This was a weird game, ladies and gentlemen. It was the "Monty Python's description of Camelot in 'The Holy Grail' movie" of games.

Winning Pitcher: Dale Thayer

Losing Pitcher: Zach Duke

HR: Rene Rivera (9)

Win Expectancy Chart

Boxscore

After yesterday's game the first 3 innings were a welcomed change: Nothing much happened. Yovani Gallardo gave up a walk and a hit but managed to face the minimum thanks to two double plays in back-to-back innings. Odrisamer Despaigne also gave up a walk and a hit but no runs thanks to 5! strikeouts.

After 3 innings of that I was getting tired of seeing the Brewers made to look silly. Unfortunately Despaigne didn't feel like stopping. He struck out Ryan Braun for the second time and after a base hit from Aramis Ramirez he got Scooter Gennett to pop up. Gerardo Parra ended the inning with a lazy flyout to center. After 4 IP and only 39 pitches thrown, Despaigne found himself on pace for a Maddux!

Entering this game Gallardo needed only 4 strikeouts to tie Ben Sheets for the franchise record. Entering the fourth inning he had yet to record a single K. That letter remained elusive as the inning went: ground out, fly out, ground out. Still, Gallardo had yet to give up a run and faced the minimum now through four complete!

The Brewers best chance to this point came on a lucky break. Lyle Overbay sky-ed one to left field just out of the reach of Seth Smith. It happened to bounce out of play and Overbay was awarded second base on a ground-rule double. Elian Herrera followed up with a grounder up the middle that Overbay was only able to advance to third on. Gallardo bunted for an out, and Overbay couldn't score, but Herrera did advance. It seemed a strange decisioin because even a double play likely scores the run. Had Gallardo flied out that would likely have scored the run. With Overbay's (lack of) speed, bunting was probably the least effective way to get the run in. Gomez followed that (non?) effort up with a strikeout. Lucroy would fly out in yet another example of the Brewers beating themselves.

Two back to back hits by the Padres and an error by Braun gave Will Venable runners at the corners with no outs. After 11 pitches Venable flew out, but Grandal chose not to test Gerardo Parra's arm. It was another lucky break for the Brewers. Jed Gyorko did advance from from first to second though. After missing his chance to score on the fly out, Grandal went on contact. Unfortunately for him, the contact was a sharp grounder to Aramis Ramirez at third base who successfully cut down the runner at home plate for the second out. Gallardo was super duper careful to Alexi Amarista resulting in a walk and Odrisamer Despaigne walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded having never produced a base hit at the major league level. He hit a grand slam. Nah, just kidding. He grounded out to the shortstop. Harry Houdini tipped his hat to Gallardo and the Brewers after this inning.

Despaigne cruised through the Brewers in the top of the sixth inning. I'm not sure if he threw a single strike, but the Brewers swung away nonetheless. It was like some kind of weird performance art that no one gets but the *ahem* 'artist'.

Gallardo led the bottom of the sixth inning off with a walk despite getting ahead of the batter early. The next batter bunted it right back to Yo and he was able to get the lead out. Gallardo then induce a picture perfect double play opportunity but Scooter Gennett bobbled it and everyone was safe. The baseball gods were kind tonight and they afforded the Brewers another double play opportunity. This time it was a grounder to the shortstop Herrera who did not bobble and the inning ended with a sigh of relief. Gallardo's night would be over. He did not take a step closer to tie Ben Sheets' franchise strikeout record.

The Brewers offense finally did some right, but still in a hilarious way. Lyle Overbay reached with one out. Then Elian Herrera shot a liner up the right field side. Overbay put on the afterburners and chugged around third. A good throw probably gets him. Venable did not supply the Padres with a good throw. Overbay slide and was safe. It would probably be more apt to say Overbay spiked his leg awkwardly and was safe. Herrera by the way, reached third base. This is important because with Khris Davis at the plate, pinch hitting for Gallardo, Despaigne threw what was later ruled a passed ball. Herrera scored the Brewers second run.

The stupid spilled over to the Brewers defense in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Jeremy Jeffress came in and induced a dribbler right in front of Overbay. Instead of fielding it cleanly, he and Jeffress just kind of walked into each other unable to decide whose ball it was. The next batter line a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Rene Rivera came to the plate next and desperately tried to give the Brewers an out (by bunting) but instead Jeffress gave him two balls. After two strikes, Jeffress came back with a 97 mph fastball to get the first out by K. Amarista lined one to left center and I was sure the Padres were going to score, but instead Gerardo Parra covered a metric cuss ton of ground and won my heart with a sliding catch. Unfortunately the Padres did score on the next line drive to left. The next batter grounded out but the Padres cut the Brewers lead to 2-1. All things considered it was a solid outing for Jeffress.

Nick Vincent replaced Despaigne in the top of eighth inning and breezed through Braun-Lucroy-Ramirez.

Ron's Eighth Inning Guy (patent pending) Will Smith took the mound for the Brewers in...well, the eighth inning. Abraham Almonte led off with a single. Then Smith scorched one to Lyle Overbay who was able to knock it down. However no one was cover first base and Overbay couldn't get the tag on in time. The umpires went to a review and quickly came back with a decision that remarkably overturned the safe call. So, ONE out! Yasmani Grandal worked a 3-1 count before Will Smith got him to swing, and more importantly miss, on two back-to-back sliders. Lucroy had to throw to first to secure the out because nothing could come easy in this game. It was actually rather routine though. TWO outs! Jedd Gyorko drew a walk and a lot of moves were made. Cameron Maybin was put in to run for Gyorko. Then RHH Tommy Medica pinch hit for the LHH Will Venable. Will Smith, however, stayed in the game. Called strike, ball, foul, ball, SWING AND A MISS (Luc had to secure this one too)!!! THREE OUTS! *Kermit arms*

Kevin Quackenbush pitched the ninth and he too breezed through the Brewers batters.

On to the bottom of the ninth. The important inning. All the stupid things that happened in this game wouldn't matter if only Francisco Rodriguez could deftly handle the back of the Padres lineup. And do you know what happened? With all the insane, funny, frustrating things that happened in this game, do you know what happened. He gave up a lead off home run to tie the damn game. Give an assist to the umpires amazingly inconsistent strike zone though. K-Rod then got a ground out before allowing a base hit. That runner would erase himself on a caught stealing. K-Rod would replace that runner with a walk. Francisco Rodriguez got his 1,000 career strike out to end this horrible inning. To extras we would go...

Dale Thayer pitched the tenth inning for the Padres. Strike out, ground out, ground out. Inning over.

Zach Duke pitched the tenth inning for the Brewers and in what seemed to be the fashion for the Brewers pitchers, allowed a lead off base runner. This particular runner reached on a walk. The next batter reached on a base hit single. Cameron Maybin attempted to advance the runners with a bunt but instead the Brewers get the lead out at third. One out, runners still at first and second. Rookie Rhymer Liriano's first plate appearance of the night resulted in a fly out. The game would have ended right there had Lucroy not secured the earlier force out at third base. As fate would have it, game tying Rene Rivera stepped to the plate with a chance to walk it off. And that's just what he did. A grounder up the middle.

Other notes:

• The Cardinals dropped the second straight game to the Pirates today by a score of 3-1. With the Brewers wild and wacky loss that leaves the Cards 1.5 games back and the Pirates 4 games back.

