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7/29/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday
29 July 2024 Sports
Devin Williams is back to boost the Milwaukee Brewers’ tiring bullpen.
The two-time All-Star closer made his 2024 debut Sunday and pitched a scoreless inning in a 6-2 victory over the Miami Marlins. Williams was reinstated earlier in the day after missing the first four months of the season with stress fractures in his back.
“It’s like riding a bike,” Williams said after the game. “I’ve done it a million times. Got right back on there.”
In other moves, the Brewers designated right-hander Janson Junk for assignment and sent right-hander JB Bukauskas to Triple-A Nashville on a rehabilitation assignment.
Williams is coming off a 2023 season in which he went 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA and 36 saves to earn his second NL reliever of the year award. His return comes at an ideal time as he boosts a bullpen that has endured a major workload and lost Bryan Hudson and Rob Zastryzny to the injured list the last few days.
The NL Central-leading Brewers entered Sunday having received an MLB-low 493 1/3 innings from their starting pitchers.
After pitching four scoreless innings in a rehabilitation assignment, Williams came out Sunday to a standing ovation as he worked the ninth inning.
Williams reached a top velocity of nearly 98 mph while working around some trouble in the ninth.
After retiring Nick Gordon and striking out Forrest Wall, Williams gave up an infield single to Xavier Edwards, enabling the rookie to hit for the cycle Williams then walked Bryan De La Cruz before ending the game by getting Josh Bell to ground out.
He ended up throwing 24 pitches, including 13 strikes.
The Brewers did add some depth to its relief corps Saturday by acquiring Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies. Mears went 1-4 with a 5.56 ERA in 41 games with Colorado, but the 27-year-old right-hander believes he’s found a reason behind some of his earlier struggles.
Mears said he recently learned he’d been tipping pitches for about 1 1/2 months.
The Brewers play the Braves tonight. The Braves send right-hander Grant Holmes (0-0, 2.70 ERA) to the mound against another righty, Colin Rea (9-3, 3.60 ERA) with the first pitch set for 7:10 from American Family Field.
Elsewhere in the NL Central Sunday the Rays edged the Reds 2-1, the Cubs beat the Royals 7-3, the Cardinals nipped the Nationals 4-3 and the Pirates over the Diamondbacks 6-5. The Brewers lead the Cardinals by 6 games, the Pirates by 7and the Cubs and Reds by 10 games.
In the Midwest League Sunday the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers won at Beloit over the Sky Carp, 5-3. The T-Rats improve to 62-33 while the Sky Carp drop to 45-48. There are no games scheduled in the league today.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders dropped the finale of their four-game road stand on Sunday at Wade Stadium to Duluth by a final score of 4-3. The Dock Spiders lost both games to Duluth and finished the road trip 2-2. With the loss, the Dock Spiders’ record moved to 21-36 overall on the season, and 8-16 in the second half.
The Dock Spiders return home on Tuesday for a two-game series against Kalamazoo with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. On Tuesday, the Dock Spiders will offer a giant ‘Thank You’ to area medical professionals with a ticket special courtesy of SSM Health. Additionally, Tuesday is Bang For Your Buck with 107.1 The Bull – Enjoy hot dogs, 16 oz. Pepsi products, and 16 oz. domestic draft beers (for those of legal drinking age) for $2 each.
The Packers defense continues to dominate the beginning of training camp.
That’s especially true when it comes to creating turnovers in the secondary. On Sunday, it was a pair of rookies coming away with interceptions. Seventh round selection Kalen King had a big day overall, and capped it off with an interception off Jordan Love in the final team periods of practice. The rookie out of Penn State also had a nice pass break-up going against Samori Toure during 1-on-1′s earlier in practice.
Fellow rookie Evan Williams hauled in his second interception in as many days. This one comes on his 23rd birthday no less.
The first year safety also noticed a change on the field with QB1 Jordan Love out there for a second straight day.
There were a few highlights for the offense and Love on Sunday. A connection between Love and Jayden Reed led to a would-be touchdown. Fellow second year receiver Dontayvion Wicks had one of his better days of camp with big gains against Eric Stokes and Xavier McKinney.
Center Josh Myers also returned to the field after missing practice for personal reasons. Guard Elgton Jenkins was not on the field as he got an off day, his second of training camp thus far.
On the injury front, safety Zayne Anderson was out on Sunday due to a knee issue. Joining him on the sidelines were defensive linemen Deslin Alexandre (leg) and Keshawn Banks (groin). Rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd (hip) and safety Kitan Oladapo (toe, NFI) remain sidelined as well.
Jordan Love can now call himself the highest-paid QB in NFL history.
The extension was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers agreed to a 4-year contract extension worth $220 million total. He will make $55 million per year as part of this contract.
Love will also recieve a $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in new full guarantees, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Packers made the extension official on Saturday.
Love’s extension comes on the same day that Tua Tagovailoa signed a 4-year, $212.4 million extension with the Miami Dolphins.
Love, Tagovailoa, and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals are the three highest-paid QBs on a per-year basis, with each making $55 million a year. Last season, Love threw for 4,625 yards in 19 total games, with 37 TDs and 13 INTs, leading the Green and Gold to a 9-8 record and a NFC Divisional round appearance.
The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers added some depth to their injury-riddled bullpen Saturday by acquiring right-hander Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies.
Colorado received minor league right-handers Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera in the trade.
Mears, 27, owns a 1-4 record and 5.56 ERA in 41 games with 57 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings this season. Over his last 12 appearances, Mears has posted a 1.80 ERA while holding opponents to a .160 batting average.
He’s under club control through the 2027 season.
Mears has a 2-5 record and 4.93 ERA in 93 career relief appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2020-22) and Rockies (2023-24).
Earlier Saturday, the Brewers had placed left-hander Bryan Hudson on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday, with a left oblique strain. The Brewers also recalled left-hander Tyler Jay from Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers also had put left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny on the 15-day injured list Friday with left elbow tendinitis. Milwaukee’s bullpen does figure to get a boost in the next few days with the return of two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams, who hasn’t pitched in the majors yet this season while recovering from stress fractures in his back.
Blalock, 23, appeared in one game with Milwaukee this season. He owned a 5-2 record with a 4.08 ERA in 16 starts with the Brewers’ Double-A Biloxi affiliate.
Herrera, 20, has gone 9-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 16 combined appearances with Single-A Carolina and Single-A Wisconsin. He has made nine starts.
The Summer Olympics continue in Paris. The U.S. leads all countries with 12 medals, three gold, six silver and three bronze. The People’s Republic of China is next with eight while Japan and Republic of North Korea have seven each.
Kevin Durant added another volume to his tremendous Olympic record with a brilliant performance in Team USA’s 110-84 victory over Serbia in a pivotal pool play game Sunday.
leared to play less than an hour before the game after missing a month with a calf injury, Durant made an instant and dramatic impact as he nailed his first eight shots, five of them 3-pointers, in a 23-point masterpiece in just 17 dazzling minutes.
Lebron James and Durant combined to make their first 14 shots, seven of them from 3-point range, for 35 points. James, who had 21 points, also finished with nine assists and six rebounds in a commanding performance that slowly broke Serbia, a team that has gold medal aspirations.
Durant and James were the first Team USA teammates to both score over 20 points in an Olympic opener.
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