Brewers announce starters for first two games of NLDS
Milwaukee announced its starting pitchers for the first two games of the National League Divisional Series against Atlanta and the names come as no surprise.
The Brewers will send Corbin Burnes to the mound for Game 1 on Friday and Brandon Woodruff will toe the rubber for Game 2 on Saturday.
Manager Craig Counsell handing the ball to Burnes in the first game is recognition of how dominant the righty was for much of the season. He had the lowest ERA in MLB and finished with the best strikeout ratio of any pitcher in the league.
However, in his lone appearance against Atlanta (July 30) he got rocked to the tune of nine hits and five runs in just four innings of work. The runs were the most he has given up in a game this season.
Woodruff had a great season in his own right, finishing with the fourth-best ERA among qualifying pitchers and earning his second trip to the MLB All-Star Game.
But like Burnes, he was not at his best in facing a tough Braves lineup. In his lone start against them this season (July 31), the big righty went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits in a loss. Milwaukee has actually lost each of his last four starts.
As for Braves, they will send Charlie Morton to the bump for Game 1, while Game 2 and Game 3 will likely be covered by Max Fried and Ian Anderson, respectively.
The Brewers have not announced who will start Game 3 or Game 4 (if necessary) in Atlanta, but Freddy Peralta figures to be the choice.
Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz feeling good, hoping to play at Illinois
Roughly 48 hours after being forced out of Wisconsin's loss to Michigan due to a big hit to his chest, quarterback Graham Mertz was feeling good and looking to be in the lineup when the Badgers travel to Illinois this Saturday.
"I feel alright. Just kind of taking it day-by-day, just doing treatment, try to get better every day," Mertz said Monday. "You always want to play, so I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure I can put myself in the best position, but I feel good."
Mertz took a huge shot to the left side of his body when a Michigan blitzer came free on the third play of the second half. He stayed down for a time before heading into the injury tent and eventually inside the locker room.
"It just felt like another shot but my body just reacted a little different," Mertz said. "I'm used to taking shots like that, nothing crazy, nothing out of the ordinary."
After tests were done at UW's facility, it was determined Mertz would be taken to a local hospital for further examination. Everything was deemed to be fine and he was discharged early Saturday night.
"All the tests -- I have to be careful because I'm not a doctor -- but everything is good that way," coach Paul Chryst said. "And obviously, going through the week we'll kind of see."
Monday's are typically light days for Wisconsin and the practice was essentially a walk-through. But Mertz said he did throw the ball some and felt good doing it. He is listed as questionable for the game at Illinois.
Packers still gathering opinions on how to proceed with CB Jaire Alexander's injury
Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur is still in wait-and-see mode when it comes to the shoulder injury suffered by star cornerback Jaire Alexander against Pittsburgh.
"We're still kind of getting all the opinions, but I'll have an update for you guys on Wednesday," LaFleur said, not willing to rule out the potential it could be season-ending. "Everything's kind of getting looked at right now."
Alexander was injured in the third quarter when he came up and laid a big hit on Steelers' running back Najee Harris on a fourth down play. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes and was eventually taken the locker room. A picture of Alexander with his right arm/shoulder in a sling surfaced on social media Monday.
https://twitter.com/NormanGratz/status/1445099127516319749
LaFleur said team trainer Bryan Engel and team doctor Pat McKenzie are working to gather some more opinions before proceeding. He did confirm the injury was to the shoulder and not the collarbone. Packers fans are well aware of the impact of a broken collarbone. Former defensive back Charles Woodson missed the second half of Super Bowl XLV and a large portion of the 2012 season after breaking his. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers missed an extensive time as well when he broke his in 2013 and 2017.
Alexander is just the latest key player to be sidelined. Green Bay started the year without All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari as he recovers from a torn ACL. Pro Bowl outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith was placed on injured reserve after the first week of the season with a back injury and had surgery last week. It's unclear if he'll be able to return. They've also seen standout lineman Elgton Jenkins and starting cornerback Kevin King miss the last two games, while deep threat wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was placed on injured reserve last week with a hamstring injury.
"You can never have enough great players out there," LaFleur said. "And right now we've got a few of our stud players on the bench due to injury."
The Camp: Oct. 4, 2021
Wisconsin dropped to 1-3 for the first time in 31 years with a loss to Michigan. The guys look at what happened in the loss and also a bigger picture take on the state of the program. They also answer your Twitter questions.