• Down on the farm Wei-Chung Wangpitched 7.2 strong innings for the A+ Brevard County Manatees. He gave up 7 hits, 0 walks, allowed 2 runs, and struck out 8 batters which is tied for his career high. We already know that Wang will participate in the AFL as a member of the Glendale Desert Dogs, but we still are waiting to see if he'll return to the big league club when he reaches the 30 day limit on his rehab assignment which would be in the first week of September. My guess is he will return. I'm not sure how the Brewers could rationalizing his pitching in rehab, then shutting him down for a month, only to have him return for the AFL. Besides, just because he's on the team in September doesn't mean he'll have to pitch. However, I for one am rooting for the Brewers to lock up the division early enough that Wang can get a start before the regular season ends!

After an incredible defensive showing last night, Rene Rivera showed off his bat tonight. With a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth and the game-winning single in the tenth, he continues to show why he's such a valuable part of the Padres lineup. He also called a pretty nice game for starter Odrisamer Despaigne, who gave up just two runs (one unearned) in seven innings while striking out nine.

Odes and Yovani Gallardo spent the first six innings locked in a pitchers' duel, with each holding the opposition scoreless. Outside of jams that both hurlers worked their way out of in the fifth, there wasn't a whole lot of offense going on. But both teams started to slip in the seventh. Lyle Overbay (who, to my surprise, is not 45 years old) hit a one-out single. Elian Herrera brought him home on a double to right, and then went to third on the throw. Ron Roenicke sent Khris Davis to pinch hit, but he needn't have shut down Gallardo. A passed ball let Herrera score with no help from Davis. (Of course, Rene Rivera would more than make up for that mistake later.)

Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress ran into trouble immediately after taking the mound. Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable hit back to back singles. A pair of outs right after put the rally in jeopardy, so Bud Black sent Jake Goebbert up to the plate for Despaigne. His line drive brought Venable home and cut the deficit to one. That set up Rivera's ninth inning heroics. The studly catcher was the first to face Francisco Rodriguez, and he took a pair of fastballs for balls before finding his pitch. And, boy, did he find it. Rodriguez served him up another fastball, and Rene crushed it deep into the left field stands.

That brought us to bonus baseball. Seth Smith got things started by drawing a leadoff walk. Yasmani Grandal followed up with a single to put the winning run in scoring position. Buddy tried to play it safe by having Cameron Maybin bunt Smith over to third, but it didn't go as planned, with catcher Jonathan Lucroy nailing the throw to third to catch Smith. A line drive out by Rymer Liriano brought Rivera back to the plate with no room for error. And once again, Rene was pure clutch, knocking a single up the middle to bring Grandal home for the win.

The boys get a well-deserved day off tomorrow. When they come back Friday night, Andrew Cashner will face off against the Dodgers. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

abara led the comments with 56 and the recs with 6 (although hashtagtroll did make a last minute play for the rec lead).

Ryan Ghan and Turk's Teeth team up to provide a post-draft, post-trade-deadline look at the lottery tickets and green shoots on the Angel's farm.

TT– To the utter surprise of nobody, our selection for the #1 Angels prospect on the farm, the top crop, the most promising lad, the good-good in a bad-bad bunch is....

Sean Newcomb.

It'd be hard to imagine otherwise. He's the Angels' first first-round draft selection since 2011, was the consensus second-best college lefty on the board in the 2014 draft, and it was a complete surprise to the Angels scouting dept that he "fell" to them with pick 15 when he was expected by most analysts to go in the top ten. By most accounts, Jerry Dipoto and Ric Wilson expected Vanderbilt's Tyler Beede to be their likely selection (the Giants took him at pick #14).

We've written about Newcomb plenty, and there's plenty in his recent collegiate record that is cause for optimism, but pitching in the NCAA AmEast is no proxy for even Class A pro ball, where wooden or composite bats are the norm, and the average teams are stocked with the most advanced collegiate players available in the last two recent drafts. It's no wonder that Newcomb's first three appearances with the Burlington Bees were not as smooth as one would hope. In fact they were downright ugly: 11 hits, 5 BBs, and 9 ERs over 7.2 ignominious innings. Ouch.

But then there was last night.

Newcomb is pitch-limited. Jerry Dipoto said he would not likely pitch more then 20 or 30 innings this season, and as most minor league action wraps up on Monday night, he's right on schedule. Last night, he pitched exactly 60 pitches over 4 innings against a very good Milwaukee Brewers affiliate, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Given how rough Newcomb's entry has been thusfar, how did that turn out?

Well, he struck out 10 batters, eight of them swinging, while walking no one, and surrendering just two singles (one an infield hit that speedster Johnny Davis barely beat out). Again: in four innings.

It's only one component of a complex picture, but yeah, that's what a "high ceiling" looks like.

Take it away, RG.

– 1 –

(1)  Sean Newcomb (player page)

RG– Everyone loves Newcomb's fastball, which draws 60-65 grades from evaluators. It's a low-to-mid-90's beast, touching 97 mph regularly, and he maintains the velo deep into games. Consensus projects the slider as his best eventual secondary pitch, but there are other reports that like his change-up more, or are positive about his curveball. Initially, I loved the conflicting opinions, because they underscored just how unfinished – in a good way! – Newcomb is as a prospect. Then I watched his August 17th start, and saw the opposition pick up the offspeed -- especially that curveball -- and mash it.  His FB command was a mess as well.  He definitely has some work to do in bullpen sessions over the offseason.

The hard, left-side fastball and track record for throwing a sufficient number of strikes gives him at least a relievers' floor, while flashes of potential in his three secondary offerings hint at a potential emergence as a frontline arm.  Of course you'd want to see a better pro debut – good numbers are always better than bad numbers – but give Halos' coaches a chance to put their imprint on him before jumping to conclusions. It's a special arm in an unfinished package.

***Update***

As Turk mentions above, Newcomb was a total badass last night.  Just about untouchable. And he did it almost entirely with fastballs up in the zone that Midwest League hitters couldn't touch. It's like his coaches said, "F*** it, forget about everything that we've been talking about this past month, and just let it rip."  And let it rip he did.

He threw a few sliders for strikes, which he hadn't been able to do back on the 17th.  He threw maybe 3 change-ups, also mostly for strikes. He only went to the curveball twice, both in the 4th inning, and froze the opposition in two-strike counts. Those were his only two called strike threes; the other whiffs came on belt-high-and-up heat.

It was a very good outing, and sends Newcomb and the Bees into the playoffs on a high note.

Today's lessons include a tough loss, a Triple-A affiliate change, and some notes on pitching.

Yesterday's Results

Padres 3, Brewers 2

The Brewers and Padres played in a pitcher's duel for six innings before the Brewers final broke through with two runs in the seventh. However, the Padres responded with a run in the seventh, then tied the game in the ninth before winning it in the tenth.

Cram Session

Stories from BCB

• A report came out that the Brewers are planning to move their Triple-A affiliation. Noah has more details on the planned change.
• Is Jimmy Nelson on an innings limit? Noah looks at recent Brewers prospects that came up and if they were on any limits.
• We went through the BCB rules yesterday, in case you missed it.

Pitching Notes

• Matt Garza is scheduled to throw a simulated game in San Francisco tomorrow and rejoin the rotation during the homestand next week.
• Over on OnMilwaukee.com, Jim Owczarski has five questions for Brewers starter Wily Peralta.
• Following Tuesday's game, Curt Hogg of Disciples of Uecker looked at Tyson Ross' performance and the Brewers plate discipline facing him.
• Steven Jewell of Reviewing the Brew has a profile on Will Smith.

