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Brewers 4-2 over Nationals in second-half opener in Nationals Park

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Scooter Gennett and Khris Davis hit home runs off Washington Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg when they faced the right-hander last month and they took the Nats' starter deep again tonight in a 4-2 win for the Milwaukee Brewers in Nationals Park.

Strasburg in the nation's capital:

5. Quick Recap: Milwaukee Brewers' second baseman Scooter Gennett ended the first half of his 2014 campaign with a .309/.346/.482 line, 22 doubles and seven home runs in 84 games and 308 plate appearances. One of those seven home runs was a grand slam off Washington Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg when the two teams met in Miller Park in June. Gennett started the so-called second half of the season with his eighth home run, a solo blast off Strasburg in the top of the first tonight, taking a 2-0 change to right and over the out-of-town scoreboard to give the visiting Brewers a 1-0 lead early in the series opener in Nats Park.

Khris Davis worked the count full in his one out at bat in the top of the second and turned a 97 mph fastball around, sending the second solo home run off Strasburg out to right again and over the out-of-town scoreboard again to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead after one and a half in the nation's capital.

Strasburg walked Scooter Gennett the second time he faced him with two down in the top of the third and a two-out double by Ryan Braun and two-run single by Aramis Ramirez followed as the Brewers jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

Ryan Zimmerman doubled to start the fourth, connecting for his 19th two-base hit of 2014 and one out later scored from second on a line drive single to center by Ian Desmond that got the Nationals on the board. 4-1 Brewers.

Bryce Harper teed off on a 1-0 fastball from Francisco Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth, sending a solo blast into the visitor's bullpen. 4-2 game on Harper's third.

That's as close as the Nationals would get. 4-2 Brewers final.

4. Will Strasburg have his revenge?: Four of the seven runs Stephen Strasburg allowed in his June 25th outing against the Brewers in Milwaukee's Miller Park came on home runs, a grand slam by Scooter Gennett and a solo blast by Khris Davis.

"Got one out over the plate to Gennett and Davis hit a fastball as well. Just wasn't as pinpoint as he wanted to be today." -Matt Williams on Strasburg vs the Brewers

The Nationals' 25-year-old right-hander was lifted after just 4 ⅔ IP in series finale with the NL Central leaders.

The seven runs allowed were the most he gave up to that point. The problem that day?

Strasburg told reporters, including The Washington Post's James Wagner, that his mechanics were "not right" though he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong.

"'Still trying to figure that out,'" he said. "'Just doesn’t feel the same. Doesn’t look the same.'"

The three walks Strasburg issued that day were more than he allowed in 31 ⅔ IP over his previous five starts.

"I don't know if it was fastball command so much today," Williams said, "but his changeup wasn't as good today so he couldn't go to it." - Matt Williams on Strasburg vs the Brewers

The rough outing against the Brewers was the third straight start in which the '09 no.1 overall pick struggled on the mound.

In 17 ⅓ IP, against St. Louis, Atlanta and then Milwaukee, Strasburg gave up 24 hits, four walks and 14 runs, all earned, (7.27 ERA), with opposing hitters putting up a combined .324/.359/.595 line against him.

Before his next turn in the rotation, however, Strasburg and pitching coach Steve McCatty worked on fixing whatever mechanical issue was causing the problems.

After looking back at the start, they said they saw something they could fix, with Strasburg telling reporters, including MLB.com's Cody Ulm, that the "mechanical flaw" was resulting in him rushing his delivery and leaving his fastball up:

"[My four-seam fastball was] not really keeping the angle and not really pounding it down, and I think it's just something that I kind of focus in on mechanically to get back to hitting the spots a little bit better and not having it tail over the plate."

Over his next three outings against the Rockies, Orioles and Phillies, Strasburg went (1-0) with a 2.21 ERA in 20 ⅓ IP over which he held opposing hitters to a .213/.244/.320 line, ending the first half with a (7-6) record, a 3.46 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 26 walks (1.87 BB/9) and 149 Ks (10.73 K/9) in 20 starts and 125 IP.

Tonight in the nation's capital he got an opportunity to take on the Brewers again.

This time, however, he was facing Milwaukee in Nationals Park, where Strasburg was (6-1) with a 2.38 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 14 walks (1.50 BB/9) and 56 Ks (11.63 K/9) in 72 IP over which he's held opposing hitters to a .239/.278/.336 line.

Strasburg's 21st start of the season started with a pop to right...

1st:Carlos Gomez was first pitch swinging and popped up to right. Scooter Gennett got hold of a 2-0 change in the next at bat though, and hit a solo home run over the out-of-town scoreboard in right for a 1-0 lead. Ryan Braun fell behind 0-2, and K'd swinging at a diving 89 mph 1-2 change. Aramis Ramirez popped to second to end the first after 10 pitches from Strasburg.

2nd: Brewers' catcher, Jonathan Lucroy K'd swinging at a 95 mph 1-2 fastball. Khris Davis worked the count full and inside-outed a 97 mph heater, hitting a solo home run to right and over the out-of-town scoreboard. 2-0 Brewers. Mark Reynolds K'd swinging at a brutal 1-2 change. Jean Segura lined out to center to end the top of the second after 18 pitches from Strasburg, who was up to 28 total after two.

3rd: Kyle Lohse K'd swinging through a high 95 mph fastball. K no.4. Carlos Gomez grounded out to Desmond's backhand at short. Scooter Gennett started up 3-0 in his second at bat and walked on four pitches. Ryan Braun doubled to left on a first-pitch curve up in the zone, sending Gennett around to third. Aramis Ramirez got a two-out RBI opportunity and dropped a single in short right, bringing both runners in for a 4-0 lead. A grounded back to the mound off Jonathan Lucroy's bat ended a 17-pitch frame. 45 total after three.

4th: Khris Davis lined a single over third on an 0-1 fastball. Mark Reynolds popped out to second. Jean Segura K'd swinging over an 0-2 curve. Kyle Lohse stepped in with two out and K'd swinging at another 0-2 curve in the dirt. K no.6, out no.3, 12-pitch frame, 57 total for Strasburg after four.

#mesmerizing:

5th: Carlos Gomez dropped a bloop single into short right in the first at bat of the fifth, but he was caught stealing with Scooter Gennett at the plate. Gennett flew to right for out no.2. Ryan Braun stepped in with two down and went down swinging to end a nine-pitch frame. 66 pitches total for Strasburg after five.

6th: Aramis Ramirez K'd swinging over a 2-2 bender low in the zone. No.8. Jonathan Lucroy sent a 96 mph fastball to short center where Denard Span caught the second out of the inning. Khris Davis fell behind 1-2, but got back to a full count before striking out on a diving change. K no.9. 19-pitch frame, 85 total after six.

7th: Mark Reynolds worked the count full and popped out to center. Jean Segura hit a slow chopper to third that Ryan Zimmerman barehanded before doing his thing. The call was overturned though, and Segura was ruled safe at first. Kyle Lohse popped a bunt attempt back to the mound, however, and Strasburg threw to first to double up Segura. 1-4 DP. 13-pitch frame for Strasburg. 98 pitches total after seven.

Stephen Strasburg's Line: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 9 Ks, 2 HR, 98 P, 70 S, 2/4 GO/FO.

3. Lohse vs Washington: The Nationals missed Kyle Lohse during the series in Milwaukee. Before tonight, however, the Nats faced the 35-year-old right-hander 16 times in his 14-year career.

Lohse took the mound in D.C. with a (5-2) record, 14 walks (1.48 BB/9), 55 Ks (5.80 K/9) and a 4.75 ERA in 85 ⅓ IP against Washington, over which Nats' hitters put up a combined .263/.300/.427 line against him.

In the series opener in the nation's capital, Lohse was making his fifth start in Nationals Park, where he was (2-1) with a 5.76 ERA, two walks (0.61 BB/9) and 18 Ks (5.46 K/9) in 29 ⅔ IP since it opened in 2008.

Lohse ended the first half of the 2014 campaign with a (9-4) record, a 3.26 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 23 walks (1.63 BB/9) and 95 Ks (6.73 K/9) in 19 starts and 127 IP.

The second half of his second season with the Brewers began with a scoreless 19-pitch 1st that was somewhat controversial. Denard Span singled to start the frame, but appeared to be doubled up on a grounder to short by Anthony Rendon. Span looked safe, however, but was ruled out for interference and after a long talk between Matt Williams and the umps, the ruling on Span was upheld, while Rendon was ruled safe at first...? You can figure that one out yourself...

Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper hit back-to-back singles to start the Nationals' second. Zimmerman took third on Ryan Braun's arm on Harper's hit. Ian Desmond popped out to foul territory off first for the first out of the Nats' second. Wilson Ramos stepped in with runners on the corners grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3. 12-pitch frame for Lohse, 31 total after two.

Given a 4-0 led to work with, Lohse gave up one and two-out singles by Denard Span (2 for 2) and Jayson Werth, respectively, in the third. Adam LaRoche stepped in with runners on the corners but sent a fly to center that Carlos Gomez caught to end a 21-pitch frame by the Brewers's starter, who was up to 52 after three.

Ryan Zimmerman doubled off the out-of-town scoreboard in right to start the Nationals' fourth. One out later, Ian Desmond lined a single to center that brought Zimmerman in to make it a 4-1 game after four. 15-pitch frame by Lohse, 67 total after four.

Denard Span was 3 for 3 on the night after lining a single to left to start the home-half of the fifth. Span stole second one out later with Jayson Werth at the plate, but was thrown out on a grounder to short by Jayson Werth. Adam LaRoche's fly to left ended an 18-pitch inning that left Lohse at 85 total.

Bryce Harper singled with one down in the Nationals' sixth, but he was doubled up in the next at bat on a grounder to short by Ian Desmond. Six-pitch frame, 91 total for Lohse after six.

Wilson Ramos singled to start the Nats' seventh and took second on a groundout by Nate McLouth. Denard Span's grounder to second moved Ramos to third, but he was stranded there when Anthony Rendon flew out to right to end the Nats' seventh. 12-pitch frame by Lohse, 103 pitches total.

Kyle Lohse's line: 7.0 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks, 103 P, 69 S, 7/2 GO/FO.

2. #Signed:

1. The Wrap-Up: Drew Storen took over on the mound for Stephen Strasburg in the top of the eighth inning. The Nats' right-hander gave up a two-out walk but completed a scoreless 17-pitch frame.

Brewers' right-hander Rob Wooten took over for Lohse in the top of the eighth and struck Jayson Werth out. Zach Duke came on with one down and retired Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman to keep it 4-1 after eight.

Craig Stammen gave up a leadoff single by Jonathan Lucroy but nothing else in a scoreless 17-pitch top of the ninth.

Francisco Rodriguez took the mound in the ninth looking for his 28th save of the season and gave up a solo home run on a 1-0 fastball for a ride to right. Solo home run, 4-2 game. That's how it ended.

