Milwaukee Brewers News Clips

Transcription

1 Milwaukee Brewers News Clips Tuesday, July 28, 2015

2 MLB.com Lohse loses as Brewers' tempers flare Frustrated Gomez, Counsell get tossed Lohse improves, will stay in Brewers' rotation Braun, Lind out with tight lower backs Brewers still think trade market open Peralta glad to be back to face Giants Journal Sentinel Limited offense not enough as Brewers fall to Giants Matt Garza staying focused, pitching well after DL stint Brewers at Giants: Monday game report FOXSports.com Brewers' Gomez drawing interest from contenders, non-contenders CBSSports.com Cardinals had talks about Adam Lind; Brewers could still keep him Lohse loses as Brewers' tempers flare By Adam McCalvy and Oliver Macklin / MLB.com SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford crushed a two-run homer in the fourth inning and Chris Heston threw seven solid frames as the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2, Monday night at AT&T Park. Heston received the win for the third time in as many starts as he allowed two runs on five hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. The right-hander helped the Giants win for the 12th time in 13 games and cut their National League West deficit behind the first-place Dodgers to a half-game. "He's just been unbelievable to watch this year," third baseman Matt Duffy said of Heston. "[He's been] huge for us [after] not making the club Opening Day and thrust into a start right away. He's been good by anybody's standards, I think, let alone the situation that he started out with." Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez and manager Craig Counsell were ejected, starter Kyle Lohse became the first pitcher in the Majors to 12 losses and Milwaukee's offense remained in a July freeze. After scoring 31 runs in their first five games out of the All-Star break, the Brewers have scored seven runs in the five games since. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Bye Bye Baby: After Brandon Belt drove home Duffy with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, Crawford stepped to the dish with a runner on first. Lohse delivered three straight pitches out of the strike zone to begin the at-bat and then gave Crawford a fastball right down the middle, which he belted over the right-center-field wall to give the Giants a three-run cushion. The bomb was the 15th of the season for Crawford, who passed Buster Posey for the team lead. "He hit it where the big boys hit 'em," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Slump snapped: Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy snapped Milwaukee's streaks of 26 innings without an extra-base hit and 23 innings without scoring a run when he delivered an RBI double off Heston to highlight a two-run rally in

3 the sixth inning. It was the Brewers' first extra-base hit since Ryan Braun's home run in the sixth inning of Friday's win at Arizona, which was followed by 13 Brewers singles over parts of four games. "We had some chances tonight and just couldn't get that next hit," Counsell said. "That's what goes on when you struggle scoring runs, is that next hit that kind of gets you over the hump [is missing]. We just haven't been able to get it the last couple nights." Immediate insurance: Pinch-hitting for Heston in the bottom of the seventh, Gregor Blanco drove the first pitch he saw into the left-center-field gap to bring home Crawford. Blanco's 14th double of the season extended the Giants' lead to 4-2. Glovework: Lohse pitched into the seventh inning for only the third time since May 15 and exited with the Brewers in striking distance. That marked progress, and Lohse's defenders deserved a lot of the credit. Gomez made a leaping catch against the right-center-field wall to end the sixth inning with a man on base, and first baseman Shane Peterson (an outfielder by trade) made a terrific diving stop for the second out of the seventh inning to strand a runner at third. "That was pretty impressive," Lohse said of the Peterson play. "It's fun to see a guy step up when there's a need and do something he normally doesn't do." SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS When Crawford connected in the fourth inning, it marked the 18th time in Lohse's 21 starts that the veteran surrendered at least one home run. He allowed a homer in only 32 of 63 starts during his previous two seasons with the Brewers. REPLAY REVIEW Duffy attempted to swipe second base in the bottom of the eighth inning, but was initially ruled out. Bochy requested a review of the play, and replay officials overturned the call, determining Scooter Gennett did not tag Duffy before he touched the bag. The Giants challenged again in the ninth after Gomez reached on a leadoff error and, though his team trailed by two runs, stole second base. Upon review, Gomez was out, and he drew an ejection after spiking his helmet in protest. Counsell was also ejected in the aftermath of the ruling, his first career ejection in the Major Leagues. More > WHAT'S NEXT Brewers: Wily Peralta returns from two months on the disabled list to start Game 2 of the series on Tuesday. Peralta, the Brewers' most valuable pitcher in 2014, had not suffered a significant injury since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007 before he strained his left oblique May 22. Giants: San Francisco on Tuesday hands the ball to Matt Cain, who is 3-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 11 career starts against Milwaukee. Cain is coming off a 7-1 win over San Diego in which he threw six innings of one-run ball while striking out six. Frustrated Gomez, Counsell get tossed After outfielder's ejection, Brewers manager earns first career booting By Adam McCalvy / SAN FRANCISCO -- Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez and manager Craig Counsell were ejected during a ninth inning Monday with no runs but a heavy dose of drama in the waning moments of a 4-2 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park. Gomez led off with a single under first baseman Brandon Belt's glove and attempted a steal of second base, despite the Brewers trailing by two runs. The initial call was safe, but the Giants challenged and won to the dismay of Gomez,

