MILWAUKEE _ The Milwaukee Brewers battled to another victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night at Miller Park, but the real drama took place behind the scenes.
Would Jonathan Lucroy still be a Brewer at the end of the game?
With their No. 1 catcher withheld from the game to await his fate on the trade market, the Brewers once again beat the Pirates, 5-3, continuing the dominance of their division foe here (63-17 since 2007).
Despite ongoing reports that the Brewers were engaged with multiple teams in trade talks for Lucroy, nothing happened before the game ended. It remains to be seen if he will be dealt Sunday before the club leaves for San Diego.
It certainly seemed possible before the game started that Lucroy might not be a Brewer before the night was done. After an afternoon meeting with general manager David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell, it was decided it was best to withhold him from the lineup to eliminate the chance of injury with trade talks heating up.
"David stopped down and said he's progressing on something and we just thought it best (Lucroy) not be in the lineup today," Counsell said before the game. "He has not been traded. He is available for us today and I'll use him and something comes up and I have to use him.
"But (Stearns) is making progress so we thought it best not to play him."
Lucroy participated in pregame batting practice and was in uniform (1990s throwback) in the dugout during the game.
The trade deadline is 3 p.m. Monday and the Brewers leave after their game Sunday, two factors in accelerating trade talks to the final stages with interested clubs. Cleveland, Texas, the New York Mets, Boston, Houston and Detroit reportedly were among those who had varying degrees of interest in Lucroy.
Lucroy has Cleveland on the no-trade list in his contract, so the Brewers would need his approval to trade him to the Indians. He declined to comment on whether that element had come into play.
Much of the chatter in the last day or so involved the Mets. Various national outlets reported New York sweetened its original offer for Lucroy to include catcher Travis d'Arnaud, outfielder Brandon Nimmo and an unidentified third player. Nimmo is rated the No. 3 prospect in the Mets' thin farm system by Baseball America magazine.
The New York talk cooled during the day, but reports indicated the situation was fluid with more than one club. Counsell said sitting Lucroy didn't mean a trade was imminent but that the club was proceeding in better-safe-than-sorry mode.
"To make it clear, he has not been traded," Counsell said. "He may not be traded tomorrow. He may not be traded Monday."
Asked if the measure was to protect Lucroy from injury, Counsell said, "That's what we're doing, exactly. That's where we're at."
Lucroy didn't have much to say before the game other than he had been told he was not playing.
"They told me I'm not playing today. That's all I can really say right now," Lucroy said. "I'm sure it has something to do with things that are going on. Couns just told me I'm not playing tonight and that's it."
Asked if he might sit out Sunday as well if not traded by then, Lucroy said, "We'll see. I'm going to refer all that stuff to Couns."
The Brewers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Hernan Perez ripped a two-run homer to left off right-hander Jameson Taillon. Starter Chase Anderson protected that lead until the fourth, when Jung Ho Kang singled in Andrew McCutchen, who reached on an error.
Anderson exited after five innings, having surrendered four hits and the one unearned run. He struck out seven, a high for the season.
The Brewers scored twice in the seventh on RBI singles by Scooter Gennett and Perez, and added another run in the eighth on a home run by Kirk Niuewenhuis.
