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MILWAUKEE -- Pittsburghs Jameson Taillon remembers Hernan Perez from their days opposing each other in the minors. The rookie right-hander would just as soon forget about him now.Perez drove in three runs with a two-run homer and an RBI single, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers over the Pirates 5-3 on Saturday night after Pittsburgh dealt closer Mark Melancon to Washington.Shifted to third in the batting order because Ryan Braun was sidelined by with right-side tightness, Perez hit a two-run homer in the first off rookie Taillon (2-2).I actually played him coming up with the Tigers in Double-A and Triple-A, Taillon said about Perezs time with Detroit. Im pretty confident I owned him in the minor leagues.Not anymore.Now is when it counts, Taillon said. Hes got me a couple of times.Moved up in the order on Thursday because of Brauns injury, Perez hit a two-run homer off Arizonas Robbie Ray. Perez has seven home runs this season; he had one in 156 games before this year.I feel good right now at the plate, Perez said. I am taking good pitches to swing. Put a good swing on the ball and good things happen.Taillon said that the pitch Perez hit for the home run didnt go where he wanted it.It was a two-seamer that was supposed to run in on his hands, Taillon said. It didnt do too much.With the trading of third baseman Aaron Hill to Boston on July 7, Perez has been playing more often, usually at third, but he has gotten time at short and right field.I feel good right now, getting good pitches to swing at, Perez said. Im putting good swings on the ball and making something happen.Perez is batting .360 with nine runs, three doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI since the All-Star break.Brewers manager Craig Counsell likes what he sees from Perez.Hes the definition of an improving player for me, Counsell said. Being able to slip into that spot and still produce, that says something for sure.Chase Anderson (6-10) gave up an unearned run and four hits in five innings, striking out a season-high seven. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 chances, allowing Jordy Mercers RBI single.Milwaukee has won eight straight home games against the Pirates and kept two-time All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy on the bench as the Brewers considered trade possibilities.Jung Ho Kangs RBI single in the fourth cut the gap, but Milwaukee opened a 4-1 lead against reliever Jonathan Niese with two outs in the seventh when Scooter Gennett had a run-scoring bloop single and Perezs third hit of the game drove in another run.Gregory Polanco hit his 14th homer, an eighth-inning drive off Will Smith. Kirk Nieuwenhuis homered against Neftali Feliz in the bottom half.Nieuwenhuis saved a run in the fourth with a long throw from right that catcher Martin Maldonado caught on the fly. Kang missed the plate with his slide and Maldonado missed his first tag attempt, the tagged a lunging Maldonado for the inning-ending out.FREESE OUTDavid Freese was ejected by plate umpire Marty Foster for arguing balls and strikes before the Brewers came to bat in the fifth. Freese had just struck out swinging. John Jaso replaced Freese at first base.TAILLON DENIEDNieuwenhuis charged Taillons one-hop line drive in the fifth and fired a strike to first baseman Chris Carter to just get Taillon. That would have been the rookies first hit in 12 at-bats.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: Melancon was traded for reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn. I get the business side of it, Melancon said. It is what it is. I am just happy I was part of this organization. . C Francisco Cervelli was back in the starting lineup after being helped off the field in the eighth inning of Friday nights game. Gennett was hit by a pitch, and the ball ended up catching Cervelli on his inside right foot. I feel better, Cervelli said. I did a lot of treatment last night. In the moment, I thought it was broke. It was hard. It was the same spot I got hit in Miami.Brewers: Milwaukee C Jonathan Lucroy was not in the starting lineup for Saturday nights game against the Pirates as the Brewers considered trade possibilities. ... Braun, a late scratch, missed his third consecutive game.UP NEXTPirates: LHP Francisco Liriano (6-10) makes his second start this season against the Brewers. He struck out 13 over 6 2/3 innings and won 5-3 on July 21. He struck out 13 over 6 2/3 innings and won 5-3 on July 21. He needs two strikeouts for 1500 in his career. He has lost four of his last five road decisions.Brewers: RHP Matt Garza (1-4, 5.74) makes his ninth start of the season and second against the Pirates since being reinstated from the 60-day disabled list on June 14 with a right lat strain. He allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings in the 5-3 loss to Liriano and the Pirates. Ruben Loftus-Cheek Jersey . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Ruben Loftus-Cheek Chelsea Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Ngolo-Kante-Jersey/ . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Willian Jersey . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Marcos Alonso Chelsea Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. The past few months have seen a meaningful surge in coverage surrounding the betting side of the esports industry, and it hasnt been pretty. Back in April, Bloomberg published a significant investigative piece detailing the scope of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin betting marketplace and many of the issues stemming from that industry. This article, coupled with a public scandal involving the skin betting site CSGO Diamonds, helped spur a class action suit against Valve. Then two weeks ago, a video from prominent YouTuber h3h3Productions helped shed light on a wide array of issues, including potential fraud, related to the prominent betting site CSGO Lotto.Valve had remained silent throughout this mounting controversy, but its silence ended yesterday. Valve issued a statement entitled In Game Item Trading Update that could mark the demise of skin betting as we know it. While Valves stance seems relatively black and white, the language used in the statement leaves open as many questions as it answers. I will parse through that language to offer more insight into Valves decision and what it means for the future of betting surrounding Valve titles, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.Analyzing Valves statementIn 2011, we added a feature to Steam that enabled users to trade in-game items as a way to make it easier for people to get the items they wanted in games featuring in-game economies.Since then a number of gambling sites started leveraging the Steam trading system, and theres been some false assumptions about our involvement with these sites. Wed like to clarify that we have no business relationships with any of these sites. We have never received any revenue from them. And Steam does not have a system for turning