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Rookie right-hander Freddy Peralta seems to make history every time he steps on the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers barely weeks into his major league career.

Fittingly enough http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/khalil-mack-jersey , too, since he’s about to face a Cincinnati Reds pitching staff — mainly, reliever Michael Lorenzen — that is doing some pretty historic things themselves. Only with their bats and not their arms.

The 22-year-old Peralta is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his first four major league starts, including two in which he has struck out 10 or more and allowed only one hit. He’s the first pitcher in baseball’s live-ball ERA to do that, and the first Brewers pitcher to have two such games in a career.

How good has Peralta been? He has permitted more than two hits in only one of the four starts. In 22 2/3 innings, he has allowed only seven hits and struck out 35.

Peralta is the first major league pitcher since at least 1908 to give up three hits or fewer and strike out at least five in each of his first four career games.

“His stuff looks electric from center field, and you can see that in the swings and takes and called strikeouts,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich told reporters after Peralta pitched seven shutout innings of one-hit ball to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday. “He’s been great every time he goes out there, and hopefully that continues.”

Peralta is doing it without an overpowering fastball, like so many other young pitchers are today. He’s throwing his four-seam fastball at an average velocity of 91.2 mph, or about what an average starter threw 15 years or so ago.

“He’s got a high spin rate and the ball just kind of jumps at you, even though it’s 92 mph http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/jaire-alexander-jersey ,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

If the last-place Reds can get to Peralta on Sunday at Great American Ball Park — and no team has yet — they would split a four-game series in which they lost the first two games.

Cincinnati bounced back from a 3-2 deficit Saturday with an eight-run seventh inning powered by a pinch-grand slam from Lorenzen off a Jacobs Barnes fastball and went on to win 12-3 for its 10th victory in 13 games.

“Michael Lorenzen was pretty special,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said.

Pinch-hit grand slams are rare enough. But by a pitcher?

What’s even more remarkable is Lorenzen also homered Friday night during an 8-2 Brewers victory, and he homered in his previous at-bat before that while pinch hitting against the Chicago Cubs on June 24.

“I love playing baseball,” Lorenzen said. “Every day, I look forward to contributing in some form.”

That’s three homers in the last three at-bats for Lorenzen, who’s quickly becoming the National League’s bullpen equivalent of the Angels’ multi-dimensional Shohei Ohtani.

Lorenzen is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 15 games, and he’s 4-for-6 at the plate. He’s the first pitcher with multiple pinch homers in a season since Brooks Kieschnick in 2003 — and he has done it in only a week.

“The guy’s swinging the bat really well, that’s for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We treat him as a position player. Obviously, we’ve got to make some adjustments … he’s swinging it well.”

Then there’s this: No Reds pitcher had hit a grand slam in 59 years, or since Bob Purkey in 1959, until starter Anthony DeScalfani did it June 23 against the Cubs. Now Mike White Jersey , Reds pitchers have hit grand slams twice in eight days.

Lorenzen’s homer was more than enough for the Reds to overcome Eric Thames‘ 14th home run against them in the two seasons and his fourth this season — the first three of which were game-winners.

Only two of the Reds’ 15 hits Saturday were for extra bases — Lorenzen’s homer and a Scooter Gennett double — but they were 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Peralta will go up against veteran right-hander Matt Harvey (3-5), who has recently given the Reds a glimpse of his former dominating self with the New York Mets. He has won each of his last two starts, giving up three runs in 12 2/3 innings, after going 0-3 in his previous four starts.

In his first public comments since he declined at the last minute to accept the Indianapolis Colts‘ head coaching position, Josh McDaniels denied Friday that he’d made any deal to succeed Bill Belichick as coach of the New England Patriots.

McDaniels listed several reasons for remaining in New England as Belichick’s offensive coordinator – some personal, some football-related. But he said his job is no different than it was before his near-departure for Indianapolis.

”No, I mean my role is the same,” McDaniels said when asked if he’d received any assurances of becoming the Patriots’ next coach. ”Look, I think if you’re here, you have an opportunity to work with and for some of the best people in our game, maybe some of the best people that have ever done those things in our game. So I just feel like it’s a great opportunity to be here in my role.”

That role will continue to be calling plays and working with quarterback Tom Brady.

”Whatever happens in the future’s going to happen,” he said. ”I’ll be happy with whatever that is.”

McDaniels and the rest of the Patriots’ assistants spoke to reporters at Gillette Stadium on Friday for the first time since New England’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4.

The Colts thought they had hired McDaniels two days later http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/quintin-demps-jersey , tweeting out a welcome and even scheduling a news conference for the next day. Instead, McDaniels, who was coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009-10, changed his mind and returned to the Patriots for his 10th season as offensive coordinator.

”You know there’s a lot that goes into those things and it can be very complicated,” he said. ”I’ve stated again and again that I definitely want to be a head coach again. At the same time, I love being here.

”This is where my kids are born and raised and we’ve made a pretty special life here and that’s not an easy thing to leave. There’s a lot to consider, and certainly leaving here I don’t take lightly ever. … It was a difficult process and I’m very happy with the decision that we made.”

While McDaniels returns to his old role, linebackers coach Brian Flores’ duties will expand. Although he won’t have the title of defensive coordinator, Flores will call the plays. This isn’t a new situation for Belichick’s staff: Matt Patricia, who left to become coach of the Detroit Lions in January, called plays from 2009-11 before getting the defensive coordinator title in 2012.

The Patriots ranked 29th in yards allowed per game (366) but were fifth in points allowed (18.5) last season.

Flores doesn’t anticipate making a personal stamp on the defense just because he’ll be calling the plays.

”I think there’s a long history of this defense. Bill’s been here for a number of years, so I would say we’re going to continue to play defense like we’ve played for the last 18 seasons since he’s been here http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/zach-brown-jersey ,” Flores said. ”My role in that is no different than any other coach on the team. We’re trying to put something together here and do whatever helps us win, you know. You can call it a personal imprint, but it’s a team imprint. … We’re trying to build to be as good as we can be.”

Notes: The Patriots released OL Tony Garcia on Thursday. Garcia, a third-round pick in the 2017 draft out of Troy, spent last season on the reserve/non-football injury list. … New England also signed 2018 fifth-round draft pick LB Ja’Whaun Bentley, sixth-round draft picks LB Christian Sam and WR Braxton Berrios and seventh-round picks QB Danny Etling, DB Keion Crossen and TE Ryan Izzo. Terms of the contracts were not announced. In addition, the Patriots signed nine rookie free agents.

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