Nationals now 51-43


Minor League Notes, 2014-07-19

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Hobbs Johnson has a nice no-decision and more

Nashville Sounds (AAA) 52-48
Won Game 1 7-6 (7 inn.) at Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) (box / pbp)
Lost Game 2 9-7 (7 inn.) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 59-38
Postponed vs Tennessee Smokies (CHC)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 51-38
Won 4-3 vs St. Lucie Mets (NYM) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 50-46
Lost 6-2 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods (TBR) (box / pbp)

Helena Brewers (Rookie) 12-19
Lost 5-0 vs Orem Owlz (LAA) (box / pbp)

AZL Brewers (Rookie) 13-10
Won 7-3 vs AZL Cubs (box / pbp)

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

BatterTeamPosABRHRBIBBSOEAVGNotes
Caleb GindlNashvilleRF4122010.243Gm2: HR
Sean HaltonNashvilleRF4131000.293Gm1
Kevin MattisonNashvilleCF3122010.207Gm2: 2B(2)
Pete OrrNashville2B4330011.287Gm2
Jason RogersNashville3B4121000.295Gm1
Jason RogersNashville3B3021100.313Gm2
Eugenio VelezNashvilleLF4120010.315Gm2
Cameron GarfieldBrevard CountyC3120110.2522B
Victor RoacheBrevard CountyLF3000110.205
Tyrone TaylorBrevard CountyCF4000000.283
Clint CoulterWisconsinC4110011.265
Michael RatterreeWisconsinRF4000020.243
Brandon DiazHelenaCF4020000.278SB, 2B
Tucker NeuhausHelena3B4000010.170
Carlos BelonisAZLCF5022020.2682B (2)
Jacob GatewoodAZLSS1000000.179
Monte HarrisonAZLRF3000210.260
Jonathan OquendoAZL3B-SS2021205.214
PitcherTeamIPHRERBBSOHRERADecNotes
Michael BlazekNashville4.03113204.70Gm1
Ariel PenaNashville4.13443404.62Gm2
Hobbs JohnsonBrevard County6.24001602.80HBP
Victor DiazWisconsin4.14553413.89L, 3-4HBP
Josh UhenHelena6.04111316.35L, 1-2WP
Joshua TorresAZL54101202.28WP

Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg and Matt Williams on increased velocity, mistakes vs Brewers

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Washington Nationals' right-hander Stephen Strasburg gave up two solo home runs early in last night's loss, but Nats' skipper Matt Williams said it was the two-out, two-run single by Aramis Ramirez that really hurt in the 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Scooter Gennett went into the All-Star Break on a roll, with a .361/.402/.613 line, 13 doubles and five home runs in 32 games and 128 plate appearances from the start of June through July 13th, and he came out of the Break swinging too, taking a 2-0 changeup from Stephen Strasburg out to right last night for a solo home run in the top of the first inning in Nationals Park.

The home run by Gennett was his second off Washington's '09 no.1 overall pick this season.

"Stras is a fastball pitcher and they're a home run-hitting club. That's going to happen sometimes. He's going to give up a homer, you want it to be a solo homer." -Matt Williams on Strasburg vs the Brewers

The first, during the series between the Nationals and Brewers in Milwaukee's Miller Park, was a grand slam to right off the Nationals' right-hander.

Gennett's eighth home run of the season was one of two Strasburg surrendered in the first two innings last night.

The second came on a 97 mph 3-2 fastball to Khris Davis, who turned it inside-out and sent an opposite field blast to right and over the out-of-town scoreboard to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead early in what ended up a 4-2 win for Milwaukee in the nation's capital. Davis too homered off Strasburg when the Nats' starter struggled over just 4 ⅔ innings on the mound during his previous start on the road in Wisconsin.

The hit that really hurt Strasburg, however, came in the third, when the Brewers rallied with two down with Gennett walking and taking third on a double by Ryan Braun before scoring on a single to right by Aramis Ramirez, who took a 96 mph fastball to right for a two-run bloop hit that made it a 4-0 game.

"When it ends up being a run, it's always the turning point. If he gets out of the inning, nobody talks about it." - Williams on Strasburg's two-out walk to Scooter Gennett in the 3rd

"They hit a couple of solo homers," Nats' skipper Matt Williams said after the Nationals' loss in the "second-half" opener, "but that's not [what] got us tonight. The one that got us, he made a good pitch on [Aramis] Ramirez and he hit a ball into right field with a guy on second and third.

"If [Strasburg] gets that out it's a different game. But Stras is a fastball pitcher and they're a home run-hitting club. That's going to happen sometimes. He's going to give up a homer, you want it to be a solo homer. But the one that got us was the two-run single."

And that two-out, four-pitch walk to Gennett that started the rally?

"When it ends up being a run, it's always the turning point," Williams said. "If he gets out of the inning, nobody talks about it. But yeah, if you give them free bases with a home run-hitting club you can get in trouble. It turned out tonight it was a two-run single that got us."


More frustrating than the solo home runs or the two-out rally, however, was the fact that Strasburg looked as good as he did on the mound throughout most of the start. After giving up four runs in the first three innings, he dominated Milwaukee's hitters for the rest of his outing with a bit more velocity on the fastball than he's had this season and nine Ks total, five of them from the last 13 batters he faced as he held the Brewers off the board after the third, throwing just 40 pitches to get through the next four innings before he was done for the night after the seventh.

"Talking to Drew [Storen], the surgery he had was kind of similar. It feels great and everything, but it takes a little bit of time to get it back." -Stephen Strasburg on recovering from offseason elbow surgery

"I think for Stephen, I think it's fastball command," Williams said last night, repeating what he's said all season when the Nats' starter gets himself in trouble.

"We saw it -- the home runs were fastballs that weren't thrown where he wanted to throw them. And with any club, especially a club like this that hits a lot of balls over the fence. You can get in trouble that way. But when he does have fastball command and spots his fastball, then everything else works off of that. So, he had really good velocity, throwing the ball hard, felt great, just the location on those two pitches [wasn't] there. The location on the ball to Ramirez was there, but that's baseball. That happen sometimes."

Strasburg was asked after the outing about the fact that his fastball velocity is creeping back up into the high-90's after he averaged around 94+ mph throughout the first half of the 2014 campaign, down from 95.8 and 96 in the last two seasons.

The Nationals' '09 no.1 overall pick talked about it being a matter of working his way back from this offseason's elbow surgery.

"Talking to Drew [Storen], the surgery he had was kind of similar," Strasburg told reporters, "it feels great and everything, but it takes a little bit of time to get it back. I'm not saying that it's going to be triple digits, but I think with the mechanical adjustments I've made working with [pitching coach Steve McCatty] it's seemed to help me feel more comfortable out there especially [in the] early innings where I can just let it go."

Along with the mechanical adjustments he made since struggling over a stretch of starts at the end of June, Strasburg has continued to adjust to the fact that hitters attack him early in the count, trying to avoid falling behind to the right-hander since he continues to dominate in 0-2 (.079/.079/.111 line against, 47 Ks ) and 1-2 counts (.088/.088/.137, 63 Ks) with a .101/.101/.147 line against in at bats that start 0-2 and a .160/.169/.263 line against in at bats that go to 1-2 counts.

"You've just got to keep them off-balance," he said when asked about hitters who try to attack early. "I think everybody is going to have the same plan against me. If I make better pitches, I need to use it to my advantage. They're going to be aggressive, as long as I execute the pitches the way I know I can I'm going to get good results."

In two starts against the Brewers this season, Strasburg's now given up 15 hits and 11 ER in 11 ⅔ IP (8.49 ERA). On the year, after last night's outing, the right-hander is now (7-7) with a 3.55 ERA, a 2.83 FIP, 27 walks (1.84 BB/9) and 158 Ks (10.77 K/9) in 21 games and 132 IP.

• We talked about Strasburg's outing, Bryce Harper's big night and more on the latest edition of Nats Nightly:

New Baseball Podcasts with District Sports Page Nats Nightly on BlogTalkRadio

Nationals' skipper Matt Williams on Bryce Harper's big night, new stance...

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Washington Nationals' slugger Bryce Harper was 3 for 4 with a home run in last night's loss to the Milwaukee Brewers and the 21-year-old outfielder's new stance at the plate had all of NatsTown talking and hoping he was about to turn it up a notch...

Before last night's 3 for 4 performance, you have to go back to April 25th, the game in which Bryce Harper injured his thumb sliding into third base on a triple, to find a multi-hit game by the 21-year-old Washington Nationals' slugger. His last three-hit night? That was back on April 14th in Miami, when Harper connected for a triple and two doubles in four plate appearances in a 9-2 win over the Marlins. Harper's three hits last night matched his total for the previous 30 plate appearances over eight games going back to July 5th.

"It's coming you guys. Everybody knows it's coming and when it does pitchers are going to pay." -Matt Williams on Harper to the Sports Junkies

Matt Williams talked to 106.7 the FAN in D.C.'s The Sports Junkies on Friday morning about seeing positive signs from the third-year major leaguer, whose batting practice session on Thursday night was an impressive display.

"If I know Bryce, he spent four days grinding about his swing," Williams told the show's hosts."Last night he came to the workout. He feels good. No issues with the thumb which is good and last night's batting practice was phenomenal."

"So, it's coming you guys," the manager stated confidently. "Everybody knows it's coming and when it does pitchers are going to pay. And it's a process for him. You miss that kind of time, it takes some time to get back."

"I think he's stood up just a touch more to get on top of the baseball. Lowered his hands a little bit. Probably a little more direct to the ball." -Matt Williams on Bryce Harper's new stance at the plate

Harper, with a new stance (and a new mohawk-ish haircut) in his first game out of the All-Star Break, looked more comfortable at the plate from the start in last night's 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in D.C. He lined a single to right in his first at bat against Kyle Lohse, then, after popping out to third the second time up, singled to center off Lohse in the sixth.

With the Nationals trailing 4-1 after eight and a half, Harper took a 93 mph 1-0 fastball from Brewers' closer Francisco Rodriguez (that was a plate away from its intended target) out to right field and into the Nationals' bullpen for a solo blast that woke up the crowd of 39,373 that turned out for the first game of the 2014 campaign's so-called second-half.

Harper's manager liked what he saw.

"I think he's stood up just a touch more to get on top of the baseball," Williams explained when asked about Harper's new stance. "Lowered his hands a little bit. Probably a little more direct to the ball. He worked on that over the Break. And he looked good up there tonight. Hit the ball hard tonight. Just the missed the ball he popped up too. So he's seeing it good. Certainly the homer gives him some confidence and the other two hits are taking what the opposition is giving him. So, that's a good sign."

An even better sign would be Harper going out and doing the same thing tonight in the second game of three with the Brewers in D.C. The Nationals and their 2010 no.1 overall pick will be facing Milwaukee starter Matt Garza tonight. It will be Harper's first time out against the veteran right-hander, who gave up five hits and three runs in a loss to the Nationals in Miller Park in June.

• Editor's Note:SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting daily $18,000 Fantasy Baseball leagues. It costs $2 to join and the first-place prize is $2,000. Click here for details.

Nationals' Saturday night lineup + Friday leftovers: Lacegate, Denard Span interference

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Some random reading from last night's game with Matt Williams discussing the umpires cutting the long laces on Washington Nationals' relievers Drew Storen and Craig Stammen's gloves and the odd interference call early in last night's game...

In consecutive frames in the eighth and ninth innings last night, Washington Nationals' relievers Drew Storen and Craig Stammen were asked to trim the long laces off their gloves. Team trainer Lee Kuntz met each at the mound with scissors in hand to trim down the excess lacing that was hanging off their gloves.

