Jonathan Villar was not in the starting lineup around 5:00 pm. Villar is not a player who faces off against lefties very often. Much of the reason is he struggled mightily from the right side of the plate last season. When Ryan Braun was scratched with back tightness, Villar got the call to play as they needed to move Hernan Perez to the outfield and needed an infield spot. Villar delivered in a major way with three hits including a home run to propel Milwaukee to their sixth win in eight games and their second straight as they continue to stay hot on this road trip.

Player of the Game: Jonathan Villar -> What’s it going to take for Craig Counsell to make him the everyday second baseman. It’s like Counsell cannot put up with the mental mistakes, and I assume Villar isn’t taking his coaching on those things leading to more time on the bench. Villar deserves to be out there on a regular basis. He has a great combination of speed and power. Currently, Villar is averaging .282 with two homers and seven stolen bases. That’s pretty productive from your sixth or seventh hitter.

Silver Star: Christian Yelich -> Even though Christian Yelich did not start in this game, he made a major impact on the outcome. Yelich pinch hit for Junior Guerra in the seventh inning, and he delivered versus a lefty with a base knock to score Manny Pina and Orlando Arica with two outs to give Milwaukee the lead. In the ninth, Yelich had another single and scored on Tyler Saladino’s inside-the-park home run. Love how Yelich can be a force even if he only plays three innings.

Honorable mention: Junior Guerra -> Not the best start in the world, but Guerra pitched adequately on Monday night. He went six innings, struck out three and only allowed two runs. He did get himself out of a jam in the fourth only allowing two runs to score. It could have been much worse. Even though Arizona’s offense isn’t as powerful as last year, it’s still great to see Guerra handled them through six innings.

Next up: Apologies on the podcast, I said Chase Anderson was starting tonight. That’s wrong, it’s Jhouyls Chacin. He will try to continue his good streak of pitching int the desert on Tuesday night. Diamondbacks send old friend Zack Greinke to the hill. Greinke looked great versus Washington on Friday night, but he’s struggled with lefties this season (Paging Travis Shaw and Yelich).

Charlie.