Hello again, Brewer fans. I made it back from the heat of Louisiana and now I'm ready to talk baseball. I kept track of my beloved Brewers via ESPN while I was gone, and I had to do a double-take a couple of times. Surely that crawl line didn't say we lost 6-5 to KC? I thought it was a joke the next day when I saw that we got shut out by KC. KC?? Are you kidding me?
I can deal with losing two to Detroit, ( I don't like it but I can deal), because they are the best team in baseball. But losing two of three to the worst? Exactly how do the Brewers plan to contend this season when they're getting shut out by the freaking Royals?? I can't comment too much on this series, however, because I didn't get to see any of it. Brewers highlights on Sportscenter, or even Baseball Tonight, are a very rare thing. Believe me, I was looking! Hell, ESPN didn't even feel it was necessary to include the final lines for our pitchers in the crawl.
At least we got the best of Chicago. We won one we should have lost, and lost one we should have won, but we took three of four from the Cubbies, and that's always a good thing. How sweet was it to watch Derrick Turnbow smoke a fastball past Derrek Lee yesterday? D-Bow pitched his first four-out game since last September, and notched his 23rd save of the season. Matt Wise was still suffering a bit (apparently) from the nasty run-in with the salad tongs, but he managed to get out of a couple of jams without two much damage.
I still don't understand how you cut your finger open on a pair of salad tongs. I can see a pinch maybe, but a bleeding cut? Do we need an instructional video sent to the clubhouse? Incidentally, Journal Sentinel Food Editor Nancy Stohs offered some safe dining tips to Matt in her column today.
Geremi Gonzalez recorded his first win as a Brewer, despite screwing up a play that my 4-year-old niece could have made. That goof cost the Brewers when Jacque Jones lined a two-run single to cut the Crew's lead 1. It also cost the Brewers in terms of their bullpen. Ned was forced to call in the cavalry sooner than he wanted to, but at least they got the job done. It wasn't pretty, but they got it done.
So as June fades into July, the Brewers are once again at .500, but can they stay there as they travel to Minneapolis to take on the white-hot Twins? The Twins have been on a definite hot streak lately, and they have a great record in the Metrodome, 27-10. This is not good news for a team that usually doesn't play great on the road. But hey, streaks are made to be broken right?
Carlos Villanueva is the man being given the ball tonight to try to do just that. The Twins are offering up Brad Radke to face Carlos, and Radke doesn't have a good history with the Crew. Radke is 3-7 against the Brewers, with five straight losses. Maybe our guys can take advantage of that.
On the other hand, Carlos has been doing his homework. Apparently his downtime in Chicago was spent watching film of Twins batters, and creating his own scouting report for each one. You gotta hand it to this kid. He's really not letting any of this phase him. How many young guys could keep it together the way he did when he made his first start against Cincy? On ESPN, no less! He's here and it seems like he plans to stay. Good on you, Carlos. Go get 'em!
NO MORE MOELLER?
It looks like backup catcher Chad Moeller may be in jeopardy of losing his job. Ned Yost wouldn't say for certain, but he did say that Chad's lack of productivity had the plate had been duly noted. I guess it's hard to justify keeping him around when we've got Mike Rivera tearing up AAA. Time will tell. We all know something needs to be done. We all know Chad was the last Brewer to hit for the cycle, (in 2004), but as Janet Jackson would say, what have you done for me lately?
INJURED ARMS ON THE MEND
It looks like our DL may get a bit smaller in the coming weeks. Tomo Ohka is scheduled to pitch this weekend in Brevard County, Florida. This will be the first of (most likely) three minor league rehab starts for Ohka. Ben Sheets is scheduled to throw batting practice this weekend in Minnesota, and says he might soon be ready for a rehab assignment. Jorge De La Rosa is currently on rehab assignment and combined with Travis Phelps last night for a five hitter in AA Huntsville.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Brewers are currently even at 40-40, while this time last year, they were 37-42. Not going to make any predictions, but it's always good when your current record is better than it was the same time last year. At the beginning of the season, Ned Yost set a goal to win 1 1/2 - 2 extra games per month in order to improve on last season's record. At five games better than last season after three months, (not counting tonight, obviously), it looks like the Brewers are on pace to achieve that goal.
