Milwaukee, WI
Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cleveland Guardians
The Milwaukee Brewers have surprised a lot of observers of the sport this year. They’ve gotten out to baseball’s largest division lead despite losing their best player and their longtime, highly respected manager, despite a season-long injury to Brandon Woodruff, despite their All-Star closer not getting his first save of the season until August. Most pundits picked them to finish fourth or fifth in the National League Central.
Perhaps the only team in the majors that has been more surprising than the Brewers this year is the Cleveland Guardians. Many expected that Cleveland would be one of several teams that could compete for a relatively weak American League Central, but they certainly weren’t the favorite: they were 76-86 last season, and there weren’t any major offseason additions that would make them a clear favorite. Additionally, their best starting pitcher, Shane Bieber, made only two starts before going down with a UCL injury that required Tommy John surgery.
It turns out none of it has mattered. Cleveland improbably jumped out to the best record in baseball, where they still sit at 72-49, a half-game ahead of the Yankees for the league’s best record. And they’ve got a comfortable 4.5-game lead on the Minnesota Twins (the preseason favorite) in the AL Central.
How have they managed it? The number one reason is that that they’ve got the best bullpen ERA in the league…by more than half a run. Emmanuel Clase has been the best reliever in baseball this season (a 0.64 ERA and only seven walks through 56 1⁄3 innings), but it’s not just him: Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Tim Herrin all have ERAs of 2.20 or lower in at least 49 innings.
They’ve also gotten solid production from their lineup, led by José Ramirez, who I think might make it to the Hall of Fame one day. A perennial MVP candidate that seemingly no one ever thinks about, Ramírez this season has 31 homers, 98 RBIs, 27 doubles, and 27 stolen bases in 30 tries. He’s on pace to surpass 5 WAR for the fourth straight season, and for the sixth time since 2016. He’s backed up in the lineup by Steven Kwan, who is no longer flirting with a .400 batting average, but who is third in the league in hitting at .325. Josh Naylor, for the third straight season, is providing a valuable run-producing role, as he has 26 homers and 88 runs batted in. One other player with solid production this year: former Brewers farmhand David Fry, who made an All-Star team this year as a 28-year-old DH in his second season. Fry was the PTBNL in the March 2022 trade for reliever J.C. Mejía. That one didn’t work out.
It’s worth noting that the last couple of weeks have been a little strange for the Guardians. From August 3-9, Cleveland lost seven in a row, their longest skid of the season by far. But they have won five in a row since then: the last two of a four-game set in Minnesota and a three-game sweep of the Cubs.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, August 16 @ 7:10 p.m: Aaron Civale (4.88 ERA, 5.47 FIP) vs. Gavin Williams (4.38 ERA, 3.18 FIP)
Gavin Williams is a second-year pitcher who just turned 25 at the end of July. He had an excellent rookie season in which he had a 3.29 ERA in 82 innings across 16 starts. Things have not been as smooth in 2024—he has a 4.38 ERA in 39 innings—but his FIP is just 3.18, and he’s done a good job striking out batters (9.7 per nine) and limiting homers (only three in 39 innings). Williams missed the first three months of the season after suffering an elbow injury in spring training, so he may still be settling in. He is coming off his best start of the year: six innings, four hits, one run, and no walks in a 2-1 victory over the Twins on Saturday.
Aaron Civale is also coming off one of his best starts this season: 6 1⁄3 innings and two runs allowed in an 8-3 victory over Cincinnati last Friday.
Saturday, August 17 @ 6:15 p.m: Freddy Peralta (4.11 ERA, 4.14 FIP) vs. Tanner Bibee (3.39 ERA, 3.40 FIP)
Freddy Peralta’s frustrating season continued Monday, when he allowed two two-run homers in six innings against the Dodgers in a 5-2 loss. He’s faced some good pitching lately (including two recent matchups with one of the NL’s Cy Young frontrunners in Chris Sale), and he’ll do so again on Saturday as he takes on Cleveland’s best starting pitcher this season, Tanner Bibee.
Bibee has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last four starts, and on the season he’s 10-4 with solid peripherals (9.7 K/9, 2.2 BB/9). Bibee, who is 25 and right-handed, is in his second year, and he’s been quite good in both.