4 who spiked his helmet and was ejected. When Counsell argued that the punishment did not fit the crime, he was ejected, too -- marking the first time in 17 years as a Major League player or manager that Counsell was sent to the showers. "It's stupid because I'm not even looking at the umpire," Gomez said. "I never argue about pitches, about calls, about nothing, and you throw your helmet when you're frustrated and [ticked] off, they throw you out? That means, like, the next night you don't respect the guy. "Early in the game, they called me on a check swing, and [it was] not even close, and I'm smiling and making a joke with him. Then I throw my helmet and throw me out of the game? How do you respect the game, how do you respect the umpires, with stuff like that?" Even after seeing replays on the giant video board, Gomez believed he was safe. He said he was frustrated about what Gomez perceives as a high percentage of replays going against him. "How many outs do I get called on the stupid replay? A lot. By not even a hair," Gomez said. "So I'm frustrated, I throw my helmet, and they throw me out for that when I'm not even arguing to the umpire?" Counsell played 1,665 Major League games including postseasons without being ejected. Monday marked his 75th game as Brewers manager. Asked about finally drawing an ejection, Counsell said, "That's a great news story." He had only a bit more to say about Gomez's decision to attempt a steal of second base with the Brewers trailing by two and power hitter Khris Davis batting with no outs. "You can't get thrown out there," Counsell said twice. Gomez was 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts against Sergio Romo before reaching Monday. After the game, Gomez did not back off his decision to run. "I think there's a good chance if I get another base, and [Romo] is a guy who throws a lot of balls around the plate, that Khris can get a better pitch to hit," he said. "That's how you wake your team up. If I get safe, everybody starts to feel better and maybe you can change the game around." Lohse improves, will stay in Brewers' rotation Right-hander allows four runs while pitching into seventh inning By Adam McCalvy / SAN FRANCISCO -- With Wily Peralta due off the disabled list Tuesday and the non-waiver Trade Deadline looming three days after that, what's next for Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse? "He'll make his next start," manager Craig Counsell said after Lohse became the first Major Leaguer to 12 losses and the Brewers fell to the Giants, 4-2, on Monday at AT&T Park. Aided by defensive gems from center fielder Carlos Gomez and first baseman Shane Peterson, Lohse limited the damage to four earned runs on five hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. It marked the first time since July 1 and only the third time since May 15 that Lohse threw a pitch in the seventh inning, and the 18th time in 21 starts that he surrendered at least one home run.

