social media, blogs and wherever else one can find to put in their two cents worth. Heck, even the teams are promoting their players and while I understand and accept the changes what I saw the Milwaukee Brewers do in promoting their players was something I thought I would never see and hope to never see again.

When I first saw this video here I thought it was a joke the Brewers were playing. I couldn't believe an MLB team would need to promote players having fantastic seasons by smearing the organization their rivals play for. According to the ad for the Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy it doesn't seem to matter how good a player Molina actually is he plays for the wrong team so he's persona non grata? I can see a bunch of eight year old kids making that argument but a professional baseball team?

Wouldn't it be better and more effective to just put Lucroy's stats alongside Molina's and let the fans decide? Obviously they aren't big fans of the Cardinals and I get why but what I don't get is why they feel the need to employ a cheap senseless smear campaign to promote the best hitting catcher in all of baseball especially considering you know who is currently third among NL outfielders.

This could set a very bad precedent and I hope MLB recognizes this and puts a stop to it before these marketing geniuses turn a fan favorite into nothing more than a cheap tawdry political election that will only turn the fans away in droves.

On today's Phil Naessens ShowViva El Birdos Eric Johnson and I talked about this issue, our Alex Hall joins me to talk all things A's baseball and J.A. Sherman from Welcome to Loud City joins me to talk about Kevin Durant's Twitter statements about Kawhi Leonard and other Thunder news. I'll leave the player below or you can download the program from my site here.

Could a Brewers reliever end up on the All-Star team?

This is part eight of a nine-part series where we look at each position in the National League for the All-Star roster. We will see how different contributors constructed their All-Star rosters, as well as which players deserve to make the team. Check the storystream in the right bar for previous entries in the series.

Relief pitchers can be one of the toughest to evaluate for the All-Star team. How do you evaluate who's been good and who hasn't? It's a tough situation to say the least. How did our voters choose to pick their teams? Could a Brewer manage to make the team?

The Candidates

Here are the top 25 candidates by fWAR (FanGraphs qualified leaders only):

The Contributors Vote

Craig Kimbrel was the only unanimous choice among the voters. After that, it got fragmented. Huston Street, Steve Cishek, and Kenley Jansen are three names that came up the most, but they weren't on every ballot. Some other names came up as well, and all of the players brought up have reasonable cases to make for why they should be on the team.

Here is what the voters had to say:

(Reminder, these comments are as of two weeks ago, so they may not be completely accurate at this point.)

Derek Harvey: "Kimbrel, Chisek, and Jansen will probably make the real all-star team. They've been great this year. Will Smith probably won't make the real all-star team but he's been great too. He's third in K/9. He's third in K%. He's third in fWAR for relievers. He is seond in ERA. He is third in FIP. He is performing like a superstar."

Fred Hofstetter: "Whiffs and velocity prioritized. Especially amongst the relievers. Except Neshek. Included as the NL's submarine-slot representative (Zach Duke is frighteningly close to making the ballot)."

Jordan Mader: "I chose to reward two lefty middle relievers, Watson and Smith, over more heralded closers."

Noah Jarosh: "There are a lot of good pitchers in this one. Wanted to include a handful of relievers, to be sure. On the Brewers side, I think most people would expect Will Smith to be the reliever in contention for an All Star nod. In reality, it's Duke who has been amazing, leading all qualified NL relievers in xFIP. There are sure to be snubs on the pitching side. There normally are, but I mean there are some legit hard decisions in this case. Same at reliever. Because, of course, even fewer relievers are taken and there is an even bigger pool of players to choose from. "

NPetrashek: "It's a crime if Will Smith doesn't get an All-Star berth ... and he's a lefty to boot.  Kimbrel and Jansen I consider locks. Pat Neshek hasn't walked really anybody this year, and I dig that."

Analysis

Relief pitchers can be one of the toughest positions to evaluate for All-Star candidates. There's generally no one statistic that can evaluate a pitcher's ability. Closers (or at least pitchers leading in saves) tend to be the best, but that's not always the case. High strikeouts are usually good, but can also belong to pitchers with high ERAs. A low ERA isn't necessarily good either, because of low sample sizes some of these pitchers will have. What it ends up coming down to is a combination of several stats.

Craig Kimbrel was the only unanimous choice in the contributor vote, and it's obvious why. Low ERA/FIP, high strikeout rate, one of the leaders in saves. He is an obvious pick. After that, it gets tougher. Some people chose to go for save leaders (Steve Cishek, Trevor Rosenthal, Francisco Rodriguez, Huston Street). Some went for low ERAs (Jean Machi, Tony Watson, Pat Neshek, Will Smith, Zach Duke). Some just went for relievers they liked. At this point, it's going to come down to personal preference, since it's mostly the manager picks at this point.

For my picks, I went for a little bit of everything. Craig Kimbrel was the obvious pick, and Steve Cishek has done well enough as well to get a pick. For the Pat Neshek pick, it was about the low ERA, but also because he is a Cardinal. If there's a choice between a few picks, I would expect to see the manager go for the player he knows better. My final pick was Zach Duke, and I'll explain that shortly.