And finally, as I was writing this post, I got a call from Kelly with the Milwaukee Brewers telling me I had just won four tickets to this Wednesday's game against Cincinnati. How about that? Until next time, go Brewers!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
No Baseball for Me
Not by choice, of course. I'm leaving in the morning to go spend some time with my family in Louisiana for my niece's birthday. That means I won't be able to watch or listen to the KC series, and I'll miss the first two games of the Cubs series. Thank goodness for ESPN. At least I can find out each night who wins.
I also won't be able to post anything until after I get back Tuesday night. My sister has dial-up internet, which is about as reliable as Kerry Wood getting back on a mound this season, so I won't risk writing something that could be lost to cyberspace at a moment's notice.
Quickly though, I have to point out that Chris Capuano was once again outstanding yesterday. He kept his team in the game through seven innings, and his team gave him his 8th win. He also notched his 15th quality start of the season.
Props to Rickie Weeks for turning around that wicked fastball from Zumaya yesterday. Rickie also hasn't made an error in 16 games, I think. Way to go, Rickie. Keep it up!
Most importantly, I hope our guys don't get lazy going into KC thinking it's going to be an easy series. Let's not forget how we got embarrassed by Pittsburgh at PNC Park. That cannot happen again. Seems like that always happens when we play the teams who aren't playing well.
Anyway, I hope you all will pick up my slack and cheer for me while I'm out of town. I'll be back to root for the guys on Wednesday. Until next time, go Brewers!
I also won't be able to post anything until after I get back Tuesday night. My sister has dial-up internet, which is about as reliable as Kerry Wood getting back on a mound this season, so I won't risk writing something that could be lost to cyberspace at a moment's notice.
Quickly though, I have to point out that Chris Capuano was once again outstanding yesterday. He kept his team in the game through seven innings, and his team gave him his 8th win. He also notched his 15th quality start of the season.
Props to Rickie Weeks for turning around that wicked fastball from Zumaya yesterday. Rickie also hasn't made an error in 16 games, I think. Way to go, Rickie. Keep it up!
Most importantly, I hope our guys don't get lazy going into KC thinking it's going to be an easy series. Let's not forget how we got embarrassed by Pittsburgh at PNC Park. That cannot happen again. Seems like that always happens when we play the teams who aren't playing well.
Anyway, I hope you all will pick up my slack and cheer for me while I'm out of town. I'll be back to root for the guys on Wednesday. Until next time, go Brewers!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Close But No Cigar
Apparently, home plate umpire Brian Gorman isn't familiar with the "foot outside the batter's box" rule. If he was, then Magglio Ordonez would have been out before he had the chance to hit the double that scored what turned out to be the game winning RBI's. Most of you will remember that Brady Clark was called out on this very rule by Alfonso Marquez in Philadelphia back on May 27. Bill Schroeder and Darren Sutton commented that this was a very obscure rule, and one that was not called very often.
Well Marquez has made fans aware of this rule now, and many people around me in the stands were complaining about the lack of call on Ordonez's positioning in (or out, as it were) the batter's box. Personally, I don't give a crap whether this rule is enforced or not, but we can't have one rogue umpire who calls it when it suits him. It's gotta be all or nothing.
But back to my point, Magglio Ordonez had not just part of his foot, but his entire foot at least eight inches outside the back line of the batter's box. The rule says that a batter is out when he hits a ball, fair or foul, with one or both feet outside the batter's box. Brady had only part of one foot outside the box and he was rung up. Brian Gorman, are you paying attention?
I'm not saying that's the only reason the Crew lost last night, but it didn't help. Neither did that crappy throw from Matt Wise to first, or the crappy throw from Corey Koskie to first. Neither one of them had a play. Hold the ball, give up the base, but don't give up a run on a bad play, which is exactly what they did.
