Series 24 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Toronto Blue Jays June 17 - June 19 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WII already wrote at length in the last blog entry (Twins series) about Lyle Overbay's triumphant return to Milwaukee, so I'll spare you from that again (you're welcome). One thing that I didn't mention was that Dave Bush would be pitching against his old team during this series, which (spoiler alert!!) would come into play in the 3rd game (Sunday). Some people bitch about interleague play, call it a tired fad, and say that it is damaging to American League pitchers who normally don't hit and run the bases. Those lazy pitchers need to whining, because the DH rule has only been in effect since 1973. Before that, pitchers in both the NL and AL used to hit, so there is no excuse for it. Sure, the current pitchers weren't pitching prior to 1973, but their counterparts in the NL do it on a weekly basis. Since the AL pitchers are professional athletes, it shouldn't bother them to run if they actually reach base. Since most of them don't bat very often, I bet that strikeout or ground out at a higher rate than NL pitchers, so they won't even have to worry about running the bases anyway! God! What a bunch of overpaid babies! To continue my previous thought, I actually like Interleague play because it gives me the chance to see teams (such as the Orioles or Blue Jays) that I would otherwise never get a chance to see. For me, it keeps the game fresh, because there's only so many times that you can play the Reds, Cardinals, Astros, Pirates and Cubs before I start hating those series. You know how much I hate watching the Cubs play, but let's not start that shit again. On with the wrap-up.
Game 1 (Tuesday) - Manny Parra (6-2, 4.22 ERA) vs Dustin McGowan (5-5, 4.15 ERA)
Manny Parra picked a very good day to be darn good, but he really didn't have to be because the offense was spectacular. I like to see Manny pitching great every single time that he goes out there, because it will help his confidence, which is one of the biggest things that a young pitcher needs when he's on the mound. Parra pitched 7 scoreless innings, and although he had a problem throwing strikes (he walked 5 batters) he only gave up 4 hits and obviously, no runs. Mark DiFelice came in and pitched 2 innings of perfect ball, and the Blue Jays were left off of the scoreboard. These strong pitching performances were vastly overlooked by the stellar offensive performance of the Brewers batters. They only had a total of 7 hits, but with those 7 hits they scored 7 runs. They hit 5 homeruns in the game, which drove in all 7 of those runs. Braun led the way with 2 home runs, and Fielder and Branyan each added 1. And the 5th and final homerun came off of the unlikely bat of Craig Counsell. I didn't know this until I looked it up, but Counsell had 3 homeruns for the Brewers last year and he has a total of 35 in his 13 year career. It's nothing great, but you don't expect homeruns out of him. You've got to get excited about a Craig Counsell homerun, because you never know when he's going to hit another one. You also know that the offense is rolling when Counsell is adding to the homerun barrage, so get excited about that too. Parra improves his record to 6-2 and lowers his ERA to 4.22. He is quietly (I still think he doesn't get the respect that he deserves) putting together a very nice rookie season. What a great way to start out the series. Final score Brewers 7, Blue Jays 0.
Brewers record : 37 - 33
Game 2 (Wednesday) - Ben Sheets (8-1, 2.65 ERA) vs Shaun Marcum (5-4, 2.65 ERA)
Marcum has been pitching really well this year, and is one of the surprises on a Blue Jays team that is otherwise struggling in the ultra competitive AL East. I'm just glad that the Brewers were able to jump on him and score just enough wins for Ben Sheets to come away with the victory. The Crew his a couple more homeruns today (courtesy of Mr. Cameron and Mr. Branyan) but got 3 more runs without the aid of the long ball. Counsell has been producing out of the leadoff spot and playing great defense as a replacement at 2nd for Rickie Weeks (DL, knee) and at shortstop for JJ Hardy (sore left shoulder). Sheets didn't have his best stuff (6 innings, 2 ER, 4 walks allowed) but he lasted long enough to record the victory. He left the game with a 5-2 lead, and although Villanueva and Mota gave up a run apiece, Torres was able to close the door for his 9th save on the year. It wasn't pretty, but the Brewers got a win tonight, and guaranteed a series victory against the Blue Jays. This was an important win, especially since we have the inconsistent Dave Bush on the mound for the finale tomorrow. God it's good for the Brewers to be playing baseball here at home. Final score Brewers 5, Blue Jays 4.
Brewers record : 38 - 33
Game 3 (Thursday) - Dave Bush (3-7, 5.26 ERA) vs AJ Burnett (6-7, 5.42 ERA)
Wow. Just wow. I hope that you were able to see this game because my recap will not do it justice. One of the most unlikely candidates almost tossed a no hitter. I'm talking about Dave Bush. He's been night and day this year, throwing exceptionally well at home and pitifully poor on the road. In today's game, he took a perfect game into the 6th inning and a no hitter into the 8th inning. He didn't need to be perfect today, since the Brewers offense put up 8 runs off of 9 hits, which featured homeruns by Branyan and Fielder. The Brewers were leading 8-0 in the top of the 8th inning, and Bush had yet to give up a hit. Looks like a lot of people broke the cardinal rule of Fight Club and a no-hitter - YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT IT! Lyle Overbay, the player traded for Bush (told you I'd come back to this) led off the 8th inning with a triple, and stopped the no hitter. Alex Rios followed with a single, which then stopped the shutout. Bush got out of the inning only allowing 2 hits and 1 run, and finished with that run line. So we were leading the Blue Jays by 8 runs after a masterful outing by Bush. Should be an easy 9th inning, right? God I wish. It was actually a nightmare inning, as the Blue Jays batted around and relievers Tim Dillard and David Riske combined to give up 6 runs off 4 hits (2 home runs, including a grand slam) and allowed the Blue Jays back in the game trailing only by 1 run. Salomon Torres, who has pitched in the last 4 games, had to come on and close the game and preserve the win for the Brewers and Dave Bush. What should have been an easy victory following Bush's no hit bid turned into a comeback that never should have happened. But Torres (money in the bank) was able to nail down the save and complete the sweep. Dodged a bullet there. I'm still pissed that they had to use Torres, because a stellar closer is vital to our playoff push this year, and Gagne simply won't cut it. We need Torres to be fresh and healthy at the end of the year, and we can't overwork him now. There's just too many of these close games this year. Final score Brewers 8, Blue Jays 7.
Brewers record : 39 - 33
Now that's why I like when the Brewers play at home because they are nearly perfect. They complete a 3 game sweep of the Jays and improve to 6 games above .500. The Cubs are still out of reach, but we are battling it out with the Cardianls for the Wild Card. I know that it is still June, but we have a better shot at the Wild Card than the Division Title. Now if the Cubs really tank it, and the Brewers keep up the winning, then we got a chance. I'm not going to hinge our 2008 season on the performance of a team that I hate (the Cubs) so I'm just going to hope that the Brewers keep on winning and earn a playoff appearance. We still have another series against an AL East opponent this weekend, so we just gotta keep on keepin' on against the AL. And we gotta stop looking up to see who is ahead of us, we just gotta keep focusing on our game and win as many games as we can. It's so hard not to scoreboard watch, but I'll try not to get too pissed off whenever the Cubs win. Go Brewers! Win a shitload of games and make those Cubs fans start to sweat and look over their shoulders!
Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Baltimore Orioles June 20 (Friday) - June 22 (Sunday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI
- pookon -
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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