9/22/22 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday
22 September 2022 Sports
Thursday Sports
From Wayne Mausser
Pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau greeted Drew Smith with a grand slam in the pitcher’s return from two months on the injured list, and the New York Mets squandered a chance to boost their NL East lead with a 6-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Willy Adames hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth against Taijuan Walker, his fifth homer in 10 games and 31st this season, and the Brewers (79-70) closed within two games of Philadelphia (80-67) for the third and final wild-card berth. The Phillies played later Wednesday.
“We know we have to put the gas pedal down, for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We did that this homestand and we’ll continue to.”
The Mets (95-56), already assured of at least a wild card, maintained a one-game NL East lead over Atlanta (93-56), whose five-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss at Washington. New York had won six in a row.
Mark Canha was hit by pitches twice and Luis Guillorme once. Guillorme was struck on the right foot by a Jake Cousins slider in the ninth, the big league record 106th hiit batter of the season for New York. That topped the 105 by last year’s Cincinnati Reds, and Mets manager Buck Showalter signaled for the ball.
Walker (12-5) allowed only four runners before Adames homered leading off the sixth. Adames is hitting .323 (40 for 24) with eight homers and 28 RBIs in his last 31 games.
Tyrone Taylor’s RBI single, Milwaukee’s third straight hit, chased Walker in the seventh.
David Peterson loaded the bases with a two-out intentional walk to Adames, Brosseau was announced to hit for Rowdy Tellez and Smith relieved in his first big league appearance since July 24 after recovering from a lat strain.
Smith got ahead 0-2, and Brosseau homered on a hanging slider. He is 9 for 15 with three homers as a pinch hitter this season.
Adrian Houser allowed three hits in 4 2/3 scoreless innings and Hoby Milner, Trevor Gott (3-2), Brad Boxberger, Brent Suter and Jake Cousins combined for one-hit relief in the Brewers’ ninth shutout this season.
Brewers RHP Corbin Burnes (10-8, 3.12 ERA) is on the mound Thursday as the Brewers start their final trip, and RHP Graham Ashcraft (5-3, 3.97) starts for Cincinnati. First pitch is at 5:40 CDT and the game can be heard on AM 1100/98.3 FM, WISS.
Elsewhere in the NL Central Wednesday the Reds beat Boston 5-1, the Cubs edged the Marlins 4-3, the Mets pounded the Pirates 14-2 and the Padres shutout the Cardinals 1-0. The Brewers trail the Phillies by 2 ½ games in the race for the final Wild Card spot.
The Packers were back on the practice field Wednesday getting ready for Sunday’s matchup in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. It can also be called a game of number 12 meeting number 12 regarding quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodger squaring off for the fifth time in their Hall of Fame careers.
There was no slowing down for either Brady or Rodgers last season. Brady, then at age 44, led the NFL in yards (5,316) and touchdowns (43). Meanwhile Rodgers won his second straight MVP and led the Packers to the top seed in the NFC.
While much of the attention will be on the two of them, it will be the defenses that actually go against the quarterbacks. That includes a Buccaneers defense that is among the best in the league, and a unit for the Packers that picked off Brady three times the last time they met in 2020. So far, this year Brady has thrown for 402 yards and two touchdowns with one interception with a quarterback rating of 82.8 . Rodgers meanwhile in two games has passed for 429 yards, two touchdowns and one pick with a QB rating of 94.5.
Tampa Bay will be without the services of star receiver Mike Evans after he was suspended for one game following his participation in a fight on the field against the Saints Sunday.
Tampa Bay is undefeated after two games while the Packers are 1-1 after Sunday’s win 27-10 over the Bears at Lambeau Field. Rodgers threw his first two touchdown passes of the season and Green Bay’s rushing game, led by Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon piled up 203 yards, with Jones gaining 132 and scored a touchdown. He also caught three passes and scored another touchdown. This week the Packers go up against the league’s best defense in Tampa Bay, which has given up just one touchdown so far.
Green Bay is hoping to have left tackle David Bakhtiari back on the offensive line. Meanwhile, the Packers defense has been near the top of the NFL in 3-and-outs forced. they have faced 19 opponent drives this season and 9 times they have not given up a single first down.
In Thursday Night Football the Steelers play at Cleveland against the Browns. Both teams are 1-1. So far points have been hard to come by for the Steelers as they’ve scored just total while giving up 37. The Browns are averaging 28 points in two games while giving up 55.
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