Other Notes

• With the playoffs coming up, Anthony Castrovince looks at the different contenders and ranks the different aspects of those teams.
• The Brewers haven't had any one aspect of their team define their team this year. Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker looks at how the Brewers have resisted any narratives this year.
• Over on Cream City Cables, Nathan Petrashek looks at Scooter Gennett as a liability to the Brewers.
• Ron Roenicke was ejected last night after arguing balls and strikes with the umpire. After the game, Roenicke had some harsh criticisms of the umpires.

Minor League Update

Playoff Notes

• Nashville Sounds - Have fallen three games behind Memphis for a playoff spot. Elimination number is four.
• Huntsville Stars - Clinched first-half playoff spot.
• Brevard County Manatees - Four games out of a playoff spot, elimination number is one.
• Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Two games ahead for a playoff spot, five games remain.
• Helena Brewers - Eight and a half games out of a playoff spot, elimination number is two.
• AZL Brewers - Final game of regular season today. If the AZL Brewers win, they are in the playoffs. If they lose, they are eliminated from contention.

News & Notes

• The AZL Fall League rosters were announced, and eight members of the Brewers organization were selected to participate. Derek has more details on each of the eight participants.
• Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has a photo gallery from Tuesday's Timber Rattlers game.
• Jimmy Nelson was named PCL pitcher of the year, the second time in two years a Brewers pitcher received the honor.
• Ben Tannenbaum of The Brewers Bar looks at three call-ups that could help the Brewers.
• Tim Dillard got a callup to Nashville late this year. Enrique Bakemeyer looks at the callup and how the Brewers can't seem to get rid of him.

Division Update

• Pirates 3, Cardinals 1
• Reds 7, Cubs 5

Today's Division Games

• Cubs (Jake Arrieta) @ Reds (Dylan Axelrod) - 11:35 am
• Cardinals & Pirates have the day off.

Today's Action

The Brewers have the day off before starting a stretch of 17 games in a row. The stretch starts with a three-game series in San Francisco tomorrow.

Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun has been battling a nerve injury in his hand, sapping him of much of his prodigious power this season. In this article, we will detail the anatomy involved and their effects on his swing.

Much of the Ryan Braun's past two seasons have been marred by a peculiar and recurring hand injury that has robbed him of much of his prodigious power. Typically described as a right thumb injury, it is an inflamed nerve in the 'webbing between his right thumb and index finger that runs up the base of the thumb' that is the actual source of Braun's issues. Secondary to this matter are the blisters in the area as a result to gripping the bat too tightly due to the injury causing numbness of the thumb.

While a number of resolutions have been presented—increased padding of the thumb to relieve pressure and even surgery that would completely resolve the issue at the cost of sensation in the thumb—all have had deficits of one form or another, resulting in a pair of disappointing seasons which have found him hitting at an ISO of .200 and .208 in 2013 and 2014, respectively, both well under his career average of .247.

Before we begin our discussion, some anatomical sleuthing is necessary, as the exact nerve causing Braun's troubles has never been directly identified. However, with the general area mentioned in the above quote from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt and some other considerations, we have a great idea as to which nerve is the culprit. Since Braun has no issue gripping a bat and it's is solely a matter of a sensory nerve wreaking havoc on his swing, our list of suspects is cut down precipitously.

Three nerves supply innervation to the hand to various degrees: the median, radial, and ulnar nerves. Knowing the area of concern is around the thumb and the webbing between the thumb and index finger and that it is sensory in nature, we can be fairly confident that it is a branch of the median nerve that is problematic—a palmar digital cutaneous branch. There is a non zero percentage of anatomic variation that must be taken into consideration, but overall, the sensory side of the median is at the root of this injury.

With the sensory aspects of Braun's injury considered and with the understanding that a permanent resolution to the nerve aggravation is still up in the air, let's now turn to the motor and biomechanical aspects of his swing and consider some of the effects the lack of sensation has on these components. The act of gripping an object has been studied for many years and has been broken down into two basic types—a power grip and a precision grip (or handling)—with handling and swinging a bat being a power grip. Further refinement of the grip type used shows that a bat grip to be similar to a hammer grip, with the muscles of the forearm and hand interacting and firing in a dynamic fashion.

With respect to the muscles involved, one study of the intrinsic and extrinsic muscle control of grips found the interossei of the fingers assist in the rotation of the fingers as they wrap around the bat, while the flexor digitorum superficialis, an extrinsic flexor muscle, comes into play as the need for increased force in flexion of the fingers is required and can be thought of as a reserve muscle.

A number of other extrinsic muscles—muscles arising from the forearm that assist in movement at the hand at wrist—provide the lion's share of gripping power seen in the power grip. Intrinsic muscles—muscles that are fully contained within the hand—also play a large role in the generation of grip force, with the thenar muscles of the thumb and the fourth lumbrical muscle being the primary intrinsic components to the power grip of a bat, with the thenars at greatest risk for injury and aggravation in Braun's case of reduced sensation of his right thumb.

From a hitting perspective, the top hand is what provides the power of the swing and is also the hand that essentially delivers the bat to the right spot for contact with a pitch, accelerating the bat to the point of contact and in the process, allowing for the shortest swing path. With Braun's thumb injury arising from the right hand (the top hand for a right-handed hitter), it isn't any surprise that while his contact rates are in line with career averages, his chase rates are higher than usual—2014 sees him at a 10.9% swinging strike rate—coinciding with his power numbers all but sapped.

Looking at his slugging trends between 2012 (a healthy season) as well as his injury-hampered 2013 and 2014, this notion is amplified:

In particular, Braun has had problems with generating any power from inside pitches, with a lack of proprioceptive input from the top hand thumb playing a large role in this. Given the sensory issues, Braun's default action is to squeeze too hard on the bat, with the aforementioned intrinsic muscles overtaxed and the thenar eminence of the right thumb subjected to excessive forces that have led to blistering. This over-tight grip on the bat has also hindered his usually quick, smooth, compact swing path to all pitches, but is especially apparent on those on the inside half of the plate. As such, what contact he makes with inside offerings will be hit to the opposite field, with little power put behind the swing; a propensity to roll over balls he pulls can also be seen when the injury is at peak aggravation. The graphic below highlights the shift in Braun's spray chart across 2012-2014 and the move in his overall hit field:

In many ways, Braun's thumb issue puts him in a position where he is constantly at risk of jamming himself, especially when over-gripping the bat with the top hand. This also can lead to slower bat speed and erratic swing path, making the swing longer than desired. This is highlighted in Braun's ability to put bat to ball on good fastballs (here considered to be pitches thrown 95+ MPH), where he has seen his whiff rates go from 11.4 percent in 2012 to 16.9 and 13.4 percent in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The data does show Braun having some improvement in his production as of late, with some of the therapies and protective approaches employed by the Brewers medical staff providing some relief of his symptoms and allowing for him to remain fairly productive at the plate. This is particularly reflected in his 2014 data, which does show a return to some of the hitting tendencies seen in his healthier 2012 season, hitting to all fields. That said, it appears that Braun's issue is chronic, with rest being the only effective treatment. Aside from a procedure to cut the nerve, thereby leaving Braun with no sensation to the afflicted area, there are few other medical options.

A less common approach to treating the injury—something along the lines of a superficial sensory radial nerve entrapment procedure—is possible, but would more than likely be something that is infrequently performed and also rife with the usual caveats that going under the knife entail. From a behavioral perspective, assisting Braun with various strategies to endure the sensory deficits that occur when the injury flares up, such as occupational therapy approaches or even a change to a different style of bat handle, batting gloves with marks on them that prompt him to line up his hands with the proper amount of grip strength, even if he cannot quite feel his thumb fully, are all other possibilities that could help Braun endure and overcome the thumb numbness.

