Brewers vs Blue Jays 6/17 - 6/19 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 24 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Toronto Blue Jays June 17 - June 19 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

I 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 -

http://www.pookon.com/

email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Twins 6/13 - 6/15 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 23 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Minnesota Twins June 13 - June 15 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

The Brewers played in the AL Central since they came to Milwaukee from Seattle. I don't know how many people know this, but the Brewers were the Seattle Pilots for 1 year (1969) before Bud Selig bought the team in 1970 and moved them to his hometown Milwaukee. In fact, the whole reason they have the colors that they do is because they originally just took the logos and patches off of the Pilot jerseys and hastily sowed on Milwaukee and the original Brewers logos. They had to do that because the Pilots moved to Milwaukee just weeks before the season began, and they didn't have time to order new jerseys. In 1998, the Brewers moved to the NL Central, so that means for 27 years, the Brewers and Twins had a pretty intense rivalry going. In 1997, interleague play was established, and after the Brewers moved to the NL Central, they were scheduled to play against the Twins twice a year - one at home, one on the road. This would be their annual home game against the Twins. What made this series special was the fact that I was in Las Vegas for the premiere of the Beer Pong documentary Last Cup : Road to the World Series of Beer Pong (blog entry coming soon), and I would be able to place money on the Brewers to win. I was expecting them to come through for me, and if they didn't, I would be out money and I would be angry. And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. On with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Dave Bush (2-7, 5.73 ERA) vs Kevin Slowey (3-6, 4.70)

I put $28.00 on the Brewers to win this game, and I'll start out by saying that I lost that $28.00. I only intended to bet $25.00, but the guy at the Luxor sportsbook upsold me to $28.00 because if I won, then I would win $20.00 instead of $17 and some change. So that jerk essentially stole $3 from me. If that guy wasn't huge and if he had a neck, I'd go back and fight him. But I'm a wuss, so I'll just whine and moan about my money. I even threatened the guy because I was so confident that the Brewers were going to win, despite Dave Bush being on the mound tonight. I told him that I would see him later when I came back to collect my money. They're probably still laughing at me now, and making fun of my overconfidence. Since I was in Las Vegas, I was on Pacific time, so when the game started at 7:05 in Milwaukee, it was 5:05 in Las Vegas. The movie premiere was at 6:30 PT, so thankfully I was unable to get the score updates during the game. That's because the 7th inning turned out to be a very ugly one. Former game winner Bill Hall must have been getting booed hardcore as he committed 2 errors in the 7th inning (while playing 2nd base once again for the injured Rickie Weeks) that led to 5 unearned runs against Tim Dillard. So that sucked. But prior to that, Bush gave up 4 runs off of 10 hits in 6 innings, which certainly didn't help the Brewers try to win this one. It's a good thing that the premiere went really well (I promise that I'll write a blog entry on that one) or else my night would have been very shitty. The Brewers scraped up 2 runs in the 7th inning, but it was obviously not enough to get anywhere near a victory. After the 3-3 road trip, I expected more than this. There's still 2 more games left in this series, so there's still a chance for the series victory. I was hoping to remain optimistic, but I had better things to focus my attention on, believe you me. Final score Twins 10, Brewers 2.

Brewers record : 35 - 32

Game 2 (Saturday) - Jeff Suppan (4-5, 3.68 ERA) vs Glen Perkins (3-2, 4.57)

I was going to put money on the Brewers to win this game, figuring that Suppan pitching at home would be a sure bet. Suppan was a sure thing, but the bullpen lost this one in extra innings. It's a good thing that I didn't put any money on the game then, but I couldn't have even if I wanted to. See, I lost what little money I had left at the Blackjack table at O'Shea's at 6:00 am this morning. I started with $60, then pulled up to $50 up (total of $110) and then lost it all when they changed dealers. The deck just really went cold on me, and I was foolishly trying to win back the money that I had lost from the previous day. That's probably why I suck at gambling because I never know when to walk away. I just want to sit at the table, play for a while, and get free drinks. I don't care if I win, I'm just doing it for fun and free drinks. My goal is to keep breaking even so that I can drink for free. Are you seeing a trend here? There was also a chance that I wouldn't be able to collect should I have won, but the game ended at 9:45 CT, meaning that it would have been 7:45 PT. My flight was at 11:30 PT. I think I used that as an excuse not to put money on this game. It's a good thing that I didn't, since the Brewers tanked it in extra innings. Suppan pitched well, going 7 innings giving up 2 runs off of 7 hits. It was all tied at 3 going into the 9th, so the Brewers, being the home team, brought in Torres to keep the game tied. Corey Hart made an error that allowed the Twins to take the lead, then the Twins brought in Joe Nathan for the save. Nathan is 17 for 18 in saves this year, and is among the best in the AL. Make that 17 for 19 now. With 2 outs, Russel "the Muscle" powers one out of the park and ties the game at 4. Now we're going to extra innings. I was watching some independent comedy (Happy Birthday, Harris Malden) at the Cinevegas film festival while all of this extra inning drama was going on, so I thankfully missed the 12th inning blunder by Tavarez. In 1 1/3 innings, Tavarez gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks to seal the deal. He was credited with the loss, and his ERA increased to 7.20. It's a sure thing that he will be released once Riske or Gagne come off of the DL. I never liked the signing, but it was another panic move by Melvin of getting another veteran in the bullpen. Yikes. Now we have to count on Seth McClung to pitch well tomorrow to avoid the sweep. Tough loss in 12 innings. Final score Twins 9, Brewers 4.

