Vogelbach hops home to score after injury
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PHOENIX -- The good news for the Brewers was that Daniel Vogelbach, in a show of grit and determination, managed to hobble home and keep alive the scoring rally that all but iced a 5-0 victory for Freddy Peralta and the Brewers over the D-backs on Tuesday.
The bad news was that the Brewers had yet another injury on their hands, and yet another trip to the 10-day injured list will follow.
That much was obvious to everyone at Chase Field. Everyone except for Arizona’s middle infielders, that is.
“It was bad for us,” Peralta said. “When one of your teammates comes out of a game that you know got hurt, it’s hard, you know? I don’t know yet what really happened, but he wasn’t looking good. His face -- he’s the kind of guy that’s always bringing energy and is happy, and in one second everything changed, just like that.”
The Brewers had a 1-0 lead and Peralta was working on a one-hitter going into the sixth inning when Vogelbach reached first base on a one-out error charged to D-backs second baseman Josh Rojas. Two batters later, with two outs, Avisaíl García’s walk pushed Vogelbach into scoring position for Omar Narváez’s single to center field.
Vogelbach was off on contact and looked on his way to scoring easily, only to come up limping badly around third base with what manager Craig Counsell later called a “significant” left hamstring strain. When Vogelbach noticed that the D-backs infielders were unaware of his peril, in spite of pleading from the pitcher, Stefan Crichton, and the catcher, Wisconsin native Daulton Varsho, he used a combination of hops and limps to make it home without so much as a throw.
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"Weird stuff happens all the time in this game," D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed said. "And I've played it long enough to know now there's something new you're going to see maybe every day and you try to be ready for everything and prepare the best you can and that's what I do each and every day. But I've never once taken a cut and relay and practiced for the guy pulling his hammy and being 30 feet outside the baseline. It's just never happened. So I'm just going to laugh about it. There's nothing I could have done differently."
Brewers officials had to help Vogelbach off the field before the Brewers made it a three-run inning and a 4-0 lead on Luis Urías’ two-run single. Christian Yelich added insurance in the eighth inning when he launched a solo home run that splashed down into the pool beyond the right-field wall.
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Vogelbach was scheduled for an MRI scan on Wednesday morning and will be placed on the 10-day IL, Counsell said.
“I think I was in a little bit of shock initially, frankly,” Counsell said, “but he got his head about him and was able to finish. He couldn’t move, really.”
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The Brewers were already thin at first base since Keston Hiura was demoted to the Minors for a second time amid an offensive slump, and while he has been hitting in Triple-A Nashville -- he extended his on-base streak to 20 games on Tuesday -- club officials would like him to keep hitting there for a while longer. The Brewers and D-backs play at 12:40 p.m. CT local time on Wednesday before Milwaukee has a day off on Thursday, so a roster move would require an early flight to Phoenix.
“We’ll figure it out,” Counsell said of the club’s longer-term plans for first base. “We’re going to have to call somebody up from Nashville and we’ll go from there.”
Peralta struck out 10 and lowered his ERA to 2.11 with 81 innings in the books after holding the D-backs scoreless over six innings on only one hit -- a Ketel Marte double with one out in the first inning. Brad Boxberger, Miguel Sánchez and Hunter Strickland followed Peralta to finish Milwaukee’s seventh shutout victory this season.
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Peralta’s night began on a strange note. When he took the mound for the bottom of the first inning, plate umpire Jeremy Riggs examined his glove and then ordered Peralta and the Brewers to find a replacement, apparently because the navy blue leather had faded over the years to a color that didn’t fit within the letter of the rulebook.
“I’ve been using that glove for a while. Maybe three years,” said Peralta, who was using it when he pitched to within five outs of a no-hitter against the D-backs on June 4 at American Family Field. “That’s why it’s a little lighter. But I’ve been using it and nobody said anything about it. Today they complained, and we changed it.”