For the Brewers, there are three legit candidates that could make the bullpen: Francisco Rodriguez, Will Smith, and Zach Duke. Francisco Rodriguez has name recognition and currently leads the NL in saves. He also has a good ERA and decent strikeout numbers. However, you can argue that he's not even the Brewers best reliever. That honor could go to either Will Smith or Zach Duke. Will Smith currently has a 1.06 ERA, and has received a lot of attention from the league. However, I would argue he's not the pick either. If I had to pick the best reliever for the Brewers this year, it would be Zach Duke. His K/9 (12.24) and BB/9 (1.57) numbers are better than Will Smith's numbers, and his ERA is only slightly worse (1.26) with a better FIP (1.34). Maybe some of that is because his situations have been more controlled, but Zach Duke has thrived in the Brewers bullpen this year. If I had to pick one Brewers reliever to make the team, it would be him. Of course, any of the three choices from the Brewers bullpen would be good for the team.

Your Vote

One final vote for the series. This time, you can name up to five relievers, though are only required to name three. Poll is open until noon tomorrow, and the results of all of the polls will be put together in a final post on Monday.

It might not be an easy task for the Rockies to keep their nine-year streak of home series wins against the Brewers alive considering the pitchers Colorado will be running out there starting tonight. But, we'll hope for the best!

You know how there are a lot of places and teams that are just plain torture on the Rockies? You know, Chase Field, AT&T Park, Dodger Stadium, the Braves ... well, there is one team that feels that same way about the Rockies and Coors Field, and that's the Brewers.

Milwaukee has not won a series in Denver since August of 2005. It owns an 18-40 all-time record in Denver and is just 51-63 against the Rockies overall since 1993. Over the course of the 21 years that the Rockies have been in existence, only the Nationals/Expos franchise has fared worse against our purple-clad heroes than the Brewers. And no team in baseball -- except maybe the Astros, who are 29-50 in the Mile High City -- has fared worse at altitude than the Brew Crew.

One series isn't going to make Milwaukee's record against the Rockies look too much better, but the weekend set between the two teams beginning tonight represents a chance for the Brewers to right the ship. The Rockies will send out three starters -- Christian Bergman (who goes tonight), Christian Friedrich and Tyler Matzek -- who have pitched in four combined big league games since 2012. Considering the fact that none of those guys are otherworldly prospects by any stretch of the imagination, that poses a bit of a problem for Colorado, especially against a fairly high-powered Brewers lineup.

Milwaukee counters with Marco Estrada, who is even more homer-prone than recently benched and/or demoted Rockies pitchers Franklin Morales and Juan Nicasio, in the series opener tonight before going to Wily Peralta and Kyle Lohse to close out the series. If the Rockies want to keep up with their dominance over the Brewers at home, they'll have to perform a heck of a lot better offensively than they did in their last series. The good news is that the bar is set really low; Colorado scored only three runs in three games against the Dodgers in L.A. and, of course, was no-hit by Clayton Kershaw in the finale.

The Rockies are now 36-40 all-time, and 1-3 this season, in games in which both teams scored 10 or more runs.

We all knew that Christian Bergman was capable of this. It was just a matter of when, not if.

'When' unfortunately happened on Friday, as Bergman surrendered seven runs on nine hits in three innings against the Brewers. The Rockies' bullpen wasn't much better, and the end result saw Colorado allow 13 runs on 19 hits en route to losing their fourth consecutive game.

Of course, it wouldn't be the Rockies without an impressive offensive showing at Coors Field. The team did just that, notching 10 runs on 16 hits, but Milwaukee did just enough to keep Colorado at arm's length during the final six innings of the ballgame.

Bergman took a line drive off the bat of Aramis Ramirez to his left (non-throwing) hand in the third inning. He stayed in to finish the frame, but the injury only added to an already ineffective outing from the rookie hurler. Still, the hope is Bergman has no ill effects from the liner and will be OK to make his next start after X-rays came back clean.

Jean Segura was the hero for the Brewers, hitting a pair of home runs as part of a 3-for-5 performance. Segura was one of five Brewers players who had three hits in the game, joining Ramirez, Scooter Gennett, Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez. Despite the loss, the Rockies did their fair share of damage at the plate, as well. Corey Dickerson led all hitters by going 4-for-5 with a two-run homer. Wilin Rosario and Troy Tulowitzki had three hits apiece, and Justin Morneau had two hits and drove in five runs.

The Rockies have now lost four consecutive games and have fallen back to five games under .500. With warm temperatures and inexperienced pitchers on the mound for the Rockies in Denver, it'd probably be wise to expect more of the same over the next couple of days. Hopefully the offense, which, again, was good tonight, can keep up. More hits in key situations -- such as the one tonight where, with two outs in the eighth inning, Wilin Rosario struck out with two runners on base -- would certainly help.

