Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday 8/26/19
26 August 2019 Sports
Sports from Wayne Mausser
Robbie Ray returned from the injured list and pitched five scoreless innings, Eduardo Escobar and Christian Walker each homered, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Sunday to avoid a series sweep. Ray (11-7) had been out since Aug. 14 due to lower back spasms. He allowed three hits, walked four and struck out six in five innings. The left-hander has thrown 18 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings against the Brewers. After scoring one run over the first two games of the series, Arizona scored twice in the first inning. Ketel Marte led off with a single, Tim Locastro reached on a fielder’s choice and Walker hit a drive to the left field bleachers. It was Walker’s 23rd home run of the season and his fourth of the team’s eight hits in the series at that point. Escobar added on in the fourth with his 29th homer. Walker then reached on a double and came around to score on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0. That spelled the end for Brewers starter Zach Davies (8-7), who has lost five straight starts. Milwaukee entered the day two games behind the Cubs for the final NL wild card, and Arizona was 5 1/2 back of Chicago. Marte scored another run for the Diamondbacks in the fifth on an error by second baseman Keston Hiura. Marte opened the inning with a double off Taylor Williams. Manny Piña gave Milwaukee its first run in the seventh with his seventh home run. Ryan Braun added another run in the eighth, scoring Hiura on a sacrifice fly. Both runs came off of Yoan López. Braun, who had a double and a single on the day, has hit safely in each of his last 17 starts. Christian Yelich had two hits and his 25th stolen base. The reigning NL MVP stepped to the plate with two on in the bottom of the ninth but grounded out for the final out. Archie Bradley picked up the save for the Diamondbacks. It was his seventh in 10 chances. Milwaukee star Yasmani Grandal went hitless on his bobblehead day.
Meanwhile, Brewers: RHP Jeremy Jeffress was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained left hip. Another RHP Ray Black was recalled from Triple-A San Antonio. Jeffress said his hip started acting up last week in Washington. He said he’s hopeful of a minimum 10-day absence.
The Brewers continue their homestand as St. Louis comes to Miller Park. Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 3.64) will take the mound against RHP Adam Wainwright (9-9, 4.51) and the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Gonzalez allowed one earned run on three hits, walked four and struck out six in five innings in a no-decision against St. Louis on Tuesday. First pitch is at 6:05 and the game can be heard on AM1100/98.3FM, WISS.
Elsewhere in the N.L. Central on Sunday the Cardinals pounded the Rockies 11-4, the Pirates edged the Reds 9-8 and the Cubs lost to Washington 7-5 in 11 innings. The Cardinals lead the Cubs by 2 ½ games and the Brewers by 4 ½.
The Green Bay Packers and General Manager Brian Gutekunst have cut ties with former second round draft pick Josh Jones. Jones tweeted Sunday morning “It’s been real Green Bay. The Packers just informed me of my release.” The Packers made the move official Sunday afternoon. According to multiple sources, Jones asked to be traded. Jones’ offseason had been a rocky one. Jones skipped portions of the Packers voluntary offseason program. Then he returned for the Packers Mandatory Minicamp and said multiple reasons caused him to miss practice including a hamstring injury and to be closer to his family in Florida. Jones was also kicked out of Training Camp practice by Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur after Jones tackled a teammate. Jones, who was drafted as a safety, never found a true role within Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers or Mike Pettine’s defenses. Instead Jones found himself practicing in a hybrid safety/linebacker position. During the 2019 preseason, Jones has not played a single snap, presumably, to keep his trade value up by avoiding injury. In two seasons with the Packers, Jones played in 29 games tallying one interception and three sacks.
Meanwhile, Green Bay Packers had 15 players miss practice on Sunday and now the team will need to find some depth at inside linebacker. The team announced on Sunday that safety/linebacker Josh Jones was waived-injured. While undrafted rookie linebacker Curtis Bolton’s leg injury should be a long recovery. Bolton said he doesn’t think he has a torn ACL but is still gathering information on the severity. Bolton surged up the depth chart after Oren Burks suffered a pectoral injury against the Houston Texans in the Packers first preseason game. With the injuries to Bolton and Burks, the Packers had four total inside linebackers practicing on Sunday. The team picked up linebacker Nicholas Grigsby off the waiver wire from the Baltimore Ravens, according to the NFL Transaction Wire. The Packers are expected to sit the starters for the final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.
Jack Coan has been named starter at quarterback for 19th-ranked Wisconsin, which opens the season Friday at South Florida. Sunday’s move came as no surprise, since Coan took the first-team reps in fall camp, ahead of Chase Wolf and highly touted freshman Graham Mertz. The two were co-listed as backups on the depth chart, with Danny Vanden Boom rounding out the group. Coan is the only quarterback with significant experience following the departure of three-year starter Alex Hornibrook, who transferred to Florida State in March. Coan, a junior, played in five games last year, starting the last four when Hornibrook was out with a concussion, and threw for 515 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He led the Badgers to a 35-3 victory over Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl.
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