Brewers: P Corbin Burnes claims first ERA title
A Milwaukee pitcher has won the team's first ERA title.
Los Angeles' Walker Buehler gave up one run over five innings to the Brewers in a 10-3 win for the Dodgers. It left his ERA at 2.47, handing the NL title to Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes at 2.43. Another LA starter, Max Scherzer, finished second at 2.46.
"That's a sign of how dominant he's been, better than any other starter in the league," manager Craig Counsell said. "When you win 95 games, you'll have a lot of guys with really special seasons and Corbin is at the top of that list, for sure."
Burnes went 11-5, the most wins for him in his four year MLB career. Combined with his 2.11 ERA last season, Burnes is 15-6 with a 2.35 ERA over the last two years.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee's Brandon Woodruff came in at No. 4 with a 2.56 ERA. Freddy Peralta (2.81) and Eric Lauer (3.19) didn't have the qualifying number of innings to be considered, but would have finished tied for sixth and tied for 15th, respectively.
The Brewers will open the postseason Friday against Atlanta in the NLDS at American Family Field.
Packers 27, Steelers 17: 2-minute drill
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers threw for two scores and ran for another as Green Bay improved to 3-1 on the year with a 27-17 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Game Balls
Offense: Randall Cobb
The wide receiver had four catches in the first three games but burst out for five grabs against the Steelers. He turned that into 69 yards and his first two touchdowns with the Packers since 2018.
Cobb did much of his damage on third down, including on the first touchdown drive of the game for Green Bay. He caught an 8-yard pass on third-and-6 and a 12-yard grab on third-and-4. His first touchdown of the game came from 23 yards out on third-and-10, and he later had a catch for 25 yards to convert another third down.
“I wouldn't say expecting it, but you know I pride myself in being the third down guy,” Cobb said. “Throughout my career, I don't know where I rank or where I am, but I think I do have a lot of catches on third down. That's kind of the money down.”
Defense: LB De’Vondre Campbell
Campbell continues to put together good performances every week. He finished with a team-high nine tackles, including an excellent job blowing up a fourth down effort from wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in the fourth quarter. Campbell added a quarterback hit and a pass breakup to his stat line.
The former Atlanta Falcons linebacker was not signed until the middle of June, but he has proven to be as big of an offseason addition as any the Packers made.
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What They Said
“I think we got a very resilient team. I think we have a very confident team. I think us being humbled Week 1, really opened our eyes to this isn't a cakewalk, this is the NFL.”
-- Cobb on what he has seen from the team through a 3-1 start following an ugly loss to the Saints to open the year
“If you would have told me early in the season, we’d be without arguably two of our best linemen for a couple games and played those two fronts, I would have been ecstatic with two wins and here we are 3-1.”
-- Rodgers on beating two tough front sevens in San Francisco and Pittsburgh despite being without David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins
In Case You Missed It
-- The Packers honored the Super Bowl XXXI champion team this weekend, including introducing the players that returned for the celebration. Among them was quarterback Brett Favre, wide receivers Antonio Freeman and Andre Rison, running back Dorsey Levens, kick returner Desmond Howard and defensive lineman Sean Jones.
-- Cornerback Jaire Alexander suffered a shoulder injury attempting to make a tackle in the third quarter. After being checked out in the medical tent, Alexander was taken to the locker room on the cart.
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/1444806975129362436
-- First-round pick Eric Stokes came up with what proved to be the dagger for the Packers, intercepting Ben Roethlisberger with under two minutes to play. It was his first career interception.
https://twitter.com/packers/status/1444806771965583360?s=20
https://twitter.com/LilySZhao/status/1444807254771916802
-- Rodgers tried to get the Steelers with 12-men on the field at one point in the second quarter but they called timeout. TV cameras caught this interaction between the quarterback and Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin.
https://twitter.com/robwesterman3/status/1444773625802989571?s=20
-- Rodgers was clearly tripped by former Badgers outside linebacker TJ Watt during a play in the third quarter. The flag was initially thrown but the officials picked it up. Coach Matt LaFleur was livid over the call but passed on throwing the refs under the bus in his postgame press conference.
