Series 11 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Hoston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX
The Astros have always been a very good offense team, but as for pitching - not so good. Sure, they were good a few years ago (2004-2006) when they had Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettite and Roger "The Cradle Robber"...I mean "The Rocket" Clemens, but then again, with those pitchers, who wouldn't be? A lot has changed, and can you honestly tell me that you know who Brandon Backe, Shawn Chacon, Chris Sampson and Wandy Rodriguez are? Neither can the Astros fans, but those men make up the starting rotation behind Roy Oswalt. With the addition of Tejada (joining Lee, Berkman, and Pence) the Astros are going to score a lot of runs, but their starting 5 and the bullpen is suspect. You've got to bear down on them with good pitching, and it should be enough to win the game. This series was going to be a good chance for Carlos Villanueva (game 1) and Manny Parra (game 2) to step up and pitch effectively, deep into the game, and pick up the slack for their good friend Yovanni Gallardo. Carlos and Manny had spent time with Yovanni in the minors, and they are the second wave of core players that form a close knit bond (behind the first wave of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, etc.). I knew that they'd be emotional going into the game with the loss of Gallardo for the season, and they both have a chance to turn that emotion into results on the field. I knew it was gonna be a tough test for these pitchers at this odd park (with the short porch in left and the ridiculous deep abyss in center field) but they needed to prove themselves here if we have any hope of salvaging this season.
Game 1 (Friday) - Carlos Villanueva (1-3, 5.56 ERA) vs Roy Oswalt (3-3, 5.57 ERA)
The Brewers found themselves at a disadvantage right from the get go as they squared off against the only real pitcher on the staff in Roy Oswalt. Braun hit a 2 run home run in the 1st inning, and the Brewers added 2 more in the 5th to make it 4-0. Villanueva was pitching really well, and you could tell that he was on a mission. Then it just turned into mission impossible and blew up like that red and blue piece of chewing gum. Villanueva hit a wall in the 5th and 6th inning, giving up 6 earned runs off of 4 home runs and was eventually saddled with the loss. I don't know what it is about these pitchers when they get into the 5th/6th (the 3rd time through the lineup) when they just implode. That was the best thing about Gallardo - he had poise and confidence beyond his years and aside from one poor start (against the Rockies last August) he would never blow up and give up a ton of runs. These other kids need to figure it out and pitch effectively later into games or else our bullpen is going to get overworked again and we can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Sure, the offense put up 4 runs (which is mediocre) but 4 runs just isn't enough to beat a high powered offensive team like Houston. Besides, who cares how runs you score if you let the other team score more than you? Then your offense becomes negligible because your pitching staff can't shut the other team down. It was a disappointing day for the Brewers and for Carlos Villanueva, both of whom need to get their shit in gear so that we don't see more games like. When you score 4 runs against the ace of a staff, you better be sure that you end up winning that game. I'm disappointed with this one. Astros 6, Brewers 4.
Brewers record : 16 - 13
Game 2 (Saturday) - Manny Parra (1-2, 5.86 ERA) vs Brandon Backe (2-3, 4.42 ERA)
Manny Parra had a very nice minor league career before joining the Brewers in late 2007. In 6 seasons, he won 34 and lost 16, struck our 528 as opposed to giving up 147 walks and had a 3.07 ERA. He even threw a perfect game (allowing no hits, no walks, no errors, thus not allowing any one to reach base and retiring all 27 batters faced) in his second start at AAA Nashville on June 25, 2007. He was named Brewers minor league pitcher of the year, and was called up to help an ailing staff that was struggling after Sheets went down with his finger injury. Parra would have been a big part of the September playoff run, but he broke his thumb (on his pitching hand) on a bunt attempt on August 30 and didn't pitch again in 2007. He was destined for the starting rotation in 2008, but was helped out by Chris Capuano's injury (which is still very unfortunate, because I was one of many who tabbed him for a great bounce back year) and the release of Claudio Vargas. So far in 2008, he has yet to hit his stride. With the loss today, he falls to 1-2 on the year with a 5.86 ERA and an ugly 1.99 WHIP (walks and hits per inning), which is highest on the team. Like his pal Carlos, he was cruising along until the 5th inning, when he allowed 5 runs. Once again, I wasn't able to watch this game, as I was at my Mom's Caberet performance at a local church, but I was getting text updates on my phone. Every time that my pocket vibrated during that 5 run 6th, a groan could be heard coming from the back of the cafeteria, and I wasn't criticizing the performance on stage (which was excellent, by the way. Go Mom!) The Brewers offense once again failed to score with men on base and have just been struggling mightily to come up with clutch hits and knock in runs. Now that you've seen the stats and heard the news, it's no surprise that the Brewers lost this game. Another wasted opportunity for Manny to prove his worth to this team. He's not in danger of losing his job, simply because there's no other pitchers to take his spot in the rotation, but he just needs to start pitching better. Final score Astros 6, Brewers 2.
