Brewer Daily News for August 20th: Thornburg’s role, Brewers lose

Hello again everyone and welcome to the Tuesday morning edition of Brewer Daily News. Milwaukee Brewers’ pitcher Tyler Thornburg will now be seeing time from the bullpen as the team hasn’t announced a clear plan with him going forward. In the second bit of news, last night the Brewers (54-71) lost to the St. Louis Cardinals (72-52).

Tyler Thornburg is still looking for a consistent role with the team. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Thornburg, 24, is now back in the Brewers’ bullpen after making some occasional starts while a good chunk of the rotation was on the disabled list. This past Sunday, in Thornburg’s first outing out of the bullpen since starting this season, he was tagged for two runs in 1 2/3 of an inning and walked five.

"“When you’re starting, you have a lot of time to get ready, to get your mechanics down, all that time to warm up in the bullpen,” Thornburg said. – via Brewers.com"

It’s been uncertain for awhile what role Thornburg will hold come next season, but he feels confident in his ability to be a starter. This season, Thornburg is 1-0 with an ERA of 2.08 in 11 games (three starts) and has 25 strikeouts in 39 innings.

Last night the Brewers lost 8-5 Cardinals. Marco Estrada started for Milwaukee and was hit hard, but received a no-decision. Estrada went six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits, one walk and struck out four. Brandon Kintzler gave up four runs on six hits in the eighth inning, getting stuck with his first loss.

For the Cardinals, rookie Shelby Miller took the mound and did well, but also was given a no-decision. Miller pitched 5 1/3 innings and surrendered two runs on five hits, four walks and struck out eight. Reliever Michael Wacha gave up three runs in one inning pitched while picking up his third win and Edward Mujica acquired his 32nd save.

Jonathan Lucroy got the ball rolling for the Brewers’ offense in the third inning with an RBI single that scored Estrada. In the fifth, Norichika Aoki hit a solo home run to right field, his seventh. The Brewers rallied in the seventh to take a short lived lead when Lucroy hit another RBI single and Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer, his sixth.

Tonight the teams will be playing in game two of the series at 8:10 p.m. ET / 7:10 p.m. CT. The projected starters are Lance Lynn (13-6, 3.89 ERA) for St. Louis and Kyle Lohse (8-8, 3.17 ERA) for Milwaukee.