8.05.2009

Aug. 4- LA 17 MIL 4
53-54, -5 CHI
Ugly Game and Prince's Temper
This game got ugly in the span of the 10 news while I was directing. Yovanni Gallardo struggled mightily, giving up 4 in the first inning. However, the Crew was able to whittle it down to a 1 run defecit in the 5th, when Gallardo started to unravel. He gave up a home run to Manny Ramirez, didn't make it out of the 6th and then Mitch Stetter and Mike DeFelice couldn't save the Brewer's from a 7 run outburst that included a Manny 2 run double and a embarrasing fly ball that dropped between Braun and Cameron.

When the game really got interesting is after the game. Upset with being hit by Mota to retaliate for Chris Smith hitting Ramirez, Fielder actually tried to get into the Dodger's clubhouse after the game. Guillermo Mota is known for tattooing hitters, but I think it's easy to see that perhaps a 13 run blow out had something to do with Fielder losing it as well.
Aug. 3- MIL 6 LA 5
53-53, -4 STL
Hoffman Barely Saves Parra's Fine Performance
Aside from a throwing error that led to a lone run in the 3rd and 7th, Manny Parra cruised into the 9th, having probably his best start of the season... maybe of his career. Things got a little dicey in the 9th however, and even Hoffman had trouble keeping the best team in baseball down. The Dodgers ended up scoring 3 in the final frame, but Hoffman got Manny Ramirez to fly out with the bases loaded to end the game, and the Crew won the first game of a series for the first time in a LONG time.

The 6 runs were about as much as could be expected facing Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw. Thanks to 4 consecutive walks following a Braun single in the 4th, the Brewers got on the board. Then in the 5th, the Crew chased Kershaw when they loaded the bases, but Jeff Weaver only allowed 1 run to score when Mike Cameron hit into a double play. That 3-1 lead was padded in the 6th, when one of Braun's 4 hits was a 3 run homer, his 22nd of the season.

8.02.2009

Aug. 2- MIL 6 SD 1
52-53, -4½ STL
7th Inning the Difference
I go into the control room to tape an interview with a dreadlocked soccer player with the game tied 1-1 and come out to see the Crew has jumped out to a 5 run lead on the strength of a 3 run Felipe Lopez double.

Carlos Villanueva started the game and worked around 4 walks to pitch 5 good innings and give the Brewers a chance to win on Prince Fielder's league leading 93rd RBI. However, Claudio Vargas work in the 6th almost blew it. He gave up the tying run and only retired 1 hitter before Mitch Stetter had to come in and mop up. Thankfully, the rally in the 7th, that started with a Frank Catalanotto RBI and needed 4 Padre pitchers to extinguish, kept the Crew from getting swept.

Catalanotto started the game in right for Corey Hart who was in the hospital with abdominal pain.
Aug. 1- SD 4 MIL 2
51-53, -5½ STL
Decent Performance by a Starter Blown
Mike Burns, recalled 4 days after being sent to Nashville to take Suppan's slot in the rotation gave the Crew something they haven't had much of, a good chance for the offense to win. 3 runs only in 5⅔ innings, the Brewer's offense should be able to make that stand up against one of the worst teams in the NL? Unfortunately not. Back to back homers by Fielder and McGehee in the 6th were all that the bats managed and thanks to Will Venable's 2nd homer against the Brewer's this series and Tony Gwynn, Jr.'s performance as the leadoff man he never was in Milwaukee, the Crew started August with a loss. Not a way to put a 9-17 July behind you. I feel happy for Gwynn, (who was 2-5 with a run and RBI last night), but it be nice if his .296 average would take a break from killing the Crew.
July 31- SD 11 MIL 7
51-52, -4½ STL
2nd Inning Outburst Wasted
When I turned the game on after getting back from dinner, things looked good. The Crew had a 6 run lead and should have been able to win their 3rd in a row for the first time since June 17th. Padres starter Chad Gaudin almost escaped the 2nd when he struck out J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall struck out with the bases loaded, but Braden Looper's 2 run single helped get the Crew started with a lead, and Felipe Lopez followed with his own RBI single. Then Braun's grounder with the bases loaded again scored another when Chase Headley threw wildly to first. Fielder brought 2 more in with a single and Corey Hart chipped in another, and all Looper had to do was throw strikes.

That apparently meant "grooved" strikes as he started letting the Padres tattoo him all over Petco. Will Venable nailed a 2 run dinger in a 4 run 4th and Looper was pulled after 5. Tim Dillard wasn't much of an improvement, taking over for Looper and giving up 3 runs of his own while only recording 1 out in the 6th. By the time the 7th rolled around, the Crew was only down 2, but it may as well have been 10, the offense just shut down, getting only 2 hits and 1 walk in the last 3 innings.

