Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday 8/29/19
29 August 2019 Sports
The Milwaukee Brewers’ chances of repeating as NL Central champions might have looked bleak had they been swept by the St. Louis Cardinals. Thanks to Keston Hiura and Jordan Lyles, they bounced back. Hiura homered and drove in three runs, Lyles turned in another strong start and Milwaukee snapped St. Louis’ six-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory Wednesday. The Cardinals had won 15 of 18, including two at Miller Park this week in matching their longest winning string of the season. The Brewers ended a three-game skid. Third in the division, they trail the Cardinals by 5 1/2 games. Milwaukee got off to a fast start against Jack Flaherty (8-7), who had given up a total of just one run in his previous five starts. Trent Grisham led off the first inning with a single, went to third on a throwing error by second baseman Kolten Wong and scored on a groundout by Hiura. Milwaukee made it 2-0 in the second when Ryan Braun doubled and later scored on Orlando Arcia’s sacrifice fly. Hiura hit a solo home run in the fourth, sending a 3-0 fastball from Flaherty into the left-field seats. Hiura added an RBI double in the eighth. Lyles (9-8), acquired from Pittsburgh in a trade on July 29, set the tone for Milwaukee. The right-hander, who had held Arizona hitless in a six-inning outing in his last start, struck out five of the first seven Cardinals he faced. He fanned nine in 5 1/3 innings. Junior Guerra relieved Lyles in the sixth with two on and got Yadier Molina to hit into a double-play. Josh Hader struck out three in two scoreless innings to earn his 26th save. Molina hit two singles and went 7 for 11 in the series. He homered three times in the first two games — the veteran catcher has just seven home runs this season. Wong hit his 10th homer, connecting in the sixth off Lyles. He also doubled and singled. Christian Yelich singled and walked in four plate appearances. The reigning NL MVP hasn’t hit a home run in 10 games, his longest drought of the season for Milwaukee. Meanwhile, third-baseman Mike Moustakas said there is no timetable for his return. He has been out since leaving Monday’s game in the third inning with pain in his left palm and wrist after being struck by hard-hit groundball. The Brewers are off today before beginning a huge three-game series Friday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (6-3, 4.34 ERA) faces Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (11-8, 4.05 ERA).
Elsewhere in the N.L. Central on Wednesday, the Cubs beat the Mets 10-7, the Phillies bombed the Pirates 12-3 and the Reds blanked the Marlins 5-0. The Cardinals lead the Cubs by two games and the Brewers by 5 ½.
The Packers close out their preseason tonight, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. As expected the Packers starters have begun preparations for week one against the Chicago Bears. While they work on that, the rest of the roster is still battling to make the 53-man roster. Here are some of the key things to watch during Thursday’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers are unlikely to keep more than two quarterbacks so the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers will be interesting to see. Deshone Kizer started the Packers first 2 preseason games then Tim Boyle got the starter reps in game three against the Oakland Raiders. LaFleur wouldn’t say who was going to start against the Chiefs but expect to see both playing through the third quarter. Kizer has a lot to prove in his third year in the NFL after 0-15 in his rookie year with the Cleveland Browns. He struggled when he filled in last season, throwing three interceptions and a fumble in three games. Boyle’s preseason numbers are impressive but again it is the preseason. Boyle has a QB rating of 113. He’s thrown five touchdowns and 0 interceptions and has completed 60 percent of his throws. He has been sacked once and was credited with a fumble against the Ravens but that appeared to be rookie running back Dexter Williams’ fault. Kizer’s stats have been underwhelming. After throwing a touchdown to undrafted rookie receiver Darrius Shepherd in the first preseason game, Kizer hasn’t found the endzone. His rating is 73.8 and is just above a 55 percent completion percentage. Kizer has also been sacked four times and threw one interception. Although it was a hailmary at the end of the Raiders game. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst has made it clear that he’s not just looking at what the two quarterbacks do in the preseason games but taking in everything: at practice, in the team meetings and in games. He and coach Matt LaFleur both said the competition for the backup position is very close. Boyle made the Packers 53-man roster in 2018 as an undrafted rookie behind Rodgers and Kizer so he’s been through the pressure of the final cutdown. You can hear all of the action tonight beginning with the pregame at 5:00 and the kickoff at 7:00 on 102.3, The Bug.
Meanwhile, Packers linebacker Reggie Gilbert has reportedly been traded to the Tennessee Titans. Gilbert made his debut with Green Bay vs. the Minnesota Vikings Dec. 23, 2017. He also played all 16 games in 2018 and made 44 tackles, 36 of which were solo.
Share |