With surgery more than likely out of consideration due to the potential for permanent loss of sensory function, a durable and long term resolution to Braun's nerve injury remains a tricky proposition; one that will allow Braun to fully return to his slugging ways remains even more elusive.

***

Data courtesy of FanGraphs, Baseball Savant, and Brooks Baseball.

Stuart Wallace is an associate managing editor and writer at Beyond The Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @TClippardsSpecs.

References:

Intrinsic-extrinsic muscle control of the hand in power grip and precision handling. An electromyographic study. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, Vol. 52, No. 5. (July 1970), pp. 853-867 by C. Long, P. W. Conrad, E. A. Hall, S. L. Furler

Yadi Yadi Yadi.

As you should know by now, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch was in Springfield, Missouri last night, and no, his primary reason of being there was not to witness Sam Tuivailala's fastball in person—though this was likely a nice treat to complement his visit's primary focus. Obviously, Goold's primary assignment was to check in on the second rehab start of Cardinals six-time All-Star catcher Yadier Molina. After going two for three with a double two nights ago, Molina went three for three with two doubles and an RBI last night and was removed, as scheduled, after five innings of play. Before leaving Hammons Field in a car to make the trip back to St. Louis, Molina provided Goold with the following (DG's full article can be found here):

"Ready to go," Molina said. "Everything responded very good. The way I expected. … Right now I don’t know what the deal is, but I’m ready (to start Friday). If not Friday, then it’s this weekend. Soon. I’m ready to go."

Physically, I have zero doubts Molina is ready to go. From the very beginning, I believed the 8-12 week time frame was a pretty conservative estimate, considered the injury he suffered. Yet, given Molina's value to the organization (beyond just this season), I don't question being conservative in the slightest. Sure, many people have pointed out that Brandon Phillips returned earlier despite suffering the "same" injury, but comparing recovery times between two completely different human bodies is not fair in my opinion. Regardless, he's very nearly back, and I don't foresee any physical complications from the injury or surgery going forward.

What Yadi will bring upon his return...

No, I am not going to mention the Cardinals record without Yadi because frankly, I think there are far too many variables that go into the outcome of a baseball game to pin it solely on one player. Nope, I am not going to mention catchers' ERA since Molina went down, either, since again, I think there are too many variables that come into play here as well. Being fans of the Cardinals, we are all well aware of the possibly-overhyped intangibles Molina provides to his ball club. However, since these are intangible assets that we cannot fully grasp at this time, let's focus on the tangible skills Molina brings to the Cardinals upon his return, instead. Three, in particular, stand out to me: 1) better base-stealing management, 2) more consistent hitting, and 3) being a better target for his pitchers.

1) Better base-stealing management:

In Yadi's absence, base-stealers had an 86.2% success rate—as Cruz threw out three runners on 18 attempts, and Pierzynski threw out one in eleven tries. If Molina had enough games to qualify, he would be leading the majors in caught-stealing percentage (49.0% versus 41.0%, the next highest CS%). In the 81 games Molina played prior to landing on the disabled list, a total of 35 baserunners attempted to steal against him—or 0.432 attempts per game. Since he's been gone, there have been 29 stolen base attempts in games started by Cruz or Pierzynski (39 games)—or 0.744 attempts per game.

I believe the running game to slow down upon Molina's return, and I fully expect the team's caught stealing rate to increase from the 13.8% put forth by Cruz and Pierzynski. Also, I cannot wait to see more perfect strikes like this one:

2) More consistent hitting

Tony Cruz, since entering July 9th's game after Molina sustained his injury sliding into third, has slashed .160/.213/.200 with only three extra base hits (all doubles) and an exorbitantly high strikeout rate of 23.5%. A.J. Pierzynski has been considerably better at the plate, slashing .265/.324/.338, but he, like Cruz, has had only three extra base hits as well, with one coming via the long-ball.

Getting his timing back at the plate will likely be Molina's biggest hurdle down the stretch. He hasn't faced live major league pitching in exactly 51 days. The one thing going for him is his propensity to swing at and have success against the first pitch he sees—often a fastball. I don't question his ability to hit a fastball going forward, but picking up big league breaking balls and off-speed stuff will be no easy task. However, Molina will have a good grasp of his potential hitting deficiencies, and I reckon he will set plate appearances up in a way that gives him the best chance at success (intangible alert!).

3) Being a better target for his pitchers

In case you missed Jeff Sullivan's thought-provoking post over at Fangraphs from three days ago, he crafted words, graphs, and GIFs together to form a theory that has been vocalized by fans on Twitter for quite some time now—what if Adam Wainwright just misses his catcher? With reports of Wainwright's "dead arm" surfacing, this theory is all but debunked, but I think it's worth discussing anyway.

To be honest, I had considerable doubts about Sullivan's theory from the very beginning, and to his credit, he made it clear that he had some doubts as well. However, after watching very little of the 3-1 loss on Wednesday afternoon, there is a chance Sullivan just may be on to something. Here is the link to my original tweet, but for comparative purposes, I spliced together a screenshot of Sullivan's Molina GIF and one of my screenshots of Cruz from the game:

Admittedly, the sample size cannot get any smaller (1 v. 1 comparison), but if my memory serves me correctly, Molina consistently keeps his glove up and open for his pitchers to target, from the start of their windup through the release. The only times he doesn't do this is when he sets up inside and then quickly shifts outside just before the pitch (intangible alert!), in situations where he perceives the hitter is picking up on his positioning pre-pitch (usually with a runner on second base).

Thus, despite consistently playing inconsistently in 2014 (yep, that does make sense), the Cardinals trail the Brewers by only 1.5 games in the National League Central, with 30 games to play (Brewers have 29 left). Our own Craig summed up the rest of the season perfectly with one tweet from Wednesday:

After tomorrow, Cardinals will play 30 games in 31 days including 8 day games after night games. It's going to be a grind to the finish.

— Craig Edwards (@craigjedwards) August 27, 2014

Will Molina turn into Superman and get the Cardinals back on the track we all expected from them prior to the season? No, probably not, but with 30 games remaining, it is in the team's best interest to have their best players on the field, and it appears as if this is going to be the case very soon.

Today's lessons include a waiver claim, umpire complaints, and plenty of player analysis.

Yesterday's Results

The Brewers had the day off.

Cram Session

• If you didn't hear Ron Roenicke's comments bashing the umpire in Wednesday's game, ESPN has video of Ron Roenicke's postgame interview with his thoughts on the umpire. It's definitely worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.
• Meanwhile, David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot says that the Brewers are the one team that shouldn't be arguing balls and strikes in a game.
• The news of the day yesterday was that the Brewers had claimed Justin Morneau off waivers, but the Rockies pulled him back when the two teams couldn't work out a trade.
• How has Ryan Braun's thumb injury affected his season? Stuart Wallace of Beyond the Box Score has a detailed breakdown of the injury and how it has affected Braun.
• Is Francisco Rodriguez as bad at allowing home runs as Marco Estrada? Curt Hogg of Disciples of Uecker analyzes Rodriguez's high home run rate and provides two possible outcomes over the last month of the season.
• Jimmy Nelson is making the most of his major league callup this year. Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel profiles Jimmy Nelson and the road that has brought him to Milwuakee.
• Jean Segura may need to make mechanical adjustments to his approach if he wants to get back on track. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com looks at Segura's approach and the possibilities for him coming up.
• Michael Trzinski of Reviewing the Brew looks ahead to an important weekend series and beyond with September callups.