It really was a shame, too, because Doug Davis was brilliant last night. Doug held the Tigers to three hits through seven innings, walked only one (which is huge for Doug), and struck out nine. He also picked off a runner at first, although the first base ump didn't agree with me, or my entire section, for that matter. My section (213) was directly above first base, and trust me Eric Cooper, Doug nailed that runner, and you blew the call. (Seems like a lot of that was going on last night. No wonder the Tigers have the best record in baseball. Do they take this umpire team with them all the time?)
Before I forget, props to Geoff Jenkins for that spectacular catch he made last night to take a hit away from Pudge Rodriguez.
I'm not sure what's going on with Matt Wise. He used to be lights out all the time, but he hasn't been reliable at all lately. I never used to get nervous when Matt came into a game, but these days, it seems like it's a crap shoot whether he'll be on or off. He gave me one of his signed photo cards at a Friday night autograph signing, and told me I could throw darts at it. If he keeps pitching like he did last night and making stupid errors, I might take him up on it.
Moving on. Rick Helling is back with the Crew and takes the mound for his first start this season again Zach Miner. I mentioned the other day that this looks like it should be a good matchup for Helling, but I'm not one to say anything to jinx the team. As I mentioned the other day, Miner has thrown only 17 innings this season, and has allowed 14 hits, five ER's and three homers. He's walked five and struck out eight. During his last start in Tampa Bay last week, he threw 32 pitches in the first inning alone before he settled down. This is a matchup in which (hopefully) Helling's experience will benefit the Crew.
One negative that Rick will have to overcome tonight is Pudge Rodriguez. Rodriguez was Rick's catcher in Texas, and can provide probably the best scouting report the Tigers could hope to get. Rodriguez is a dangerous hitter in his own right, (.304 career average), but it's going to make it a lot worse that he probably knows what's going to be thrown at him. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that Rick has something up his sleeve that Pudge hasn't seen.
That's all I have for this edition Brewer fans. Until next time, go Brewers!
Well Marquez has made fans aware of this rule now, and many people around me in the stands were complaining about the lack of call on Ordonez's positioning in (or out, as it were) the batter's box. Personally, I don't give a crap whether this rule is enforced or not, but we can't have one rogue umpire who calls it when it suits him. It's gotta be all or nothing.
But back to my point, Magglio Ordonez had not just part of his foot, but his entire foot at least eight inches outside the back line of the batter's box. The rule says that a batter is out when he hits a ball, fair or foul, with one or both feet outside the batter's box. Brady had only part of one foot outside the box and he was rung up. Brian Gorman, are you paying attention?
I'm not saying that's the only reason the Crew lost last night, but it didn't help. Neither did that crappy throw from Matt Wise to first, or the crappy throw from Corey Koskie to first. Neither one of them had a play. Hold the ball, give up the base, but don't give up a run on a bad play, which is exactly what they did.
It really was a shame, too, because Doug Davis was brilliant last night. Doug held the Tigers to three hits through seven innings, walked only one (which is huge for Doug), and struck out nine. He also picked off a runner at first, although the first base ump didn't agree with me, or my entire section, for that matter. My section (213) was directly above first base, and trust me Eric Cooper, Doug nailed that runner, and you blew the call. (Seems like a lot of that was going on last night. No wonder the Tigers have the best record in baseball. Do they take this umpire team with them all the time?)
Before I forget, props to Geoff Jenkins for that spectacular catch he made last night to take a hit away from Pudge Rodriguez.
I'm not sure what's going on with Matt Wise. He used to be lights out all the time, but he hasn't been reliable at all lately. I never used to get nervous when Matt came into a game, but these days, it seems like it's a crap shoot whether he'll be on or off. He gave me one of his signed photo cards at a Friday night autograph signing, and told me I could throw darts at it. If he keeps pitching like he did last night and making stupid errors, I might take him up on it.