Brewers record : 35 - 33

Game 3 (Sunday) - Seth McClung (4-3, 3.94 ERA) vs Scott Baker (2-2, 3.71)

What more can you say about Seth McClung? The guy has been fantastic since joining the starting rotation, and has provided some stability to the back end. I say this every time I recap his start, but I take back every harsh word I've said about McClung this year. He has outpitched Villanueva and Bush, and makes Ned Yost and Mike Maddux look like geniuses. Villanueva has already been moved to the bullpen, so you have to wonder how long it will take for the Brewers to make a similar move with Bush. It's too bad that we don't have any more options for starters. Bush remains in the rotation by default. McClung went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, and the offense and bullpen backed him up to avoid the sweep. Mike Cameron (who is batting a lowly .225) makes up for it with his defense and power numbers. He hit another homerun today (remember that he missed the first month of the season) to bring his total to 10 on the year and got his 23rd and 24th RBIs. Shouse, Mota and Torres each threw a scoreless inning, and Torres got his 8th save on the year. That makes him perfect in save opportunities. I know that I said in my season preview that Riske was the best offseason pitching signing, but I would now like to formally withdraw that statement. The title of best offseason pitching signing goes to Salomon Torres. The offense wasn't phenominal, but today it didn't have to be because the pitching kept the Brewers in the game. Good show, and way to avoid being swept by our neighbors to the Northwest. Final score Brewers 4, Twins 2.

Brewers record : 36 - 33

It sucks that we lost the series to the Twins, and although I wasn't there for any of these games, I know firsthand that a lot of Twins fans make the drive from Minnesota for these games. I bet there was a good contingent of opposing fans cheering in the seats, and unfortunately for us, they had something to cheer about. The Brewers do play the Twins at the Metrodome from June 27-29, so the Brewers do have the chance to stick it back to them at their ballpark. I know that I'll be up there for that series, and so will a lot of other Brewers fans. When I went up to Minneapolis last year, I'd say that it was a good 40% Brewers fans at each of the 3 games at the Metrodome. Considering how poorly the Brewers play on the road, that's really damn good. The homestand continues with 2 more American League teams coming to town, which should give us the advantage because now their pitcher has to hit, which takes one bat out of their usually potent offenses. It'l be nice to see Lyle Overbay (a fan favorite in 2004-2005 who was traded to Toronto in the following offseason for Dave Bush and Gabe Gross to make room for Prince Fielder) again and I'll be expecting our classy Milwaukee fans to once again do the "O" cheer. For those of you who weren't Brewers fans back during the dark days, people (it started with Darron and Bill's Buckethead Brigade) would stand up, yell "O" and put there arms up over their heads in an O formation (think like the YMCA). It was sweet, especially when 25,000 people were doing it all at once. But that is later, and this is now. I'm going to finish this entry and hopefully get caught up to the current games (currently I am 7 games behind). I'm almost in over my head, but I've come too far to quit now. Besides, the Brewers are getting hot and they need me now more than ever. Brewers, Brewers, keep turnin' up the heat!

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Toronto Blue Jays June 17 (Tuesday) - June 19 (Thursday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers @ Astros 6/10 - 6/12 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 22 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX

If you don't remember the last time the Brewers played the Astros at Minute Maid park, take a second to scroll down to my May 5th entry to refresh your memory. Too busy for that shit? I figured. I'm lucky that you're even reading this entry. To refresh your memory, the Brewers got swept by the Astros and it wasn't pretty. The Brewers then swept the Astros at Miller Park May 30 - June 1, and were looking to avoid another sweep here. I'd be fine with winning just one game, but it would be sweet to take 2 of 3 (especially losing 2 of 3 against Colorado) and return home after a 3-3 road trip. We would have 2 of our 5 best pitchers going (Manny Parra and Ben Sheets) and one of this season's surprises (Seth McClung) so I liked our odds. I'm still a little wary of our inability to win on the road, but if our offense gets in gear like they are capable of, our starting pitchers will have a little leeway because they can give up 5 runs and the Brewers will still win 8-5. It wouldn't be pretty, because you never want your pitchers to give up that many runs, but I'll take it if the offense backs them up. An ugly win is still a win. And now, on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Tuesday) - Seth McClung (3-3, 4.07 ERA) vs Roy Oswalt (5-6, 5.06)

What is more surprising, the fact that Seth McClung is an effective #4/5 starter (3-3, 4.07 ERA) or that Astros ace Roy Oswalt is having a miserable year (5-6, 5.06 ERA)? Personally, I'd say Seth McClung being an effective starter since I was really never impressed with his stuff when he was coming out of the bullpen. He really hasn't had a terrible outing this year, and has given everything that you'd expect as a #4/5 starter. He is in no way a comparable to Yovanni Gallardo (because no one is) but he's good enough for now, especially considering that we do not have any other options. But after further review, it looks like the surprise is then Oswalt, who sports a career ERA of 3.19 and has a record of 117-60. This year, he is way off of his career norms, which thankfully hurts a team that already has poor pitching. I say thankfully because we already have enough to worry about with St. Louis and Chicago (will they ever start losing?) winning games like crazy. Let Houston, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati duke it out for the NL Central basement. You've probably guess by now that I really don't want to talk about this game. McClung went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out 5, which is pretty damn good for this goofy brute. It's too bad that Julian Taverez (the signing of which I still view as a desperation "sign a veteran guy" after the injuries to Gagne and Riske and don't agree with) had a bad day and gave up 4 runs in the 7th inning. The offense didn't do shit, and the lone run came off of a solo home run by Ryan Braun (he's so hot right now) in the 3rd inning. Nothing much else to say here, as the Brewers lose another game on the road. Final score Astros 6, Brewers 1.

Brewers record : 33 - 31

Game 2 (Wednesday) - Manny Parra (5-2, 4.66 ERA) vs Brandon Backe (4-8, 5.00 ERA)

When they built Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field), they must have missed some of the numbers on the blueprints, because they built this place way wrong. It is only 315 feet to the Crawford boxes in left field, but an astonishingly far 435 feet (and uphill) to dead center. Sounds like it was constructed so that the Astros could get by on having a heavy right handed hitting power team. In fact, Minute Maid Park is very hitter friendly, and when two home run hitting powerhouses like the Brewers and the Astros sqaure off there, it's rare to see a fly ball that actually stays in the field of play. Case in point - today's game. There were a total of 8 home runs hit. For the Astros it was Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee and Ty Wigginton. For the Brewers it was Russell Branyan, Mike Cameron, Jason Kendall and 2 by Corey Hart. That's a lot of home runs folks. This is going to sound ridiculously obvious, but the team that scores more runs is going to win. I know it may sound like a stupid comment to make, but you can't really keep either team off the scoreboard. You just have to hope that your team (the Brewers) scores more than their team (the Astros). As Minute Maid Park, it just turns into an offensive showcase and resembles the Home Run Derby at the All Star Game instead of an actual Major League Baseball game. Thankfully the Brewers were able to score early and often, and really sealed the deal with a 3 run outburst in the 8th inning that put them up by 4 runs. No lead is ever safe in a hitter friendly ballpark, which always has me on the edge of my seat until the final out, but the Brewers were good enough to get this victory. Now we go for the series victory, and we got Big Ben (Sheets) on the mound. Here's hoping. Final score Brewers 10, Astros 6.