Minor League Update

Playoff Notes

It's the last weekend of play in the minor leagues. Nashville, Huntsville, and Wisconsin all end their regular seasons on Monday, Brevard County ends on Sunday, and Helena goes a little longer, until Friday of next week. Here are the playoff scenarios entering the weekend:

• Nashville Sounds - Down three games with five to play. Any combination of three losses/Memphis wins will eliminate them from contention.
• Hunstville Stars - Have clinched playoff spot.
• Brevard County Manatees - Eliminated from contention.
• Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Ahead by two and a half games for a playoff spot, with four to play. Two wins this weekend should put them in the playoffs.
• Helena Brewers - Eliminated from contention.
• AZL Brewers - Eliminated from contention.

News & Notes

Division Update

• Reds 7, Cubs 2
• Cardinals and Pirates had the day off.

This Weekend's Division Games

• Cubs @ Cardinals
  Friday: Kyle Hendricks vs. Shelby Miller - 7:15 pm
  Saturday: Felix Doubront vs. TBD - 1:15 pm
  Saturday: Tsuyoshi Wada vs. TBD - 7:15 pm
  Sunday: Travis Wood vs. John Lackey - 1:15 pm
• Reds @ Pirates
  Friday: Mike Leake vs. Edinson Volquez - 6:05 pm
  Saturday: Alfredo Simon vs. Vance Worley - 3:05 pm
  Sunday: Johnny Cueto vs. Francisco Liriano - 12:35 pm

This Weekend's Action

The Brewers are in San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants this weekend. Here are the starting pitcher matchups:

Friday: Wily Peralta vs. Ryan Vogelsong - 9:15 pm
Saturday: Mike Fiers vs. Jake Peavy - 8:05 pm
Sunday: Kyle Lohse vs. Madison Bumgarner - 3:05 pm

The Brewers begin a series with the Giants tonight.

Here's an fun fact. Going into Friday's game the Brewers and Giants had exactly the same run differential: +48. Actual level of fun derived from that fact may vary from person to person. The Brewers got there with a top offense (7th, 4.30 RS/G) and a middle of the ground pitching staff (15th, 4.02 RA/G). The Giants got there with a bottom ten offense (20th, 3.93 RS/G) and a top ten pitching staff (6th, 3.64 RA/G).

Here are the top players at each position according to MLB.com's depth chart (in order of wRC+): Michael Morse (135 wRC+), Hunter Pence (131), Buster Posey (130), Pablo Sandoval (116), Angel Pagan (113), Joe Panik (107), Travis Ishikawa (97), Brandon Crawford (93). That's actually quite formidable. Most of this group has actually performed even better over the last 30 days and even more so in the last 14 days. Pagan and Crawford have actually performed worse.

The good news is the Giants current bullpen is pretty mediocre. Jean Machi, Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, and George Kontos have been pretty solid. Javier Lopez has seen good results, but they might be luck based as his BB% is almost as high as his K%. Juan Gutierrez and Sergio Romo just haven't been very good. Tim Lincecum was recently demoted from the rotation to the bullpen. The move could help him, as it has in the past, but he was pretty awful as a starter this year.

Friday, August 29th - 9:15 pm CT: Wily Peralta vs Ryan Vogelsong

Vogelsong is having a pretty good year. He has a 3.78 ERA/3.68 FIP/4.00 xFIP. He has a solid 19.2 K% which is just below league average (20.3%). He's been very good at limiting home runs (0.78 HR/9). His 2.52 BAA is worse than average but his 6.8 BB% is better than average resulting in an essentially league average 1.26 WHIP. Overall he's a bit better than average, but not an overwhelming pitcher. The only time he faced the Brewers this year he held them to 1 run (on a home run) over 7 innings while only striking out 3 batters and walking 1.

Of note for the Brewers: Wily Peralta had his worst outing of his career in his previous start. I think it's probably a safe bet he won't give up 3 home runs at AT&T. I'm looking forward to a rebound start.

Saturday, August 30th - 8:05 pm CT: Mike Fiers vs Jake Peavy

As a member of the Red Sox (20 starts, 124 IP) Jake Peavy had a 4.72 ERA/4.80 FIP/4.31 xFIP. As a member of the Giants (6 starts, 39.2 IP) he has a 3.18 ERA/3.21 FIP/4.04 xFIP. He's struck out fewer batters, but also walk fewer as a Giant. His .257 BAA is still worse than average, but better than his previous mark of .268. The main difference however, is his 0.45 HR/9 in SF. In Boston he had a 1.45 HR/9. I find it hard to believe he can continue having such a low HR/9, but AT&T is a pitcher's park. It doesn't really matter what he does the rest of the season if he can hold off the Brewers power this night. That being said, the Brewers did score 3 runs off him in 5.2 IP without a home run the last time they faced him.

Sunday, August 31st - 3:05 pm CT: Kyle Lohse vs Madison Bumgarner

Madison Bumgarner is a beast. He has a 20.7 K%-BB%. That's higher than Vogelson's K%! His .233 BAA is better than average as is his 1.09 WHIP. He also have a low 0.78 HR/9. His pitching slash line is 3.02 ERA/2.86 FIP/2.89 xFIP. His FIP and xFIP actually suggest he's better than his already excellent ERA. That impressive. The Brewers have not faced Bumgarner this year.

Of note for the Brewers: This is Kyle Lohse's second start since missing time due to an ankle injury. His ankle was tested in his last start and held up fine, so hopefully he's passed that. Despite good results, he was a little shaky in that start. That was to be expected because of the time between starts. Now that he's back on regular rest we can be hopeful for a sharper outing.

Conclusion

This is a very tough Giants team. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders right now and that's scary because they have a very good pitching staff (though more so the rotation). After seeing the Brewers handle Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee, Steven Strasburg, Adam Wainwright, etc. this year, I'm not going to count them out of any game anymore. Still, they have a tall order with the three starters they're going to face. However, you can say the same thing about the Giants regarding the Brewers 3 starters. And, while the Giants offense has been white hot, the Brewers have had a better one all season. Honestly, I'm not sure who is going to win. I think in the end, the team that scores the most runs in each game is going to win. You can quote me on that.

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

Giants starter Jake Peavy has a no-hitter through seven innings against the Brewers on Saturday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The Giants lead Milwaukee, 3-0.

Peavy retired the first nine batters he faced before walking Carlos Gomez to open the fourth inning. Peavy has walked three on the night while striking out seven. He has thrown 99 pitches through seven innings.

San Francisco acquired Peavy from the Red Sox for minor league pitchers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree on July 26. This is the second time in seven starts with the Giants that he has taken a no-hitter into at least the seventh inning. He had a no-hitter broken up with one out in the seventh inning against the Mets on Aug. 2, an inning that saw Peavy allow four runs in a loss.

Peavy's strikeout of Aramis Ramirez in the second inning on Saturday was his third of the night and the 2,000th of Peavy's career, the 72nd pitcher in major league history to reach that plateau.

Jake Peavy of the San Francisco Giants took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Saturday at AT&T Park, but Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Mark Reynolds played spoiler with a single to right field.

The Giants lead the Brewers 3-0.

Peavy was five outs away from history before Reynolds singled. The right-hander remained in the game to strike out Jean Segura before getting relieved by left-hander Jeremy Affeldt.