“It's a judgment call,” LaFleur said. “I think the official that threw it, saw it right the first time, but it's just it's one of those things that happens. It's a judgment call.”
https://youtu.be/ov0Ngt-WbEI
-- The Steelers appeared to have turned the game on its head near the end of the first half as they came through to block Mason Crosby’s field goal and returned it for a touchdown. But officials called Joe Haden for being offsides, bringing the play back. Instead of Pittsburgh leading 17-14 at the break, Crosby hit on his second chance to give the Packers a 17-10 lead.
It appeared to be a close call and Haden took to social media afterwards to state his innocence.
https://twitter.com/joehaden23/status/1444823202547605504?s=20
-- Sunday marked the return of several former Wisconsin players. In addition to TJ Watt, linebacker Joe Schobert, fullback Derek Watt and defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk were also back in the state where their played their college ball. Schobert finished with eight tackles and one pass defended, while TJ Watt had four tackles and was credited with two sacks.
Inside the Numbers
196 -- That's how many yards rushing and receiving Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon had on the day. That included a season-high 81 yards on the ground from Dillon on 15 carries (5.4 ypc).
45 – That’s how many receiving touchdowns Randall Cobb has from the slot since his rookie year of 2011. That’s 12 more than any other player, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
9 – That’s how many touchdowns Rodgers has been responsible for in the last three weeks, and he hasn’t turned the ball over. That’s after Week 1 in which he didn’t throw a touchdown and was intercepted twice in a blowout loss to the Saints.
420 – That’s how many touchdowns Rodgers has thrown in his career, tied with Dan Marino for the sixth-most in league history. He is one touchdown behind Phillip Rivers for the fifth most.
24 – That’s how many consecutive field goals Crosby has hit, which breaks his own team record.
What’s Next
Green Bay (3-1) travels to Cincinnati (3-1) to face the Bengals next Sunday.
(14) Michigan 38, Wisconsin 17: 2-minute drill
MADISON -- Wisconsin is 1-3 for the first time since 1990 following an ugly 38-17 loss to No. 14 Michigan on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Game Balls
Offense: Chimere Dike
There wasn’t a ton to be excited about offensively for Wisconsin but the best looking drive of the day came with Dike playing a big role. With the Badgers trailing 13-3 just before halftime, quarterback Graham Mertz hit Dike down the middle of the field for a 36-yard gain. On the next play, Mertz tossed another ball to Dike, this one in the back corner of the end zone that the wide receiver was able to pull in despite tight coverage for an 18-yard touchdown.
Dike was targeted just once more in the game.
Defense: Jack Sanborn
The Badgers leader in the middle of the defense finished with a team-high 13 tackles. A Michigan offense that came in averaging 290 yards per game on the ground finished with 112 against Wisconsin. The Wolverines averaged just 2.5 yards per carry and the longest rush of the game was eight yards. Sanborn’s tackle numbers were two more than he had in the first three games combined, as Wisconsin was on the field for a season-high 75 plays.
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In Case You Missed It
-- Wisconsin lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz in the third quarter when a defensive back came free on a blitz and drilled in the side of his chest. He was able to eventually walk off under his own power but he went to the locker room and later to the hospital for further tests.
Mertz was sacked three times and took several more big shots as Wisconsin’s offensive line did not hold up under the pressure of Michigan’s front seven. Still, he had two of his best drives of the season at the end of the first half. He went 6-for-8 on a drive that led to a field goal and then hit on back-to-back big throws to Chimere Dike, including an 18-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 13-10 at the break.
Chase Wolf replaced him and ended up turning the ball over twice and also threw a late touchdown to Clay Cundiff.
-- Tight end Jake Ferguson were forced to leave the game with a chest injury in the third quarter and eventually went to the locker room. He came back out without his pads on and had is chest wrapped in ice.
-- The Badgers special teams struggled again Saturday. Hunter Wohler didn't get out of the way of a punt, with the ball hitting him and Michigan recovering inside the 5-yard line. Wisconsin's defense held the Wolverines to a field goal. Then, after the Badgers had cut the lead to 10-3 late in the first half, kickoff specialist Jake Van Dyke kicked the ball out of bounds. It gave the Wolverines the ball at the 35-yard line and they were able to add a field goal to scoreboard more easily.