"Let's say there's a swipe and a pitcher's covering home plate and a string touches a baserunner the umpire must rule him out, so the directive has come from Major League Baseball..." -Matt Williams on Storen and Stammen's gloves

So... A. Was it Milwaukee Brewers' manager Ron Roenicke messing with their heads? B. Payback for Ian Desmond complaining about Carlos Gomez going in hard at second on Kevin Frandsen during the series in Miller Park? C. Did former Nats' reliever Tom Gorzelanny, now with the Brewers, share some info on the pitchers? D. None of the above?

The answer was D. None of the above as Nats' skipper Matt Williams explained after the game.

"It's a directive from major league baseball regarding replay," Williams told reporters. "So, umpire's discretion, if the strings are too long and there's a replay issued, let's say there's a swipe and a pitcher's covering home plate and a string touches a baserunner the umpire must rule him out, so the directive has come from Major Leauge Baseball to shorten them up a little bit."

That's a significantly drama-free explanation. You're off the hook, Roenicke.

What about that odd interference call in the bottom of the first? Denard Span singled to start the inning, but Anthony Rendon followed with a grounder to short that allowed the Brewers to turn what appeared to be a 6-4-3 DP.

But Span was called safe at second, since he appeared to beat the throw, then punched out for interference even though Brewers' second baseman Scooter Gennett made the throw to first to get Rendon.

After an on-field discussion between Williams and the umpires followed and eventually Rendon was ruled safe at first...


Williams explained what went down after the game.

"There was no indication that he did anything on purpose except beating the throw to second, but once interference is ruled then the ball is dead." -Matt Williams on odd interference call in last night's game

"Angel [Campos] ruled that he had interfered with the throw to first base," Williams said. "My contention was that Angel had called him safe and that he was sliding into the base. There was no indication that he did anything on purpose except beating the throw to second, but once interference is ruled then the ball is dead.

"So that's why Anthony was awarded first. My argument on the play, which is a non-reviewable play, is that he beat the throw and he called him safe anyway and he was simply sliding into the base. If the fielder elects to throw the ball to first base, that's on him. I don't think Denard did anything out of his way to interfere, but that was the ruling on the field and that's non-reviewable."

Ron Roenicke came out for an explanation too, but that's how it stood.

Rendon was stranded at first two outs later...

• Here are the Nationals and Brewers' lineups for tonight's game:

Today's Lineups

MILWAUKEE BREWERSWASHINGTON NATIONALS
Carlos Gomez - CFDenard Span - CF
Scooter Gennett - 2BAnthony Rendon - 2B
Ryan Braun - RFJayson Werth - RF
Aramis Ramirez - 3BAdam LaRoche - 1B
Jonathan Lucroy - CRyan Zimmerman - 3B
Khris Davis - LFBryce Harper - LF
Lyle Overbay - 1BIan Desmond - SS
Jean Segura - SSWilson Ramos - C
Matt Garza - RHPTanner Roark - RHP

Nationals 8-3 over the Brewers: Nats knock Matt Garza out in the first...

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The Washington Nationals knocked Milwaukee Brewers' right-hander Matt Garza out after the veteran starter recorded just one out and cruised to an 8-3 win in the second game of the three-game weekend set in the nation's capital. Tanner Roark was teh awsum...

Row-Row-Row Your Ark Top 5:

5. Quick Recap: Matt Garza needed 42 pitches to record one out in the bottom of the first inning tonight, and by the time he was lifted from the game, the Milwaukee Brewers were down 5-0 to the Nationals in the second game of three in Washington, D.C. Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos each drove in runs, with Ramos knocking Garza out with a one-out, two-run single to center.

Jonathan Lucroy doubled and tried to steal third with one down in the Brewers' second, and scored when Wilson Ramos bounced a throw to third that Ryan Zimmerman couldn't handle. 5-1 Nats.

Bryce Harper went the other way with a 1-2 fastball outside, doubling to the corner in left for his sixth two-base hit of the season, then took third on a fly to right by Ian Desmond before scoring on an RBI single to left by Wilson Ramos, who drove in his third run of the night to make it 6-1.

Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche both walked with two down and Werth scored from second on a two-out RBI single to center by Ryan Zimmerman, who collected his third RBI of the night on a hit off Brewers' righty Marco Estrada. 7-1 Nationals.

Anthony Rendon connected for his first hit of the series with one down in the Nationals' sixth, took third on a double to center by Jayson Werth (no.22) and scored on a sac fly to left by Adam LaRoche to make it 8-1 Nats after six innings in the nation's capital.

Ryan Braun hit a two-run home run to left off Jerry Blevins in the Brewers' eighth, getting Milwaukee within five with his 12th HR of the season. 8-3.

That's how it ended...

4. Myth of Row-Ark: Tanner Roark had a 3-0 lead courtesy of a Jayson Werth home run when he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning in the final start of the "first-half" last weekend in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

Washington's 27-year-old right-hander went seven innings last Sunday afternoon, giving up four hits and one earned run while striking out six Phillies' hitters on the way to earning his eighth win of the 2014 campaign.

"He established fastball early, first time around the lineup, both sides of the plate and was able to throw it wherever he wanted to today." - Matt Williams on Tanner Roark vs the Phillies

"Momentum for us early with Jayson hitting the homer and it set the tone real well for Tanner too," Matt WIlliams told reporters after the game. "He pitched well again for us, so it was a great way to end the first-half for sure."

Roark finished the first-half of his second season in the majors with an (8-6) record, a 3.01 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 25 walks (1.98 BB/9) and 85 Ks (6.73 K/9) in 18 starts and 113 ⅔ IP.

"Not as many curveballs again today as normal," Williams said of Roark's work in the finale of the three-game set with the Nationals' NL East rivals, "but he established fastball early, first time around the lineup, both sides of the plate and was able to throw it wherever he wanted to today."

After Roark was able to establish his fastball on a muggy day in the City of Brotherly Love, he started working in his secondary pitches.

"He threw his changeup later, used his curveball occasionally and worked his way through the lineup." - Matt Williams on Tanner Roark vs the Phillies

"He threw his changeup later," Williams explained, "used his curveball occasionally and worked his way through the lineup."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Roark, who allowed 19 hits and eight earned runs in back-to-back starts against the Chicago Cubs. Before those outings, however, the right-hander was on a bit of a roll with a (4-1) record in five June starts in which he put up a 1.44 ERA over 31 ⅓ IP, holding opposing hitters to a .233/.276/.292 line.

In the nation's capital tonight, Roark, who entered the game (4-4) in nine starts in D.C. in 2014 in which he put up a 2.02 ERA and a 3.04 FIP, with 17 walks (2.64 BB/9) and 39 Ks (6.05 K/9) in 58 IP in which opposing hitters have a .240/.299/.319 line, was taking on the Milwaukee Brewers for the first time.

Roark's first start of the so-called second-half began with a pop over the infield...

1st:Carlos Gomez popped up to Adam LaRoche at first to start tonight's game. Scooter Gennett grounded out to short. Ryan Braun sent a one-hopper out to Ian Desmond for out no.3 of a quick, 12-pitch, 1-2-3 first.

2nd: After a 42-minute bottom of the first, Tanner Roark retook the mound and struck Aramis Ramirez out with a 2-2 slider outside. Jonathan Lucroy doubled to right on a 93 mph 2-2 fastball for the Brewers' first hit and scored after stealing third on a throwing error by Wilson Ramos. Khris Davis lined a single to left in the next at bat, but he was doubled up on a grounder to second off Lyle Overbay's bat in the next AB. 4-6-3. 19-pitch inning for Roark, 31 total after two.

3rd:Jean Segura popped out to second to start the Brewers' third. Marco Estrada K'd looking for out no.2. Carlos Gomez dropped a two-out single into center on a bloop hit on a first-pitch fastball, but Scooter Gennett popped up on the first pitch he saw to end a quick, 10-pitch third. 41 pitches total for Roark.

4th: Ryan Braun took a 93 mph 1-2 two-seamer for a called strike three. Aramis Ramirez grounded out to short. Jonathan Lucroy took a two-out walk. Khris Davis worked the count full, and took a high fastball for a called strike three. 19-pitch frame, 60 total after four.

5th: Lyle Overbay tested Adam LaRoche's backhand with a sharp grounder to first. LaRoche passed the test. Jean Segura battled for 10 pitches before doubling to left, over Bryce Harper's head and off the bullpen wall. Marco Estrada grounded out to short for the second out of the inning. Carlos Gomez singled to short after Wilson Ramos dropped a pop behind home. Ian Desmond threw behind Segura at third on Gomez's hit, but bounced the throw when he had a chance. A fly to left off Scooter Gennett's bat ended the frame. 21-pitch fifth, 81 total after five.

6th: Ryan Braun grounded out to third. Aramis Ramirez lined a one-out single to left on a 2-1 slider. Jonathan Lucroy chased a 3-2 fastball up high inside. Khris Davis grounded out to short to end a 19-pitch frame that left Roark at 100 even.

7th: Lyle Overbay sent a high fly out to center to start the top of the seventh. Jean Segura grounded back to the mound. Pinch hitter Logan Schafer sent another fly ball out to Span, who caught out no.3 of a 12-pitch frame. 112 pitches total for Roark.

Tanner Roark's Line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 112 P, 76 S, 9/2 GO/FO.

3. Garza vs the Nationals: Matt Garza, 30, took a loss when he faced the Washington Nationals in Miller Park in late June, falling to (4-5) on the year for the Brewers and (0-2) in five career starts against the Nats in which he's put up a 5.74 ERA with 10 walks (3.38 BB/9) and 30 Ks (10.13 K/9) in 26 ⅔ IP, with Nationals' hitters putting up a combined .287/.347/.435 line against him.

Just one of his five starts against the Nationals before tonight took place in the nation's capital, back in 2011, when Garza was knocked out after just two innings, having surrendered eight hits and seven runs, six earned in what ended up a 10-9 win for the Chicago Cubs he was pitching for at the time.

In three starts since he last faced the Nationals in Milwaukee, Garza went (2-1) with a 2.31 ERA in 23 ⅓ IP in which he held opposing hitters to a .175/.212/.213 line, leaving him (8-8) on the year with a 3.69 ERA, a 3.42 FIP, 38 walks (2.75 BB/9) and 93 Ks (6.73 K/9) in 19 starts and 124 ⅓ IP.

Away from Miller Park, the nine-year veteran put up a 4.50 ERA in 50 IP before tonight's outing, over which he walked 20 (3.60 BB/9), struck out 32 (5.76 K/9) and held opposing hitters to a .233/.310/.347 line.

Denard Span singled to right to end the seven-pitch at bat that started the bottom of the first, and one out later took third on a double to right by Jayson Werth, who pushed a 1-2 slider outside into the right field corner for his 21st two-base hit of the season. Adam LaRoche stepped in with two runners in scoring position and walked to load'em up for Ryan Zimmerman, who singled to center on a chopper up the middle that drove two runs in. 2-0.

Bryce Harper walked to load'em up again with Ian Desmond due up. Desmond was 6 for 7 with the bases loaded overall in 2014 before tonight and 4 for 4 with one out and the bases juiced so far this season. Desmond sent a weak roller toward short after a six-pitch battle and Brewers' shortstop Jean Segura failed to come up with it. 3-0. Wilson Ramos followed with a two-run single to center that drove in two more and made it 5-0 Nationals. That was it for Garza...