On the night Peavy pitched 7⅔ scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks and hitting a batter while striking out eight and throwing 113 pitches.

It was the second-longest outing of the season for Peavy, who has lasted at least seven innings in four consecutive starts and in five of his last six outings for San Francisco. Since the Giants acquired Peavy from the Red Sox on July 26, he has a 2.66 ERA to go with 36 strikeouts and 12 walks in 47⅓ innings.

There have been three no-hitters in baseball in 2014, the last by Peavy's teammate Tim Lincecum against the Padres at AT&T Park on June 25. The Dodgers have the other two no-hitters this season, with Josh Beckett no-hitting the Phillies on May 25 in Philadelphia and Clayton Kershaw beating the Rockies in Los Angeles on June 18.

Peavy's gem was the second near-miss of the homestand for the Giants, who saw Madison Bumgarner lose his perfect game in the eighth inning on Tuesday, only to settle for a one-hit shutout.

The right-hander will head to the Reds' division rival in a surprising trade.

The Brewers have acquired reliever Jonathan Broxton in a trade with the Reds, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Cincinnati will receive two players to be named later in the deal, which does not involve cash changing hands.

Broxton, 30, will serve as a late-inning reliever for the Brewers and could be the setup man for closer Francisco Rodriguez during the stretch run and postseason. He has posted a 4-2 record and 1.86 ERA in 48.1 innings out of the Reds' bullpen this season, and will join Jeremy Jeffress, Marco Estrada, Will Smith and Brandon Kintzler as right-handers in the Brewers' relief corps.

The Brewers considered adding a reliever at the non-waiver trade deadline, but were unable to make a deal until today to bolster their bullpen. Season-ending injuries to Jim Henderson and Tyler Thornburg increased the urgency of their search, with Broxton being acquired after the Brewers claimed him off revocable trade waivers.

Broxton, who signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Reds before last season, is owed about $1.1 million for the remainder of this season in addition to a $9 million salary for next year. His deal also includes a $9 million mutual option for 2016 that includes a $2 million buyout, so the Brewers will pay him more than $12 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons.

Cincinnati's set up man will likely move into a similar role for the NL Central-leading Brewers.

The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to trade setup man Jonathan Broxton to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players to be named later, according to CBS Sports' Matt Snyder. That's where the Reds have appeared to shift their focus as well ... later.

The Brewers have benefited from Francisco Rodriguez's vintage K-Rod performance, and they've had good results from the left-handers in their bullpen, but they were in need of a shut-down righty at the back end of their bullpen. They seem to have found it in Broxton. After beginning the year as the Reds' closer with Aroldis Chapman recovering from a gruesome head injury, Broxton has continued to lock down hitters in the late innings.

In 48⅓ innings, the 30-year-old has a 1.86 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He picked up seven saves early in the year, but after Chapman returned in good health, Broxton's future with the team became murkier. He will earn $7 million this season and $9 million in 2015.

Then it gets a little complicated. Had he stayed with the Reds, Cincinnati would have held a team option for $9 million in 2016, but since he was traded, it becomes a mutual option between Broxton and the Brewers. Mutual options aren't often exercised by both parties, so this stipulation will give Broxton a chance to reach the open market a year sooner. Rodriguez will become a free agent after this season, so Milwaukee might decide to use Broxton as their closer next year and let K-Rod test free agency.

The Reds might know what they're getting back for one-plus years of Broxton, but no one else does at this point. That seems to be fitting since Cincy's 2014 season is all but over. They can still make several moves to build for the future. Starting pitchers Mat Latos and Mike Leake have been placed on revocable waivers, and although they might not be able to make a move before the offseason, they are expected to trade a pitcher before the beginning of the 2015 season.

Today's lessons include a very rough weekend, a surprise trade, and September callups.

This Weekend's Results

Giants 13, Brewers 2
Giants 3, Brewers 1
Giants 15, Brewers 5

I don't think any of us really want to relive the weekend, so here's the basics of what happened. The Brewers got clobbered on Friday & Sunday, and almost got no-hit on Saturday. It was enough to allow the Cardinals to catch up and tie the Brewers for first place. As a Brewers fan, it was about as bad of a weekend as it could have been.

The Brewers acquired Jonathan Broxton.

The one bright spot of the weekend was this shocking move on Sunday. With the Brewers seeking bullpen help, they put in a claim on Reds reliever Jonathan Broxton, were awarded the claim, and worked out a trade with the Reds to bring Broxton to Milwaukee. We don't know the full details of the trade yet, as the Brewers traded two PTBNLs in the deal. Broxton's contract runs through next season, so this move will also affect the 2015 team. This will definitely bolster a struggling Brewers bullpen, and hopefully help get them to the postseason.

The first wave of September callups were made.

Prior to today's game against the Cubs, the Brewers made their first wave of September callups. Adam McCalvy has details in his Brew Beat blog, but here are the five "additions":

Jimmy Nelson - No surprise here, his "demotion" to Brevard County was basically in name only. In reality, the callup here was Alfredo Figaro, who was added prior to Saturday's game.

Matt Garza - He was activated from the 15-day DL, and is expected to start on Wednesday.

Wei-Chung Wang - Also activated from the 15-day DL.

Logan Schafer - With Carlos Gomez probably out for today's game, the Brewers needed to get Schafer here to bolster the outfield bench.

Matt Pagnozzi - This is the one more surprising move of the bunch. With only two catchers on the 40-man roster, the Brewers decided to add Pagnozzi for emergencies over the last month. Jeff Bianchi was transferred to the 60-day DL to clear a space on the 40-man roster. (It's unclear whether or not Pagnozzi will be postseason eligible, it depends on if he was added to the 40-man roster on Sunday or Monday. This would only come up in an emergency situation where either Jonathan Lucroy or Martin Maldonado went down with an injury.)

That's it for callups for now. A few other players didn't get callups, which includes pitcher Rob Wooten. However, Nashville has one more game in its season today, and it is possible we will see a few more callups following that game.

Cram Session

More from BCB

• On Friday, Jordan compared the pitches of Jimmy Nelson to that of an old Brewer fan favorite, Ben Sheets.
• While it's tempting to think that the Brewers decline is about to happen, Noah has a reminder that this team isn't doomed after 2014.

Other Notes

• Carlos Gomez left Sunday's game with left wrist soreness. X-rays were negative, but the Brewers may send him back to Milwaukee for more tests. He will be out today at least.
• The Brewer Nation blog had the opportunity to talk to Jonathan Broxton's agent for a few minutes, and has a few details from the conversation on the blog.

Minor League Update

Playoff Update

• Nashville Sounds - Eliminated from contention with Saturday's loss, last game of season today.
• Huntsville Stars - Clinched playoff spot. Playoffs begin on September 4.
• Brevard County Manatees - Eliminated from contention last week, season has ended.
• Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Clinched a playoff spot with Sunday's win. Playoffs begin on September 3.
• Helena Brewers - Eliminated from contention last week, final game of season September 4.

News & Notes

• Nathan Orf's day on Sunday was a memorable one. He played all nine positions for Brevard County, and then got the news that he was being called up to Huntsville for their postseason roster.
• Reviewing the Brew's series on the best farm teams in franchise history continued with the 1989 Stockton Ports.