Sunday, August 18 @ 1:10 p.m: Colin Rea (3.72 ERA, 4.56 FIP) vs. Ben Lively (3.71 ERA, 5.02 FIP)
Ben Lively (no relation to Blake, as far as I know) is a bit of a journeyman: he’s 32 and first appeared in the majors with Kansas City in 2017 but this is the first season in which he has reached 100 innings pitched in the majors. He didn’t appear in a major league game between 2019 and 2023, when he resurfaced with Cincinnati. He’s had a reasonably good season, at 10-7 with a 3.71 ERA, but there’s some reason for dubiousness, as his 5.02 FIP is significantly higher than his ERA. He doesn’t strike out many batters and gives up some walks and homers, all indicators of trouble, but he’s managed to limit damage this season.
Lively’s not completely unlike his counterpart on Sunday, Colin Rea, who has been excellent for much of the season but got shelled by Los Angeles on Tuesday. Rea and Lively have nearly identical ERAs on the season, though that bad outing against the Dodgers inflated Rea’s, and while Rea’s FIP isn’t as bad as Lively’s it’s still a solid tick higher than his ERA at 4.56.
Prediction
Cleveland comes in having won five in a row and they are thus hotter than Milwaukee, but they lost seven straight before that, so Milwaukee actually has the better record over the last two weeks. I’ll give Milwaukee the edge because they’re at home, but it should be a close, fun series between two of baseball’s best.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man, previously named one of Wisconsin’s Most Wanted, has been sentenced to prison for shooting and killing his cousin in 2020.
In court
What we know:
A Milwaukee County jury found 39-year-old Brandon Gladney guilty of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firm by a felon earlier this year.
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Judge Michelle Havas sentenced Gladney to 29 years in prison on Friday, April 17. He was granted credit for more than a year’s time served and further sentenced to 14 years of extended supervision.
Arrested in Arizona after years on the run, court records show Gladney has also been ordered to pay the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office more than $1,800 for extradition costs.
Homicide investigation
The backstory:
The shooting happened in May 2020. Investigators said Gladney was captured on video apparently arguing with the victim, his cousin, outside a Milwaukee convenience store near 21st and Meinecke.
“It’s all on video, and it’s devastating for that family,” the marshal on the case told FOX6 when Gladney was profiled on Wisconsin’s Most Wanted. “You have a family member that shot and killed another family member.”
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Prosecutors said Gladney walked away but then returned with a gun pointed directly at the victim and shot him. The victim died from his gunshot wounds at a nearby hospital. Multiple bullet casings were found at the scene.
Gladney went on the run for years. He was arrested in Arizona in January 2023, years after he was charged.
The Source: FOX6 News referenced information from the U.S. Marshals Service, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior coverage.
Brice Turang slides to home plate to score during a game between the Miami Marlins and the Milwaukee Brewers on April 17. (Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MIAMI – Garrett Mitchell went 2 for 4 with three RBIs including a two-run double in the 10th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 7-5 on Friday night.
By the numbers:
Miami’s Calvin Faucher (1-2) entered a 4-all game in the 10th and walked Gary Sánchez with Brice Turang on second. Jake Bauers hit a single to load the bases.
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Luis Rengifo reached first on a throwing error by second baseman Xavier Edwards, allowing Turang to score. Mitchell followed with his double.
The Marlins scored one run in the bottom of the 10th when Jakob Marsee came home on Trevor Megill’s wild pitch. Megill settled in for his fourth save.
Coleman Crow, who made his debut on the mound for the Brewers, threw 77 pitches over 5 1/3 innings. He threw four strikeouts, gave up two earned runs and a walk.
The right-hander was 2-0 with a 4.07 ERA in two starts with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. He missed part of the 2023 season and all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Brewers scored three runs in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Mitchell hit an RBI single, Bauers scored on a forceout at first and Rengifo scored on a throwing error by catcher Agustín Ramírez.
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Miami’s Otto Lopez hit a triple to center field in the fourth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie. Lopez hit a two-run homer in the sixth to pull Miami within 4-3 and Ramírez doubled in the eighth to tie the game at four.
Abner Uribe (1-0) earned his first win of the season, coming on in the ninth inning.
Marlins third baseman Graham Pauley left the game in the seventh inning with right oblique discomfort after spinning out of the way of a pitch.