Brewers record : 34 - 31

Game 3 (Thursday) - Ben Sheets (7-1, 2.72 ERA) vs Brian Moehler (3-3, 4.76 ERA)

Ben Sheets is the man, and he showed everyone again today why I feel that way. Sheets went 7 strong innings, picking up the win after giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and a season high 9 strikeouts. The rest of the bullpen wasn't pretty, as Mota gave up 2 runs and Torres gave up 1 run, which gave Houston a total of 6. Normally, that would be enough for the victory for the Astros, and the Brewers would be looking at another road defeat, but the Brewers offense went off today with a bang. Fielder, Kapler, Cameron and Hart all hit homeruns, and the Brewers had multiple run innings (the 2nd, 5th and 9th) that ensured the game and series victory. Everyone except Branyan and Hall (playing second base today because of the injury to Rickie Weeks) had at least 1 hit each (although Branyan and Hall did each contribute with a RBI.) On the whole, it was a great offensive showcase, and I'm glad that they once again decided that it was a good idea to win during a Ben Sheets start. Sweet win today, especially on the road. Ben Sheets got the win and now leads the team with 7. God I wish we could resign him for next year, but once again, that 's another topic for another blog. Final score Brewers 9, Astros 6.

Brewers record : 35 - 31

So how about that? After a disappointing game 1 loss, the Brewers offense stormed back and took the series and now return back to Miller Park after a 3-3 road trip. That's the best that you can really hope for. Now it's time to come back and have another outstanding homestand (much like that 8-1 rampage over the Braves, Astros and Dbacks) against the Twins, Blue Jays and Orioles. If we keep winning, and the Cubs finally start losing (which won't happen because God doesn't want me to be happy) then we have a chance to make up some serious ground in the next 2 weeks. Let's hope that the Brew flows well at home and even if the Cubs keep winning, we can keep winning too to keep pace until they eventually start sucking. We can't worry about how the others are doing, because just like beer pong, you really can only control how well you play. That is one of the reasons why I like Ned Yost as manager - he doesn't worry about everyone else, he just worries about his team. He doesn't even worry about tomorrow - he really does take it one day at a time. That's all you can ever do, because you can't win in October if you don't win today. Now our rivals from the North come on down for the annual Interleague series to start a 9 game homestand. Now is the time to start winning. If we are going to play below .500 on the road, then we gotta make it up by kicking some major ass at home. I'll raise my beer and toast a good performance, considering they give one. C'mon Brewers, I'm thirsty!

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Minnesota Twins June 2 (Friday) - June 4 (Sunday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers @ Rockies 6/6 - 6/8 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 21 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, CO

Coors Field hasn't been very kind to the Brewers since they joined the National League (which if my memory serves correct, would be the 1997 season). I would hope that the current merger between Miller and Coors beers that this place would be a little friendlier and that the Brewers could tap the Rockies, but once again we walked away from this joint with a losing record. Coors Field looks like a sweet stadium to visit, and someday I hope to do that for the sole reason of visiting the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado. I figure since I have (obviously) been to the Miller Headquarters in Milwaukee and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, it would only be fitting if I visited the Coors in Colorado. Sadly, this would be another missed opportunity to head out there and catch the Silver Bullet. And from what transpired during this 3 game series, I picked a pretty good time to once again not follow the Brewers on the road.

Game 1 (Friday) - Ben Sheets (6-1, 2.62 ERA) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (1-6, 5.43 ERA)

Do you know why they tell you to never put all of your eggs in one basket? It's because you want to save some eggs for breakfast for dinner, or for middle of the night stumble home drunk and make bagel sandwiches with bacon and cheese dinner. Or you may just want to save some of those eggs for Easter so you can hardboil them and hide them around the house. The point is, I had like $15 left in my Bodog (an internet gambling website) account and I put it all on the Brewers to win, seeing as how Ben Sheets was pitching tonight. You probably can see where this one is going. I know that the Brewers are struggling on the road, and that Sheets hasn't fared well at Coors Field because he can't get his signature break on his curveball, but I had a feeling that the Brewers could pull this one out. After the success that the Rockies had to close out 2007, they have struggled mightily in 2008. We had our ace going up against a 1-6 pitcher with a high ERA after coming off a 8-1 homestand. It seemed like everything was working in our favor, so I bet big. Sheets was not able to locate his curveball, so he ditched it and worked with the fastball, changing speeds and locations. For the most part, he did well, and went 6 innings, giving up 5 hits and 1 run. The Brewers had a 4-1 lead going into the 8th inning, and then the bullpen once again blew a game where Sheets should have gotten the win (he should be like 10-1 right now). Villanueva came in for a 10 pitch 7th inning, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced. Since the Brewers were up by 3 runs, Yost brought in Guillermo Mota, his set-up man. Normally this is the move to make, but today it backfired on him as Mota gave up 4 runs on 4 hits without getting an out and just like that I was out $15. What a rip-off. Sheets and I both got cheated today. Final score Rockies 6, Brewers 4.