Division Update

• Cubs @ Cardinals
  Friday:Cubs 7, Cardinals 2
  Saturday:Cubs 5, Cardinals 1
  Saturday:Cardinals 13, Cubs 2
  Sunday:Cardinals 9, Cubs 6
• Reds @ Pirates
  Friday:Pirates 2, Reds 1
  Saturday:Pirates 3, Reds 2
  Sunday:Reds 3, Pirates 2

Today's Division Games

• Pirates (Gerrit Cole) @ Cardinals (Lance Lynn) - 1:15 pm
• Reds have the day off.

Today's Action

The Brewers start a three-game series in Chicago with an afternoon matinee game. Jimmy Nelson faces Jacob Turner in the first game of the series. First pitch is at 1:20 pm, and Caitlin Swieca of MLB.com has the preview.

For those of you who play Prognostikeggers, I won't have this week's update up until this afternoon. However, you can make your predictions for this week with the below links (so you can get your predictions in for the early game).

Game Predictions
Score Predictions

The Cubs head back to Wrigley Field to finish their cycle of divisional games, starting out with three against the Milwaukee Brewers.

I didn't get a chance to see much of Sunday's game, but saw a few flashes on my phone of the score during the day, namely the 5-0 lead early and the collapse of that lead at the end. Talk about having the wind taken out of your sails and put completely into theirs.

With the 9-6 loss on Sunday, the race at the top of the National League Central is deadlocked between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers, both at 73-63 thanks in part to a five-game slide that the Brewers are currently on. They are coming to Wrigley after a 1-5 trip on the West Coast that saw them get swept by the San Francisco Giants and lose two out of three to the San Diego Padres. Milwaukee and St. Louis are one game behind the Giants for the top Wild Card spot, and meanwhile the Pittsburgh Pirates are two games behind all of this and are heading to St. Louis for three games.

Long story short: This series between the Cubs and the Brewers is pretty big.

LIKELY PITCHING MATCHUPS:

Monday: Jimmy Nelson (2-5, 4.10 ERA, 1.348 WHIP) vs. Jacob Turner (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.500 WHIP)
Tuesday:Yovani Gallardo (8-7, 3.26 ERA, 1.237 WHIP) vs. Jake Arrieta (7-5, 2.88 ERA, 1.052 WHIP)
Wednesday:Matt Garza (7-7, 3.58 ERA, 1.133 WHIP) vs. Kyle Hendricks (5-1, 1.91 ERA, 1.006 WHIP)

This will be Garza's first start since August 3 as he returns from the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique. He threw a 47-pitch simulated game on Friday and is expected to be activated for Wednesday's game. This will also be the Cubs' first look at Nelson since 2013 when they faced him twice as a reliever. He has pitched four innings against the Cubs, allowing one hit and two walks. And then there's Gallardo, whose success against the Cubs is all too familiar. The matchup against Arrieta will be an encore of their matchup on August 11 that the Cubs lost 3-1 with both starters logging excellent outings.

THE OFFENSE:

It'd be a lot easier to say whose OPS isn't over .750 for the Brewers, but here's the list anyway:

• Jonathan Lucroy, C, .844
• Carlos Gomez, CF, .827
• Ryan Braun, RF, .808
• Aramis Ramirez, 3B, .803
• Scooter Gennett, 2B, .799
• Khris Davis, LF, .781

You can also add in backups / platoon partners Martin Maldonado (C, .772) and Rickie Weeks (2B, .756) for good measure and you're left with basically first base and shortstop as the only positions without much pop in the Brewers' lineup. They are coming off of a month of August in which they hit .255 with a .730 OPS as a team, a far cry from their .228 / .650 line that they put up in July. During their five-game losing streak, however, they have hit a dreadful .187 with a .521 OPS. But the potential is there for big things.

The list on the Cubs' side (with last two weeks in parentheses):

• Anthony Rizzo, .889 (1.011)
• Chris Coghlan, .782 (.654)
• Starlin Castro, .771 (.870)
• Luis Valbuena, .765 (1.034)

Valbuena once again has found his membership card into the club after an 8-for-26 road trip with a double and three homers. How long he'll get to keep it before becoming the first guy outside again is anyone's guess. Also, I haven't included Jorge Soler just yet, but just in case you're wondering about his OPS, it's a video-game level 1.829. Oh, and there's Logan Watkins at .952 as well in 21 plate appearances.

GAME PROJECTIONS:

Game 1: My gut reaction to this game is "ugh". It's a pitcher that the Cubs haven't faced in a year and never as a starter, and Turner's first start for the Cubs was less than stellar against a much less powerful offense. Nelson has been pretty decent since the All-Star break, allowing three runs or less in five of his seven starts and posting game scores of 50 or better in six of those.

Game 2: And then we have the first of the pitchers' duels.  Since the last time the two pitchers met, Gallardo has had two outings in which he allowed a total of one run and a third outing in which he got lit up for six runs, three earned, allowing eight hits and three walks over five innings. Arrieta has been almost a carbon copy of Gallardo since that matchup, also with two outings in which he allowed only one run and a third in which he allowed six. The only major difference is that his six were all earned.

Game 3: Prior to his oblique injury Garza was on quite a roll, with five starts out of six in which he allowed two runs or less and four out of six in which he allowed a total of two runs. This will be the third matchup for the Cubs against Garza this season and the last two were both tough, with Garza posting game scores of 63 and 67 in those two outings. Hendricks still hasn't allowed more than two runs in a start since his debut on July 10, although there is the qualifier that one of those starts was the two-inning affair against Baltimore on August 23.

RUSS' PREDICTION: Yet another tough call. Milwaukee is coming into this series on a five-game slide and knowing that they can't afford to fall too far back since Pittsburgh is right there in the rear-view mirror. But it's Arrieta and Hendricks. But then again, it's also Gallardo. Ack!!

(Russ La Croix has just left the room. The default setting of 1-2 will now be applied.)

NEXT STOP: The homestand comes to a close as the Cubs finish the tour of the division with a three-game set against the Pirates. It should be very interesting to see what the playoff picture looks like then.

The Cubs neither helped nor hurt the Cardinals by splitting their four-game set. Now they'll try to hurt the Brewers' playoff chances.

What, you again?

The Brewers were at Wrigley Field for a four-game series just three weeks ago. But here they are again, in the final trip they'll take to Chicago this year. The Cubs will also see them in Milwaukee for the last three games of the 2014 season, games that could be quite important to the Brewers for playoff position.

After having horrific Augusts in 2012 and 2013, the Cubs went 16-14 in the month after this year's non-waiver trading deadline, their first winning August since 2009. It's also the first year they've had two winning months (also had a winning June) since 2009, when they had three over-.500 months. They can do that again by having a winning September, something that would also set a positive tone for 2015.

Meanwhile, the Brewers come into today riding a five-game losing streak; they were just swept by the Giants and are now tied with the Cardinals for the top spot in the N.L. Central. Fortunately, the Pirates, who are two games out of first place, are playing the Cardinals as the Cubs meet the Brewers; if Pittsburgh can win its series and the Cubs can take care of the Brewers, the Pirates could find themselves in first place when they arrive in Chicago Friday.

Finally, here's your once-a-series reminder to check out (if you haven't already) SB Nation's partner fantasy site, Fan Duel, where you can win real money. Here's the link.

On to today's particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Coghlan LF, Baez 2B, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Soler RF, Castillo C, Alcantara CF, Valaika 1B, Turner P

Jorge Soler makes his Wrigley Field debut, and Anthony Rizzo is still out of the lineup. Also, Blake Parker has been recalled from Triple-A Iowa; so far, that's the only September callup. There should be more starting tomorrow.

