Series 3 - Brewers vs Reds, Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
A lot of writers and "experts" (I put quotation marks around that because I don't consider them to be experts, just very opinionated) have picked the Cincinnati Reds to be one of the surprise teams of the year and a dark horse candidate to finish on top on the NL Central. This was our first opportunity in this young season to see if they are right. This series was also the first time Francisco Cordero returned to Milwaukee following his much publicized departure to the Reds for a 4 year $46 million dollar contract. I know for sure that I will boo him for leaving over $4 million dollars (Brewers offered him 4 years $42 million) but I have the right to because I paid for some of his salary by going to games and buying merchandise. Aside from that, it will be good to see how the Reds match up against the Brewers in 2008.
Game 1 (Tuesday) - Jeff Suppan vs Johnny Cueto
I had the pleasure of being in attendance for this amazing game. Cueto came just as advertised, and any critics who said that the Reds didn't have any pitching were wrong. I hate to laud opposing players, but you've got to give credit where credit is due. This kid was downright nasty, striking out 8 in 6 innings of work. In his major league debut last week, he struck out 10. This kid is going places in this league. I just hope that he cools off before we face him next time. Although Cueto pitched well, Suppan (albeit less dramatically) upstaged him by allowing only 1 run in 7 innings. I know it's early in the season, but Suppan is looking really good. I'll give some of the credit to Kendall for working with the pitchers, but I think Suppan will be earning his check this year. Suppan was in line for the win, but Gagne gave up a home run to Corey Patterson with 2 strikes and 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning to force the game into extras. It sucked a lot, but the Brewers ended up winning in the 10th with a little bit of small ball. They made it look easy, as Hardy led off with a single, Dillon sac bunted him over, Kendall hit a single sending Hardy to third, and Weeks followed with a game winning RBI single. Just like that, everyone (for the most part) forgot about Gagne's blown save and reveled in the win. Final score Brewers 3, Reds 2.
Brewers record : 6 - 1
Game 2 (Wednesday) - Dave Bush vs Josh Fogg
Dave Bush was coming off of a rough outing in Chicago, but he would have every opportunity to prove himself in front of the home crowd with a decent start today. It never happened. He gave up 2 early runs in the second, and appeared to be throwing just fine until he hit a wall in the 6th inning, and left the game after giving up 6 hits, 5 runs, walking 3 and striking out 4 in 5.1 innings. With Bush out, you would think that our bullpen could keep it close and allow the offense to come back, right? Wrong. Derrick Turnblow and Seth McDung came in a allowed the Reds to score 7 more and officially put this game out of reach. This was one of the games that we toss out and forget about, and chalk it up as a forgetful loss. I'm glad I was at work and was only able to watch this one on ESPN Gamecast stat tracker. The only high points of the game were Braun's 4th inning solo home run and Bill Hall's impressive 4th home run of the season in the 9th. Aside from Bernie rocketing down the slide for those, this game was only exciting for the visiting team. Final score Reds 12, Brewers 4.
Brewers record : 6 - 2
Game 3 (Thursday) - Carlos Villanueva vs Aaron Harang
Carlos Villanueva made his 2nd start of the year and it was a tough one - squaring off against Reds ace Aaron Harang. Villaneuva held his own until the 7th inning when he finally buckled and gave up 3 runs, which was all that the Reds needed to win because the Brewers bats couldn't muster up anything after the 2nd inning. Harang kept the boys quiet, and Cordero pitched a scoreless 9th for his second save and quieted the booing from the amassed crowd. There isn't too much to say about this game besides the fact that we just got dominated by Harang, who once again was able to go deep in the game against our offense. The Brewers quietly ended the home stand with a 4-2 record, which still isn't that bad. It would have been nice to win the series at home, but at least we're still above .500 and if our offense picks it up, we'll be playing some really good baseball for the rest of the season. Final score Reds 4, Reds 1.
Brewers record : 6 - 3
It sucks to lose a series at home, especially against an NL Central rival. I'll give the Reds some credit; they came out swinging the bats and throwing strikes. The Brewers offense just kind of fell apart. The bats stayed dormant for the duration of the series, and the Brewers only scored 8 runs (versus giving up 18) so there's no secret as to why they lost the series. I hate to see us being beaten by the Reds, because that proves the sportswriters right who picked the Reds to finish atop the Brewers in 2008. But then I tell myself to relax and avoid hitting the panic button because we're only 9 games into a long long season and there's still plenty of innings to be played. Next up would be a 3 city roadtrip to New York, St. Louis and Cincinnati. As you may recall, the Brewers have struggled on the road over the last few years, so if they wanted to prove their NL Central dominance, now would be a good start to showing those other teams that the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers team is no joke. I think they'll do it, but we'll see.
Next up - Brewers @ Mets April 11 (Friday) - 13 (Sunday) at Shea Stadium in Queens, NY
- pookon -
http://www.pookon.com/
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