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MILWAUKEE – Reliever John Axford’s return attempt takes a detour from Toronto to Milwaukee, where the veteran right-hander began his big-league career and enjoyed his greatest success.
Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns announced Monday that the team had acquired Axford, 38, from the Blue Jays for money considerations.
Axford hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2018 and started this season as a studio analyst on the Blue Jays’ TV broadcast team. After pitching for Canada in an Olympic qualifier, Axford signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays on June 24.
He went 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA in nine relief appearances for the Blue Jays affiliate Triple-A in Buffalo. Axford struck out 14 batters and allowed three walks and two hits in 10⅔ innings. The opposing hitters were hitting .061 against him.
Although the Major League Baseball trade deadline is Friday, the move was allowed because Axford is a minor league player who was not on anyone’s 40-player roster.
Axford pitched for the Brewers from 2009 to 2013 and set a team record with 46 saves in 2011. During that season, Axford posted a franchise record of 43 consecutive saves with no missed opportunity.
He made 106 saves during his five-year stint in Milwaukee and ranks second behind Dan Plesac (133) on the franchise’s career saves list.
Axford holds a career record 38-34 with a 3.86 ERA and 144 saves in 543 games with Milwaukee, St. Louis (2013), Cleveland (2014), Pittsburgh (2014), Colorado (2015), Oakland ( 2016-17), Toronto (2018) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2018).
He will wear the number 59, the number he wore during his previous stint with the Brewers. Bench coach Pat Murphy changes his jersey number from 59 to 00.
The addition of Oxford marks the latest decision of the National League brewers to strengthen their enclosure. They acquired left-hander Daniel Norris from the Detroit Tigers and right-hander John Curtiss from the Miami Marlins on Friday.
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