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MILWAUKEE – Ben Sheets made a rare visit to American Family Field for “2000s weekend” and saw a top-notch brewing team packed with pitching. It wasn’t always that way when he was at the top of the team’s rotation.
“They definitely have arms, and it’s fun to watch,” Sheets said. “And it’s exciting. It’s not like they’re right up there throwing balls at the ground. They launch it by people. They are deceiving people. They freeze people. They do it in different ways.
“And this roster has hitters throughout this one. As [Christian] Yelich picks it up, it will only add fuel.
It was a solid summary of Sunday’s 7-3 win over the Nationals, in which Sheets saw Adrian Houser come back from the COVID-19 injured list with an effective first out, and saw potential pitcher Aaron Ashby strike 99 mph while striking out four batters over two innings in his first Major League relief appearance.
Three runs came out of the bat for Kolten Wong, who started the first inning with a homerun and delivered a two-run triple in the fourth. Yelich netted two more hits – don’t look now, but he’s hit .355 in his last 11 games – and posted two insurance runs on the board with one out in the sixth inning thanks to the last in a series of defensive errors of the Nationals of this series. Lorenzo Cain then hit a two-run homer in the seventh, his first home homer since September 2019.
The Brewers won the series 2-1 and tied their high point of the season with 27 of 0.500 games (76-49). They are on leave Monday before opening their final regular-season series against the Reds (69-57), who remain 7-1 / 2 games behind Milwaukee in the NHL center standings despite four straight wins and eight of 11. That’s because the Brewers have won nine of their last 12 games.
“It’s the fun part of the year,” Cain said. “The rest of the year is a bit of a pain, but that’s where the fans really get going. We’re really excited to reach our end goal, which is to reach the playoffs and hopefully the World Series. “
Cain added, “We know we still have the rest of August, then September. Nothing will be returned to us.
A productive Cain and Yelich would be a boost, especially as the Brewers could be deprived of the addition of the Eduardo Escobar trade deadline for some time after the veteran injured his right thigh and left Sunday’s game. Two days earlier, Milwaukee had lost upstart outfielder Tyrone Taylor to an oblique injury that put him on the injured list.
“The dark side today is we might have lost another player to injury,” Brewers coach Craig Counsell said.
On the pitching front, however, Sunday brought three positive developments. First, Freddy Peralta played wrestling for the first time since landing on the 10-day IL with inflammation in his right shoulder, a strong indication that he won’t be missing much time. Then a healthy Houser threw 68 shots against the Nationals without allowing an earned run and lowered his ERA to 3.44 in 107 1/3 innings this season.
Then Ashby stepped out of the pen for the first time in the big leagues, following the same path Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta took as they established themselves. Ashby was impressed when he saw a 99mph flash on the stadium scoreboard – 98.7mph was the official reading, according to Statcast – and he worked around two hits and a walk to deliver two scoreless innings.
“While we look forward to this next month and hopefully strive to be as close to our forces as possible as we move forward, it probably fits more with Ashby’s reliever pen. “said Counsell. “But I still think there can be a role. I think it’s important to see it and I think it’s important for him to do it, experience it and be successful. I don’t think there is any question about it.
Cain saw Ashby’s affairs firsthand at Triple-A Nashville while recovering from a hamstring injury.
“The kid is dirty,” Cain said. “It kicks off ’90s to mid’ 90s with a dirty change. I mean, the guy is quite it. He is the real deal. He’s got some great stuff. I think he’s going to be huge for us until September and hopefully in the playoffs as well. “
Ashby said he picked the brains of other young rookies out of their experience dipping their toes into the lift pen and enjoyed the adrenaline rush of rescue work.
“Every time I go out I feel more comfortable and relaxed,” Ashby said. “It’s good to have that. After having thrown this first throw during an exit, whether it is at the start or in relief, all the rest then disappears. “
He added: “Anything I can do to help this team win is great. Whether it’s to start or to relieve, I’m happy to do it.
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