in-game items into real world currency.As far as I know, this is completely true. It could be argued that Valve has supported gambling sites to a certain extent by allowing users to log in via Steam, and Valve games have certainly become more popular as a result of these sites. But that is not the same thing as receiving revenue from their operations. Perhaps more information will come to light over time to support the allegations leveled against Valve in the class action lawsuit filed in Connecticut, but I havent seen any credible evidence that contradicts Valves assertion in its public statement.These sites have basically pieced together their operations in a two-part fashion. First, they are using the OpenID API as a way for users to prove ownership of their Steam accounts and items. Any other information they obtain about a users Steam account is either manually disclosed by the user or obtained from the users Steam Community profile (when the user has chosen to make their profile public). Second, they create automated Steam accounts that make the same web calls as individual Steam users.Using the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements.This is the crux of Valves position, and judging from the public reaction thus far, it has been largely misunderstood. It does not appear that Valve is banning third-party sites from using Steam accounts to facilitate skin betting. At least, not yet. If you run a search in the Steam Web API Terms of Use and Steam Subscriber Agreement, the word gambling is nowhere to be found. In fact, the API Terms of Use havent been updated since July 2010, before the trading marketplace was even implemented and long before skins were introduced to CS:GO in 2013 through the Arms Deal update.Instead, Valves issue seems to be with the fact that gambling sites create automated Steam accounts that make the same web calls as individual Steam users. This naturally begs two questions: Does this affect sites that use automated Steam accounts to make API calls for purposes other than gambling? Can gambling sites continue to use the API so long as they dont make automated calls?The dominant skin marketplace website, OPSkins, released a statement yesterday that it doesnt believe it is impacted by Valves statement because it is not a gambling site. While it is certainly true that OPSkins users cannot gamble on the site, it does not appear to address the fact that OPSkins makes precisely the same type of automated API calls as betting sites in order to facilitate the large volume of transactions.Meanwhile, gambling sites such as Bets.gg have stated that they will continue to operate, and intend to implement changes to comply with the ToS update from Valve. While its nnot entirely clear how Bets.ddddddddddddgg or other gambling sites could alter their behavior in order to comply with the API and other Valve user agreements, the fact is that Valves current position leaves room for them to do so.Thus, Valves statement creates a level of uncertainty that will have to be addressed. At present, its far from clear which sites will and will not be allowed to access the API moving forward.We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary. Users should probably consider this information as they manage their in-game item inventory and trade activity.This is where the rubber meets the road. At the end of the day, the real impact will come from Valves enforcement, not from the statement itself. Will Valve enforce the API restrictions against all third parties, or just gambling sites? Will Valve actively monitor the situation and eliminate new sites as they arise, or will it take a more passive approach?Perhaps the biggest uncertainty surrounds whether Valve will go after all forms of gambling (including betting on the outcome of esports matches), or if Valve is targeting traditional gambling activities such as coin flips, lotteries and similar games. In its statement, Valve consistently uses the word gambling, as opposed to betting. This could be an attempt to draw a distinction between certain types of wagering activities, or it could have no significance at all.Only time will tell how all of this plays out. But from where Im sitting, there simply isnt enough information in Valves short statement for anyone to do more than speculate.Impact on the esports landscapeDespite the uncertainty surrounding yesterdays statement, its great to see Valve taking action in this area. We are rapidly approaching a critical mass of negative publicity that could have a significant impact on the longevity of the second-most popular esport in the world, as well as the interests of every party involved in that competitive ecosystem. If unregulated skin betting is allowed to continue unchecked, broader backlash and the advent of regulation from parties who do not understand our industry is inevitable.I sincerely hope that Valves statement marks the beginning of the end for unregulated, unlicensed betting sites that prey on underage users and offer no safeguards against fraud, threats to competitive integrity and much more. That being said, Im not sure today is that day.The fact that Valves statement relies on API misuse is particularly telling. So long as sites can find a way to comply with the terms of use, they may be allowed to continue operating.There is also the potential that Valves stance could be overboard, eliminating all skin-based betting, not simply the sites that operate illegally.It is often overlooked that skins offer a unique type of betting unit that could change the face of gambling as we know it. While many people buy, sell and gamble skins purely as a form of currency, skins are designed to be used, not merely held. In stark contrast to pure cash, a skin may become less valuable to a user over time while maintaining its value to another user who doesnt own that particular skin. As such, it offers the rare opportunity for gambling with reduced negative consequences for the loser. It is a fundamentally different type of gambling transaction, one that could represent a watershed opportunity for the gambling industry.I dont think it is good for anyone to simply eliminate the potential to bet using skins, and I hope Valve isnt going down this path.The problem isnt betting. The problem is unlicensed, unregulated betting. So long as it is done responsibly, betting can drive engagement and additional revenue streams, with manageable negative impacts. There is ample empirical and anecdotal evidence that shows gambling can be good for esports viewership. But that doesnt mean we should stand by and allow the fraud, false advertising and other illegal behavior that has surfaced over the past few months to go unchecked.Im glad to see Valve acknowledge that it has a role to play in eradicating bad actors. As it moves forward and enforces its position, I hope that Valve will strike the right balance between eliminating problematic behavior while permitting gambling in a legal, regulated and responsible manner.Disclosure: Bryce Blum is the General Counsel at Unikrn. ' ' '