Matt Garza's Line: 0.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 42 P, 28 S, 0/0 GO/FO.

2. Turning Point: Milwaukee Brewers' starter Matt Garza must have some issue with the nation's capital. In his one outing in Nationals Park before tonight, back in 2011 when he pitched for the Cubs, the veteran right-hander was knocked out of the game after just two innings pitched in which he gave up eight hits and seven runs, six earned.

He recorded just one out in tonight's game, giving up five hits and and five earned runs before he was lifted. Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos hit RBI singles in the home-half of the first giving the Nats a 5-0 lead and knocking Garza out after he threw 42 pitches...

1. The Wrap-Up: Marco Estrada took over for Matt Garza with two on and runners on the corners in the bottom of the first. Ian Desmond tried to score on a bunt by Tanner Roark, but Estrada made a glove toss to Jonathan Lucroy, who appeared to tag Ian Desmond out. The play was reviewed to see if he blocked the plate, but he didn't. A fly to center by Denard Span ended a long frame.

Estrada retired the Nationals in order in a quick, 10-pitch, 1-2-3 second.

Bryce Harper doubled to left field with one down in the Nationals' third, connecting for his sixth two-base hit of the season and his fourth hit of the series with the Brewers. Harper took third on a fly to right by Ian Desmond and scored on the second RBI hit of the game by Wilson Ramos. 6-1.

Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche took back-to-back, two-out walks from Marco Estrada and Werth scored on an RBI single to center by Ryan Zimmerman. 7-1 Nationals after four.

Anthony Rendon singled with one down in the sixth and took third on a double to right by Jayson Werth (no.22). An RBI sac fly to left by Adam LaRoche brought Rendon home to make it 8-1 Nats.

Tom Gorzelanny took over on the mound in the Nationals' seventh and retired the side in order, striking out two.

Jerry Blevins replaced Tanner Roark in the top of the eighth and gave up a one-out single by pinch hitter Martin Maldonado and a two-run home run by Ryan Braun that made it 8-3 after seven and a half. #banthewave

Ross Detwiler came on for an inning of work in the ninth and retired the side in order. Ballgame.

Nationals now 52-43

Minor League Notes, 2014-07-20

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Box scores! (and Mike Fiers, and Jim Henderson at Nashville)

Nashville Sounds (AAA) 53-48
Won 7-3 at Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 61-38
Won Game 1 1-0 (7 inn.) vs Tennessee Smokies (CHC) (box / pbp)
Won Game 2 5-0 (7 inn.) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 51-39
Lost 8-6 vs St. Lucie Mets (NYM) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 50-47
Lost 9-3 vs Dayton Dragons (CIN) (box / pbp)

Helena Brewers (Rookie) 12-20
Lost 6-5 vs Grand Junction Rockies (COL) (box / pbp)

AZL Brewers (Rookie) 13-11
Lost 5-4 at AZL Cubs (box / pbp)

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

BatterTeamPosABRHRBIBBSOEAVGNotes
Matt ClarkNashville1B4020000.267
Sean HaltonNashvilleRF4223000.2962B (2)
Kevin MattisonNashvilleCF4120010.214SB
Jason RogersNashville3B3101120.299
Eugenio VelezNashvilleLF5021000.316SB
Kentrail DavisHuntsvilleCF-RF2220100.263Gm2: 2B
Robinzon DiazHuntsvilleC3120000.326Gm2
Yadiel RiveraHuntsvilleSS2010000.250Gm1: 2B
Victor RoacheBrevard CountyLF4131000.213
Tyrone TaylorBrevard CountyCF4110000.282
Clint CoulterWisconsinDH2000100.263
Omar GarciaWisconsinLF4010000.245SB
Rafael NedaWisconsinC3020100.266SB, 2B
Michael RatterreeWisconsinRF3111000.244SB, HR
Gregory MunozHelena2B4130000.314
Jake GatewoodAZLSS4111020.183HR
Yunior SantanaAZLRF4020020.2682B, SB (3)
PitcherTeamIPHRERBBSOHRERADecNotes
Mike FiersNashville5.03334412.68W, 7-5WP, HBP
Jim HendersonNashville1.00001000.00
Jed BradleyHuntsville5.03001304.34W, 3-4Gm1
David GoforthHuntsville1.01000002.83S, 20Gm1
Eric MarzecHuntsville4.01002103.89Gm2
Kevin ShackelfordHuntsville1.00000006.14Gm2
Damien MagnificoBrevard County5.24432313.77WP
Tristan ArcherWisconsin5.04331314.26L, 3-5
Javier SalasHelena5.211630105.40L, 0-2HBP
Caleb SmithAZL1.10000201.42
Angel VenturaAZL3.05440303.91L, 3-1WP

Nationals walk off on Brewers, 5-4 final: Jayson Werth walk-off double wins it!!

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The Washington Nationals took a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but Rafael Soriano gave up the tying run, so the Nats had to rally for a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on a walk-off double by Jayson Werth in the bottom of the inning.

Denard Span Bobblehead Top 5:

5. Quick Recap: Adam LaRoche connected for the Washington Nationals' first hit of this afternoon's game off veteran Milwaukee Brewers' right-hander Yovani Gallardo in the first at bat of the second inning and one out later, the "fleet-footed" first baseman took third on a single through the right side by Bryce Harper before scoring on a single to right by Ian Desmond to give the Nats a 1-0 lead early in the series finale in the nation's capital.

The Brewers took the lead in the third. Gio Gonzalez issued back-to-back one-out walks to Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez and both runners eventually scored, Braun from second on a grounder back to the mound by Jonathan Lucroy and Ramirez on a two-out RBI single to left by Khris Davis. 2-1 Milwaukee.

Jean Segura doubled to the left-center gap to start the top of the fourth, took third on a bunt by Yovani Gallardo and scored from third on a grounder to short by Carlos Gomez to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead after three and a half.

The Nationals tied it up in the bottom of the inning, however, with Adam LaRoche walking to start the frame and scoring on a two-run opposite field home run to right by Ryan Zimmerman, who took an 0-1 curve from Gallardo for a ride. 3-3 game on Zimmerman's fifth. Jose Lobaton doubled with two down after Zim's blast, took third on a swinging bunt by Craig Stammen and scored on a wild pitch from Gallardo, 4-3 Nats.

It was still 4-3 Nationals when Rafael Soriano took the mound in the ninth and gave up a one-out single by Scooter Gennett, a walk to Carlos Gomez and an RBI single to center by Rickie Weeks. 4-4 game.

The Nationals rallied again in the ninth however, with Jayson Werth singling to left to bring Anthony Rendon around from third for the walk-off win! Nationals 5-4 final.

4. Gio vs the Brewers: Washington Nationals' lefty Gio Gonzalez's June 23rd outing against Milwaukee in Miller Park was the start of a strong stretch that followed the first DL stint of his major league career and a not-so-hot first outing off the Disabled List against the Houston Astros. Gonzalez, 28, threw six scoreless innings against the Brewers that night, walking four and striking out five in what ended up a 3-0 Nats' win.

"[Gonzalez] made pitches when he needed to and to keep these guys off-balance was a pretty good job." -Randy Knorr on Gio Gonzalez vs Milwaukee

The six scoreless innings that day and a scoreless frame at the end of his outing against the Astros were the start a stretch of 22 scoreless innings for Gonzalez that lasted through two more games before he gave up a run in the first frame of his last outing against the Baltimore Orioles.

Gonzalez allowed six hits, three walks and four runs, three earned in the Nationals' 4-3 loss to the O's in Camden Yards in the left-hander's final start of the season's first half, which ended with the seven-year veteran (6-5) with a 3.56 ERA, a 3.29 FIP, 33 walks (3.56 BB/9) and 85 Ks (9.18 K/9) in 14 starts and 81 ⅓ IP.

"After the first two innings I felt like I found my groove and was going out there and trying to attack the strike zone..." -Gio Gonzalez on start vs the Orioles last time out

Over his last five outings before today's, Gonzalez was (3-1) with the Nationals 4-1 in his starts, putting up a 1.93 ERA with 13 walks (3.58 BB/9) and 32 Ks (8.82 K/9) in 32 ⅔ IP in which opposing hitters put up a .182/.272/.245 line against him.

The outing on the road in Wisconsin that began Gonzalez's strong stretch left him with a (2-0) record in three career starts against Milwaukee in which he's put up a 1.89 ERA, walked 10 (4.74 BB/9) and struck out 14 (6.63 K/9) in 19 IP while holding Brewers' hitters to a .175/.299/.222 line.

His fourth career start against the Brewers began with...

1st: Carlos Gomez started up 3-0 in the first at bat of this afternoon's game, but grounded out to short on the next pitch. Rickie Weeks K'd swinging over an 83 mph 2-2 change. Ryan Braun kept the first inning alive with a two-out single through short and stole second on Gonzalez and Nats' backstop Jose Lobaton. Aramis Ramirez worked the count full and sent a grounder that looked like it was going to get up the middle until Anthony Rendon ranged over to get it on his backhand and made a strong throw across his body for the final out of a 17-pitch frame.

2nd: Brewers' catcher Jonathan Lucroy walked to start the top of the second. Khris Davis K'd swinging at a 77 mph 1-2 bender. Mark Reynolds singled to left on a 1-0 change, putting two on in front of Jean Segura. Gonzalez fell behind the shortstop, 2-0, but got back to a 2-2 count and got a grounder to third that Ryan Zimmerman fielded, but his throw to second was high, so everyone was safe and the bases were loaded. E:5. Yovani Gallardo K'd swinging at a 1-2 curve for out no.2. Carlos Gomez got a two-out RBI opportunity, worked the count full, but K'd swinging through a 3-2 change. 28-pitch frame, 45 total after two.

3rd: Rickie Weeks K'd swinging at a 2-2 change for career strikeout no.1,000 of Gio Gonzalez's career. Ryan Braun worked the count full in his one-out at bat, and walked, taking the second free pass of the game from the Nats' lefty. Aramis Ramirez started up 3-0, and took a four-pitch walk to put two on in front of Jonathan Lucroy. The Brewers' catcher battled for nine pitches before grounding out to the mound, but Ryan Braun scored from second on the play to tie things up at 1-1. Khris Davis stepped in with Ramirez at second and lined a single to left to drive the runner in for a 2-1 lead. Mark Reynolds worked the count full too, but popped up to end a 33-pitch frame. 78 total.

4th: Jean Segura lined a double to the left-center gap to start the Brewers' fourth. Yovani Gallardo bunted Segura over third/gave up an out. Carlos Gomez came up with the runner 90 ft from home, but he had to wait for another pitcher to come out of the pen...

Gio Gonzalez's Line: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 Ks, 88 P, 47 S, 5/0 GO/FO.

3. Gallardo vs the Nationals:Yovani Gallardo's six-inning outing against the Nationals back on June 24th was the last strong start for the 28-year-old right-hander heading into today's game. Gallardo gave up just four hits and one earned run in that start, in what ended up a 4-2 loss to the Nats. In three starts since then, however, the Brewers' starter has struggled, with a 6.23 ERA and a .338/.359/.527 line against in his last 17 ⅓ IP.

Gallardo ended the first half of the 2014 campaign with a (5-5) record, a 3.68 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 32 walks (2.50 BB/9) and 86 Ks (6.73 K/9) in 19 starts and 115 IP so far this season.

