Brewer Daily News for August 4th: Second base platoon, Brewers fall

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Sunday edition of Brewer Daily News. The Milwaukee Brewers have decided for now that the best thing at second base will be to platoon Rickie Weeks and rookie Scooter Gennett. In the second bit of news, last night the Brewers (46-64) lost to the Washington Nationals (54-56).

Rickie Weeks finds himself once again competing for the job at second base. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday, Brewers’ manager Ron Roenicke was talking about how there will be a platoon at second base between Weeks and Gennett. This platoon happened earlier in the season before Weeks’ hitting streak caught on and Gennett was sent back down to Triple-A Nashville.

"“What we’re going to do is just match up,” Roencike said. “So, we’re going to do that for a while, and then we’ll see what happens.” – via Brewers.com"

Despite his hot streak when Gennett was sent down, Weeks’ production has slacked tremendously as he was hitting .175. Gennett, who made his major league debut on June 3, will look to expand on his chances while platooning at second. Roenicke has not commented on whether or not Gennett will be sent down at a later date.

Last night the Brewers were shutout  3-0 by the Nationals. Rookie Donovan Hand took the ball for Milwaukee and pitched well, but was tagged with his third loss of the season. Hand went seven innings while allowing three runs on five hits, one walk and struck out three. Rob Wooten, another rookie, pitched two innings of scoreless relief while allowing two hits and striking out one.

Dan Haren was Washington’s starter and was sharp on the mound, picking up his sixth win. Haren went seven innings while giving up just four hits, two walks and struck out six. Closer Rafael Soriano acquired his 28th save of the season as he pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth.

The only Brewers to get hits were Weeks, Khris Davis, Jeff Bianchi and Yuniesky Betancourt, with Weeks hitting his 20th double of the year. The team left five runners on base and were 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.

Today the Brew Crew will look to avoid getting swept by the Nats at 2:10 p.m. ET / 1:10 p.m. CT. The projected starters are Taylor Jordan (1-3, 3.31 ERA) for Washington and Kyle Lohse (7-7, 3.22 ERA) for Milwaukee.