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MILWAUKEE — A little more than five years after he received a $500 bonus after signing as a non-drafted free agent out of Baylor University Youth Tremaine Edmunds Jersey , Nate Orf is finally in the big leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Orf’s contract Monday from Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he was batting .307 with six home runs and 38 RBIs. Those numbers landed him a spot in the Pacific Coast League’s All-Star team but also fueled a social media movement — #FreeNateOrf — amongst Brewers fans wanting the 28-year-old to get his shot.

“This is the day you put all the work in for,” Orf said. “I signed for $500. This is why I signed for $500, to grind out as long as I needed to have this day come.””

Orf made his debut Monday night in Milwaukee’s 6-5 victory over the Twins and will likely be in the lineup against Tuesday afternoon as the Brewers continue their three-game holiday series at Miller Park.

“He’s a good player. He’s a very good hitter,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He has earned this.”

The Brewers are hoping Orf can provide a spark at a position that’s been an offensive liability all season. Though Jonathan Villar has shown improvement after a dismal 2017 campaign, Brewers’ second basemen are seventh in the NL with a .676 OPS this season, ninth with a .252 average and .299 on-base percentage.

Orf will also see time at shortstop, where Orlando Arcia had struggled to get into a rhythm since opening day and was demoted to Triple-A for the second time this season over the weekend.

“I still firmly believe that Orlando Arcia is going to be a very, very good player in this league for a long time,” general manager David Stearns said. “We have continued to see the defensive contributions he makes on a daily basis but we need to do better offensively.

“At this stage of the year, Orlando was not the type of offensive player we needed. I think we all bear some responsibility for that. As an organization, we need to help Orlando get through this.”

Looking to snap a three-game losing streak, the Brewers will turn to Junior Guerra on Tuesday. The right-hander won for the first time since May 14 his last time out despite allowing four runs over six innings against the Reds.

He struck out six in that outing and has 20 over his last three starts.

Right-hander Jake Odorizzi takes the mound for Minnesota hoping to build some momentum after getting back on track with six shutout innings of the White Sox in his last outing.

Odorizzi had a 3.34 ERA and was averaging nearly a strikeout per inning over his first 11 starts but stumbled mightily at the end of May, kick off a five-stark skid that saw him post a 9.74 ERA over the five stars leading up to his appearance in Chicago.

Extra work in the video room revealed a slight flaw in his delivery and during a bullpen session ahead of his last start, he worked on getting back to his normal mechanics.

“Pitching through a (back) injury last year created bad habits,” Odorizzi told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “It you do it for long enough Youth DJ Moore Jersey , it creates an even worse habit, even when you’re healthy. Muscle memory takes over.”

Tuesday will mark Odorizzi’s third career start against the team that selected him in the first round (32nds overall) of the 2008 MLB Draft but the first time he’ll pitch at Miller Park.

He’s 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in his two previous starts against Milwaukee and held the Brewers to a run on five hits and a pair of walks while striking out 10 back on May 20, but did not factor into the decision.

Jhoulys Chacin settled down nicely after a rough start.

Trailing 2-0 after the first three batters of the game, Chacin threw seven solid innings and Hernan Perez homered among his three hits, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night in a matchup of first-place teams.

NL Central Division-leading Milwaukee won its fourth game in a row to go 17 games over .500 (52-35) for the first time since July 1, 2014, when the Brewers were 51-34.

Chacin (7-3) gave up three hits and two earned runs while matching a season high with seven strikeouts in what tied for his longest outing this year. The right-hander, who was 0-2 in his previous three starts while allowing 10 runs in 15 2/3 innings, retired 20 of the last 24 batters he faced.

”Jhoulys pitched excellent – after the first,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. ”He locked it in and made some really good pitches the rest of the night.”

Dan Jennings pitched two perfect innings for his first save this season, and second of his career.

NL East-leading Atlanta dropped its third consecutive game after winning four straight – and lost for the first time this season on a Thursday (7-1).

Braves left-hander Max Fried (1-3) lasted only three innings in his third start of the season, giving up four earned runs and four hits with three walks.

”He had a blister starting and he’s had a history of the blister thing,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. ”And when it kind of surfaced, I decided I didn’t want to take any chances, so I shut him down.”

Atlanta gave Fried a 2-0 lead in the first, but he allowed a run in the bottom of the frame and did not help his cause in the second. After a leadoff triple by Perez and a walk to Keon Broxton Youth Donte Jackson Jersey , Milwaukee tied it at 2 on a single by Tyler Saladino. Fried failed to hold the runners on first and second by not even looking at them, so Broxton and Saladino converted a double steal. Erik Kratz’s groundout scored Broxton to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead.

”We’re getting the right guys out there, trying to do our homework and find spots when we can take advantage of something,” Counsell said.

Then, Fried not only walked Chacin, he fired a wild pitch that bounced off the backstop on ball four. Catcher Tyler Flowers retrieved the ball and threw to Fried covering the plate. But Saladino – who appeared to be an easy out – slid awkwardly in front of the plate and knocked it out of the pitcher’s glove. Saladino got up and stepped on the plate for a 4-2 lead.

Perez hit a two-run homer – his fifth – off reliever Dan Winkler in the eighth.

MORE MOUND MISCUES

In the first, Ozzie Albies scored from third on a grounder hit by Freddie Freeman. Chacin fielded the ball, looked at Albies and then slowly lobbed a high toss to first which allowed the speedster to score without a throw home. … In the eighth, Winkler’s pickoff attempt at first hit Jonathan Villar in the head and the ball ended up in Milwaukee’s dugout for an error. Villar took second and scored on a single by Christian Yelich.

FREEMAN STILL SLUMPING

In his previous nine games in Milwaukee, Freeman was hitting .419 (13-for-31) with six home runs and seven walks. But that did not end his slump, as he was 0 for 3 and is now batting .154 (10-for-65) in his last 16 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Braves: RHP Julio Tehran is not in Milwaukee after coming down with an illness while the team was in New York. Since he was not scheduled to start against the Brewers, the Braves sent him back to Atlanta.

Brewers: INF Saladino (left ankle sprain) was activated from the disabled list and INF Eric Sogard was designated for assignment.

UP NEXT

Braves: RHP Mike Foltynewicz (6-4, 2.02) is 1-1 all-time against Milwaukee.

Brewers: Rookie RHP Freddy Peralta (3-1, 2.28) makes his sixth start.

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