Peralta (shoulder) goes on IL after slow start

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress returning for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals was expected. Starter Freddy Peralta taking Jeffress’ place on the injured list was not.

Peralta landed on the 10-day injured list with irritation of the SC joint, where his right collarbone meets his sternum. The move came a day after he recorded only 10 outs for the second straight start in a no-decision against the Cardinals, leaving Peralta with a 7.13 ERA after four starts. The 22-year-old has recorded more than 10 outs only once so far.

“He was having some pain last night during the game, so there’s some inflammation in there that we had to calm down,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We don’t expect it to be long term. It should definitely be on the shorter end here. So, he’ll rest for a couple days and then he should be able to start throwing pretty soon.”

The move concurred with Jeffress’ return from a season-opening stint on the injured list that gave him time to build strength in his right shoulder, plus two other moves prior to Tuesday’s game. The Brewers called up right-hander Aaron Wilkerson from Triple-A San Antonio for the bullpen and optioned reliever Jake Petricka to Class A Wisconsin.

Petricka stayed close to the Brewers’ home base, which is a good sign the team plans to bring him back in the coming days as part of another transaction.

Wilkerson, who has made three starts and three relief appearances in the Majors for Milwaukee over the past two seasons, is one option to start in Peralta’s spot Saturday against the Dodgers. Chase Anderson is another. Or, the Brewers could make another callup from the Minor Leagues. One outside option is San Antonio’s Opening Day starter, Adrian Houser, who is scheduled to start Friday at Nashville and could be bumped a day.

“We’ll get through Friday and then we’ll make a decision is how I think we’ll approach it,” Counsell said.

Wilkerson was outstanding in a pair of starts for San Antonio, allowing one earned run on five hits in 11 1/3 innings, with two walks and 12 strikeouts. Last year, he posted a 2.49 ERA in 15 games (12 starts) at a Triple-A Colorado Springs affiliate that was not as kind to many of his teammates’ ERAs.

“It was kind of unexpected for me yesterday, because we were traveling to Memphis and I couldn’t watch the game or anything,” Wilkerson said. “We landed and [Triple-A manager Rick Sweet] told me I was going up. ... I feel pretty good about my command right now. I’m working in and out, up and down. The offspeed is pretty good for me right now. Two games into the season is not a good sample size, but it’ a good start.”

Psychic friends

After Christian Yelich’s three-homer game on Monday, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said, “It’s almost like he’s psychic.” That led some to wonder whether Shildt was suggesting the possibility of sign stealing.

Not so, he said Tuesday afternoon.

“That wasn't what I was referring to,” Shildt said. “We're always aware. We have to be. That’s the game we play in today. I'm not taking anything at all away from Christian Yelich. The comment about him being psychic was about him having awareness and elevated consciousness right now of what's going on, where he's going and what he's swinging at, and that's to his credit. We're always going to be aware of our signs because it's our responsibility to protect what we're doing. …

“I'm not at all trying to be controversial, but generally speaking, people are very diligent about paying attention to signs and sequences, relaying those things. I know baseball frowns upon it, and I applaud that. There are measures being taken to prevent it. I don't know if it's happening or not, I really don't. But we're looking at it, there's no question. We're doing our due diligence. But I'm not in any way accusing anybody of doing it.”

Last call

Umpire Ron Kulpa, who exited Monday’s series opener after he was struck on the facemask by a Junior Guerra fastball, remained in Milwaukee on Tuesday but did not work the game. Cory Blaser flew in to join crew chief Jerry Meals’ crew and worked third base on Tuesday night.

Kulpa will be re-evaluated prior to Wednesday’s afternoon series finale.