5 "Except for that one inning," Lohse said, referring to a three-run Giants fourth that included Brandon Crawford's tworun home run, "I felt pretty in control. I just fell behind a couple guys, and obviously the home run hurt a lot. But I felt I had a lot better control of the game than the last couple starts." Crawford hit his 15th home run of the season to the deepest part of AT&T Park in right-center field on a 3-0 pitch. "He just made the couple mistakes, but obviously the one to Crawford was the costly one," Counsell said. "But he was pretty sharp outside that.... He felt like he was in control the whole start, really. But again, the home run was the big blow." Lohse was Milwaukee's Opening Day starter, but his season-long struggles have called into question his hold of a spot in the Brewers' rotation. Barring a trade, the Brewers currently have a six-man rotation, including three minimum-salary players pitching well (Mike Fiers, Jimmy Nelson and Taylor Jungmann) and another high salary player (Matt Garza) with two seasons after this one left on his contract. Fiers' name has been linked to clubs like the Blue Jays in trade rumors. The Brewers would also entertain offers for Lohse and Garza, but both veterans are enduring down seasons. Lohse is earning $11 million in the final season of a three-year deal. Braun, Lind out with tight lower backs By Adam McCalvy / SAN FRANCISCO -- The Brewers were without their top two run producers for the start of Monday's series opener against the Giants, with right fielder Ryan Braun and first baseman Adam Lind each sidelined by lower back tightness. Braun was scratched from the starting lineup minutes before the first pitch. Lind missed a second straight start, but expressed optimism before batting practice about returning to regular duty Tuesday night. "This is not something I'm going to miss [significant] time with," Lind said. "I'm going to do full batting practice like if I was starting, and if it goes well, be able to pinch-hit and be able to play [Tuesday]." Braun will be evaluated before Tuesday's game. "He did something in batting practice," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He felt some pain in his back during batting practice and he wasn't able to go." Braun (18 home runs) and Lind (16) are the only Brewers hitters with double-digit homers. Braun leads the team with 61 RBIs and Lind is second with 58 RBIs more than second runner-up Carlos Gomez. Brewers still think trade market open By Adam McCalvy / July 27, 2015 SAN FRANCISCO -- From a distance, Monday looked like a challenging day for the Brewers on the trade front. The Angels and Mets made deals with potential implications for Milwaukee, while Brewers first baseman Adam Lind remained sidelined by a stiff back. Still, general manager Doug Melvin expressed continued confidence about being active before Friday's 3 p.m. CT non-waiver Trade Deadline. "Sometimes it depends on how teams react emotionally," Melvin said. "When the competition does something, do they have to react?"

6 In the span of less than an hour Monday afternoon, three news items emerged that could impact the Brewers' efforts: The Angels traded for Boston's Shane Victorino. Los Angeles has also eyed Brewers outfielder Gerardo Parra and dispatched a scout (former Brewer Jeff Cirillo) to Miller Park after the All-Star break to eye Parra and others. But even after acquiring Victorino, the Angels remain in the market for a left-handed bat, and Parra is still in play. About 15 minutes later, the Mets acquired reliever Tyler Clippard from the Athletics for Minor League right-hander Casey Meisner. The Mets are one of the teams known to have shown interest in Parra, and Meisner, as first reported by Newsday's Marc Carig, was an early target of the Brewers. One Brewers source said the Mets had been more focused on the bullpen, and the teams haven't been talking much about Parra recently. So, with Meisner now property of the A's, I assume that punches a hole in Mets' efforts to get Parra since he was piece Brewers wanted. Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 27, 2015 Both trades happened just after the Brewers posted a starting lineup missing potential trade chip Lind for the second straight day. The flare-up of Lind's back, which sent him to the disabled list in 2011, '12 and '14, could complicate the possibility of a trade, but Lind said he was feeling much better and expected to return to regular duty Tuesday. Lind's chief suitor seems to be the Cardinals, who have had recent conversations with the Brewers about Lind, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported of Lind that rival executives "think he's going to land in St. Louis." Also hearing this from teams that have interest in Adam Lind. They think he's going to land in St. Louis. Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 27, 2015 Melvin has traded within the National League Central before, sending reliever John Axford to the Cardinals in 2013 and third baseman Aramis Ramirez to the Pirates last week. Would Lind be different? Axford was removed from the closer's role at the time of his trade, and Ramirez intends to retire at season's end. Lind, though, is a productive run-producer under club control for the rest of this season and next. His contract includes an $8 million club option with a $500,000 buyout. Melvin has been laying groundwork for trades from the Brewers' war room at Miller Park. Half of the team's pro scouting staff was in Milwaukee recently for five days of discussions, and now six different scouts are in, working together from 9 a.m. to about 9 p.m. daily. Peralta glad to be back to face Giants By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com Brewers starter Wily Peralta said he felt bound to the bench during his two months on the disabled list and is eager to return to action Tuesday. Giants starter Matt Cain can relate. Ready to return from a left oblique injury, Peralta will make his first start since May 22 in Atlanta opposite Cain, who missed the first three months of the season with a right forearm injury after having season-ending surgery in August. It's the second of a three-game series at AT&T Park, with the Giants riding a six-game winning streak and victories in 12 of their last 13 games. "When I got hurt, I said maybe I'll miss one start." Peralta said. "It's frustrating to be out that long, watching the guys every five days out there from the dugout, not being able to be out there. It's frustrating, but I got through it and I'm glad to be back."