Brewers record : 16 - 14
Game 3 (Sunday) - Ben Sheets (4-0, 2.29 ERA) vs Chris Sampson (1-3, 7.96 ERA)
This one hurt real bad. Now that Gallardo is out for the season, we need to take advantage of every single start that Sheets makes. Given his recent track record, it's only a matter of time before he ends up on the disabled list, so we need to win each and every time he goes out to pitch. This was also the final game of a 3 game series, and the Brewers lost the first two, so it was important to not get swept. Obviously, to some people (cough, choke, Gagne, cough) it's not that important. Sheets pitched decently, going 6 innings and giving up 4 runs, but the offense bailed him out by scoring 6 runs. The bullpen held the lead going into the 9th inning, and Gagne came on for his 10th save attempt. You know by now that his 10th save attempt quickly turned into his 5th blown save on the year. The Brewers eventually lost the game in the 12th inning on a Hunter Pence home run, which sucked really bad. What made it worse was the fact that the only games that I get to watch live are Sunday games, so for me it is really important to see a good game when I actually have the time to watch one. I'm such a die hard fan that I felt like the Brewers really let me down on this one. I kind of took this one personally, and I hate to admit it, but I knew that Gagne was going to blow this one from the moment he stepped out on the mound. Why? Because we haven't had anything good happen to us since Gallardo's injury. When it rains, it pours. Some may say that releasing Turnbow was a good thing, but I still think it is a rarity to find a pitcher of his caliber, so his ineffectiveness and eventual release has and will hurt this staff. Oh well, he's gone, now we have to worry about the people who are still here. It's going to be a real long season if the bats don't start getting hot and the pitchers don't start executing. Let's hope that it doesn't happen. Final score Astros 6, Brewers 4.
Brewers record : 16 - 15
The Astros have always been a very good offense team, but as for pitching - not so good. Sure, they were good a few years ago (2004-2006) when they had Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettite and Roger "The Cradle Robber"...I mean "The Rocket" Clemens, but then again, with those pitchers, who wouldn't be? A lot has changed, and can you honestly tell me that you know who Brandon Backe, Shawn Chacon, Chris Sampson and Wandy Rodriguez are? Neither can the Astros fans, but those men make up the starting rotation behind Roy Oswalt. With the addition of Tejada (joining Lee, Berkman, and Pence) the Astros are going to score a lot of runs, but their starting 5 and the bullpen is suspect. You've got to bear down on them with good pitching, and it should be enough to win the game. This series was going to be a good chance for Carlos Villanueva (game 1) and Manny Parra (game 2) to step up and pitch effectively, deep into the game, and pick up the slack for their good friend Yovanni Gallardo. Carlos and Manny had spent time with Yovanni in the minors, and they are the second wave of core players that form a close knit bond (behind the first wave of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, etc.). I knew that they'd be emotional going into the game with the loss of Gallardo for the season, and they both have a chance to turn that emotion into results on the field. I knew it was gonna be a tough test for these pitchers at this odd park (with the short porch in left and the ridiculous deep abyss in center field) but they needed to prove themselves here if we have any hope of salvaging this season.
Game 1 (Friday) - Carlos Villanueva (1-3, 5.56 ERA) vs Roy Oswalt (3-3, 5.57 ERA)
The Brewers found themselves at a disadvantage right from the get go as they squared off against the only real pitcher on the staff in Roy Oswalt. Braun hit a 2 run home run in the 1st inning, and the Brewers added 2 more in the 5th to make it 4-0. Villanueva was pitching really well, and you could tell that he was on a mission. Then it just turned into mission impossible and blew up like that red and blue piece of chewing gum. Villanueva hit a wall in the 5th and 6th inning, giving up 6 earned runs off of 4 home runs and was eventually saddled with the loss. I don't know what it is about these pitchers when they get into the 5th/6th (the 3rd time through the lineup) when they just implode. That was the best thing about Gallardo - he had poise and confidence beyond his years and aside from one poor start (against the Rockies last August) he would never blow up and give up a ton of runs. These other kids need to figure it out and pitch effectively later into games or else our bullpen is going to get overworked again and we can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Sure, the offense put up 4 runs (which is mediocre) but 4 runs just isn't enough to beat a high powered offensive team like Houston. Besides, who cares how runs you score if you let the other team score more than you? Then your offense becomes negligible because your pitching staff can't shut the other team down. It was a disappointing day for the Brewers and for Carlos Villanueva, both of whom need to get their shit in gear so that we don't see more games like. When you score 4 runs against the ace of a staff, you better be sure that you end up winning that game. I'm disappointed with this one. Astros 6, Brewers 4.