Brewers record : 32 - 29

Game 2 (Saturday) - Dave Bush (2-6, 5.85 ERA) vs Greg Reynolds (1-3, 5.24 ERA)

It always worries me when Dave Bush starts after a loss, because if he pitches poorly, he has the potential of starting a losing streak. Seeing as how Bush is terrible on the road, I should have put $15 on the Brewers to lose this game so I could make my money back, but since I am a true fan I vowed never to bet against the Brewers. If they keep playing like crap on the road, I might have to start betting against them to ease my sorrows. Money buys the hard stuff (liquor) which helps to dull the pain. I might be on to something here... Anyway, Dave Bush did kind of suck today and you have to start questioning how long he remains a starter. Personally, I'd say for the remainder of the year simply because there are no other viable options. You could move Villanueva back into the rotation, but he has been one of the best relievers, and I don't think you should mess with what's working. I'm lucky that I didn't catch this gem, as Bush gave up 5 runs in the 1st inning and served up 2 home runs, all with 2 outs in the inning. That's rough man. The Brewers scored 2 runs in the 2nd inning, but the rest of the game is a throwaway. Hopefully tomorrow will be a win, because getting swept sucks. Final score Rockies 7, Brewers 2.

Brewers record : 32 - 30

Game 3 (Sunday) - Jeff Suppan (4-4, 3.78 ERA) vs Jeff Francis (2-6, 5.45 ERA)

Suppan was facing the daunting task of pitching well enough to avoid the sweep, and he's just the right kind of pitcher to step up and face the challenge head on. That's why you have a veteran pitcher on your staff - he's been in this situation countless times and he has no fear. The Brewers got all of the scoring done in the first 2 innings (3 runs) and the pitching was stellar, so that is all that they needed to record the victory and avoid the sweep. Suppan only went 5 1/3 innings, but he only gave up 2 runs (only 1 was earned). Villanueva was huge out the bullpen again, pitching for 1 2/3 innings. Torres came on to get the save the old fashioned way - 5 outs in 1 2/3 innings. Torres has been absolutely money since taking over the closers role, and it looks like Gagne ( remember him?) is going to have to find a spot to pitch because there's no way Torres is vacating that role. Way to avoid the sweep boys and win a close one. Final score Brewers 3, Rockies 2.

Brewers record : 33 - 30

It was a pretty bad road trip here and Denver, with disspointments by the bullpen in game 1 and by Dave Bush in game 2. We should be leaving here at 2-1, not 1-2. But it is what it is, and we just have to except it or else. Or else what? I never really got that one, nor do I currently understand the empty threat behind or else. I'll still keep using it though, because it makes me sound dangerous because you never know what's coming next. I do however, know what's coming next for the Brewers, as they revisit Minute Maid Park to play the Houston Astros. Let's just hope that the results are a lot better than last time (when we got swept). If not - it's gonna be a rough road trip. Keep the faith boys - if you book them, they will come. And they'll be bring my Sports Illustrated football phone, my Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and the History of the Stanley Cup : 100 Years of Glory. Party on.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Houston Astros June 10 (Tuesday) - June 12 (Thursday) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Diamondbacks 6/2 - 6/4 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 20 - Arizona Diamondbacks vs Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

The Brewers have a little too much history with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who now call themselves the DBacks for short. I don't know why they do that, seeing as how it is so close to DBags or Dogbags. Whomever came up with that marketing blunder obviously doesn't have an ear to the ground that today's youth walks upon. I don't claim to be an expert on the youth of today (in fact, I know next to nothing about them) but there is no way that I would name my team anything that sounds close to the dbags. As for the history between the two teams, they have made multiple trades in the past few years that have impacted both teams. In 2004, the Brewers essentially tricked the DBacks into taking Richie Sexson and Shane Nance in return for Lyle Overbay, Chris Capuano, Junior Spivey, Chad Moeller, Craig Counsell and Jorge Del La Rosa. Who do you think got the better end of that lopsided deal? It's not too hard to see at all. The next trade between them in 2007 was payback for the previous deal as the Dbacks unloaded Johnny Estrada, Claudio Vargas and Greg Aquino and the Brewers sent over Doug Davis, Dana Eveland and Dave Krynzel. Estrada was (and still is) garbage, and Vargas and Aquino made little to impact on the team. Meanwhile, Davis was one of the surprises in the fantastic play of the Diamondbacks in 2007 while we were hurting for starting pitchers in 2007 and 2008. I'd love to have him back on the team. Eveland and Krynzel? Good riddance, although Eveland has found success in Oakland (14 starts this year, 5-5 record with a 3.56 ERA). Oh well, that is the past, this is the present. On with the wrap-up.

filler

Game 1 (Monday) - Jeff Suppan (3-4, 3.93 ERA) vs Doug Davis (2-2, 3.90)

It was another quality start for Doug Davis, who despite missing some time due to Thyroid cancer (the surgery and recovery has been successful) has had a solid year. Too bad for him (I still love the guy) that Jeff Suppan matched it with his own quality start and the Brewers did just enough to beat the DBacks and keep the winning streak going at 4 games. Prince Fielder was the big (pun intended) hero of the day as he smacked a solo home run in the 8th inning that proved to be the winning run. Looks like Fielder is starting to hit again, and our starting pitching has been decent to good lately. Do I smell a turnaround? God I hope so. Not much else to talk about here. Final score Brewers 4, DBacks 3.

Brewers record : 30 - 28

Game 2 (Tuesday) - Seth McClung (3-2, 4.25 ERA) vs Randy Johnson (4-2, 3.88)

Now this is the freakin' offense that was promised to us prior to the season. The one that would score 7 runs off of 9 hits, with all of the offense coming in the 6th-8th innings and including home runs by Braun, Fielder and Hardy. That's what you'd expect when facing Randy Johnson, who collected career strikeout number 4,680 against Mike Cameron in the 1st inning. I was working this game, and was able to witness this in person. When Johnson took second place on the all-time strikeout list (passing Roger Clemens and trailing Nolan Ryan by over 1,000) the crowd at Miller Park gave him a standing ovation. To an opposing pitcher. You stay classy, Milwaukee. What a sweet move by some sweet fans in a sweet city. I was rather proud of our fans on that day, and I almost take back what I say about the people who post on the JSonline message boards, who do nothing to hide their negativity towards the players and Ned Yost. Then I got back on the message boards the next day, and ran into a bunch of unclassy people, then I realized that people talk shit when they are behind the safety of their username, where they feel like it is ok to call names, call out for heads to roll, and make comments that are completely unnecessary. I guess the point of this is that I miss being at Miller Park, watching the game outdoors instead of how I usually watch it - at a desk on the computer. Something has to happen soon, or else I'm going to go completely insane. Speaking of insane, McClung pitched very exceptionally well (6 innings, 6 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts, no walks) and collected his first major league hit off of Randy Johnson. In fact, McClung finished the day 2 for 2, and left with a .400 batting average. No too damn bad at all. Final score Brewers 7, DBacks 1.