7 Things to know about this game: Cain has had some trouble against the Brewers. He's 3-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 11 career starts against Milwaukee, including 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in his last two starts (nine earned runs in 13 innings). The Brewers hope to have their top two run producers back in Tuesday's lineup after Ryan Braun and Adam Lind were each sidelined Monday with a tight lower back. Braun was a late scratch, while Lind missed a second straight start. Outfielder Gerardo Parra, likely to be dealt before Friday's non-waiver Trade Deadline, led off the series opener with a single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. It matches Lind for the longest by a Brewer this season. Limited offense not enough as Brewers fall to Giants By Todd Rosiak / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / July 28, 2015 San Francisco The Milwaukee Brewers finally generated a little offense at AT&T Park on Monday night, but it still wasn t enough to get them back on track. Rookie right-hander Chris Heston pitched seven strong innings, and Brandon Crawford hit a two-run home run in the fourth off Kyle Lohse for the San Francisco Giants as the Brewers dropped their third straight game, 4-2. They are now 1-4 on their seven-game West Coast road trip. The Giants, meanwhile, have won 12 of 13 and are now within a half-game of the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. The Brewers, who came in having been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since early in 2013, were facing a pitcher in the 27-year-old Heston who was 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his previous six starts. His 1.32 ERA in July was the second-lowest of any Giants rookie in any month since the team moved to San Francisco in Heston also threw the first of three-no hitters in the major leagues this season on June 9 against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Milwaukee which was again hamstrung with Adam Lind and Ryan Braun out of the lineup with tight lower backs managed baserunners against him in four of the first five frames but three times grounded into inning-ending double plays. The closest the Brewers came to putting together a rally early on was the third, when Hernan Perez singled to lead off and was bunted up to second by Lohse. Gerardo Parra followed with a walk to put two on, but Jonathan Lucroy s chopper was an easy twin killing. "We had some chances. Bunch of double plays," manager Craig Counsell said. "The guy gets ground balls. That s what he does. We had some men on base, especially the first 3-4 innings, and he was able to get double plays. We had some chances tonight and just couldn t get that next hit. "That s what goes on when you struggle scoring runs, is that next hit that kind of gets you over the hump. We just haven t been able to get it the last couple nights." Lohse, meanwhile, kept the Giants off the board until the fourth. Matt Duffy led off with a drive just short of the wall in right that Parra leaped to catch but couldn t haul in. He moved to third on a Buster Posey ground out and after Hunter Pence walked, Brandon Belt drove Duffy in with a sacrifice fly to right.

