AROUND THE BASES

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MLB: Tampa Bay 1B Logan Morrison

Morrison has been on an offensive binge, batting .393 with five homers and 11 RBI over his last seven games entering Saturday. For the season, he had 34 home runs, 11 more than his previous high in 2011 with the Marlins.

BREWERS: 2B Jonathan Villar

After struggling all season at the plate and losing his starting job at second base, Villar finally has started swinging the bat. After batting .364 in August, he got September off to a good start with two more hits Friday night.

BREWERS THIS WEEK

The Brewers still have plenty of road series to navigate over the final month. This week, they travel to Cincinnati for three games, then take a day off before playing a huge weekend series in Chicago. The Friday game has been moved from day to night to allow the Cubs some rest after a night game in Pittsburgh, a move the Brewers objected to, but to no avail.

DID YOU KNOW?

Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is the only majorleaguer batting at least .315 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI this season.

YOU FIGURE IT OUT

The Cardinals rode left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist hard during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, especially in ’15 when he led the National League with 81 appearances. Siegrist was very effective over that period, posting a combined 2.44 ERA, but he paid a price for that heavy workload. Siegrist’s velocity was down this year, as was his effectiveness, and he also experienced health issues, including forearm tendinitis. The result was being designated for assignment Thursday despite being only 28 with two more years of control. “It’s just been a season of trying to get him healthy,” manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s always been a challenge, and you’re fighting to get yourself right, but then it comes down to the business of the game, too. Our (other) lefties down there are throwing well.”

QUOTE

“I tried to get out of the way, but I would've regretted it if I did get out of the way." – Minnesota’s Max Kepler, after getting hit by a pitch to force in the winning run against the White Sox.