Brewers record : 31 - 28

Game 3 (Wednesday) - Manny Parra (4-2, 4.33 ERA) vs Micah Owings (6-4, 4.50 ERA)

Sweep!Sweep! Sweep! Sweep! Hells yeah bitch! I was feeling pretty confident going in to this game, because I love Manny Parra to death and have been supporting him for as long as I have known him. He is our future 2/3 pitcher (Gallardo is #1/2, depending on whether or not we resign Sheets, who is without a doubt our #1 pitcher) and showed why he deserves that title. His line score was fantastic - 7 innings pitched, 1 run, 4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, and he has dropped his ERA to 4.33. Pretty good, no? The offense backed him up on a day that they didn't need to, but I'll welcome a huge offensive outburst on any day of the week. In all, the Brewers tallied 10 runs off of 14 hits, and Corey Hart was the hero of the day with an inside the park homerun. It was the first one that I had seen since Prince Fielder's monster pop fly at the Metrodome that was lost against the backdrop of the white roof in June of 2007. Hart's was a little less dramatic, as it skipped by Justin Upton when he made a diving play on a shallow line drive. Given Hart's super speed (he runs like a gazelle) and the fact that it was hit towards the right field corner, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was going to try and stretch the obvious triple into a homerun. He almost lapped Prince Fielder, who was hustling all the way from first base. Braun, who was on second, also scored on the play. It was a sight to behold. Not surprisingly, I wasn't there and I had to wait until I got home to watch the replay on my DVR. One of the sweetest moments of 2008 and I wasn't there. This is starting to become a disappointing trend. However, it did give me something to do between 11:00 pm - 2:00 am, when the other mortals are sleeping. Since I am unhuman, I can stay up late, drink beers, eat taco dip and watch Brewers games well into the wee hours of the night. I'm either a vampire or a 2nd shift worker. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Final score Brewers 10, DBacks 1.

Brewers record : 32 - 28

I honestly don't know why I keep doing this. I'm like super depressed this year because I don't get to watch home or away Brewers games, so I thought that writing a blog wrap-up would satisfy my need to talk Brewers baseball. Boy was I wrong. It's just not the same because I get my info from the internet, and watching gamecast online and analyzing stats just isn't my thing. I feel so lost and helpless now that the Brewers aren't a big part of my life, and I'm starting to question my job (although it provides me with insurance and security) because it prohibits me from doing the things I love most - watching baseball and drinking/playing beer pong. I'm a bit behind in my updates, so hopefully I can kick the depression and start rocking out insightful commentary once again instead of this boring retread of past events. On a good note, the Brewers had two consecutive sweeps of the Astros and Diamonbacks, which puts this homestand record at 8-1, just the right amount of homebrew we needed. Now they would need to keep that jive going on the road, with 2 tough stops at Coors Field and Minute Maid Park before returing home for a 9 game homestand. Let's hope we play some good games on the road and return back to The Keg still hanging out above .500.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies June 6 (Friday) - June 8 (Sunday) at Coors Field in Denver, CO

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookodotcom@gmail.com

I wanna punch a Kangaroo

I want to punch a Kangaroo. Before you get mad, I just want to tell you that I have nothing against animals (in fact, I really like them because they taste good). And I know someone with a conscience from PETA is gonna get all over my ass for this comment, but if God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them taste so good. I just want to punch a kangaroo because I heard somewhere (or maybe just saw it on Looney Tunes) that kangaroos punch back. I think that it would be pretty crazy to get into a brawl with one of these marsupials. It would be even crazier to get us both drunk and then we can duke it out like drunken buffoons. I can't say who would win, because I've never A - been in a real fight and B - been in a real fight with a kangaroo. Get me drunk enough and I'm sure that I'd be a loose cannon. I'd show that beast who's boss.

I want to suplex a Bear. A suplex is an offensive move used in wrestling. The move consists of one wrestler picking up his or her opponent off the ground (or mat) and then using a large portion of his or her own body weight to drive the opponent down on the mat. Nearly all suplexes have the attacker going down to the mat with the opponent landing on his or her back. That definition is from the Wikipedia, but if you've ever watched WWE/WWF wrestling, then you've seen this move performed. I just think that it would be rad to do this to a bear, although you run the risk of having your head gnawed off because you have to be in close proximity of the bear, grab it, then lift it over your head and drop them to the ground. I'd show that beast who's boss.

I want to Karate Chop a Dolphin. They always have that smug look on their face, like they are smarter than me. They splash around in the water with the mischievous grin, like they are just waiting to take over the world once the polar ice caps melt and global warming dooms mankind. I'd bring it up on land so that I have the advantage than I'd go Chuck Norris on his ass and Karate Chop it and follow that up with a roundhouse kick to the face. People say that Dolphins are smart, but I say that they are smart asses. I'd Karate Chop that grin right off its face. I'd show that beast who's boss.

I want to push a Cougar down the stairs. They look like big cats, but don't be swayed by their cutesy looks or their playful demeanor - these felines want to eat your face off. They simply can't be trusted, which is why no one in their right mind keeps them in captivity. Zoos do, but then again zoo workers are thrill seekers who cheat death every day to get a rise out of it by being around these creatures. If a cougar ever confronted me in a suburban home in middle America, Id lure it up to the second floor, point behind it an dexclaim "what's that?", then when it looks, push it down the stairs. I'd show that beast who's boss.