-- Wisconsin honored former coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez for his 31 years of service to the school with a halftime ceremony. They also officially named the field for him. Starting in 2022 it will be known as Barry Alvarez Field at Camp Randall Stadium.
https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1444360910500421632
Inside the Numbers
6 – That’s how many sacks Wisconsin’s offensive line gave up. It was another nightmare effort for a group the Badgers usually count on so much to be successful. In addition to pass protection issues, Wisconsin managed just 43 yards on 33 carries against a defense it had run for at least 300 yards in each of the last two meetings.
0-8 – That’s Wisconsin’s record in its last eight games against ranked opponents, including 0-3 this season. In those eight games, the Badgers are averaging 12.3 points per game. They also fell to 3-13 in their last 16 games against ranked teams.
49-7 -- That's what Wisconsin has been outscored by in the fourth quarter of its last two games. The 49 points is also 22 points more than the Badgers have scored in those two losses combined.
1990 – That’s the last time Wisconsin started a season 1-3. It was Barry Alvarez’s first year on the job and the team went 1-10. The Badgers have had just four losing seasons since then and none since 2001.
What’s Next
Wisconsin (1-3, 0-2) will travel to Champaign next Saturday to face former Badgers coach Bret Bielema and Illinois (2-4, 1-2).
Wisconsin to name field at Camp Randall Stadium after Barry Alvarez
There will be one very notable change to the turf inside Camp Randall Stadium starting in 2022.
With a large number of former players in town for Saturday's celebration of former Wisconsin coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez, the school announced at a Friday night ceremony the field will be named Barry Alvarez Field beginning next fall.
https://twitter.com/BrachTalk84/status/1444089355421863937
Alvarez arrived at Wisconsin in 1990 to take over a lackluster football program that was dragging down the rest of the department with its lack of success. Three years later, the Badgers won the Big Ten, the Rose Bowl and jump-started the Golden Age of Wisconsin athletics.
Alvarez would go on to win two more Big Ten and Rose Bowl titles before transitioning into being the full-time athletic director. Under his watch, Wisconsin continued to be among the best performing departments in the country, on and off the field.
Packers: LB Za'Darius Smith reportedly out 'extended period of time' following back surgery
The Green Bay Packers won't have the services of linebacker Za'Darius Smith anytime soon and possibly not again this season.
According to the NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the two-time Pro Bowl selection underwent back surgery this week and is out indefinitely. He reports the team is hopeful the surgery isn't season-ending.
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/1444042424343478274
Smith missed all but one practice of training camp and then was used sparingly in the Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The team decided to shut him down for awhile, placing him on injured reserve.
When healthy, Smith has been a major factor for the Packers defense. He led the team in sacks in each of the last two years totaling 26. He also had five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries while starting all 36 games.
Without Smith, the Packers will continue to rely on outside linebackers Preston Smith and Rashan Gary, along with younger players like Jonathan Garvin and Chauncey Rivers, to get some pressure on the quarterback.
Packers: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling headed to injured reserve, two others doubtful for Pittsburgh
Green Bay is going to be shorthanded when it faces Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Coach Matt LaFleur said Friday that wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling will miss the game with a hamstring injury.
"The other guys are going to be asked to fulfill those roles and it's going to be multiple people doing the things that MVS would provide for us," LaFLeur said when asked how they replace a deep threat like Valdes-Scantling. "We have a plan in place but our guys are going to have to go take that plan and go out there and execute."
Later, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported that the Packers would be putting Valdes-Scantling on injured reserve, meaning he'll miss at least three weeks.
In addition to that, cornerback Kevin King (concussion) and left tackle Elgton Jenkins (ankle) are listed as doubtful for the game.
If Jenkins can't go, Yosh Nijman would get his second start. He held up quite well against San Francisco last week. LaFleur said he's hopeful that Jenkins will be ready to return next week when the Packers face Cincinnati.
King would be replaced by first-round pick Eric Stokes, who got the nod in King's place last week.
Three others are listed as questionable for the Packers: linebacker Krys Barnes (concussion), safety Vernon Scott (hamstring) and defensive lineman Jack Heflin (ankle).
The Steelers will be without defensive tackle Carlos Davis (Knee), along with offensive linemen Chukwuma Okorafor (Concussion) and Rashaad Coward (ankle). Wide receiver Chase Claypool (hamstring) is questionable.
Pittsburgh will have outside linebacker TJ Watt. The former Wisconsin All-American missed last week's game against Cincinnati with a groin injury.
