Hometown Broadcasting Sports Friday 8/2/19
2 August 2019 Sports
Sports from Wayne Mausser
In the three years that Josh Hader has been one of baseball’s best bullpen weapons, the unwritten rule had always been that he does not pitch three straight days. The Brewers made an exception Thursday and paid the price. Hader took over with a one-run lead in the eighth inning and it was gone in the span of seven pitches, after Robbie Grossman worked a leadoff walk and Matt Chapman followed with a go-ahead home run to straight away center field that sent the A’s to a 5-3 win at the Oakland Coliseum. By pitching Hader all three games in Oakland, he will be limited in another critical weekend series against the Cubs that begins this afternoon at Wrigley Field. Chapman’s blast spoiled a quality start for Chase Anderson, who limited Oakland to one run on two hits in six innings of a third straight solid Brewers start. Combined with Adrian Houser on Tuesday and Jordan Lyles on Wednesday, Brewers starters allowed three runs on eight hits in 16 innings in the series. The Brewers didn’t help out much offensively, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 men on base. They remain last in the National League at scoring runners from third with fewer than two outs, and tops in the Majors in percentage of runs scored via the home run. Milwaukee took a 3-2 lead into the eighth, where Counsel’s plan was to use Hader for one inning, followed by Freddy Peralta in the ninth. Of the 26 hits Hader’s allowed this season, 11 have been home runs. He has pitched 52 1/3 innings this season, compared to nine home runs allowed in 81 1/3 innings last year. Zach Davies, who’s 8-4 goes against Jose Quintana, who’s 8-7. First pitch is at 1:20 and the game can be heard on AM1100/98.3FM, WISS.
Elsewhere in the N.L. Central on Thursday the Cardinals shut out the Cubs 8-0 and the Braves beat the Reds 4-1. The Cardinals lead the Cubs by a game in the division and the Brewers by two.
The Packers follow up their longest practice of training camp with their shortest on Thursday, just one hour and 34 minutes. It was just a walkthrough in advance of tonight’s Family Night practice inside Lambeau Field. Earlier in the week, practices were marred by what appeared to be very sloppy play by the offense. On Thursday, Aaron Rodgers explained some of that was due to coaches changing the script on the field, and different times being used on the play clock. He said “It’s a work in progress. Matt LaFleur said safety Josh Jones responded well to his removal from practice on Wednesday. Jones took part in all of practice Thursday. LaFleur kicked him out of Wednesday’s practice after the safety threw running back Tra Carson to the ground at the end of a run, igniting a minor scuffle. LaFleur said he does not expect Mason Crosby (calf) to participate in Family Night. The Packers return to Ray Nitschke Field Sunday at 10:15am
The University of Wisconsin football team will open the season ranked 17th in the USA Today coaches poll. The Badgers are tied with Central Florida in the preseason rankings. Clemson is ranked number one, followed by Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the poll. Michigan is 7th, Penn State 14th, Iowa 19th, Michigan State 20th and Northwestern 25th. Nebraska and Minnesota are in the “others receiving votes” category. The other major poll, the Associated Press Top 25, is set to be released Aug. 19.
Wisconsin Badgers wide receiver Danny Davis says at the trial of his former teammate Quintez Cephus that one of the women who accused Cephus of raping her had flirted with him shortly after meeting him for the first time. Cephus is charged with second- and third-degree sexual assault for alleged attacks on two 18-year-old women in 2018. Cephus has said the women wanted to have sex, but they testified they were too drunk to consent. The Wisconsin State Journal reported Thursday that Davis testified that Cephus came out of the room naked and asked Davis to take a photo of the women, who were both asleep. Davis says he took one picture of a woman who immediately got up and demanded he erase it. He did. The trial is scheduled to conclude today.
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