7.30.2009

July 30- MIL 7 WSH 3
51-51, -4 STL
Gallardo Leads a Game where Everything Works and Suppan, Hall Out
The bats, the starting pitching and the bullpen all worked and for the first time since June 30th, the Crew has won 2 in a row. Tied at 3 in the 7th, Mike Cameron, who led off the inning with a double, sneaked in under a tag at the plate after Jason Kendall chopped a ball to Ryan Zimmerman at 3B. The Crew got another one that inning when Craig Counsell was safe on a botched DP relay and Casey McGehee (who singled) scored from 3B.

With the lead, Macha ends Yovanni Gallardo's great day that included double digit strike outs and brings Todd Coffey to pitch a perfect 8th after throwing 2 innings last night. Mitch Stetter closes out the 9th after the Crew tacks on 2 more on a Cameron sac fly and a wild pitch. Craig Counsell and Prince Fielder had homers for the Brewer's earlier in the game and the Crew is back to .500.

It was announced after the game that Bill Hall has agreed to go to Nashville to work on his hitting and Jeff Suppan will go on the DL. Who on earth will Brewer fans dog?
July 29- MIL 7 WSH 5
50-51, -4½ STL
McGehee PH Dinger Ends Skid
A beautiful note to Casey McGehee's night was added when I read the JSO article that said his 2 year old son, who has cerebal palsy, threw out the first pitch before the Brewer's 1st win after dropping 3 in a row to two of the worst teams in baseball. Down a run in the 6th, McGehee, hitting for Manny Parra, nailed a 2 run shot that put the Brewer's in front. The offensive outburst help make up for the "not so perfect" Parra, who toiled in the first 2 innings (giving up 4 and walking 2 runs in), but settled down to allow only 1 more run in his 6 inning stint.

After the game, McGehee spoke with tears about how inspirational it is to see his son living his life despite the horrible card he's been dealt. He also added how he asked Prince to walk his son out to the mound before the game because his son, like most kids, just likes Prince. There is something likeable about the big slugger that can be simultaneosly fear inspiring to an adult but sort of "teddy bear" like to a kid.

7.29.2009

July 28- WSH 8 MIL 3
49-51, -4½ STL
Villanueva No Better as Starter
It was a leadoff HR to Nyjer Morgan and a 4 run 4th that made Carlos Villanueva's 1st start since early '08 a rough one. Tim Dillard, who I would have preferred to see start, didn't fair much better. After overcoming 4 walks and 2 hits to pitch 3 scoreless innings, he unraveled in the 8th when Christian Guzman hit a 3 run bomb.

Ryan Braun supplied the offense with his 21st homer and a triple, plus J.J. Hardy was 3-3, but the rest of the offense was anemic against Collin Balester who got his 1st win of the season.

News also came down today that Jueff Suppan has an oblique strain and will be reevalutated Thursday as to whether he can make his start this Saturday. This pitching staff is decimated.

7.27.2009

July 27- WSH 14 MIL 6
48-49, -4 on CHI
Below .500 Again
No such luck in turning things around with a 4 game home series against the Nats. Despite having the worst record in baseball, the Jeff Suppan and the Crew found a way to make the "Team that Should Not Be" (seriously, why didn't the league contract Montreal when they had a chance? I know, because it would have left an odd number of teams in the league) into the best story in baseball on a Monday night. Right fielder Josh Willingham hit two grand slams (one in the 5th off Suppan and 1 in the 6th of Mike DiFelice) and Ryan Zimmerman had a solo shot with 3 runs scored to counter Ryan Braun's 2oth dinger of the season and Corey Hart's 2nd tater in two days. The bullpen, already depleted with Looper's short outing yesterday and the plan to have Carlos Villanueva start tomorrow (instead of Tim Dillard who was doing well as a starter in Nashville?), was the reason Macha trotted Suppan out there for the 6th, where Suppan surrendured 4 more of his 10 earned before leaving for DiFelice.

The Crew also demoted Mike Burns and called up R.J. Swindle to try and stop the pitching mess that is making the next few weeks before Dave Bush's expected return seem REALLY long.
July 26- ATL 10 MIL 2
49-49, -3 on STL
Another Day Game Loss for The Crew
50 points lower in day games. That's in regards to the Brewer's team batting average and the difference between the best hitters at night and worst hitters in the day for the NL.

