MILWAUKEE -- Brewers manager Craig Counsell avoided the term "benching" on Wednesday while discussing Jonathan Villar, preferring to say the second baseman was getting a mental break in the wake of a pair of ill-advised outs on the basepaths during Tuesday's win over the Red Sox.
Villar's ultra-aggressive style led to a Major League-best 62 stolen bases during his breakthrough 2016 season with the Brewers, but it occasionally produces nights like Tuesday. He was thrown out trying to steal third base with one out and Ryan Braun batting in the second inning, then the second baseman was picked off first base for the second out of the sixth with MLB co-home run leader Eric Thames at the plate.