This afternoon's start was the eight-year veteran's 11th outing and 10th start against the Nationals in his major league career.

Heading into today's game, he was (3-3) with a 5.61 ERA, 18 walks (3.16 BB/9) and 58 Ks (10.17 K/9) in 51 ⅓ IP against Washington, over which Nats' hitters have put up a combined .282/.338/.470 line against him.

Gallardo's 20th start of the season began with a scoreless 20-pitch frame.

The Nationals got on the board in the second. Adam LaRoche singled through the shift, sending a grounder through short and one out later took third on a Bryce Harper single through the right side. Ian Desmond followed with the second straight hit and brought LaRoche in for a 1-0 lead over the Brewers after two. 17-pitch frame for Gallardo, 37 total after two.

Given a 2-1 lead to work with, Gallardo came back with a scoreless 17-pitch third that left him at 54 pitches overall.

After the Brewers went up 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Gallardo walked Adam LaRoche to start the Nationals' half of the inning and then gave up a two-run home run to right by Ryan Zimmerman, who tied things up with one swing, taking an 0-1 curve over the out-of-town scoreboard for his 5th home run of the year. A two-out double by Jose Lobaton and a swinging bunt by Craig Stammen gave the Nationals runners on the corners with Denard Span due up and a wild pitch allowed Lobaton to score for a 4-3 lead.

Adam LaRoche reached on an infield single with two down in the Nats' fifth, but he was forced out at second, ending a 15-pitch frame by Gallardo, who was up to 95 pitches after five.

Bryce Harper walked to start the Nationals' sixth, but was picked off first and two quick outs later, Gallardo was through a 13-pitch inning at 108 pitches overall.

• Yovani Gallardo's Line: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 1 HR, 108 P, 61 S, 6/3 GO/FO.

2. Harper heating up: Bryce Harper walked in his first at bat last night, resisting the urge to swing away against an obviously-struggling Matt Garza and taking a free pass which loaded the bases for the second time that inning with Ian Desmond due up.

"He's got power to all fields and can drive the ball to any part of the ballpark. It's good that he's staying on fastballs away that he can hit." - Matt Williams on Bryce Harper at the plate

In his second at bat of the game, Harper doubled to left field, tucking a two-base hit into the corner on a fastball outside from Brewers' right-hander Marco Estrada.

Harper grounded out and K'd swinging against tough lefty Tom Gorzelanny in his final plate appearance, but Nats' skipper Matt Williams talked after the game about the 21-year-old outfielder's improved performance on offense over the last few games.

"Bryce had a good at bat in the first inning," Williams said. "And then stayed on a fastball the other way. He's got power to all fields and can drive the ball to any part of the ballpark. It's good that he's staying on fastballs away that he can hit. And he drove that one to left, just inside the line, but it's tough when you've got a guy who's got a really good changeup because the fastball looks even better. But again, that's a good sign. Last night's a good sign. Tonight's a good sign. He ran the bases hard. Got great jumps out there, so he played really well."

Harper entered the series finale today with a three-game hit streak. Adam LaRoche was standing at first with one down in Harper's first at bat this afternoon in the bottom of the second. LaRoche was standing at third after Harper singled through the right side on a first-pitch fastball. After the hit, Harper was 6 for 12 in his last four, with a four game hit streak.

Harper's Day: 1 for 3, walk, 2 Ks.

1. The Wrap-Up: Craig Stammen took over on the mound for Gio Gonzalez in the fourth with a runner on third, one out and Carlos Gomez at the plate. Gomez grounded sharply to short, but as soon as Ian Desmond threw to first, Jean Segura broke for home and scored ahead of Adam LaRoche's throw to Jose Lobaton. 3-1 Brewers.

Stammen came back with an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fifth after the Nationals took the lead. An eight-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth gave Stammen eight straight outs.

Drew Storen took over on the mound for the Nationals in the seventh and gave up a two-out single to center by Rickie Weeks, who stole second in the next at bat. Storen fell behind 3-0 to Ryan Braun, and walked him to put two on for Aramis Ramirez, who grounded to third to end the inning. Still 4-3 Nationals.

Zach Duke gave up a one-out walk to Denard Span and a two-out single by Jayson Werth, but nothing else in a scoreless inning of work in the seventh.

Tyler Clippard came out for the eighth and struck out the side in a 19-pitch eighth.

Pitch it, Soriano! Pitch it, Soriano! Strike'em out, Soriano! Strike'em out, Soriano!! Rafael Soriano came on looking for save no.23 of 2014 and gave up a one-out single to left by Scooter Gennett. Carlos Gomez walked to put two on in front of Rickie Weeks, who singled to center to tie things up. 4-4 after eight and a half.

Rob Wooten took the mound for Milwaukee in the bottom of the ninth. Denard Span singled with one down, but was forced out at second on a grounder to first by Anthony Rendon. Jayson Werth stepped in with two out and lined a single to left on a 3-1 pitch, bringing Rendon around for a 5-4 win.

Nationals now 53-43.


The Nationals' walk-off win in GIFs, + Bryce Harper staring contest, + Elmo dancing?

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Miss today's game? At the game and didn't see replays? Really like GIFs? BSheridan (aka md_dc on Twitter) fired up the GIF machine today to capture all the best moments from the Washington Nationals' 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers...

B Sheridan, aka @md_dc on the Twitter, or the "Tweeter" as Davey Johnson used to call it, fired up his GIF machine this afternoon to capture all the best moving images from the Washington Nationals' walk-off win in the series finale with the Milwaukee Brewers. Anthony Rendon showing off his range and arm? Got it. Ryan Zimmerman's base-loading error... uh, yeah it's there too. Ryan Zimmerman's opposite field blast? #TKCHZ. Elmo dancing? I included that one just for fun and I'm currently in a dance studio with a mirrored wall practicing those moves. Big Head Teddy wrapped in space foil? What the [expletive deleted] is "space foil"? Bryce Harper teaching the wall a lesson this time and slapping a fan's belly in the process? Werth celebrating the win with a slow-motion leap? They're all in there...

• #VoteRendon... What? Is it too late for that?:

• Double clutch trouble:

• #TKCHZ:

• Practice this dance, we're all going to perform it on the field in Nats Park:

• WTHISF? - What The Heck Is Space Foil?:

• The People's Champion?:

• [Makes joke about Harper running into walls, thinks it's original... or should we call this one What Moises Alou should've done?]:

• Werth wins it!!!:

If you're not already following him, you should be following BSheridan on Twitter, @md_dc is the handle. Don't blame him for the following, these are the Vines we sent out on @federalbaseball during today's game:

• So it was a double, whatever:

• Go ahead, have a staring contest with Bryce Harper... He blinked!!!:

• That oven mitt weighs a ton:

-- Thanks, as always to BSheridan for the great work. - The Management

Minor League Notes, 2014-07-21

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The Adventures of the Sunday Lineups

Nashville Sounds (AAA) 53-49
Lost 7-5 at Oklahoma City RedHawks (HOU) (box / pbp)

Huntsville Stars (AA) 61-39
Lost 10-3 vs Tennessee Smokies (CHC) (box / pbp)

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 51-40
Lost 7-4 at Fort Myers Miracle (MIN) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 51-47
Won 3-0 vs Dayton Dragons (CIN) (box / pbp)

Helena Brewers (Rookie) 13-20
Won 4-2 vs Grand Junction Rockies (COL) (box / pbp)

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

BatterTeamPosABRHRBIBBSOEAVGNotes
Irving FaluNashville2B4121120.311
Hector GomezNashvilleSS4332000.2642B, HR
Kevin MattisonNashvilleCF4021020.221SB
Jason RogersNashville3B4000110.282
Yadiel RiveraHuntsvilleSS3220000.2682B
Nathan OrfBrevard County2B5230010.3062B
Michael ReedBrevard CountyRF4123010.255HR
Victor RoacheBrevard CountyLF3010101.2142B
Tyrone TaylorBrevard CountyCF4010010.282
Clint CoulterWisconsinDH2000010.261
Omar GarciaWisconsinCF3010010.246
Michael RatterreeWisconsinRF4111020.244HR
Tucker NeuhausHelena3B4120000.1842B
PitcherTeamIPHRERBBSOHRERADecNotes
Taylor JungmannNashville5.04333505.64WP
Brent SuterHuntsville4.28663323.91L, 9-7WP
Jorge LopezBrevard County5.28653313.54L, 8-5
Barrett AstinWisconsin3.01000104.42S, 3HBP
Clint TerryWisconsin6.03002502.79W, 3-2HBP
Devin WilliamsHelena4.04223506.03W, 2-4WP
Brandon WoodruffHelena5.05001201.45

What we learned: July 21, 2014

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Today's lessons include a healthy team, the true price of a reliever, and short starts.

This Weekend's Results

Brewers 4, Nationals 2

Kyle Lohse walked a tightrope in his start on Friday, allowing ten hits in seven innings. However, he only allowed one run to keep the Brewers in the game. Meanwhile, Scooter Gennett and Khris Davis launched solo home runs to give the Brewers the lead, and Aramis Ramirez brought home two runs with an RBI double.

Nationals 8, Brewers 3

Matt Garza only recorded one out on Saturday, putting the Brewers in an early 5-0 hole that they could not get out of. Marco Estrada saved the bullpen with 5 2/3 innings of relief, though allowed three more runs in the process. The only Brewers offense came from a run that Jonathan Lucroy "manufactured", and from a two-run home run by Ryan Braun.

Nationals 5, Brewers 4

The Brewers built a 3-1 lead early, but the Nationals rallied to take a 4-3 lead that they would hold for most of the game. In the ninth, Rickie Weeks hit an RBI single to tie the game at 4, but the Nationals rallied again for a walk-off double from Jayson Werth.

The price of a reliever is higher than you think.

On Saturday, the Angels made a trade to acquire reliever Huston Street from the Padres. The move didn't involve any major prospects, but still involved four smaller prospects from the organization. While quantity prevailed in this trade, a trade like this would be more harmful to the Brewers system. In the wake of the trade on Saturday, Jordan had a reminder about the true cost of obtaining a reliever. While it may be something the Brewers can pull off, the cost to the system would be high. Holding with what the Brewers have may be the best option for now.

Health has been important to the Brewers successful season.

As usual, the Brewers have had their share of injuries over the course of the season. However, the season has been relatively healthy overall. On Friday, Noah looked at the health the Brewers have had this season. He notes that the Brewers have had the second fewest number of days lost to players on the DL in the division. They have also not lost many days to the DL from key players, even though Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez both had DL stints. It's been one of the key components to the Brewers run this year.