I want to point and laugh at a Platypus. What a loser. I'd gather some school kids, point and laugh, call him God's mistake, and scar him for life. What are you man? Are you a duck? Are you a beaver? It's like God was playing around with DNA and dropped it into a bucket, let it sit for awhile, and then pulled a platypus out like it was a white rabbit at a magic show. That shit just came out of nowhere. I would then put some pants on the platypus, then pull its pants down around its ankles and laugh some more. It would turn beat red then hide its ugly mug from the world. I'd show that beast who's boss.

Before you get all uppity and try and contact the proper authorites to have me arrested for inhuman acts towards animals, take a second to consider the fact that I am all talk and no game. Plus you have no proof. I'm too much of a pansy to get into it with a kangaroo, bear, cougar or platypus. I'm terrifed of those beasts. There's a reason that they put glass walls or moats as barriers between animals and humans at the zoo. It's because animals eat humans! Sure, we eat them back, but only after they are cooked and marinated over open flames. I'm sure glad that animals don't know how to read, or else they'd all come after me after they came across this blog entry. Maybe I should think twice about posting it - there are a shitload of animals out there. If they read this, there will be a shitload of pissed off animals out there. And when animals get mad, animals attack! Screw it, I'm taking my chances by posting this! Screw you animals!

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Astros 5/30 - 6/1 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 19 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Houston Astros at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

After the whooping that the Brewers took from the Astros at Minute Maid Park from May 4th - 6th, I was looking forward to the Brewers returning the favor at Miller Park. The sweep by the Astros started a 6 game losing streak that still is putting a damper on what was supposed to be our year. We have Parra, Sheets, and Bush going, so we knew beforehand that we had a pretty good shot at winning the series, and if Bush can keep pitching well at home, we may just be able to sweep them right back to Houston. The Brewers had already won 2 games on this homestand, so how about we make it a few more, ok guys? I mean, your downstairs neighbors, the Cubs, are winning tons of games, so keep pace with them until they inevitably start sucking. It's got to happen soon; there's no way that the Cubs can be this good all year long. If they do, then I'm going to throw up as a result of something other than alcohol. Bodily fluids aside, now let's get on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Manny Parra (3-2, 4.72 ERA) vs Brandon Backe (4-6, 4.54)

I've always been a big supporter of Manny Parra since I heard about how good he was in the minor leagues. When he came up last year, he was doing so well until he was injured. I begged and pleaded to anyone who would listen for Parra to make the rotation out of Spring Training. Although he struggled coming out of the gates in 2008, he's gotten better with every single start. Today was no exception. He pitched 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 6. Villanueva and Mota kept the Astros scoreless through the final innings, so all the Brewers needed to do was score more than 2 runs to win the game. On the road, they would have had a tough time scoring 2 runs, but this Miller Park, home of the Brewers. They scored early and often, with Mike Cameron and Ryan Braun each hitting solo homeruns in the 1st inning. Fielder must have gotten jealous, cause he swung like he wanted one too, and knocked one out to right field in the 5th. Ryan Braun (my fantasy team's stud player) went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored. That puts him at 14 home runs and 39 RBIs thus far. I knew that it was going to be tough for him to match his fantastic rookie season, but so far he's having an impressive year at the plate and on the field, where he has still has yet to make an error. Ryan Braun is the man, and I super stoked that he's on our team. That would suck if we had to pitch to him. He'd rock the shit out of our pitchers (seeing as how they give up a ton of home runs). But we don't have to face him. He's on our side. Na na na na boo boo. Final score Brewers 5, Astros 1.

Brewers record : 27- 28

Game 2 (Saturday) - Ben Sheets (6-1, 2.71 ERA) vs Brian Moehler (2-2, 4.54)

Today was our Reck Family Christmas Party. I know that it is May 31, but ever since my Mom moved into a smaller house, we had to move the Christmas party to the warmer months so that we could hold the party in multiple areas of the house, including the back yard. By the time the game started, I was already pretty drunk, so I don't remember too much. I was in rare form that afternoon - double fisting beers, drinking box wine right out of the bag/box, and shotgunning beers left and right. When the game started, I was too busy schmoozing with party guests to devote 100% of my attention to the game, but I caught the important parts. Ben Sheets went 8 2/3 innings, and he would've tossed a complete game ahd he not walked Lance Berkman with 2 outs in the 9th inning on his 122nd pitch. That's a lot of pitches from an injury prone guy who cannot suffer an injury if his team wants to win. Yost made the right move by pulling him, even though he was visibly upset that he couldn't finish the game. Torres erased Gagne from our minds (in fact, I have all but forgotten that he is even on this team, but I get a $10 million dollar reminder every now and then) with his 5th save of the season. Prince Fielder got the fireworks going with a 2 run home run, and Branyan later followed with an absolute bomb, landing in the Dew Deck 465 feet from home plate. With Sheets on the hill, that was all the offense the Brewers needed, and Braun stayed hot (on and off the field - grrr) by knocking in the 1st run in the 3 run 5th inning (he was on base when Fielder knocked one out). Good show by the Crew today, and it gave me a happy reason to keep drinking heavily for the rest of the night. I Mostly drink because I am sad or alone, but tonight I was happy and in the company of family and friends. It's funny (or a little pathetic) that something so seemingly trite as a Brewers victory/loss could completely alter my mood on a given day. I guess I just care way too much. I'll keep caring, win or loss, but I'll be a hell of a lot better physically and emotionally if they keep playing like this. Final score Brewers 4, Astros 1.