Looper was skating by through 5 innings, allowing on 1 run until a 4 run 6th that included a 3 run Casey Kotchman home run. Then the bullpen combo of Mark DiFelice, Mike Burns and Chris Smith gave up another 5 in 3 innings of work. The lone offense was Corey Hart's 2 run dinger in the 6th off Derek Lowe who was able to limit the Brewers to 2 runs on 9 hits over 6 innings of work.

With the cost of ANY pitching help being too high in my opinion, I'm quickly getting to the point where I might concede the season and just hope for a +.500 record, which was my goal at the start of the season. It's a damn shame though, because the amazing fan turnout at Miller this season deserves more.

7.26.2009

July 25- MIL 4 ATL 0
49-48 2½ back STL
Really Need to Get Some Pitching
With the odds of the Brewer's acquiring Roy Haliday slim, the fans should be damn thankful the Crew has a starter with as bright a future at Yovanni. I don't know where this team would be without him. However, it makes me also wonder how good they could be with just 1 more good arm. Hell, now that McClung is on the DL, they also have a bullpen that looks much worse than it did 2 months ago. Amazing what two arms on the DL and a pitcher like Villanueva falling apart (he took his 7th loss yesterday) can do to a team. Plus, remember when David Riske was going to be part of the bullpen. And what about Chris Capuano, how nice would it be to have him now?

As for the game, it was ALL Gallardo. 7⅓ innings, 4 hits, 4 walks, 6 Ks and a 2-3 day at the plate in which he got the scoring going with a single in the 5th. I guess it was a good day for the offense to fall asleep against Tommy Hanson. Casey McGehee's pinch hit RBI was a nice AB for the Crew as well considering how horrible the bench has been this season.

Once again, I'm going to throw some Kew-Dohs at my man professional hitter Craig Counsell who was 2-4 with an RBI in his new spot, number 2 behind Lopez. Counsell is now batting .299 at age 38 and outperforming all other position players his age. Great article by Tom Haudricourt this Sunday comparing Counsell to guys like Jason Giambi, Ken Griffey, Jim Thome or Gary Sheffield who are either playing poorly or benefitting from DHing or a light work load, not the daily grind that Counsell has had being an everyday infielder.
July 24- ATL 9 MIL 4
48-48 3½ back STL
Back to .500 and Feeling the Division Slip Away
I thought this division would be tough, but now that the Cards have Matt Holliay and Chicago and Houston (hooray Cecil Cooper) climbing back into it, I'm doubting weather the Crew have the ability to stay in the race.

Friday's loss to Atlanta showed just how many holes there are in the pitching staff. Although Counsell's 2 run double and Braun's 2 run homer in the 5th tied the game and kept Manny Parra off the hook for a little while, the bullpen just couldn't hold things together. Villanueva, Chris Smith and McClung gave up 5 in 3⅔ innings and Javier Vazquez was solid after the fifth, striking out Fielder 4 times in his 7 innings of work.
July 22- PIT 8 MIL 7
48-47 -2 on STL
Pittsburgh Figuring Out Crew
For a long time, the Pirates could do nothing right against the Crew. Now, thanks to Jeff Suppan serving up 4 taters in 3⅓ inlcluding 2 to Ryan Doumit, the Pirates were able to take 2 of 3 from the Brewers and send the Crew back to Miller with a 3-4 road trip result.

The offense did try to overcome Suppan's start with a good offensive day. Ryan Braun brought 2 in with a dinger in the 1st and 3 more in 5th with a bases loaded, 3 run double in the 5th. That 5th also contained a Casey McGehee 2 run shot that chased Pat Maholm from the game.

All that, plus a Bill Hall RBI, gave the Crew a somewhat comfortable 7-5 lead until Seth McClung surrendured 2 in the bottom of the 5th which set up Brandon Moss' leadoff homer in the 9th off Mitch Stetter. Moss was batting .250 with 0 home runs off lefty's coming into the game, however Stetter fell behind a let one get over the plate to give 21,000 in Pittsburgh something to cheer about.

7.22.2009

July 21- MIL 2 PIT 0
48-46 -2 on STL
Looper Gives Crew Best Start of the Season
After a rough June, when most Brewer starters faltered, Looper has improved in July and last night gave the Crew 7 innings of 0 run ball at PNC Park. He got some help with a 1 out diving catch by Mike Cameron in the 7th with a man on that sealed up a narrow win. Pittsburgh righty Virgil Vasquez was also able to work out of trouble as well. The Brewer's made him look good by not drawing any walks and only cashing in on 2 of their 9 hits in Vasquez' 6⅔ innings, both RBI singles by Prince Fielder that scored Craig Counsell. Counsell was 3-4 in the 2 spot, playing 3B now that Lopez is getting the nod at 2B.