Brewer Daily News for June 30th: Braun updates, Brewers fall again

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Sunday edition of Brewer Daily News. Even though he is in the recovering process, it still seems that the Milwaukee Brewers’ left fielder Ryan Braun will be out until the All-Star break. In the second bit of news, the Brewers (32-47) lost a close game last night to the Pittsburgh Pirates (50-30).

The Brewers’ lack of production at the plate with runners on could be charged up once Ryan Braun returns. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Braun landed on the 15-day disabled list after a game on June 9 with a right thumb injury, something he had battled since Spring Training. The injury, an irritated nerve in his right thumb, put the slugger on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Now it seems like Braun will be back later than what was originally expected.

"“I don’t like timetables with injuries,” Braun said. “It’s like with Corey [Hart], you can’t set a date because you just don’t know.” – via Brewers.com"

In left field, Logan Schafer has taken over in Braun’s absence and will do so until he returns. There haven’t been any confirmed dates on when Braun would be coming back, but some signs indicate it will be the middle of July.

Last night the Brewers lost 2-1 to the Pirates. Donovan Hand made his second major league start for Milwaukee and was efficient, but unfortunately had no run support and was given his first loss. Hand pitched five solid innings of two-run ball (two solo home runs) on five hits, no walks and he struck out two. The bullpen, consisting of Brandon Kintzler, John Axford and Jim Henderson, pitched three scoreless innings with only one hit allowed and four strikeouts.

Francisco Liriano made the start for the Bucs and did well, picking up his seventh win of the season. Liriano pitched six innings of one-run ball on seven hits, one walk, and struck out six. Closer Jason Grilli acquired his 27th save of the season by pitching a perfect ninth inning.

Yuniesky Betancourt drove in the Brewers’ only run in the sixth inning when he hit a single scoring Carlos Gomez. Once again, the Brew Crew struggled with runners on base as they left seven runners on and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. However, Gomez did go 2-for-4 with a triple and Hand picked up his first major league hit.

Today the Brewers will try to avoid getting swept by the Pirates at 1:35 p.m. ET / 12:35 p.m. CT. The projected starters are Kyle Lohse (3-6, 3.69 ERA) for Milwaukee and Charlie Morton (1-1, 2.81 ERA) for Pittsburgh.