Brewers record : 28 - 28

Game 3 (Sunday) - Dave Bush (2-5, 5.49 ERA) vs Shawn Chacon (2-1, 4.41)

Baseball is about living the High Life, smelling me a hot dog, and sitting in the sun watching your favorite pitcher get lit up! I was in attendance for this game, because it was Ryan Braun bobblehead day. To obtain these collectibles, I have to purchase a ticket just like everyone else, only I usually go to work instead of sitting in the stands. Not today. My boss told me that she didn't need me to work, so I settled into my seat in the sun up in Bernie's Terrace, and although I wasn't drinking that day (I rarely drink alcohol on Sundays because I'm usually hung over) I still think that I was living the High Life up there. It was perfect, just like the commercial, but my favorite pitcher didn't get lit up! Despite the fact that Dave Bush was pitching, the Brewers didn't find a way to lose the 3rd game of the series. In fact, they swept the Astros out of town with an all around great day. I was worried that they weren't going to nail down the sweep when I caught the lineup -

Dillon, Kapler, Braun, Fielder, Hart, Branyan, Rivera, Counsell, Bush.

That's right, Weeks, Cameron, Hall and Kendall would all be riding the pine today in place of the replacement players. And these backups came through huge, serving up a 4 run 1st inning and a 6 run 4th inning. Outside of those innings, nothing else really happened. So I sat up in the sun up in Bernie's Terrace and thanked my lucky stars that the Brewers didn't find a way to screw this one up. Dave Bush looks like he has that night and day approach to pitching - excellent at home and miserable on the road. In fact, the whole team has seemed to come down with that bug, one that has been ongoing for several years now. When are they going to be cured of this sickness? Probably never, but I'll still keep going to home games expecting a win. 7 times out of 10, I won;t be disappointed. The road? Now that's a different story. Final score Brewers 10, Astros 1.

Brewers record : 29 - 28

It's so nice to be on the winning side of a sweep. That makes it 3 in a row and 4 of our last 5 (the loss happening in the final game against Atlanta). The Brewers certainly play with more fire and positivity when they are home, which makes me wonder if their problem is mental. As a professional athlete (competitive beer pong counts) I totally understand how much the mental aspect of the game can affect your play. From someone who has (and continues to) struggle with the mental side of sports, I can't promise you a quick fix or easy solution. It's one of those things that you wither have or have not. You can work on improving that side of your game, and only hope to get better over time. Let's hope that the Brewers improve on the road, since it is impossible to play all 162 games at Miller Park. If only they could. Man that would be exciting.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Arizona Diamondbacks June 2 (Monday) - June 4 (Wednesday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Don't Worry

Somebody told me this today and I thought I'd pass it along to you.

There's no sense worrying in life. There are only two possible stages that you can be in - you can be well or you can be not well. If you are well, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are not well, then 2 things can happen - you can get sick and you can die. If you get sick, you will get better and no longer have to worry. You can't worry about death because two more things can happen - you can go to heaven or hell. If you go to heaven, everything will be alright so you will be well. If you go to hell, you'll be too busy shaking hands and reaquanting yourself with people in your life that you won't have time to worry. So in the end, everything works itself out so there is no point on worrying over silly things.

There's a reason that Bobby McFerrin clicked, whistled, beat boxed, scat sang, and replicated instuments in his song Don't Worry Be Happy - he wanted to get a message across in the most enjoyable form possible : through song. Too often I come into work at the beginning of the work week with an immediate Case of the Mondays, which is more my fault that anything. I should think of Monday as being just 4 days from Friday, and since I do not work this coming Friday (June 13th) I have a 3 day weekend. Essentially, that makes today (Monday) actually my Tuesday, so I have absolutley nothing to complain about today. I certainly could find something, but then I would be activly seeking out things to be upset about, and it would be 100% my fault for my bad mood since I chose to do it. Funny how that stuff works out. Sometimes it just takes a kind sole on the other end of the phone (or the internet) to remind you of all the good things in life instead of allowing yourself to focus on the negatives. Life is so much sweeter when you have nothing to worry about and you can just kick back and enjoy it. Take care my friends.

- pookon -

www.pookon.com

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Braves 5/27 - 5/29 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 18 - Atlanta Braves vs Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

It's always been a big deal when the Braves come back to town because they famously left town in search of greener pastures and a larger market in 1966. There might be some people who are still bitter about the owner selling the Milwaukee Braves to a group that had intentions of moving them to Atlanta, but the majority of the people just look back upon the team of Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Lew Burdette and Warren Spahn with great admiration and fond memories. The Milwaukee Braves are still the sole Milwaukee baseball team with a World Series title (1957) and in their 12 year tenure in Milwaukee, they never had a losing season. I hang out with this old usher Ron at work at Miller Park (he's probably 65-70 years old) and he always tells me sweet stories of going to County Stadium to see the Braves play when he was young. It's cool to hear about old school baseball, but I'm much more concerned with the current Milwaukee baseball team and their quest towards baseball greatest and their 1st World Series championship. If we play our cards right, it could be this year. I know that it would be my dream come true.

Game 1 (Tuesday) - Dave Bush (1-5, 6.04 ERA) vs Tim Hudson (7-4, 2.90 ERA)

Ned Yost on multiple occasions has spoken about Dave Bush and his "bulldog mentality." In today's game, he pitched like a bulldog that was backed into a corner with no better choice than to fight its way out of the predicament. With Villanuea already taken out of the rotation based upon his numbers this season, Dave Bush had to expect that the same thing could in fact happen to him. It is not time to produce or be replaced by someone else who can. Bush came out today and produced. He went 7 strong innings, giving up 2 runs off of 6 hits. He found himself in an early hole by giving up solo home runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, and the offense didn't do much to help him out as they left 9 men on base throughout the game. It certainly didn't help that they were going up against Atlanta's ace, Tim Hudson. The Brewers were able to pound out 11 hits over 8 innings against Hudson, and were finally able to push some runs across the plate in the 7th and 8th innings. Salomon Torres (Gagne who? I don't seem to remember that clown anymore) came out for the 9th inning with the score tied at 2 and kept it that way to give the offense a chance to win it in the bottom half of the 9th. Bill Hall, recently displaced at 3rd base because the Brewers management thinks Russell Branyan is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, pinch hit to lead of the 9th with a single. Weeks sac bunted him over to 2nd, and then Hall made former Brewer Jeff Bennett and catcher Brian McCann look foolish when he basically walked to 3rd on a stolen base. There wasn't even an attempted throw, which is a rarity for a 3rd base steal. Cameron then sealed the deal with a sac fly to left that scored Hall, and for just 1 night, Bill Hall was happy and he once again wins games. Final score Brewers 3, Braves 2.