Colorado has now lost 40 of its 76 all-time games in which both teams scored 10 or more runs. The Rockies are 1-3 in those games this season.

Source: FanGraphs

Big crowds turned out to see big names in Des Moines and Geneva. Both teams delivered a victory.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs kept the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) on a leash, 8-3.

Starter Kyle Hendricks retired the first 15 batters he faced. He lost the perfect game with a leadoff infield single in the sixth, but he still easily claimed his eighth win. Hendricks allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out six and did not walk anyone.

Arodys Vizcaino made his Iowa Cubs debut in the ninth and he had a tough time, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while retiring only one better. That meant that Alberto Cabrera had to enter the game with the bases loaded and one out. Cabrera got a pop up and a strikeout to end the game and collect his first save.

First baseman Logan Watkins hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. It was his second of the season. Watkins was 1 for 3 with a walk and he scored two runs.

Shortstop Javier Baez was 3 for 4 with a double and four RBI. All three hits were to right field.

Second baseman Arismendy Alcantara went 2 for 4 with two doubles and a walk. He scored two runs.

Center fielder Matt Szczur was 2 for 4 with a double and a stolen base. He had one RBI.

The announced attendance for the game was 14,128, which was the sixth-largest crowd in Principal Park history. While they did have a giveaway of a baseball to the first 2000 fans and the normal Friday night fireworks, I'm guessing most of the fans were there to see Kris Bryant. Bryant was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies clouded the vision of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers), 5-4 in 11 innings.

Starter Matt Loosen pitched five innings and allowed two runs on three hits, one of which was a two-run home run in the third. Loosen struck out five and walked three.

Jeff Lorick pitched a perfect top of the eleventh inning and got the win when the Smokies scored in the bottom of the inning. All three outs were ground outs.

Jae-Hoon Ha and Stephen Bruno singled with one out in the eleventh and an error put them on second and third with only one out. After Christian Villanueva was intentionally walked, Charles Cutlerunintentionally walked, forcing in Ha as the winning run.

Ha was 1 for 4 with two walks, one intentional. Cutler was 0 for 2 with three walks and two runs scored. Villanueva was 1 for 3 with three walks, one intentional. Bruno was 2 for 6.

Right fielder Rubi Silva and left fielder Jonathan Mota hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning. Silva's came with a man on and was his sixth of the season. It was Mota's second homer this year and first for Tennessee.

Silva was 2 for 5 with a stolen base. Mota was 1 for 4.

The Smokies had seven hits in this game and drew 11 walks, although three were intentional. Still a good number.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs were run aground by the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers), 9-3.

Nathan Dorris started and took the loss. He went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked two.

The game really got out of hand when reliever Jose Rosario surrendered five runs on eight hits in only three innings.

First baseman Dan Vogelbach went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBI. Second baseman Gioskar Amaya was 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored.

Kane County Cougars

The Kane County Cougars shucked the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 6-4.

Juan Paniagua pitched the first 5.1 innings and was charged with four runs on six hits, although only two of the four runs were earned. He struck out five and walked two.

Corbin Hoffner allowed two base runners inherited from Paniagua to score and tie the game in the sixth inning, but he stayed in the game, didn't allow any more runs and got the win when the Cougars scored in the bottom of the eighth. Hoffner pitched 2.2 innings and gave up only one hit. He struck out two and walked one.

Tyler Bremer got his ninth save by pitching a perfect ninth inning. He struck out one batter.

Catcher Kyle Schwarber hit his first Midwest League home run with the bases empty in the fifth inning. Schwarber was 2 for 3 with a double and awalk and he scored twice.

For the second straight game,  center fielder Jacob Hannemann hit a home run, although this one went over the fence rather than being an inside-the-park one. It was Hannemann's fourth home run this season and he was 1 for 4 on the night.

Second baseman Ben Carhart was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Right fielder Yasiel Balaguert went 2 for 4 and scored one run.

First baseman Jacob Rogers was 2 for 4 and scored twice. Left fielder Trey Martin went 2 for 3.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks fell to the Eugene Emeralds (Padres), 9-5.

It was a rough start for Erick Leal, who got tagged for eight runs on eight hits in only three innings. That includes a grand slam in the third inning. But hey, two of the eight runs were unearned. Leal struck out three and walked one.

Left fielder Kevin Brown had two doubles in a 2 for 5 game. Brown had three RBI and scored one run.

AZL Cubs

The Arizona Summer League started tonight. The Cubs had the day off.

There are many ways to clear the bases, but a wild pitch typically is not one of them.

Typically, you need a home run or a pitch driven into the gap to clear the bases. If you're the Milwaukee Brewers, though, all it apparently takes is a wild pitch.

I seem to remember coaches in tee ball telling us to make sure and pay attention until the play is completely over. Perhaps Rockies pitcher Christian Friedrich should be reminded of that.

CoLOLrado!