FanHouse Brewers

Somehow, when Ryan Braun asked Doug Melvin to go out and get more pitching, I don't think he had Manny Parra in mind. Despite that, it appears that the 26-year-old left-hander will be back in the Milwaukee rotation as early as Thursday after a four-start stint in the minor leagues.

It's not really that Parra deserves the promotion, so much as the Brewers desperately need the pitching help. He put up a nice 2.92 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with Triple-A Nashville, but those numbers don't tell the full story. In his 24 2/3 innings he struck out 19 and walked 13, not what the Brewers wanted to see from a guy that's walked 41 batters in 64 2/3 big league innings this year.

On Monday, we shared Ryan Braun's request for action from the Brewers' front office after a rough trip to Wrigley Field exposed the shortcomings of their starting rotation.

Although Braun's impolitic handling of his teammates was acknowledged, it was hard to see his comments as anything more than a player in a leadership role making an honest assessment of his team's needs.

General manager Doug Melvin feels differently.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Phillies' record book needs editing.

In Monday's 22-1 home rout of Cincinnati, Philadelphia:

• Set a modern (post-1900) franchise mark for margin of victory;

• Tied the team record with 10 first-inning runs that included three homers;

• And scored its most runs ever at Citizens Bank Park and most as a franchise since June 1985.

It was also the worst loss in Reds history, breaking a record set on July 26, 1892 – during the Benjamin Harrison administration.

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The All-Star Game will be played in St. Louis next week, but for a lot of baseball fans the game itself is secondary to some of the other events that take place during the break. The main attraction for many fans is the Home Run Derby, which will take place the Monday night before the game.

Today it was announced who the four sluggers representing the senior circuit will be and there's definitely a theme to the National League's "roster." All four participants are power-hitting first baseman from around the league. Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard will all put on what should be a rather entertaining show.

The American League will announce its participants later.

Don't get nervous, Brewers fans, Ryan Braun isn't asking out of Milwaukee. Quite the opposite, actually. He's asking that general manager Doug Melvin try to pull off something like he did a year ago Tuesday when the Brewers landed CC Sabathia in a deal that helped propel them to the postseason for the first time since 1982.

The timing of Braun's request is understandable. The Brewers just dropped three of four games at Wrigley Field to the recently revived Cubs, and two of those games featured poor starts from Mike Burns and Seth McClung. Those aren't names you'll find starting games for too many playoff teams, something Braun would like the Brewers to be this season.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Doctor is in again. Toronto ace Roy Halladay (aka "Doc") returned from a two-week stint on the disabled list and pitched credibly, but lost 4-1 to Tampa Bay. Halladay, who had been out with a sore groin, gave up two runs in six innings.

"It wasn't too bad," Halladay said. "Location there in the second and third inning was kind of hit and miss a little bit. For the most part I felt pretty good with everything."

Halladay lost for the first time since April 21. He is 10-2 with a 2.56 ERA. If you're looking ahead, Halladay -- and Giants ace Tim Lincecum, who pitched a gem on Monday -- would both be on perfect rest to start the All-Star Game.

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Over the last few years the Milwaukee Brewers have begun to develop into a threat in the National League. They're now a team that is a legitimate contender to win their division and possibly even the NL pennant, and a lot of the credit should go to the organization's ability to develop young talent. They've produced players like Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo as part of a solid young core for the organization, and they have more players waiting for their shot in the minors.

One of those players is pitcher Jeremy Jeffress, who some consider to be the best pitching prospect in the team's farm system. The 2006 first-round pick (18th overall) has run into some trouble in his career, however, particularly with marijuana. Jeffress has already been suspended once for testing positive for "a drug of abuse," which he later admitted was weed, and it looks like he just can't give the ganja up.

He's tested positive for "a drug of abuse" yet again, and now he's going to miss the next 100 games.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That on the right night the minor leagues can be awfully interesting, even for someone who doesn't care at all about minor league baseball. Manny Ramirez batted leadoff Tuesday night for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, playing four innings and going 0-for-2 in his first rehab game since being suspended 50 games for a violation of Major League Baseball's drug policy.

Ramirez faced former Brewers starting pitcher Manny Parra in both at-bats. Parra, now pitching for the Nashville Sounds, is trying to work his way back to the majors as well after a woeful couple of months in the Milwaukee rotation. He went 3-8 with a 7.52 ERA in 13 starts there before getting demoted, but he was the hard-luck loser against Albuquerque, tossing seven innings of one-run ball. The Brewers could use another effective starter, that much is certain.

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Ever since CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets left Milwaukee via free agency, questions about starting pitching have hounded the Brewers. Could they replace their two aces? Could they compete without them? Yovani Gallardo has been great at the top of the rotation this year, striking out nearly a batter an inning to go with his 3.00 ERA, but behind him the rotation is in shambles. Manny Parra was demoted to Triple-A last week and Tuesday, the Brewers learned they're going to have to put Dave Bush on the disabled list with a small tear in his triceps.

It might seem that this move, which leaves Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan as the best two starters behind Gallardo, would precede some kind of trade, but a major league source told FanHouse Tuesday night that the Brewers don't expect Bush to miss much time, and while he's on the DL, they'll try to get by with Mike Burns,who is taking Bush's rotation spot on Thursday.