ERST LESEN! » The last thing Gio Gonzalez expected six weeks a

MILWAUKEE — go was to be the Game 1 starter in the National League Championship Series.More Brewers coverageBrewers Final Pitch: Chacin dominates mound in Game 3 of NLCSChacin http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-bell-jersey , Brewers blank Dodgers to take 2-1 lead in NLCSDespite struggles, No. 23 Badgers still have hope in Big TenStrong winds could be factor for Brewers, Dodgers in NLCS Game 3Photos of the Week: 10/7/18 – 10/13/18The veteran left-hander had slogged through a frustrating season with the Nationals and was 7-11 with a 4.57 ERA when the Brewers acquired him from Washington just before the deadline to trade for players and have them eligible for postseason play.Article continues below ...At the time, Gonzalez was hoping a change of scenery would do him well and was ready to accept whatever role the Brewers had in mind for him as they chased their first postseason berth in seven years. Instead of being a bit piece, though, Gonzalez played a vital role for Milwaukee, posting a 2.13 ERA in five starts, including five-shutout innings in the regular-season finale that sent the Brewers to a Game 163 showdown with the Cubs for the NL Central title.“It’s a pretty cool story,” Gonzalez admitted Thursday as the Brewers and Dodgers worked out at Miller Park ahead of the series opener. “They wanted me to be a part of this.”Gonzalez likely won’t be out there long. The Brewers have kept their starters’ outings short all season, choosing to rely on one of the game’s best bullpens and it’s been no different in the postseason as no Milwaukee starter has worked more than five innings Corey Dickerson Jersey , including a three-inning stint by Brandon Woodruff as part of a “bullpen day” in Game 1 of the NLDS against Colorado.Gonzalez was on the roster for that series but didn’t see action. Some expected Milwaukee to turn to right-hander Jhoulys Chacin for Game 1, but he’ll get the nod in Game 3 instead.“We just like the matchup,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Gonzalez. “We like the matchup against their lineup. It’s no secret that we’re going to use our pitching a little different than the traditionalists might like and so for us, the first matchup we liked was Gio on the mound.”After avoiding a decisive fifth game against Atlanta, the Dodgers send ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw to the mound for the opener. In 14 career starts against the Brewers, Kershaw is 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA, including a 4-1 record and 1.40 mark in seven career starts at Miller Park.He split his two starts against Milwaukee this season, allowing four runs (one earned) over six innings in a 4-2 loss at Miller Park on July 21 then striking out seven while allowing just two runs over six innings in a 21-5 rout at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 2.The Brewers batted .250 (12-for-48) against Kershaw this season, numbers that were inflated by Christian Yelich, who went 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs against Kershaw in 2018 and is 9-for-17 (.529) against him for his career.“He’s a really good hitter Austin Meadows Jersey ,” Kershaw said. “He’s definitely got some hits off me for sure, so I have to try to not let him do that (Friday).”Yelich is one of the few “for sure” players in Craig Counsell’s lineup, along with fellow outfielders Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain as well as first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Beyond that, Counsell has mixed and matched the rest of his lineup depending on matchups all season long and doesn’t expect that to change during the NLCS, especially with the Dodgers’ lefty-heavy rotation.That means Hernan Perez, Orlando Arcia and Jonathan Schoop could see significantly more playing time than they did in the NLCS, with Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas possibly seeing a little less action than they have the last few weeks.“We’ll have some different lineups in this series,” Counsell said. “With three pretty solid left-handed starters, it’s a good chance for our right-handed hitters to do some damage.” HOUSTON (AP) — An attorney for the family of a 2-year-old girl struck by a foul ball during a game last month between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros said Wednesday that the girl suffered a skull fracture.Attorney Richard Mithoff provided the first update by the girl’s family on her condition since she was hit during the May 29 game in Houston.Mithoff said the girl had bleeding and swelling in her brain as well as a brain contusion after she was hit. He said she had a seizure after she was hospitalized and is taking medication to prevent more seizures. The girl was injured when Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. hit a fourth-inning line drive into the stands down the third base line.Like all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park has netting to protect fans near the field from foul balls. On the third base side in Houston Colin Moran Jersey , it extends to the end of the visiting team’s dugout. In a statement released Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the family said they were sitting one section away from where the netting ends at Minute Maid Park.The Astros declined comment on the situation on Wednesday.Almora was extremely shaken up by the incident and close to tears in the moments following the girl being hit. He has declined talking about it since that night, but after the game when asked if the protective netting should be extended, he said: “Right now, obviously, I want to put a net around the whole stadium.”On Wednesday Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he understands why Almora doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, and that he hopes the girl recovers quickly. He was asked about the possibility of extending the netting to protect more fans.“It’s going to happen,” Maddon said. “I mean, there’s no question, it’s going to happen. I’ve been doing this a while and I’ve seen different situations like that. I’ll be on board with something like that.”Following recommendations from Major League Baseball David Freese Jersey , by the start of the 2018 season all 30 teams had expanded their protective netting to at least the far ends of the dugouts after several fans were injured by foul balls in 2017.At Yankee Stadium in May 2017, a boy was struck on the head by a portion of Chris Carter’s broken bat. A fan sitting beyond the first base dugout was hit by a 105 mph foul ball off the bat of Aaron Judge in July of that year. And in September, a young girl was injured by another 105 mph foul ball off the bat of Todd Frazier and was hospitalized.But the extension of the netting hasn’t stopped fans from being injured. On Sunday a young girl was taken to a hospital for precautionary tests after she was hit in the head by a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers star Cody Bellinger. The girl was sitting four rows from the field along the first-base line, just beyond the netting that extends to the end of the visiting dugout. The team said earlier this week that they’re studying how to improve the netting in the wake of the incident.A woman died last August after being struck in the head by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium.In Chicago, the White Sox plan to become the first team to extend the protective netting to the foul poles, planning to take the step at Guaranteed Rate Field after a female fan was struck by a ball hit by Eloy Jimenez on June 10.