Moving on. Rick Helling is back with the Crew and takes the mound for his first start this season again Zach Miner. I mentioned the other day that this looks like it should be a good matchup for Helling, but I'm not one to say anything to jinx the team. As I mentioned the other day, Miner has thrown only 17 innings this season, and has allowed 14 hits, five ER's and three homers. He's walked five and struck out eight. During his last start in Tampa Bay last week, he threw 32 pitches in the first inning alone before he settled down. This is a matchup in which (hopefully) Helling's experience will benefit the Crew.
One negative that Rick will have to overcome tonight is Pudge Rodriguez. Rodriguez was Rick's catcher in Texas, and can provide probably the best scouting report the Tigers could hope to get. Rodriguez is a dangerous hitter in his own right, (.304 career average), but it's going to make it a lot worse that he probably knows what's going to be thrown at him. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that Rick has something up his sleeve that Pudge hasn't seen.
That's all I have for this edition Brewer fans. Until next time, go Brewers!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Lee Delivers Sweep for Crew
The Brewers are back to .500 tonight thanks in large part to Carlos Lee. Carlos delivered a one-out, two-run homer to propel the Crew to a 6-3 victory over the Indians today. It was the third victory in as many days for the Brewers, who swept Cleveland in the weekend series. Let's recap.
FRIDAY
Chris Capuano pitched probably the best game of his career Friday night, tossing seven outstanding innings, limited the Tribe to only six hits, two runs, and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts. In those seven innings, he threw 109 pitches, 74 for strikes. Friday's game marked the 14th quality start of the season for Chris. Incidentally, he know holds the record alone for the most quality starts in MLB, as Mike Mussina got tagged for six ER's in 5.2 innings of work on Thursday. Mussina is now 13 for 15 in quality starts, and Cappy is 14 for 15. Good job, Cap!
Chris was definitely on top of his game Friday, and has picked up more than his share of the slack left by the ailing Sheets and Ohka. Apparently he changed his between-starts routine, and it seemed to have worked like a charm. Congrats, Chris!
Another positive I noticed was Rickie Weeks' lack of errors in recent games. Could it be that he's finally worked out whatever was causing his fumble fingers? Only time will tell, but it's encouraging so far that he hasn't committed an error since June 4. Keep it up Rickie!
I'm sure many of you remember the day that Brady Clark was called out for having part of his foot outside the batter's box a couple of weeks ago. Well I noticed Friday night that Travis Hafner had his entire foot outside of the box on every at-bat. I guess no one else really follows that rule, huh? Too bad for Brady that day that he didn't have Joe Brinkman behind the plate. I've included a photo of Hafner in the batter's box. It's not a great shot, but I'd be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts on the foot placement.
SATURDAY
Dave Bush continued the pitching mastery on Saturday night, going eight innings for the Crew, allowing only two runs on four hits. Bush has struggled with consistency a bit this season, so it was great to see him pitch so well. He didn't strike out twelve, but he kept his team in the game. Bush was tough tonight, and it sucked he couldn't get the win. He threw 75 of 110 pitches for strikes, fanned 6, and walked only two. The win went to Jose Capellan, who pitched a scoreless 9th, allowing only two hits.
The team got the win, though, thanks to a laser beam shot to right field off the bat of Geoff Jenkins in the bottom of the 9th. I must admit I groaned a bit when Geoff came up to bat, because he has been so streaky lately, and prone to strikeouts. But he delivered big time on Saturday, and clinched the series win with his big one-out single. Guess he felt like he needed to do something to get the crowd to stop booing him.
The defense was strong again, and no errors for anyone. Gotta keep that up!
SUNDAY
Bill Hall hit a walk-off home run on Mother's Day, and Carlos Lee countered with one of his own on Father's Day, securing the three-game sweep for the Crew. This series marks the first time the Brewers have swept the Indians since 1989.
