MILWAUKEE – Ben Sheets paid a rare visit to American Family Field during the “Weekend of the 2000s” and saw a team of first-time brewers full of pitching. It wasn’t always like that when I was on the team rotation.
“They definitely have some arms and it’s fun to watch,” Sheets said. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s not like they’re up there throwing balls of earth. They throw it at people. They are deceiving people. They are freezing people. They are doing it in different ways.
“And this lineup has everyone. How [Christian] Yelich collects it, this will only be added to the fuel ”.
This was a solid summary of Sunday’s 7-3 win over the Nationals, in which Sheets watched Adrian Houser return from the COVID-19 injured roster with an effective first start and saw the pitching player , Aaron Ashby, reached a speed of 99 mph while destroying four batters two innings in his first major league appearance.
Three runs came from Kolten Wong’s bat, who topped the first inning with a play at home and delivered a two-run triple in the fourth. Yelich added twice more (don’t look now, but has hit .355 in his last 11 games) and put two assurance runs on the board with a sixth-place finish thanks to the last of a series of defensive errors of the nationals of this series. Lorenzo Cain then scored a seven-run homer set, his first goal in a home game since September 2019.
The Brewers won the series, 2-1, and matched their high water mark of the season in 27 games above 500 (76-49). They stay Monday before opening their final regular-season game against the Reds (69-57), who are 7 1/2 games away from Milwaukee in the Central National League standings despite winning four straight and eight games in a row. ’11. the Brewers have won nine of their last 12 games.
“This is the fun part of the year,” Cain said. “The rest of the year is kind of ground, but that’s where the fans really get into it. We’re really excited to reach our final goal, which is to get to the playoffs and hopefully the World Series.”
Cain added: “We know we still have the rest of August and then September. Nothing will be given to us. “
A productive Cain and Yelich would be a boost, mostly because the brewers could be without the incorporation of trade term Trade Eduardo Escobar for a while after the veteran injured his right hamstring muscle and left Sunday’s game. Two days earlier, Milwaukee lost first field Tyrone Taylor to an oblique injury that put him on the injured list.
“The dark side today is that we could have lost another player through injury,” said Craig Counsell, brewers manager.
On the pitch, however, Sunday brought three positive developments. First, Freddy Peralta played catch for the first time since he landed in the 10-day IL with inflammation of his right shoulder, a strong indication that he won’t be long. Then, a healthy Houser threw 68 pitches against the nationals without allowing a run to win and lowered his ERA to 3.44 in 107 1/3 innings this season.
Ashby then left the bullring for the first time in the major leagues, following the same path taken by Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta as they settled down. Ashby was impressed when he saw a 99 mph flash on the stadium scoreboard (98.7 mph was the official reading, according to Statcast) and worked around two hits and a walk to get two unscored entries.
“As we look forward to this coming month and look at ourselves as hard as we can to move forward, it will probably fit more into Ashby’s bullring,” Counsell said. “But I think there can be a role. I think it’s important to see it and I think it’s important that you do it, experiment with it, and be successful. I don’t think there are any questions on the subject. “
Cain saw Ashby’s things first hand at the Nashville Triple-A while rehabilitating a hamstring injury.
“The boy is brutal,” Cain said. “He’s throwing in the mid-90s with a dirty change. I mean, the guy is absolutely that. He’s the real business. He has great things. I think he’s going to be huge for us until September, and I hope that in the playoffs too. ”.
Ashby said she has chosen the brains of other young beginners over her experience dipping her toes into the bullring and that she likes the adrenaline of relief work.
“Every time I go out there, I feel more comfortable and more relaxed,” Ashby said. “It simply came to our notice then. After throwing this first throw in an outing, either at the start or in relief, everything else goes away afterwards ”.
He added: “Everything I can do to help win this team is amazing. Whether it’s starting or relieving myself, I’m happy to do it. “