The Brewers lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Brewers lineup.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Jacob Turner Cubs vs. Jimmy Nelson Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Jacob Turner didn't fare too well in his first Cubs start, last Wednesday against the Reds, but he is getting another shot to show he belongs in the Cubs rotation. The potential good news for today is that Turner's only start against the Brewers this year was probably his best outing of 2014, May 24 in Miami, where he allowed no runs on eight hits in 6⅓ innings. A repeat of that would be nice.

I don't understand how a comic-book character who played a "cub reporter" could wind up as a pitcher for the...

Oh, wait. That's Jimmy Olsen. This is Jimmy Nelson. He was the Brewers' second-round pick in 2010 and has made nine starts for them this year with middling results. He has never faced the Cubs or anyone on the current Cubs roster.

Besides, Turner looks happy in his photo and Nelson looks like he has to go to the men's room.

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. Be careful over there, though.

For 2014, we are going to have the same game-thread routine as 2013. Here's how it works.

You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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This one was a lot of fun, in just about every way.

What a fine way to begin September.

After dire weather forecasts of thunderstorms and rain possibly interrupting the Labor Day game at Wrigley Field, the rain left the area by 11 a.m. and the sun came out just about game time, and that became a fine time for a Cubs win.

Playing well in just about all aspects of the game, the Cubs defeated the Brewers 4-2 and, with the Cardinals' win over the Pirates Monday afternoon, that knocked Milwaukee out of first place in the N.L. Central for the first time since April 4. It was the Brewers' sixth loss in a row.

That sounds good, doesn't it? "Knocked Milwaukee out of first place." Unfortunately, it means the Cardinals are in first place, but maybe the Pirates can help themselves out over the next two days, while, maybe, the Cubs are burying the Brewers.

What sounds even better is "playing well in just about all aspects of the game." This is definitely a Complaint Department Closed type of game, because all I have to report to you on this holiday is good things about the Cubs' performance.

Jacob Turner, in his second Cubs start, showed why he was a No. 1 pick of the Tigers and why he was considered nearly untouchable in trade talks a few years ago. Turner struck out seven, and even when he got himself in a bit of trouble he induced ground balls for a pair of double plays. He was allowed to start the seventh inning, even with a higher pitch count (81 through six) than he had had in any outing since July 27. He retired Aramis Ramirez for the first out of the inning but then Khris Davis launched a ball onto Waveland and Turner was removed to a warm round of applause.

That kind of pitching will get Turner a real shot at a rotation slot in 2015. And remember, he is the youngest current member of the Cubs' pitching staff despite pitching in the major leagues each of the last four years -- he won't be 24 until next May. What a great, smart pickup by Theo & Co., and they didn't really give up anyone of significance to get him, and thanks to the Rockies for passing on a waiver claim of Turner.

Offensively, Jorge Soler, playing in his first Wrigley Field game, was again a big part of the story. Soler hit two more doubles (and really, he could have been given a triple on the second one), and though he hit into a double play and grounded out in his other at-bats, that's yet another fine performance at the beginning of any career, as we learned:

Soler is 3rd to have an extra-base hit in each of his 1st 5 Gs. Also Middlebrooks in 2012, Slaughter in 1938. #Cubs

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) September 1, 2014

Well, that's one Hall of Famer and one player who still has potential. Soler, of course, has what appears to be unlimited potential. I look forward to his first Wrigley home run, which you'd think ought to come very soon. Soler's been popular enough with his debut on the road that his shirsey and jersey are already selling at a brisk pace -- I saw quite a number of them around the ballpark Monday afternoon.

Most of the Cubs offense was provided by Welington Castillo, who singled in Soler after his first double in the second inning and then hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Luis Valbuena gave the Cubs a cushion after Blake Parker allowed a homer to Gerardo Parra following Davis' homer in the Milwaukee seventh, by hitting his 16th home run of the season with one out in the eighth inning. In all of Cubs history there have been just 27 seasons in which a player has hit 16 or more home runs in 404 or fewer at-bats, which is where Valbuena is right now. He's having a real nice season and I would absolutely want him to stick around as a utility player once Kris Bryant (presumably) comes up to play third base.

The Cubs got the usual sharp relief work from Neil Ramirez in the eighth inning and Hector Rondon (23rd save) in the ninth. That's been one of the biggest differences between the Cubs teams the last two years and this year -- solid relief work from pitchers who have well-defined roles. I do hope that next year when these guys have more experience, that the team can go back to a seven-man bullpen, because as we have seen the last few days, the Cubs could really use a backup first baseman better than Chris Valaika. Whether that's someone from the system (Mike Olt, maybe?) or someone from outside, maybe someone who can play outfield as well as back up first base, they've got to do better.

That's about the only minor quibble I have with Monday's game, a satisfying win that brought the Cubs back to a .500 home record (33-33, with 15 games remaining) and also brought them back to .500 since the low point of the season at 13-27. Since then they're now 49-49 and have, much of the time, looked good doing it.

There's one more record I'd like the Cubs to have this month in finishing the year strong. That would be to go at least 13-12 in September, to have their third winning calendar month this year. They haven't done that since 2009. So, having won the first game of September, they'd simply have to play .500 the rest of the year to do that; it would produce a 74-88 final record, an eight-game improvement over last year. I believe this does make sense -- it's rare to go from 95 losses to 95 wins overnight. This intermediate step could provide a good base for a winning record in 2015.

See? The old optimistic Al is returning. This one was fun.

Hopefully, more fun Tuesday night as Jake Arrieta takes the mound at 7:05 CT against the Brewers' Yovani Gallardo. I'd love it if the Cubs could push the Brewers farther out of first place.

Today's lessons include the continuation of the losing streak, more September callups, and power rankings.

Yesterday's Results

Cubs 4, Brewers 2

The slump continued yesterday for the Brewers, and this time, it threw them out of first place. Jimmy Nelson did his best to keep the team in the game, and did for the most part with a quality start. However, the offense was still quiet, managing only seven hits and a walk while striking out twelve times. Back-to-back home runs by Khris Davis and Gerardo Parra gave some hope, but it wasn't enough.

Cram Session

Reading from BCB

• Carlos Gomez could miss multiple days following his wrist injury.
• It's been easy to be negative lately, but Noah mentions that it's more fun to be a fan when you have a positive outlook.

Power Rankings

• ESPN.com only put the Brewers down one spot at #8.
• Jonah Keri of Grantland dropped the Brewers to #10.
• MLB.com has the Brewers at #11.
• FOX Sports put the Brewers at #11, down three spots.
• SI.com had the biggest drop of the Brewers, placing them down five spots at #12.

Other Notes

• The Brewer Nation blog has heard who will be in the next round of callups: Jason Rogers, Hector Gomez, and Matt Clark. They have the details on the moves here.
• Jess Lemont of The Brewers Bar has an idea about how the Brewers can win the NL Central.

Minor League Update

News & Notes

• In the regular season finale for Wisconsin, Clint Coulter hit two home runs to tie the Timber Rattler's franchise record.

Division Update

• Cardinals 5, Pirates 4
• Reds had the day off.

Today's Division Games

• Pirates (Jeff Locke) @ Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) - 7:15 pm
• Reds (Mat Latos) @ Orioles (Bud Norris) - 6:05 pm

Today's Action

The Brewers continue to try to end this losing streak tonight against the Cubs. Yovani Gallardo tries to get things back on track, and will face Jake Arrieta. First pitch is at 7:05 pm, and Adam Lichtenstein of MLB.com has the preview.