Brewers record : 16 - 13
Game 2 (Saturday) - Manny Parra (1-2, 5.86 ERA) vs Brandon Backe (2-3, 4.42 ERA)
Manny Parra had a very nice minor league career before joining the Brewers in late 2007. In 6 seasons, he won 34 and lost 16, struck our 528 as opposed to giving up 147 walks and had a 3.07 ERA. He even threw a perfect game (allowing no hits, no walks, no errors, thus not allowing any one to reach base and retiring all 27 batters faced) in his second start at AAA Nashville on June 25, 2007. He was named Brewers minor league pitcher of the year, and was called up to help an ailing staff that was struggling after Sheets went down with his finger injury. Parra would have been a big part of the September playoff run, but he broke his thumb (on his pitching hand) on a bunt attempt on August 30 and didn't pitch again in 2007. He was destined for the starting rotation in 2008, but was helped out by Chris Capuano's injury (which is still very unfortunate, because I was one of many who tabbed him for a great bounce back year) and the release of Claudio Vargas. So far in 2008, he has yet to hit his stride. With the loss today, he falls to 1-2 on the year with a 5.86 ERA and an ugly 1.99 WHIP (walks and hits per inning), which is highest on the team. Like his pal Carlos, he was cruising along until the 5th inning, when he allowed 5 runs. Once again, I wasn't able to watch this game, as I was at my Mom's Caberet performance at a local church, but I was getting text updates on my phone. Every time that my pocket vibrated during that 5 run 6th, a groan could be heard coming from the back of the cafeteria, and I wasn't criticizing the performance on stage (which was excellent, by the way. Go Mom!) The Brewers offense once again failed to score with men on base and have just been struggling mightily to come up with clutch hits and knock in runs. Now that you've seen the stats and heard the news, it's no surprise that the Brewers lost this game. Another wasted opportunity for Manny to prove his worth to this team. He's not in danger of losing his job, simply because there's no other pitchers to take his spot in the rotation, but he just needs to start pitching better. Final score Astros 6, Brewers 2.
Brewers record : 16 - 14
Game 3 (Sunday) - Ben Sheets (4-0, 2.29 ERA) vs Chris Sampson (1-3, 7.96 ERA)
This one hurt real bad. Now that Gallardo is out for the season, we need to take advantage of every single start that Sheets makes. Given his recent track record, it's only a matter of time before he ends up on the disabled list, so we need to win each and every time he goes out to pitch. This was also the final game of a 3 game series, and the Brewers lost the first two, so it was important to not get swept. Obviously, to some people (cough, choke, Gagne, cough) it's not that important. Sheets pitched decently, going 6 innings and giving up 4 runs, but the offense bailed him out by scoring 6 runs. The bullpen held the lead going into the 9th inning, and Gagne came on for his 10th save attempt. You know by now that his 10th save attempt quickly turned into his 5th blown save on the year. The Brewers eventually lost the game in the 12th inning on a Hunter Pence home run, which sucked really bad. What made it worse was the fact that the only games that I get to watch live are Sunday games, so for me it is really important to see a good game when I actually have the time to watch one. I'm such a die hard fan that I felt like the Brewers really let me down on this one. I kind of took this one personally, and I hate to admit it, but I knew that Gagne was going to blow this one from the moment he stepped out on the mound. Why? Because we haven't had anything good happen to us since Gallardo's injury. When it rains, it pours. Some may say that releasing Turnbow was a good thing, but I still think it is a rarity to find a pitcher of his caliber, so his ineffectiveness and eventual release has and will hurt this staff. Oh well, he's gone, now we have to worry about the people who are still here. It's going to be a real long season if the bats don't start getting hot and the pitchers don't start executing. Let's hope that it doesn't happen. Final score Astros 6, Brewers 4.
Brewers record : 16 - 15
This was a real let down. Thankfully I'm so dog gone busy these days that I don't have time to watch the Brewers on TV or in person, or else Id be really mad watching them play like a bunch of 2nd rate little leaguers. I should know, I was one of them. The 1 year that I played little league, I played on a team called the Dons for my church of St. Catherines. The other team, the "A" squad, was called the Cavs (short for Cavaliers, I think). My brother James, Reck athlete of the century (you'd understand if you met my family) played for them, as if every other good athlete at my school/church. The rejects (it's a harsh word but fitting I guess - would you prefer Goonies?) I mean Goonies played for the Dons (which is short for Donatellos, I think). Sure, we loved the game and we played hard and tried our best, but we just weren't as talented as every other team in the league. The best thing about the Brewers, is even though they might play like little leaguers right now, they have more talent and potential then we could ever imagine. They're 1 big hit or one good start out of breaking out of this start, and I work in call center answering stupid questions from stupid people. Even though they are scrutinized under a microscope right now and constantly berated for every single pklay they make on talk radio, in the newpaper, and on Internet message boards, I'd trade every thing I own to be in their position right now. They get to baseball for a living. How sweet is that?
Next up - Brewers @ Marlins May 6 (Tuesday) - May 8 (Thursday) at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, FL- pookon -
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