8 Crawford, up next, provided the big blow by homering on a 3-0 pitch just over the wall 424 feet out to right-center, stretching the Giants lead to 3-0. It was the 24th homer allowed by Lohse on the season in 119 2/3 innings compared to the 23 he surrendered in 198 last year. "I wasn't trying to lay anything in there," Lohse said. "I know the guy's a good hitter. I just fell behind, he didn't chase anything, tried to throw a sinker down and away and he ran into one." Finally the Brewers broke a couple long offensive droughts in the sixth against Heston. With one out, Parra walked to reach base for the third time in as many plate appearances. Lucroy doubled to the gap in left-center to drive him in, giving Milwaukee its first run in 23 innings and its first extra-base hit in 26 innings. Lucroy tagged and went to third on a fly ball from Carlos Gomez, then Khris Davis added to the lineup late after Braun was scratched and a day after striking out four times singled to right-center to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Brewers went down in order against Heston in the seventh before he was pulled in favor of pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco, who came to the plate in the bottom of the frame with Crawford on first and one out. Blanco doubled to left-center to score Crawford and stretch San Francisco s lead back out to 4-2. A terrific diving stab at first base by Shane Peterson saved a run after Blanco stole third, and Lohse s night ended there. He allowed five hits, four runs (all earned) and three walks while not issuing a strikeout for the first time this year. "He just made the couple mistakes, but obviously the one to Crawford was the costly one," said Counsell. "But he was pretty sharp outside that. He made some mistakes to Duffy, I thought, and the first-pitch curveball to Blanco. But he felt like he was in control the whole start, really. "But again, the home run was the big blow." His 6 2/3-inning outing was his longest since he pitched eight in beating the Mets on May 15. Lohse dropped to 5-12, while his ERA fell slightly from 6.29 to "Except for that one inning, felt pretty in control," Lohse said. "Just fell behind a couple guys. Obviously the home run hurt a lot. But I felt like I was in a lot better control of the game than the past couple starts." Counsell said last week that the plan was for Milwaukee to go with a six-man rotation for one turn. Behind the scenes, doing so earned the Brewers some extra time to see whether they can move the 15-year veteran. After the game, Counsell was asked what was next for Lohse. "He'll make his next start," he said. Heston (11-5), meanwhile, allowed five hits, two runs (earned) and three walks to go along with four strikeouts. There was some excitement in the ninth as Gomez opened by reaching on an infield hit against longtime nemesis Sergio Romo (0 for 9 lifetime with eight strikeouts coming in) and then stealing second, only to be ruled out when Phil Cuzzi's call was overturned on replay. "You can't get thrown out there," said Counsell. "You cannot get thrown out there." Gomez said he was trying to get things going with his steal attempt.

9 "You see me the last couple weeks, that I don t go. I think there s a good chance if I get another base, and (Romo) is a guy who throws a lot of balls around the plate, that Khris can get a better pitch to hit," he said. "You move to the next base and make things happen." Gomez slammed his helmet to the ground in anger as he stalked off the field, and third-base umpire Gerry Davis, the crew chief, ejected him. It s stupid because I m not even looking at the umpire," Gomez said. "I never argued about pitches, about calls, about nothing, and you throw your helmet when you re frustrated and pissed off, they throw you out?" Counsell then came out to argue with Davis and after a brief discussion he, too, was tossed for the first time in his career as either a player or manager. "Gomey was called out on a replay and he was walking back to the dugout, he threw his helmet and they threw him out," Counsell said. "They said he was arguing the call. I said he was just mad. "I didn t agree." Romo then struck out Davis. Gennett followed by doubling to left-center, but Jean Segura struck out to end it. Matt Garza staying focused, pitching well after DL stint By Todd Rosiak / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / July 28, 2015 San Francisco While Matt Garza was a hard-luck loser Sunday, falling victim to the Milwaukee Brewers' offense which managed just four singles and was shut out for the second consecutive game by the Arizona Diamondbacks, he's at least been trending in the right direction. In his last two starts, Garza has gone 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in a total of 112/3 innings. He's allowed 13 hits and walked two but struck out nine while not allowing a home run. "I like what I've seen the last two starts," manager Craig Counsell said. "He's made pitches, I feel like he's pitching with some confidence. I think we're heading in the right direction, for sure." Garza could only shake his head about the way his outing ended Sunday, when pinch-hitter Chris Owings went way down and golfed a slider just over Hernan Perez at third base and into the left-field corner to score a pair. It's just the way things have gone for him this season, one in which he's struggled to a 5-11 record, 5.20 ERA and WHIP of One bright spot for him is aside from a brief stint on the 15-day disabled list for right-shoulder tendinitis, he's made all but one of his scheduled starts 18 in all and pitched a total of 1102/3 innings. He threw 163 1/3 last season in 27 starts. "It's coming back but it's still not where I want to be," Garza said. "The ball's staying in the yard more, it's down, but it's just not turning my luck around. I've just got to keep grinding, keep pushing. "There's nothing else I can say." Garza is one of a number of Brewers players whose name has come up in trade rumors in recent weeks with the deadline approaching Friday. While it's unlikely he'll be dealt with two years and at least $25 million remaining on his contract, he nevertheless has experience with the nervousness this time of year brings for many players.