Cram Session

Minor League Update

TeamLevelRecordThis WeekendToday
Nashville SoundsAAA53-49Fri: Nashville 7, Oklahoma City 6
Fri: Oklahoma City 9, Nashville 7
Sat: Nashville 7, Oklahoma City 3
Sun: Oklahoma City 7, Nashville 5
Colorado Springs @ Nashville
Huntsville StarsAA61-39Sat: Huntsville 1, Tennessee 0
Sat: Huntsville 5, Tennessee 0
Sun: Tennessee 10, Huntsville 3
Huntsville @ Jackson
Brevard County ManateesA+51-40Fri: Brevard County 4, St. Lucie 3
Sat: St. Lucie 8, Brevard County 6
Sun: Fort Myers 7, Brevard County 4
Brevard County @ Fort Myers
Wisconsin Timber RattlersA51-47Fri: Bowling Green 6, Wisconsin 2
Sat: Dayton 9, Wisconsin 3
Sun: Wisconsin 3, Dayton 0
Dayton @ Wisconsin
DSL BrewersR19-23Fri: DSL Blue Jays 6, DSL Brewers 4
DSL Rangers2 @ DSL Brewers
Helena BrewersR13-20Fri: Orem 5, Helena 0
Sat: Grand Junction 6, Helena 5
Sun: Helena 4, Grand Junction 2
Grand Junction @ Helena
AZL BrewersR13-11Fri: AZL Brewers 7, AZL Cubs 3
Sat: AZL Cubs 5, AZL Brewers 4
AZL Brewers @ AZL Padres

News & Notes

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

Division Update

TeamWLGB
Brewers5445-
Cardinals5445-
Pirates52461.5
Reds51472.5
Cubs405713

Today's Division Games

  • Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu) @ Pirates (Edinson Volquez) - 6:05 pm
  • Cardinals & Cubs have the day off.

Today's Action

If the Brewers want to keep their streak of days in first place going, they will have to get a win today. They return home to Miller Park tonight to open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. It will be up to Wily Peralta to make a good start for the Brewers, as he faces off against Mat Latos. First pitch is at 7:10 pm, and Caitlin Swieca of MLB.com has the preview.

Don't forget about Prognostikeggers, which added a new prediction to the game on Friday.

Brewers vs Reds: Series preview

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This will be the 4th series of the season between these two clubs. So far the Reds have dominated.

The first series against the Reds saw the Brewers drop 3 out of 4. The second saw the Brewers drop 2 out of 3. The Brewers also lost 2 of 3 in the third series earlier this month. It's cliched now to say all wins are created equal, but I wonder if it's even true. With games against division rivals you directly impact their standings. At this point in the season I'd say that's more important than a win against the Blue Jays or the Dodgers.

The Brewers are tied with the Cardinals, the Pirates are 1.5 games back, and the Reds are 2.5 games back. The wrong end of a sweep here could theoretically see the Brewers drop to 4th in the division. With a little over two months left in the season I'm not ready to call any game "must win," but this series is about as close as it gets.

Fortunately for us, the Reds haven't been very good lately and were just swept by the middling Yankees. It's understandable. Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips are both on the disabled list and will be for a while. The Reds are currently 25th in MLB with a 90 wRC+. Todd Frazier remains a threat (136 wRC+) but after that only Devin Mesoraco has been hitting well all season (163) and as a catcher he might not play every game of the series.

Their bullpen is pretty top heavy. Aroldis Chapman has been excellent and Jonathan Broxton has been pretty good. After that you start to see a drop-off, though not a steep decline. Sam LeCure has been okay and so has Manny Parra. JJ Hoover has been pretty bad and while Logan Ondrusek has nice peripherals, he's getting hit a lot. Jumbo Diaz also has pretty nice peripherals in the 9 innings he's pitched, but the long ball has been an issue and 9 innings isn't a reliable set of data. We also don't have a lot of data on Carlos Contreras. That's an 8 man bullpen which means the bench is short. It'll be interesting to see if that becomes a factor.

Monday July 21st, 7:10 pm CT: Wily Peralta vs Mat Latos

Latos has been solid since returning from the DL. His strikeout numbers are down significantly from previous years (15.1 K% this year down from an average in the low 20's). One would expect that to go up. It might not make a meaningful difference in his results though. His opponent batting average this year (.174) is well below his career average (.226). That should also rise eventually along with his WHIP. Most notably, his average fastball velocity has dropped from 92.5 last year to 90.5 this year. If he were on my team, I'd be worried about his future. Still, I think he'll be solid the rest of this season.

Tuesday July 22nd, 7:10 pm CT: Jimmy Nelson vs Homer Bailey

Poor Homer Bailey. Beside some minor changes in pitch usage, he doesn't appear to be doing anything drastically different from last year. However, instead of a 3.49 ERA he has a 4.21. The only real difference is that he's getting hit more. Last year his BAA was .231. This year it's .259 which is more in line with his career average. It's looking more and more like 2013's breakout was just an aberration. That being said, I think Bailey is better than his 4.21 ERA suggests. He has a decent K% and his SwStr% is the highest of his career. The important thing for the Brewers is going to be laying off pitches outside the strike zone (but it kind of always is).

Wednesday July 23rd, 1:10 pm CT: Kyle Lohse vs Mike Leake

Mike Leake is arguably the best pitcher the Brewers are going to be facing this series (so it's fitting Kyle Lohse gets the start). FIP doesn't like him that much, but I think he's solid. He has 5 pitches that he mixes pretty well. His low-90's fastball is complemented by a slider, cutter, curve, and change. He has a .262 BAA which isn't very good, but his low BB% helps keep his WHIP down. He has a below average K% as well, but he gets a lot of ground balls. Ground ball pitchers and pitchers with large repertoires often give the Brewers hitters fits, but in their last meeting the Brewers tagged him for 4 runs in 5 innings. Let's hope for a similar outcome.

Conclusion

I still don't know how the Reds have dominated the Brewers to the extent that they have. I don't think the Reds suck, but they're not that good either. Now with two of their most important position players out, they're even more vulnerable. The Brewers really need a series win here and I think they're capable of it. The Reds pitching is miles ahead of their hitting, but the starters the Brewers are facing are not without warts.

Of course, the same could be said about the three starters the Brewers will throw out there. Hopefully Jimmy Nelson can have a rebound outing after getting roasted by the Cardinals. Wily Peralta and Kyle Lohse are both coming off great starts so hopefully they're back on track. In the end I do think the Brewers win 2 out of 3, but I'd be lying if I said their recent play hasn't had me worried just a bit.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link!

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs

Reds at Brewers, Game 1: Preview and Predictions

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Now that the weekend series in New York is over, it's time for the Reds to get to business. Because of how they handled it, this is now the biggest series of the season. If they can't deliver here, they could make themselves deadline sellers pretty quickly. Simply put, this is a series they need to win. Period.

They'll try to do that tonight with Mat Latos on the hill, who is coming off his shortest outing of the season 10 days ago. This'll be the third time he's faced the Brewers this year, though, in only his 7th start, so let's hope some familiarity with the lineup goes to his advantage.

The Brewers will counter with the resurgent Wily Peralta, who's coming off a shutout appearance against the Cardinals. He threw 8 goose-eggs against the Reds earlier this year, so this should end up being a pretty good pitching matchup.

Go Reds!

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.

Bullpen Log

Reliever7/157/167/177/187/195 day totals
Carlos Contreras


1.0, 12p
1.0 IP, 12 pitches
Logan Ondrusek




0.0 IP, 0 pitches
Sam LeCure

1.0, 9p
1.1, 20p2.1 IP, 29 pitches
J.J. Hoover


1.0, 28p
1.0 IP, 28 pitches
Jonathan Broxton



1.0, 18p1.0 IP, 18 pitches
Manny Parra



0.2, 23p0.2 IP, 23 pitches
Aroldis Chapman


0.1, 18p0.1 IP, 18 pitches
Jumbo Diaz


1.0, 12p

1.0 IP, 12 pitches

Brewers frustrate Reds; Win 5-2

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Remember all those games that the Brewers just crapped out? Remember how lucky the other team got and how stupid it was? Well this time that happened to the Brewers' opponent and it felt like justice!

Winning Pitcher: Wily Peralta

Losing Pitcher: Mat Latos

SV: Francisco Rodriguez

HR: Billy Hamilton (6)

Boxscore

Win Expectancy Chart

Wily Peralta didn't exactly cruise through the first two innings, but the Reds didn't make too much noise either. Unfortunately Peralta made the cardinals sin in the third inning by walking the opposing pitcher (to lead off the inning no less). A ground out advanced Latos to second base and a wild pitch brought him to third with still just the one out. Skip Schumaker chopped one to very shallow short about a mile high and it seemed like there was no chance Latos wouldn't score. Somehow, though, Segura was able to glove it and throw it to home plate in time for the out. The next batter grounded out and the Brewers escaped without giving up a run.

Cue up some "Yakety Sax." In the bottom of the third inning Jean Segura scorched a line drive to right-center. It was an easy double. He was running full speed but still decided to try for three bases. Had the throw been on the line he'd have been out by a mile. Instead it ricocheted off his foot and into the Reds dugout. By the time it rolled in, Segura was at third base and so was awarded home. That's how the Brewers scored their first run.

Still in the third inning, Wily Peralta made up for walking Latos by taking 9 pitches before lining a single up the middle on pitch 10. Gomez followed up with a grounder up the middle and Scooter Gennett found himself at the plate with runners at first and second. He would fly out to medium center, but hilariously, Wily Peralta would tag up and advance to third on a weak throw by Billy Hamilton. Both Peralta and Gomez would score a line drive to left field that (again hilariously) sailed about two feet above Chris Heisey's glove. Aramis Ramirez would wear one on the wrist but the inning ended without another run. Still, the Brewers found themselves with a 3-0 lead after three complete innings.

The Brewers got two more runs the fourth inning (I hope you left that Yakety Sax window open). Jean Segura hit a sharp rounder through the right side of the infield. Wily Peralta bunted him over. Then Carlos Gomez launched a sky high fly ball to left field that should have very likely been an easy out. Instead Chris Heisey lost the ball in the lights, it bounced right in front of the wall and out for a ground rule double. Gomez stole third base and then Gennett grounded to first. It should have been an easy out, but the first baseman kicked it around a bit. Gennett was safe and Gomez scored.

Billy Hamilton ended the shutout in the sixth inning with a lead off home run to deep right-center. Skip Schumaker doubled down the left field line. The Brewers attempted a challenge, but the call was upheld. A ground out advanced him to third base. Devin Mesoraco struck out on a called check swing. It might have been a "make up call" as the previous check swing looked more egregious. Mesoraco threw a fit and was lucky to not get thrown out. His manager however was not so lucky. Peralta got David Lutz to strikeout as well to end the inning and strand the runner at third. Brewers still up 5-1.

Wily Peralta would pitch another (1-2-3) inning before calling it a night. He was shaky for the first three innings, but settled in nicely despite the home run to Hamilton. He went 7 innings, gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 run, and recorded 5 strikeouts.

A tip of the cap to Mat Latos who, despite all the hits and runs, was able to come back and pitch 7 total innings as well. I thought for sure he'd be done after 4 or 5. It would have been a great advantage for the Brewers to tire out the Reds bullpen.

Will Smith struggled a bit in the eighth. Kristopher Negron (I never heard of him either) led off the inning by hitting only his second home run of his career (all 13 plate appearances of it). Billy Hamilton then bunted for a hit. Smith then struck out three in a row.

With the score now 5-2, Francisco Rodriguez entered for the save in the ninth. He retired the side in order securing the Brewers victory putting the Brewers back to 10 games above .500!

The Brewers look to take the early series win in game two tomorrow. Start time is 7:10 pm CT as Jimmy Nelson faces Homer Bailey.

Other notes:

  • The Cardinals had off today and the Pirates lost. So with the Brewers win they're now half a game ahead of the Cardinals, 2.5 games ahead of the Pirates, and 3.5 games ahead of the Reds.

