Four months ago, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell was trying to figure out how to fit Jesus Aguilar onto his roster. Now, Counsell is having a hard time taking the hard-hitting first baseman out of his starting lineup.

Aguilar has been Milwaukee’s hottest hitter over the last month, batting .283 with 12 home runs, 34 RBI and a .964 OPS. Five of those home runs along with 12 RBI have come over his last five games and he’s driven in multiple runs in five straight starts, tying a franchise record.

He’s certainly been one of the most pleasant surprises (this year), Counsell said. He was last year, as well and he’s taken it up a notch this year. You need those kind of performances you weren’t expecting. You need that kind of stuff.

Thames, who’s spent the majority of his playing time in the outfield since returning June 11, is still adjusting to the position but is happy for his teammate.

I mean, hey, the team is winning, Thames said. It was the same thing for him the first half of last year when I was going off. It’s great because we’re winning and today, he pretty much did it himself and it was awesome. I’m happy for him. He works hard. He’s such a smart hitter, smart player. He’s a great team guy so you can’t help but root for him.

Bumgarner pitched eight innings of three-hit ball for his first win this season, Mark Melancon earned his first save in a year and the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 3-0.

Bumgarner’s sacrifice fly scored Pablo Sandoval in the fifth. Sandoval singled leading off the inning and Joe Panik followed with a double.

It was the fourth time in his career Bumgarner made a scoreless start and had the game-winning RBI, tying Stephen Strasburg and Fernando Valenzuela for the most such games by any pitcher in the last 40 years, according to STATS.

The Padres’ best scoring chance came in the fifth, when Jose Pirela was thrown out at home trying to score from second on Manuel Margot’s one-out double to deep right field. Giants catcher Buster Posey tagged out Pirela after a perfect relay from Andrew McCutchen and Panik.

Bryce Harper led off the eighth with a double off Mychal Givens (0-4) and Trea Turner followed with a single. After Anthony Rendon struck out, Soto hit a liner into the gap in left-center.

Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman brought Mark Koncz onto his new staff on a temporary basis this spring, to help with his first draft back in New York.

He has since made the move permanent.

Among the 24 NFL quarterbacks who have thrown as many passes as Marcus Mariota in the first three seasons of their NFL careers, Marcus Mariota ranks eighth since the merger behind just Dan Marino, Jeff Garcia, Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, Jameis Winston, Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan. Simply put, this is a good list to make.

Mariota’s career passing efficiency numbers are carried by his performance in 2015 and 2016, as he went from a 6.66 ANY/A over the first two years of his career to 5.51 last year. Naming Matt LaFleur as offensive coordinator in Tennessee should allow Mariota to get back to the top of the ranks of young passers.

As a non-play-caller, LaFleur has overseen the NFL development of the peaks of the careers of Matt Schaub, Robert Griffin III, Matt Ryan and Jared Goff in his nine years as an NFL assistant and coordinator. Now set to call plays, there could be big things in store for Mariota moving forward.

Miami spent two days on the field this week preparing for coach Adam Gase’s third season. It’s not unusual for clubs to wipe out the final day of mandatory minicamp, with many squads electing to use that time for team bonding and chemistry building.

The Dolphins wrap up pre-training camp work next week with their final days of voluntary organized team activities, June 11-14.

Among players still on the Miami Dolphins roster, only three were deemed by PFR to be more valuable last season than running back Kenyan Drake.

The 2016 third-round pick took the reins in the backfield soon after Jay Ajayi was traded midway through the season and never looked back. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry in the final nine weeks of the year, which ranked sixth among backs with at least 50 attempts during that stretch.

Considering that he also averaged 5.4 yards per rush within a smaller sample as a rookie in 2016, that might not have been a fluke. Regardless, the Dolphins’ high-potential starting running back is just the 35th-highest-paid player on the roster.

The Browns traded Kessler to the Jaguars on March 28, and while ready for the move, Kessler believes his time in Cleveland will help him in Jacksonville.

The time in Cleveland was ups and down, frustrating, but being able to start eight or nine games my rookie year really prepared me, Kessler said, via the team website. Last year didn’t go the way I wanted it to or I had planned, but it’s part of it. You take it and run with it. I took that time to work on myself saying, ‘What do I want to work today?’ It really did help me.

It’s the same thing here. Obviously, Blake is the starter and a great guy to learn from, but you always prepare as the starter and prepare as if you’re playing on Sunday. That’s helped me and made my life easier as a backup.

Kessler started eight games as a rookie in 2016. He started none last season, watching DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan pass him on the depth chart.

Offensive lineman Ramon Foster (pictured) likes the new rule, in part because each of his four concussions occurred when a defender used his helmet to hit Foster in the helmet.

The veteran wide receiver is not expected to sign a contract until the start of training camp, according to a report from NFL Network. Bryant has drawn interest from multiple teams, but he’s being patient and selective, the report says.

Bryant was cut by Dallas in mid-April after spending his entire eight-season career with the team. The Cowboys saved more than $8 million in salary cap space by releasing him, according to multiple reports.

Bryant was selected to the Pro Bowl three times with the Cowboys and led the NFL with 16 receiving touchdowns in 2014. Last season, he registered 838 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Jason Witten, Bryant’s former teammate with the Cowboys, said in May he expected the wide receiver to sign with Green Bay. Witten recently retired and agreed to become the color analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.