Zach Jackson wasn't particularly sharp today, lasting only three innings. But he did manage to get out of a couple of jams, and allowed only two runs on eight hits. He wasn't pitching badly; 50 of his 78 throws were for strikes, but I think Ned thought it best to get him out of there while the getting was still good. He did record his first major league (and first professional) hit of his career, and scored his first run when Corey Koskie hit one out to right field.
Geremi Gonzalez managed to hold the Indians down during his three innings of work, allowing only one run on two hits. Dan Kolb and Brian Shouse each tossed a scoreless inning, and Derrick Turnbow finished it off, striking out the side to record the win.
As I predicted on Thursday, this was a great series, and every game came down to pitching. For a change, thankfully, our guys got it done better, and got run support when it counted. The whole team contributed offensively throughout the series, and played tight defense as well. Our pitching staff seems to have further stabilized, and finally, finally, thank goodness, Rick Helling is ready to come off the DL.
It's not yet clear what his role will be once a change is made, but Tuesday's pitching roster has been changed from Villanueva to "to be announced." Based on that, it looks like Helling will get the start on Tuesday, but you never know. It was announced originally that Jackson would get the start on Monday, which meant Davis would have started today. But Ned decided Saturday to switch it around so that everyone would get five days rest instead of four.
HERE COME THE TIGERS
I'm actually glad that he made that change. The Detroit Tigers come to town for a three game series starting tomorrow, and this team currently has the best record in MLB. Not that I doubt Jackson's ability, but I much prefer having veterans going up against a team like Detroit. If Helling does get the start on Tuesday, (Tuesday's schedule on Yahoo! sports lists Helling as the starting pitcher), then we'll have Davis, Helling and Capuano taking on the Tigers.
This is going to be a tough series for the Brewers, but they seem to play well against teams that are doing well, so maybe that will be the case again this time. The pitching matchups look to make for some interesting games. Doug Davis, (4-4, 5.07) faces Jeremy Bonderman, (6-4, 5.07) tomorrow night, Rick Helling, (no stats) possibly takes on Zach Miner, (2-1, 2.65) on Tuesday, and Chris Capuano, (7-4, 3.30) will duel with Nate Robertson, (7-3, 3.43) on Wednesday afternoon.
Zach Miner could be the reason for the Villanueva-Helling switch, if that is in fact the case. Miner has appeared in only three games for Detroit, tossing seventeen total innings. Perhaps Ned thinks this would be a good match up for easing Helling back into the rotation. I don't know, but it should be interesting.
But all in all, this was a fantastic weekend for Brewers baseball. They swept the Tribe, made it back to .500, and have their most experienced pitchers on the mound to face, at least statistically, the best team in baseball. Let's all head out to the park and show some support! Until next time, go Brewers!
FRIDAY
Chris Capuano pitched probably the best game of his career Friday night, tossing seven outstanding innings, limited the Tribe to only six hits, two runs, and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts. In those seven innings, he threw 109 pitches, 74 for strikes. Friday's game marked the 14th quality start of the season for Chris. Incidentally, he know holds the record alone for the most quality starts in MLB, as Mike Mussina got tagged for six ER's in 5.2 innings of work on Thursday. Mussina is now 13 for 15 in quality starts, and Cappy is 14 for 15. Good job, Cap!
Chris was definitely on top of his game Friday, and has picked up more than his share of the slack left by the ailing Sheets and Ohka. Apparently he changed his between-starts routine, and it seemed to have worked like a charm. Congrats, Chris!
Another positive I noticed was Rickie Weeks' lack of errors in recent games. Could it be that he's finally worked out whatever was causing his fumble fingers? Only time will tell, but it's encouraging so far that he hasn't committed an error since June 4. Keep it up Rickie!
I'm sure many of you remember the day that Brady Clark was called out for having part of his foot outside the batter's box a couple of weeks ago. Well I noticed Friday night that Travis Hafner had his entire foot outside of the box on every at-bat. I guess no one else really follows that rule, huh? Too bad for Brady that day that he didn't have Joe Brinkman behind the plate. I've included a photo of Hafner in the batter's box. It's not a great shot, but I'd be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts on the foot placement.