Reds dodge balls, unfortunately weren't playing Dodgeball. MIL 5, CIN 2

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It's hard to put into words how not-Redsy that Reds evening was. Poor defense paved the way, and a tough loss was handed to the good guys.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Billy Hamilton went 2 for 4 with his 6th dinger of the season, and was the primary bright spot in an otherwise lackluster, poorly executed "big" game against the Milwaukee Brewers this evening.  The dinger brought Hamilton's season slugging percentage to a robust .424, a mark now higher than every player who has played for the Reds this season not named Todd Frazier, Devin Mesoraco, or...Kris Negron.

Speaking of which, a very honorable mention is due to Negron, who walloped his 2nd dinger of the season as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning to bring said slugging percentage up to an even 1.000.

Other Honorable Mentions are due to:  Mat Latos, who didn't have a great night yet had one that deserved much better than what his defense gave him; Skip Schumaker, for going 2 for 4 with a double; and Carlos Contreras, for tossing a clean 8th inning in relief.

Key Plays

  • Filth flarn filth flarn filth hit the fan for the Cincinnati Reds in the Bottom of the 3rd thanks in large part to a Jean Segura leadoff smash off the wall in right-center.  Billy Hamilton'sfielded and hit 2B Ramon Santiago, but in an attempt to nail Segura at 3B Santiago's throw hit the runner and ricocheted into the dugout, scoring Segura on an offical triple and throwing error.  A single by Wily Peralta after a lengthy AB and a subsequent single by Carlos Gomez followed, and Ryan Braun then hit a looping fly ball that Chris Heisey terribly misjudged that ultimately went over the LF's head for a 2-run double.  Oof.  Reds trailed, 3-0.
  • Heisey was again the goat in the Bottom of the 4th, unfortunately, as the would-be 3rd out of the inning resulted in a deep fly ball that the Reds' LF lost in the lights, and it landed for a run-scoring double thanks to a previous Segura single.  Gomez then stole 3B, and scored on an error by newly chanced 1B Donald Lutz.  Reds trailed, 5-0.
  • Hamilton dingered to keep us entertained at the start of the Top of the 6th, and Negron led off the Top of the 8th with a solo battlekow of his own, but that was all the meager Reds offense could muster.  Reds lose, 5-2.
FanGraph That Cares Not for Pythagorean Record, 1st Half Success, Injury Issues, or How Bad Milwaukee's Team B.O. Is


Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

Cub Tracks Sees Trouble Mounting

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The writers see doom and gloom for the rest of the season. Can we just go back to monitoring the prospects now?

So how did Al do in my stead? Teaser: he gets another shot this coming weekend!

From Comcast SportsNet

From Cubs Den

From Cubs.com

From ESPNChicago.com

From the Chicago Tribune

From the Chicago Sun-Times 

From the Daily Herald

Miscellaneous

Today's food for thought

What we learned: July 22, 2014

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Today's lessons include the return of Jeremy Jeffress, a trade rumor, and info on the competitive balance lottery.

Yesterday's Results

Brewers 5, Reds 2

It was the Reds who were able to do nothing right last night. Several misplays by the Reds in the third and fourth innings got the Brewers five runs, and it was more than enough to back up Wily Peralta's seven innings where he gave up only one run. Will Smith gave up the other on a solo home run, and Francisco Rodriguez shut the game down.

Jeremy Jeffress is a Brewer again.

Earlier this year, the Brewers signed Jeremy Jeffress to a minor-league deal to see what he still had. After spending a few months with Nashville dominating the competition, the Brewers called him up, sending Rob Wooten down to Nashville to clear a space. Jeffress had been a top prospect in his original time with the Brewers, but repeated violations of the minor league drug program had put his career in jeopardy. He was traded to Kansas City, and ended up in Toronto for a while before being waived. He's back in Milwaukee now, and has a chance to get his career back on track here.

Cram Session

More from BCB

Power Rankings

Other Notes

Minor League Update

TeamLevelRecordYesterdayToday
Nashville SoundsAAA53-50Colorado Springs 5, Nashville 2Colorado Springs @ Nashville
Huntsville StarsAA62-39Huntsville 5, Jackson 2Huntsville @ Jackson
Brevard County ManateesA+51-41Fort Myers 4, Brevard County 2Brevard County @ Fort Myers
Wisconsin Timber RattlersA52-47Wisconsin 5, Dayton 4OFF
DSL BrewersR19-24DSL Rangers2 8, DSL Brewers 1DSL Brewers @ DSL Rangers2
Helena BrewersR13-21Grand Junction 11, Helena 7Grand Junction @ Helena
AZL BrewersR13-12AZL Padres 10, AZL Brewers 3AZL Padres @ AZL Brewers

News & Notes

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

Division Update

TeamWLGB
Brewers5545-
Cardinals54450.5
Pirates52472.5
Reds51483.5
Cubs405713,5

Today's Division Games

  • Rays (Jake Odorizzi) @ Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) - 7:15 pm
  • Dodgers (Josh Beckett) @ Pirates (Vance Worley) - 6:05 pm
  • Padres (Eric Stults) @ Cubs (Kyle Hendricks) - 7:05 pm

Today's Action

Yesterday's win put the Brewers back in sole possession of first place, but they'll have to keep winning to guarantee they will stay there. Tonight is game 2 of the series against the Reds, and it will feature Jimmy Nelson pitching against Homer Bailey. First pitch is at 7:10 pm, and Alec Shirkey of MLB.com has the preview.

Why PITCHf/x is important

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Most of the time here at Beyond the Box Score we utilize tools and stats like those from PITCHf/x to provide insights on the players we watch every night in Major League Baseball. This isn't one of those times though. This is a philosophical look at why PITCHf/x is important.

I'll admit that this is a narrow vision of why PITCHf/x is important. That's because PITCHf/x is important for a lot of different reasons. After all, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of ways that analysts have used PITCHf/x to provide deeper insights into the game that we all love to watch. The following paragraphs will outline a bunch of different ways in which PITCHf/x is important, though they're not the aspect that I'll primarily focus on with this piece. More on that later. First though, here are the non-most important reasons PITCHf/x is important.

First and foremost it helps us understand the pitches that are being thrown, where they're being thrown, and what they're doing once they leave the pitcher's hand. This is beginner stuff, but the data is very important because without it nothing more advanced could be built. Not only that, but it gives us some insight into how umpires call games, and what exactly the strikezone actually looks like. We can take that stuff even a step further as my colleague Scott Lindholm did, and look to see if umpires change how they call games as innings go by. It's not just pitchers and umpires though, we can see some pretty cool data on catchers using PITCHf/x as well. When it comes to this, nobody does it quite as well as the PITCHf/x experts Dan Brooks and Harry Pavlidis of Brooks Baseball and Baseball Prospectus. Hitters also get some action with plate discipline being a constant topic of discussion utilizing PITCHf/x data. Kevin Ruprecht and Justin Hunter give us two great examples of how PITCHf/x can be used to analyze hitterssomething that gets a lot less attention than it probably should.

The most obvious and common use for PITCHf/x data is to analyse pitchers. This happens to be my specialty, as I've followed in the footsteps of former writers who have gone on to join teams and take their analyses to front offices across MLB. Mike Fast for example was the reason I got into PITCHf/x analysis, and he's gone on to greener pastures in the Houston front office. As far as analysis goes, the most basic stuff is simply having reliable velocity, movement, and location data. That allows for things like analyzing what happens when pitchers hit triple digits. That's only part of the equation - it should be combined with other statistics to get the full picture - but it's a key piece of the puzzle. PITCHf/x allows us to say that Masahiro Tanaka has the best splitter in baseballOr maybe Hisashi Iwakuma doesWe can even predict whether a pitcher will truly be an Ace, or if he's just been lucky with some deep analysis using PITCHf/x, which is really very cool if you think about it.

All of that is amazing, it truly is.

The focus of this piece though is on something that is, admittedly, a little less tangible. PITCHf/x is important because it lets us get inside the head of major league pitchers. This isn't necessarily intuitive, but it's indelibly true. You see, with each pitch thrown a pitcher makes several conscious decisions. Which pitch am I going to throw?Where am I going to try and throw it? It might help to look at a macro level example to illustrate my point. This article I wrote about Yovani Gallardo and how he's adjusted to stay relevant features some interesting facts about fastball velocity and pitch usage. It's really a psychological profile of a guy who realized that he needed to innovate or die in an industry where wisdom may come with age but performance does not. Each season Gallardo had to make conscious tweaks to his game in order to remain an effective pitcher for the Brewers. Here we're looking at things on a season-to-season basis, but the crux of my argument holds true. That is, Gallardo is making decisions that can be seen through the data that PITCHf/x makes available to us.

Obviously we can look into how much Garrett Richards' currveball drops using PITCHf/x (a lot), or how hard Aroldis Chapman really throws his fastball (hint: really really hard). But we can also raise some bigger questions like why Clayton Kershaw throws a lot fewer fastballs when he is ahead of a hitterbut Felix Hernandez throws more.

We know that Kershaw has devastating breaking balls, so his thinking might be along the lines of "I want to get ahead with my fastball so I can put them away with my breaking stuff". That's pretty standard pitching strategy, and not terribly interesting. King Felix on the other hand has the potential to be more interesting.

Felix's fastball and change-up usage increases dramatically when he gets ahead or to two strikes, so perhaps Felix likes to use the two pitches in tandem to set hitters up for a punch out. If he gets a batter 0-2, he can throw a change up low and away to try to get a called strike three (the change breaks out of the zone, but the fastball which looks just like the change stays in the lower part for the K). He could also throw the fastball just off the plate to set up the hitter, and then follow it up with a change-up that fades back into the zone for the final strike.

The other day August Fagerstrom wrote an interesting article for Fangraphs that broke down a particularly impressive at-bat from Madison Bumgarner. Now, we here at Beyond the Box Score know just how awesome Bumgarner can be at the dish. August's article focused on Bumgarner and his awesome approach at the plate, and for good reason. However he mentions something really interesting near the end:

By god, pitchers are actually adjusting to Madison Bumgarner at the plate! At the beginning of the season, Bumgarner was seeing fastballs 80% of the time. Not uncommon for a pitcher. Now, Bumgarner sees fastballs just a little more than half the time.

August FagerstromMadison Bumgarner's Most Impressive At-Bat of the First Half

Right there Fagerstrom is getting inside the head of opposing pitchers! Pitchers are adjusting to Bumngarner because he's killing them at the plate. How pitchers are adjusting, and Fister's approach to that entire at-bat are just as worthy topics for discussion as Bumgarner's impressive plate discipline.

I first got into this mental aspect of pitching when I analyzed Ubaldo Jimenez a few months ago. Ubaldo has one of the most nuanced approaches in baseball, changing his repertoire and pitch mix depending on count and placement of base runners. It's obvious from studying Jimenez that he consciously changes his approach to match each situation he finds himself in. This isn't true for all though; Matt Cain doesn't change his approach no matter what the count is. Oh, there's a runner in scoring position? Matt Cain doesn't care, he maintains his approach regardless of where the base runners might be.

What is it that makes Matt Cain so different from Ubaldo Jimenez? Obviously there are differences in pitch mix, movement, velocity, etc. That's not the key difference, though. The key difference is in their approach. Approach, for the most part, is a mental exercise in which the pitcher decides how to attack a given hitter. Their approach can change, as in the case of Jimenez, depending on the situation. Then again, it may not.

