Seven years after making his major league debut as an outfielder
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Normally Milwaukee’s first baseman, Thames has started three straight games in the outfield — including two in a row in left — and has seen the bulk of his action there since returning from a 41-game stint on the disabled list earlier this month.
Manager Craig Counsell has Thames in the outfield as he tries to keep Thames left-handed power bat in the lineup alongside right-hander slugger Jesus Aguilar.
Thames will likely stay in the outfield Friday night as the Brewers continue a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Thames played left field and drove in three runs as Milwaukee began the series with an 11-3 win on Thursday.
Aguilar took over as the everyday first baseman when Thames suffered a thumb injury April 25 and has thrived ever since. Aguilar is tied with Travis Shaw for the team lead with 14 home runs.
With the benefit of added offense also comes liability: Thames spent three years playing first base in the Korean League and made just 15 outfield appearances when the Brewers brought him back to the major leagues last season, so there is a little fine-tuning with Thames’ defensive skills.
“It’s not new for him but it is unfamiliar, and we recognize that,” Counsell said. “We understand this isn’t a regular position at this point. There’s going to be some rough edges there, but he’s shown that he can handle the basics.
“There was a ball he misplayed in Pittsburgh, but he came back and made two very nice plays. That’s what we’re going to get and that’s what we’ve got to be willing to live with.”
Counsell is willing to sacrifice a little on defense if it means getting the kind of pop Aguilar and Thames are capable of.
“I think having both of those bats in the lineup is reward enough for that,” Counsell said.
Junior Guerra (3-5, 2.89 ERA) will make a second consecutive start a day after the Brewers scored 10 runs or more. He’s hoping Friday turns out better than the last time
Josh Hader Milwaukee Brewers Jersey , when Milwaukee followed an 11-run outburst against Philadelphia with a 4-1 loss.
Guerra pitched well in that outing. He allowed three runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings but took the loss for the second time in three starts and is looking for his first victory since May 14 despite posting a 2.67 ERA in the six starts since.
Guerra has already started two games against the Cardinals this season, and is 1-0 in those games while allowing just one run over 11 1/3 innings. He gave up one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-2 victory over the Cards on April 11. Guerra did not get a decision when he faced St. Louis on May 30, although he pitched shutout ball in his six innings, and the Brewers eventually won 3-2.
He is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.
St. Louis has dropped eight of 11 after committing four errors on Thursday and will start right-hander Jack Flaherty (3-2, 2.66).
Flaherty has allowed just one earned run over his last two starts, spanning 11 1/3 innings and has held opponents to no more than a run in six of his nine starts this season.
He held the Cubs scoreless over five innings his last time out on Sunday, striking out nine but didn’t take a decision in the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory.
“I was able to battle and execute when I needed to,” Flaherty said. “I threw a lot of pitches in a short amount of time. I was hoping to go deeper, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Flaherty is facing Milwaukee for the second time this season and the third time in his short career.
He made his first start against the Brewers in the 2017 finale at Busch Stadium
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The Arizona Diamondbacks have put their miserable May in the rearview mirror. The New York Mets are in a June swoon that keeps dragging on.
Paul Goldschmidt and Daniel Descalso homered, Zack Godley pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Diamondbacks beat the staggering Mets 7-3 on Friday night.
The NL West leaders have won seven of eight and 11 of 14. The freefalling Mets have dropped four straight, 12 of 13 and 19 of 23.
After starting the season 12-2, the Mets (28-38) have gone from 10 games over .500 to 10 games under earlier than any team in major league history. The previous mark was held by the 2011 Marlins, who did it in their 76th game.
It wasn’t that long ago that the tables were turned. When the Mets swept three from the Diamondbacks in New York from May 18-20, Arizona was in the midst of losing 15 times in 17 games. Since then, the Diamondbacks are 13-4.
”We were scuffling pretty bad the last time we played these guys, right in the middle of that pretty terrible stretch,” Descalso said. ”It seems like since we’ve been home after that road trip and kind of got right it’s been a much better ballclub
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New York’s stagnant offense has mustered just 21 runs in the last 13 games, scoring three or fewer in 11 straight.
Rookie manager Mickey Callaway insists he’s seeing subtle signs his team is breaking out of it.
”We were very close. We had lots of baserunners tonight,” he said. ”We put ourselves in position where we didn’t even need hits to score runs. We just needed some groundballs. … It felt different during the game. When you get in here at the end of the night it feels like the same thing, but we’re slowly coming out of it.”
Goldschmidt gave Arizona a lead in the first with his second solo home run in two nights. The slugging first baseman, having a torrid June after a horrendous May, has nine homers and 21 RBIs in his past 20 games. He also singled twice and drove in two runs.
Descalso had a sacrifice fly to go with a two-run homer off Seth Lugo (2-2) that put Arizona up 5-2 in the fifth. Jon Jay added three hits, including a triple.
Dominic Smith, brought up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, homered and doubled for the Mets on his 23rd birthday.
Godley (7-5) dodged trouble through the first four innings before retiring 10 of the last 11 batters he faced. He went 6 2/3 innings
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”I had to fight myself pretty much for the first three innings,” Godley said. ”After that I kind of settled in a little bit, got some quick outs and was able to go deep in the game.”
With two runners on, Brad Boxberger retired Michael Conforto for his 16th save.
Lugo led off the third with a single, Conforto was hit by a pitch and Todd Frazier followed with an RBI double. But the damage was limited when Godley fanned the next three batters to keep it tied at 1.
David Peralta singled with one out in the fifth ahead of Descalso’s eighth home run of the season.
”I left that changeup up to Descalso,” Lugo said. ”I think if I execute that pitch we’re in a different ballgame.”
In the sixth, Jarrod Dyson drew a one-out walk, stole second and third and scored on Jay’s single to make it 6-2. Jay tripled in the eighth and Goldschmidt singled him home.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: Activated INF Wilmer Flores (back) from the 10-day disabled list and optioned INF-OF Ty Kelly to Triple-A Las Vegas. Flores entered in a double switch in the sixth and had an RBI double in the ninth.
Diamondbacks: LHP Robbie Ray (strained right oblique) made his first rehab start Thursday night for Class A Visalia, allowing five runs
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UP NEXT
The Diamondbacks send left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-2, 3.21 ERA) to the mound and the Mets counter with lefty Steven Matz (2-4, 3.53) on Saturday night in the third matchup of the four-game series.
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