10 Garza was traded near the deadline in 2013, going from the Chicago Cubs to the Texas Rangers, so he knows what it's like to be moved from a team out of the race to a contender. But he says it's nothing that he's allowed to affect him in recent days. "Usually I'm the one in the middle of them," he said of the rumors. "Go out there and just do your job. That's it. You can't worry about what's going on, who's going where, where they're going. You've just got to go out there and do your job. "You can't control it. That's the business side of this game. We have a job to do, and that's play this game." Cold spell: The Brewers came into Monday having been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since April 12-13, They haven't been blanked in three straight games since May 3-6, 1972 the only time it's happened in franchise history. Milwaukee went 3 for 26 with runners in scoring position in the Arizona series, dropping three out of four games and scoring a total of five runs. The Brewers headed into Monday's series opener with the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park without an extra-base hit in their last 21 innings. They've managed just 10 singles since Ryan Braun's sixth-inning home run Friday. "It's a couple games, really," Counsell said when asked about the offensive drought. "There's going to be stretches in a baseball season like that. You don't want them to last, and the key is to kind of shrink them down and get back to it. "I don't think it's anything different. It's keeping the line moving, sustaining rallies. We didn't get two-out hits. Every baseball game, you get a lot of two-out hits, there's a good chance you're going to score a lot of runs. But it's not going to happen every night. "Really, getting runners on and sustaining rallies, we've done a good job at it for a while now. It didn't happen in Arizona, but I'm confident it will continue." Looking back: Adam Lind missed a second consecutive game with low-back tightness but was available to pinch hit and expected to return to the lineup Tuesday. "It feels good," Lind said. "It's not something I'm going to miss (a lot of) time for. I think I'll be back in the lineup tomorrow." Braun, meanwhile, was scratched from the lineup just before Monday's game also with lower back tightness. Gerardo Parra started in right field and Khris Davis was inserted in left. Brewers at Giants: Monday game report By Todd Rosiak / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / July 28, 2015 BEHIND THE BOX SCORE Nori Aoki was reinstated from the disabled list Monday after missing four weeks with a fractured right fibula. Aoki was the Giants' leadoff hitter until he was hurt, was batting.317 with a.383 on-base percentage. He played for the Brewers in 2012 and '13 before eventually being traded to the Kansas City Royals for reliever Will Smith. Class AA outfielder Victor Roache was named Southern League player of the week for July after hitting.400 with 10 hits, seven extra-base hits, 21 total bases, five doubles, two home runs, seven RBI and an.840 slugging percentage.