I'm posing a lot of questions here without answers, but that's really the point of this article after all. This psychological aspect of the game is one of the next frontiers in analyzing baseball data. With further analysis of how pitchers approach opposing hitters, we can learn even more about the game we all love.

For the average fan, this is as simple as getting inside the head of the pros. When I was younger I always wanted to be like my favorite pros, and now we have the data to understand how they think and operate better than ever. If you're a young Oakland A's fan that loves Sean DoolittleI can not only tell you that he throws his fastball 80% of the time, but I can show you where he throws it in the zone, and I can even show you how to grip that very pitch. For a fan it's easier than ever to get inside the mind of your favorite players, all you need is to take a gander at the PITCHf/x data we have on them.

There are other applications for this thinking as well. For example, we could start to bucket pitchers together in the hopes of identifying the mental aspects of pitching and what traits are common among pitchers. Much like how we know that Masahiro Tanaka and Hisashi Iwakuma are among a group of pitchers that rely heavily on splitters, we can group together Matt Cain and Max Scherzer as pitchers who don't change their pitch mix based on the situation.

This may seem odd or pointless--applying psychological characteristics to pitch data. In fact, it's really quite similar to something Nielsen has been doing with lifestyle data for years. Nielsen's PRIZM system assigns various psycho-graphics to groups of people based on various demographic, economic, and lifestyle data points. As an example you can go to this page and see a list of PRIZM profiles for your zip code based on a plethora of data points (some of which are included on the map and below it). Here's the number one PRIZM segment for my zip code, an example of how my demographic data is mixed with that of my neighbors to create larger groups of people.

It's not uncommon for business principles to bleed into baseball and vice versa. Jonah Kerican tell you a thing or two about how business principles helped make one of the most surprising teams in baseball history. So the idea that taking a concept like marketing segmentation and applying it to pitchers and hitters in baseball shouldn't come as shocking. Obviously, if we want to know more about Koji Uehara, it makes the most sense to look at him on a micro level using PITCHf/x. For teams, though, it might be worth grouping pitchers together because some pitchers in a group might be available via trade or free agency. In that way, identifying common traits or characteristics can be invaluable to building a team.

The first group I'd create would be the re-inventors. This group consists of guys who significantly changed the way they pitch in order to save and/or resurrect their careers. This group would theoretically include Scott KazmirBrandon McCarthyR.A. Dickey, and many more. It's possible that the characteristics the Yankees saw in McCarthy that made him a trade target could be very similar to the reasons the Indians and A's took chances on Kazmir bouncing back in such a dramatic fashion.

The examples I've listed above aren't the end-all, be-all of PITCHf/x analysis. They are merely interesting parts of it that haven't been broached yet. It's easy to pull up a Brooks Baseball game log and see how hard a pitcher was throwing during a game. What takes more doing is getting inside the pitcher's head to see why exactly Daisuke threw that slider after a curveball in the first inning.

Nearly everyone got inside the head of a major league pitcher when Adam Wainwright threw a "pipe shot" to Derek Jeter in the All Star Game. PITCHf/x helped us decide if Waino really did groove a pitch or not. The grooved pitch heard 'round the world isn't the most exciting look into a pitcher's mind, after all many of thought it was coming. What it is though, is a glimpse into the more personal side of the story that PITCHf/x has been trying to tell us all along.

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs,Brooks Baseball, and Baseball-Reference.

Jeff Long is a writer at Beyond The Box Score and Baltimore Sports and Life. You can follow him on Twitter at @BSLJeffLong.

Rockies Prospects: Antonio Senzatela, Tourists bullpen pitch shutout

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Antonio Senzetela continued a dominant stretch, the Grand Junction offense stayed hot, and Chris Capuano struck out eleven in Colorado Springs.

Asheville Tourists 2, Greenville Drive 0

It was a rare low-scoring affair as the Asheville Tourists edges the Greenville Drive 2-0.

The Tourists brought their patient shoes to the park, drawing seven walks total, two a piece from David Dahl and Ryan McMahon.

Dahl added a hit, stole a base and scored a run bringing his season totals to 10 home runs and 18 stolen bases to go along with a .305/.345/.501 slashline.

McMahon added an RBI double to his two walks and scored the other run in the game. Raimel Tapia had a walk and a stolen base, his 25th of the season.

Asheville pitching was stellar, starting with Antonio Senzatela, who continues a good stretch, going five innings, striking out five, and giving up only three hits. In his last four games (24 innings pitched) Senzatela has given up one run.

Matt Pierpont kept a clean-sheet he has had going through his first 17.2 innings this season. Since moving to Asheville Pierpont has a 0.00 ERA. He gave up two hits and struck out three in this one.

Carlos Estevez and Dylan Stamey each worked perfect innings to lock-up the shutout.


Grand Junction Rockies 11, Helena Brewers 7

Hamlet Marte continues to be a nightmare for pitchers to get out, going 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored. He also stole his second base of the season. Marte is hitting .370/.446/.575.

Forrest Wall continues to hit well, grabbing two more including a double and three RBI to bring his season average to .321.

Terry McClure and Omar Carrizales each had doubles as well and Luis Jean had a two-hit day, but it was Randy Reyes who was the real offensive hero.

Reyes went 3-4 with a three-run home run, two runs scored, en route to a five RBI day.

Sam Howard struggled in his three innings, giving up four runs on six hits, striking out two and walking two.

Tri-City Dust Devils 6, Vancouver Candians 10

It was another rough outing for Blake Shouse, though not terrible, in his five innings of work, giving up four runs and striking out only one.

Dillon Thomas hit a three run home run and Josh Fuentes and Drew Weeks each added multi-hit days with an RBI a each.

Modesto Nuts 6, Lancaster JetHawks 7

Michael Tauchman went 4-6 bringing his average to .375 but it wasn't enough as the Modesto Nuts fell to the Lancaster JetHawks 7-6.

Juan Ciriaco and Rosell Herrera also had multiple hits including a double a piece. David Bergin hit his fifth home run of the season.

Ryan Carpenter worked seven innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits. Peter Tago and Rayan Gonzalez gave up a combined three runs in relief.

Tulsa Drillers 7, Springfield Cardinals 1

Taylor Featherson blasted a three-run home run and Ryan Casteel added a solo-shot of his own to help power the Drillers to a 7-1 over the Springfield Cardinals. Tyler Massey had a mutli-hit day along with Featherston and Casteel, scoring twice and driving in two.

Trevor Story continues to struggle in Tulsa going 0-3 with two strike outs, though he did draw a walk.

Carlos Hernandez worked six innings giving up one run on four hits and four strikeouts.

Colorado Spring Sky Sox 5, Nashville Sounds 2

Chris Capuano pitched seven innings, gave up two runs, and struck out a hefty eleven batters on the way to a 5-2 win for the Sky Sox.

Capuano only gave up four hits in the game, though two of them were home runs. Dan Houston picked up the two inning save.

Colorado Springs only tallied one extra-base hit, a double from Drew Garcia, but scored five runs via multi-hit performances from Garcia, Angelys Nina, Tim Smalling and Dustin Garneau. In nineteen games a Triple-A Garneau, a known defensive quantity behind the plate, is hitting .344/.378/.657 with three home runs.

Garneau is a name to keep track of if he can hit at all (and maybe even if he can't) as he may soon be the best defensive option the MLB team has.

Lucroy hits walk-off 2/3 as far as Molina would have probably. MIL 4, CIN 3.

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Probably. Or something.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Oh, I don't know.

Despite the fact that the Cincinnati Reds played a rather mundane game, they somehow managed to find themselves in a 3-3 game in the 9th inning, and I guess there had to be someone worthy of tonight's trophy and $7 gift card to Speedway.

I'll bestow it upon Brayan Pena, then, who was the only Reds to reach base twice on the evening.  NERTS also scored a run, and despite nearly everything we could have possibly imagined he's emerged as a very realistic option as the 1B for the foreseeable non-Votto future.

Not a great option, but quite possibly the best option.  I think I'd call up Tucker Barnhart to be the backup catcher and start Pena at 1B unless a significant trade is made.  Welcome to 2014.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Jay Bruce, who snapped an 0 for 15 streak with an RBI double; Billy Hamilton, who went 1 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base; Homer Bailey, who allowed just 3 runs (all on...wait for it...Homers) but pitched decently otherwise; and Ramon Santiago, for continuing to not be nearly as bad as we'd expected him to be when called upon due to injuries to his teammates.

Key Plays

  • A pair of solo dingers put the Reds in a bind early in this one, as both Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez went deep (in back to back fashion) off Bailey in the Bottom of the 1st inning.  Reds trailed, 2-0.
  • Hamilton's single and steal of 2B started the Reds first foray into the scoring column, and a productive (read: GRITTASTIC) out from Skip Schumaker put Billy at 3B for Bruce's RBI double over the head of Lyle Overbay.  Unfortunately, a solo dinger from Johnathan Lucroy got that run back for the Brewers in the Bottom of the 6th.  Reds trailed, 3-1.
  • Brewers' pitcher Jimmy Nelson had largely cruised through the first 6 innings, but he tired a bit in the Top of the 7th to allow the Reds to tie things up.  Singles from Ryan Ludwick and Pena led off the inning, and the bases were then loaded when Zack Cozart was hit on the hand while squaring for a potential bunt.  Nelson then hit Santiago on the foot to score a run and get sent to the showers, and the Reds tacked on another run when Chris Heisey hit a pinch-hit liner that resulted in a sac-fly.  Game tied, 3-3.
  • Lucroy then mashed a lead-off walk-off off a Sam LeCure meatball in the Bottom of the 9th, and sadly that was that.  Reds lose, 4-3.
FanGraph as Cruel as Knowing that Cruel Intentions is 15 Years Old


Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes
  • That's now 5 consecutive losses to start the second half of the season for the Reds, and they've each been disappointing in their own way.
  • Cozart left the game after being hit, and while x-rays determined that he didn't break anything, it's easy to assume he'll be bruised and out for at least a few games.  Kris Negron entered the game when Cozart came out, and he, too, was banged up when a throw-over to 1B hit him in the head.  He stayed in the game, but it draws the uber-thin nature of the Reds IF depth into a glaring spotlight.  One can only assume that the currently rehabbing Jack Hannahan is on 24 hour alert.
  • The trade deadline is now less than 9 days away, and I've reached the point where I'd rather the Reds make a break-down move than no move at all.  Balking at acquisitions leaves this team categorically out of the playoff race, and that's a combination that just seems imprudent.  Make savvy additions and there's a chance at the postseason; trade a veteran pitcher if there's not a savvy addition to be made affordably and pick up an important piece for the 2015 season; do nothing, gain nothing, and likely miss the playoffs with the banged-up state of the roster.  Pick one, Walt, but don't sit on your hands again.
  • Speaking of trade deadline strategy, it appears that the top hitting prospect in the Reds' system, Jesse Winker, is set for surgery to repair a tendon in his hand, and given the timing it's an injury that will likely end his season.  That's a top-flight trade chip potentially off the table, too, and it's dang unfortunate considering Winker's solid season so far.
  • That poor baby will have to sleep under the basket again tonight.
  • It's George Clinton's birthday, so have the funk.
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