Brewers record : 25 - 27

Game 2 (Wednesday) - Jeff Suppan (3-4, 3.93 ERA) vs Jo-Jo Reyes (2-3, 4.83 ERA)

I'm kind of a jerk, so I find it necessary to laugh at a guy named J0-Jo. What kind of parents gives their son a girls name? I feel bad for guys named Anibal, Leslie, Ashley (although Ash is a really sweet name, mostly because of the Evil Dead movies), Tracy (although Tracy Morgan is stupid funny) and Kim (my Mom's next door neighbor). I think their parents named them those names so that they would grow up to be tough, just like Sue in the Johnny Cash song A Boy Named Sue. "And I looked at him and my blood ran cold And I said: 'My name is Sue! How do you do! Now you're gonna die!!'" It's that or they were just incredibly cruel. I'd like to think that their parents had a sense of humor. If my wife allows it, I'm going to name my child Maximillion Iceman Reck, and raise him using the shortened name of Million instead of Max, while also giving him the option of going by his middle name. Now that would be sweet as hell and in no way damaging to the child's upbringing. Why would playground kids make fun of a kid named Million or Iceman? He'd be the most popular kid in school. But I digress, I guess I should be talking about this baseball game and not about children's names. I guess the whole reason why I was talking about names is that there's not much to say about the game. Jeff Suppan pitched a masterful game, without a doubt his best of the year. He'd be hard pressed to match this performance later in the year, but I would have no problem if he did. Suppan is a guy that is going to put runners on base via hits or walks, but it's up to the defense to help him out by not allowing those runners to score. He also needs to make clutch pitches at times, and he once again proved why he was signed to a questionable 4 year, $42 million dollar contract. He pitched 8 innings, giving up 0 runs off of 4 hits and 5 walks to lower his ERA below 4. It was a grand performance by Soup. But Jo-Jo Reyes did the same, and the scored was deadlocked at 0-0 until Hardy led off the 8th with a walk. Kendall sac bunted him over, Dillon struck out, then Weeks came through huge with a 2 out RBI triple. Soloman Torres recorded his 4th save of the year by shutting the door on the Braves. And just like that, a pitchers duel turns into a shutout. Nice. Final score Brewers 1, Braves 0.

Brewers record : 26 - 27

Game 3 (Thursday) - Seth McClung (2-2, 4.80 ERA) vs Jorge Campillo (2-0, 0.99 ERA)

I'm not completely sold on Seth McClung as a member of the starting rotation The preseason loss of Chris Capuano, the in season loss of of Yovanni Gallardo, the ineffectiveness of Carlos Villanueva, and no viable options at AAA (Jeff Weaver is not the answer, he's more like a problem) has forced McClung to become a starter. I think that he'll be the kind of starter that will either be decent or bad. I can't see him throwing an 8 inning shutout gem of a game, but that's ok because we have another pitcher who can (Sheets) and two that are capable (Suppan and Parra). As long as McClung doesn't get rocked every time that he pitches, we're going to be ok with him as our #5 starter. On Thursday, McClung got rocked. He certainly didn't help his cause by issuing 6 free passes (walks) and 6 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Seeing as how the Brewers offense has only scored 4 total runs in this series, I knew there was no coming back from this deficit. The Brewers could only muster up 1 run on a solo shot by Russell Branyan, and that's all folks. Hey, at least we won the series, right? Final score Braves 8, Brewers 1.

Brewers record : 26- 28

Sure is good to be home, know what I mean Verne? Although they missed out on the series sweep, the still did take 2 of 3 from a very good Braves team (although the Braves are a horrid 7-21 on the road). That's a good accomplishment for a team that is struggling to climb back up to .500 and the top of the NL Central division. This was a very important seires (the first of 3 at home) and it was very important to start it out 2-1 with a winning record. Let's just hope (wink wink, cause I already know the answer but speculate for dramatic purposes) that they can keep the winning ways going here at Miller Park. During the next series (against the Astros) I will be making my triumphant return to Miller Park for the 1st time since Mother's day. My schedule finally lined up so that I can work a game here. Thank God.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Houston Astros May 30 (Friday) - June 1 (Sunday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Nice shirt, who shot the Couch?

On April 30, some dude in the lunch room was wearing the exact same shirt as me (pictured). What made it worse was that both of us were wearing khakis and brown shoes. I felt like I was in the movie Twins, cause he was a middle aged, handsome looking African-American guy. I am all of the garbage that's left over. Needless to say, I had to get out of there before people started calling us Twins. It was definitely the first time in life that I felt like I was Danny DeVito. It was rough because I was really hung over at the time, and I was just in there to get some coffee. When I saw the other guy wearing my shirt, I had to get out of there because it was like looking in a fun house mirror. My warped mind couldn't handle it at the time, because it was still recovering from the night before. If that situation is anything like doing mind altering drugs, then count me out. That shit is too crazy and too messed up to do by choice and on a recreational basis.

Again, on June 2, I was wearing this shirt again and I walked through the hallway, and I thought that my shadow was behind me, but no! I was wrong, it was my twin once again wearing this same shirt, khakis, and brown shoes. Ahhhh! It's like a nightmare gone from bad to worse. Then these middle aged ladies had to point it out, giggle, say "oh, how cute", and then say "you guys could be twins!" Thanks ladies, I really needed something that was completely obvious to me pointed out. I also needed to be pointed at and ridiculed, because it wasn't bad enough when people did it to me in high school. And speaking of high school, now I understand how teenage girls feel like when some other girl is wearing the same dress at the Prom. It really is that embarrassing. And to think, all these years I thought that they were just overreacting. In fact, I used to yell at them to stop whining because they were giving me a headache. It was all fun and games until I found out that it wasn't a headache and that it was actually a tumor. What a day it has been. But then again, it's just another day at the office...

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com