11 STATITUDES Gerardo Parra tied Adam Lind for longest hitting streak by a Brewers player this season at 11 with a first-inning single. Parra came into the night hitting.417 over his previous 10 games. With 18 home runs and 15 stolen bases, Ryan Braun is one of only three players in the majors with at least 15 of each. Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt (21 and 17) and San Diego's Justin Upton (16 and 17) are the others. RECORD THIS YEAR: LAST YEAR: HOME: (roof open, 8-9; roof closed, 12-20) ROAD: COMING UP Tuesday: 9:15 p.m. at AT&T Park. RHP Wily Peralta (1-5, 4.00) vs. San Francisco RHP Matt Cain (2-1, 4.09). TV FS Wisconsin. Radio AM-620. Wednesday: 2:45 p.m. at AT&T Park. RHP Mike Fiers (5-8, 3.94) vs. San Francisco RHP Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.86). TV FS Wisconsin. Radio AM-620. Thursday: 7:10 p.m. at Miller Park. RHP Jimmy Nelson (8-9, 3.97) vs. Chicago TBA. TV FS Wisconsin. Radio AM-620. Todd Rosiak IN THE MINORS COLORADO SPRINGS (AAA): Elian Herreraand Jason Rogers had RBI hits in the eighth inning that propelled the Sky Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers. Starter Josh Roenicke allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings and the Sky Sox got hitless relief the rest of the way. BREVARD COUNTY (A): Garrett Cooper had three hits, including a two-run homer, in leading the Manatees to a 4-2 victory over the Palm Beach Cardinals in the opener of a doubleheader. Cooper added a solo shot in the nightcap, but that was all the scoring for Brevard in a 2-1 loss. AZL BREWERS: Juan Ortiz and Beau Wallace had two hits apiece and each drove in a run during a 6-3 victory over the AZL Angels. Brewers' Gomez drawing interest from contenders, non-contenders By Ken Rosenthal / FOXSports.com / July 27, 2015 Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is one of the most intriguing players on the trade market a right-handed hitter who is affordable and under club control through next season. Not surprisingly, Gomez is drawing interest -- and not only from teams in obvious contention.

12 The Rangers and Indians are among the clubs that have reached out to the Brewers about Gomez, according to major-league sources. Both teams rank near the bottom in the majors in OPS from the center-field position the Indians are 23rd, the Rangers 28th. The Giants, who rank 24th, and Astros, who rank 25th, are two other clubs that find Gomez appealing, but the Giants might not have the prospects to land him and the Astros appear more focused on bullpen help, sources say. Gomez, 29, is earning $8 million this season and $9 million next season. A team could gain control of him for two pennant races and also have two opportunities to trade him this offseason and next July. The Rangers, who badly want a right-handed bat, are operating aggressively as both buyers and sellers, trying to acquire players such as Gomez and Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels while fielding offers for right-hander Yovani Gallardo and lefty Wandy Rodriguez, sources say. Rookie Delino DeShields, a Rule 5 pick from the Astros, has performed well for the Rangers after taking over for Leonys Martin in center. But DeShields also can play left and still be part of the future outfield equation; the team is expected to trade right fielder Shin Soo-Choo this off-season. The Indians also are looking at additions and subtractions, exploring deals for players who could fit for next season and beyond while listening to proposals for their starting pitchers and corner players such as David Murphy and Ryan Raburn, sources say. Michael Bourn, the team s current center fielder, is under contract for $13.5 million next season. The Indians, however, could look to move him this winter Bourn is batting only.230 with a.576 OPS and has stolen only seven bases in 11 attempts. Cardinals had talks about Adam Lind; Brewers could still keep him By Jon Heyman / CBSSports.com / July 27, 2015 The Cardinals, who lost Matt Adams, likely for the season, have talked to the Brewers about first baseman Adam Lind, as have a few other clubs, including the Pirates. And while Lind has been seen as likely trade fodder, Brewers people are considering the possibility of holding on to him since he has an option for next year and has been good lineup protection for All-Star Ryan Braun. The option is for $8 million, with a $500,000 buyout. St. Louis has been using the right-handed hitting Mark Reynolds, and he's been doing fine at first, but the lefthanded hitting Lind has become a bigger bat, especially against right-handed pitching. Lind has 16 home runs, 58 RBI and a.285 batting average. He also is much better against righties than lefties, with a.935 OPS against righthanders, compared to.568 vs. lefties. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentioned the Cardinals' interest in Lind.