What’s next:
The Brewers and Marlins continue their 3-game series on Saturday, with Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 4.36 ERA) taking the mound for Milwaukee and Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 2.67) for Miami.
The Source: The Associated Press provided this report.
Michigan wins the national championship over UConn
Michigan beats UConn to win the national championship and we break down how they did it and where both programs go from here.
Loyalty is a word you rarely hear anymore when it comes to college sports.
Amare Hereford is an exception.
The night before he was able to put pen to paper and make his commitment to the UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team official earlier this week, the Beloit Memorial standout was invited for an on-campus visit with the Wisconsin Badgers.
Hereford did his due diligence. What player wouldn’t have in his position?
“Me being an 18-year-old kid, my first high major [visit], I just decided to go check it out,” Hereford said.
UW put on the full-court press in an attempt to lock down the Wisconsin “Mr. Basketball” finalist.
“They offered me a scholarship,” Hereford said. “It all happened so fast. It was all within a day.”
Hereford went home, processed the situation with his family and came to a decision.
He would honor his commitment to the Panthers, with his signature cementing the deal and UWM announcing the news Thursday, April 16.
“No, it wasn’t really hard to turn down,” Hereford said, referring to UW’s offer. “I love every school and I appreciate every school that reaches out to me. But I’m going to choose a school that I have a great relationship with, with all the coaching staff, and that’s been thinking highly of me and recruited me for the longest time. And that was the Panthers.
“Wisconsin is a great school, of course. But I’m going to the school that has been with me for the longest time.”
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Hereford is a huge addition for a Panthers squad that, like so many other programs due to transfer portal madness, is in the midst of rebuilding its roster for the 2026-2027 season almost from scratch.
“Amare will be a star here at Milwaukee,” coach Bart Lundy said. “He will be a fan favorite from the beginning. He is a complete basketball player but probably has as good of an ability to score as I’ve seen in any high school player. He is a great student and a great worker and completely fits our culture.
“We are so excited that he will represent the city of Milwaukee and the state and especially his hometown of Beloit.”
Indeed, Hereford put the ball through the net for Beloit Memorial at a prodigious rate, averaging 37.5 points per game – tops in the state – as a senior. He finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,493 points in four years.
Hereford also poured in 49 points in his final high school game, a WIAA sectional semifinal loss to Verona last month.
Hereford was tough to guard going to the basket as his 60.7% shooting this past season indicates, but he also shot a terrific 45% from from 3-point range (81 for 180) and capitalized on all the contact he drew to the tune of 83% accuracy at the free-throw line.
More than just a scorer, though, Hereford also finished with team-leading averages of 8.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.9 steals per game.
“My playing style fits the way [the Panthers] play – they get up and down, play fast,” Hereford said. “Coach Lundy said he definitely sees me running [point guard], having the ball in my hands, playing the same way I did in high school, finding teammates, getting to the rim and scoring at all three levels.”
Defense is typically where newcomers experience the biggest growing pains, learning the all-out effort it takes to guard at a high level on every possession.
Hereford, however, indicates he’s more than just a scorer.
“I love playing defense,” he said. “Hitting the gaps, getting steals and different things like that, being active with my hands a lot. I’m definitely looking forward to getting pushed defensively and picking up the ball full court, on-ball pressure in the half court.”
Hereford took his visit to UWM in mid-March, after the season had been completed, but saw enough games on TV to cement his opinion of the challenge ahead.
“The Horizon League is amazing,” he said. “There’s a lot of guards who play the same way I play, like to get up and down, play fast. That’s why I love Coach Lundy and the Panthers and the rest of the staff. They let guys be themselves. They play fast, get up and down, play together as one.
“They let everybody touch the ball and be themselves.”
Before Wisconsin entered the picture, Hereford said he’d narrowed his school choices to UWM and San Diego, where Whitefish Bay Dominican product and former Iowa State assistant JR Blount has taken over as head coach.
Now, Hereford projects as an important piece in the Panthers’ rebuilding process.
“Coach Lundy and the staff, they believe in me heavy. And I just want to prove them right,” Hereford said. “I want them to see that I can come in and make a huge impact right away for the team and in the Horizon League.
“I’m definitely going to come in and compete for my minutes. And obviously, I want to stay there.
“So, definitely looking forward to coming in and earning my spot.”
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