Jake Bauers (foot) not in Wednesday’s lineup

The Brewers weren’t exactly quick to activate Frelick, who, after just a couple of weeks off due to a shoulder injury, went 10-for-36 with two homers over 10 games for Triple-A Nashville on a rehab assignment. It seems like a sign that they’ll treat him as more of a fourth outfielder now than the lineup fixture he’s been in recent years. Frelick hit just .236/.301/.330 in 313 plate appearances before going on the injured list, and Luis Lara has been a bit of an upgrade both offensively and defensively in his place.

Bauers’ homer off Martín Pérez was his fifth of the year off a left-handed pitcher. He had total eight of those in his six previous big-league seasons. Bauers is batting .273/.384/.506 through 469 plate appearances.

Luis Lara gets a chance to patrol center field with Mitchell receiving some extra time off to rest a lingering foot issue. The 27-year-old outfielder is hitting .202 with zero homers and six steals across 28 games since the All-Star break.

Lara was hitless in his first three at-bats until he led off the seventh with a single and scored on a base hit by David Hamilton. He then homered off infielder Leo Rivas as Seattle put a position player on the mound in the blowout loss. Still, it counts as Lara’s first career home run all the same. Lara later drove in another run on a base hit in the same inning. The 21-year-old outfielder is hitting .242/.327/.363 with 13 runs scored, 15 RBI, and two steals across 104 plate appearances.

The Brewers take three out of four in L.A. Bauers had three previous four-hit games in his career, but they all came in 2018 or ’19. Today’s pushed him up to .275/.384/.500 on the season. That .884 OPS is 212 points better than his career mark of .672.

After collecting five hits through eight, the Brewers came back to win the game with five singles in the ninth. The first four of those came against Edwin Díaz, while Bauers’ was off lefty Alex Vesia. It was Bauers’ only hit to go along with a walk on the night. He went on to steal second afterwards, making him 9-for-12 on the basepaths this year.

Bauers also walked twice. The homer was a solo shot off Connor Prielipp in the fifth. In the 10th, he lined a ball to left to score automatic runner Brice Turang from second just ahead of the throw from Kody Clemens. Bauers is hitting .271/.376/.506 with 21 homers in a career year at age 30. He’s going to be a fascinating free agent case this winter.

Bauers missed each of the previous three contests due to abdominal discomfort. He’s back in there at first base and batting third against Twins’ right-hander Zebby Matthews on Friday evening in Milwaukee.

Lara is 1-for-16 in his last five games, putting him at .224/.333/.345 in 69 plate appearances since his callup. The plan likely is to keep him in the majors for the rest of the season, but he figures to lose playing time after Sal Frelick comes off the injured list, and if he’s struggling at that point, perhaps he could be sent down, rather than Brandon Lockridge.

Andrew Vaughn is starting for the third straight game and batting cleanup against RHP Braxton Ashcraft. Bauers is considered day-to-day per Brewers manager Pat Murphy but has only tested his injury pre-game so far. Perhaps he’ll pinch-hit today if he’s up to it.