Erik Kratz and Mike Zagurski were teammates on the 2011 Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Both players have hung in to get all they can out of their baseball careers, and last month that paid off for Kratz, who was traded to the Brewers and added to the major league roster. Much the same happened to Zagurski last week when he too, became a member of the Brewers major league team after having his contract purchased from Colorado Springs.

Zagurski was released by Detroit off their Double A Erie roster last June and it looked like his career may have come to an end. As is often the case with left-handed relievers, however, he found another chance waiting for him when he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and was pitching at Triple A Colorado Springs. The 35-year old made 32 relief appearances and had a 3.90 ERA with three saves for the Sky Sox when he got the call to join Milwaukee.

The call to the majors was the first for Zagurski since 2013, when he pitched in six games with the Pirates and one with the Yankees, finishing the season with a 17.05 ERA between the two stops.

It was only fitting that Kratz was catching for Milwaukee when Zagurski entered the game in the seventh inning against Cincinnati. Milwaukee held a 3-2 lead, but that didn’t last long as Zagurski was hit hard and fast. He faced four hitters and gave up two hits and two walks, as all four batters wound up scoring in an eight-run inning for Cincinnati.

Zagurski’s career record now stands at 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in 90 major league relief appearances.

The following inning, Kratz took to the mound in the blowout game, surrendering two hits and a walk that led to two runs, one of which was earned.

It wasn’t the first time that Kratz took to the mound. He pitched one game each for Pittsburgh and Houston in 2016 prior to his outing with the Brewers. Overall, he’s produced a 6.00 ERA in three innings.

BACK IN THE IL ... The Rochester Red Wings come to Coca-Cola Park this weekend. If rosters don’t change by then, fans should get to see a familiar face. Cameron Rupp was released by the Texas Rangers on June 2 and signed a minor league deal with the Twins, who assigned him to Triple A Rochester. Rupp homered against the IronPigs in their weekend series in Rochester to give him two home runs with Rochester, and 10 on the season. He’s batting a combined .234 between Round Rock and Rochester.

HOT IN ATLANTA ... The Braves are one of the surprise teams this season, and a former Phillies prospect is one of their surprise players. Jesse Biddle continues to pitch well out of the Atlanta bullpen. He has a 1-0 record and a 2.76 ERA in 25 relief appearances this season. Biddle has struck out 30 batters in 29 1/3 innings, but has had some control issues, having walked 16 batters over that span.

VIVA LAS VEGAS... Ty Kelly played in 69 games with the Phillies last season and four with Lehigh Valley. He also played in one game with the New York Mets. During the offseason, he signed a minor league deal to stick with the Mets and was assigned to triple-a Las Vegas. Last month, he got somewhat of a chance to return to the majors when the Mets purchased his contract on June 12. Unfortunately for Kelly, he didn’t get in a game and was sent back to Vegas three days later. With the 51s, Kelly is hitting .271 with six home runs and 33 RBIs this season.