SATURDAY
Dave Bush continued the pitching mastery on Saturday night, going eight innings for the Crew, allowing only two runs on four hits. Bush has struggled with consistency a bit this season, so it was great to see him pitch so well. He didn't strike out twelve, but he kept his team in the game. Bush was tough tonight, and it sucked he couldn't get the win. He threw 75 of 110 pitches for strikes, fanned 6, and walked only two. The win went to Jose Capellan, who pitched a scoreless 9th, allowing only two hits.
The team got the win, though, thanks to a laser beam shot to right field off the bat of Geoff Jenkins in the bottom of the 9th. I must admit I groaned a bit when Geoff came up to bat, because he has been so streaky lately, and prone to strikeouts. But he delivered big time on Saturday, and clinched the series win with his big one-out single. Guess he felt like he needed to do something to get the crowd to stop booing him.
The defense was strong again, and no errors for anyone. Gotta keep that up!
SUNDAY
Bill Hall hit a walk-off home run on Mother's Day, and Carlos Lee countered with one of his own on Father's Day, securing the three-game sweep for the Crew. This series marks the first time the Brewers have swept the Indians since 1989.
Zach Jackson wasn't particularly sharp today, lasting only three innings. But he did manage to get out of a couple of jams, and allowed only two runs on eight hits. He wasn't pitching badly; 50 of his 78 throws were for strikes, but I think Ned thought it best to get him out of there while the getting was still good. He did record his first major league (and first professional) hit of his career, and scored his first run when Corey Koskie hit one out to right field.
Geremi Gonzalez managed to hold the Indians down during his three innings of work, allowing only one run on two hits. Dan Kolb and Brian Shouse each tossed a scoreless inning, and Derrick Turnbow finished it off, striking out the side to record the win.
As I predicted on Thursday, this was a great series, and every game came down to pitching. For a change, thankfully, our guys got it done better, and got run support when it counted. The whole team contributed offensively throughout the series, and played tight defense as well. Our pitching staff seems to have further stabilized, and finally, finally, thank goodness, Rick Helling is ready to come off the DL.
It's not yet clear what his role will be once a change is made, but Tuesday's pitching roster has been changed from Villanueva to "to be announced." Based on that, it looks like Helling will get the start on Tuesday, but you never know. It was announced originally that Jackson would get the start on Monday, which meant Davis would have started today. But Ned decided Saturday to switch it around so that everyone would get five days rest instead of four.
HERE COME THE TIGERS
I'm actually glad that he made that change. The Detroit Tigers come to town for a three game series starting tomorrow, and this team currently has the best record in MLB. Not that I doubt Jackson's ability, but I much prefer having veterans going up against a team like Detroit. If Helling does get the start on Tuesday, (Tuesday's schedule on Yahoo! sports lists Helling as the starting pitcher), then we'll have Davis, Helling and Capuano taking on the Tigers.
This is going to be a tough series for the Brewers, but they seem to play well against teams that are doing well, so maybe that will be the case again this time. The pitching matchups look to make for some interesting games. Doug Davis, (4-4, 5.07) faces Jeremy Bonderman, (6-4, 5.07) tomorrow night, Rick Helling, (no stats) possibly takes on Zach Miner, (2-1, 2.65) on Tuesday, and Chris Capuano, (7-4, 3.30) will duel with Nate Robertson, (7-3, 3.43) on Wednesday afternoon.
Zach Miner could be the reason for the Villanueva-Helling switch, if that is in fact the case. Miner has appeared in only three games for Detroit, tossing seventeen total innings. Perhaps Ned thinks this would be a good match up for easing Helling back into the rotation. I don't know, but it should be interesting.
But all in all, this was a fantastic weekend for Brewers baseball. They swept the Tribe, made it back to .500, and have their most experienced pitchers on the mound to face, at least statistically, the best team in baseball. Let's all head out to the park and show some support! Until next time, go Brewers!
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