Brewers vs Reds 7/11 - 7/13 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 31 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds July 11 - July 13 at Miller Park in Milwaukee,WI

This is the last series before the unofficial halfway point known as the All-Star game. It's always important to go into the break on a good note, because most of these players (with the exception of Sheets, Hart and Braun) will have 4 days off to have this series play over and over in their head before they resume playing baseball. Sure, they'd probably tell you that they don't think about baseball during the break because they are too busy relaxing and spending time with their families, but you know that somewhere in their minds they are analyzing the first half of the season and looking forward to the 2nd half, where they will be trying to avoid the yearly 2nd half melt down and collapse. I never like when they lose to a division rival, but at least the Reds aren't nipping at the Brewers' heels for the Wild Card lead. Although a loss is never good, we could afford to lose, although using that logic doesn't make me feel any better about this series. I did feel good going in to this series, despite the split in the previous series with Colorado that should have been a series win. We've got Parra and Sabathia going against the lowly Reds, how can we lose the series? Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense lost the series. You already knew the outcome since this is a post-game wrap-up, but I still encourage you to keep reading. See you again at the bottom of the page, but for now on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Manny Parra (8-2, 3.78 ERA) vs Josh Fogg (2-2, 7.94 ERA)

On Friday nights I usually only work until 7:00 pm CST, so that means that I am able to get home in time to watch the final 5 innings of the game if it started at 7:00 pm. I was super excited to watch this game, since Many Parra would going for win #9 (when he really should be going for win #11, but more on that later) against Josh Fogg, who has been most sucky this year. Everything was going great, as the Brewers had a 5-2 lead in the 7th inning. Mike Cameron, the supposed former gold glover who was supposed to shore up our defense, lost a line drive in the lights and dropped it, which eventually allowed 3 runs to score in the inning. I had my windows open because it was summer, but I bet the neighborhood heard more words that days than they should have, and I bet mothers were covering their children's ears. I was quite livid. I'd expect that out of Weeks, Hart or Braun, but not Cameron. I know people make mistakes, but veteran superior defensive players should not make those errors. Gold Glover my ass. The mistakes continued in the 8th inning, when Shouse and Torres (and a costly Bill Hall error) allowed the Reds to score another run. Torres threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to allow the run to score, and I almost threw my TV through the wall. I normally don't get terribly angry during sports games, but today I was pissed because the Brewers should have and could have won today. The defensive miscues and pitching mistakes cost Manny Parra a win, and he will once again be stuck with 8 wins for the year. I don't mean to complain about 8 wins (versus 2 losses) because it is a great win/loss ratio, but he should be at 10-2 right now. Boo hoo, stop whining you're giving me a headache. Now we have to try and pull out a win against the fireballing rookie Volquez tomorrow, which doesn't seem very likely. Final score Reds 6, Brewers 5.

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Brewers record : 51 - 42

Game 2 (Saturday) - Seth McClung (5-5, 4.16 ERA) vs Edinson Volquez (12-3, 2.29 ERA)

To be quite honest with you, I didn't expect the Brewers to win this game. Braun publicly stated that the team played like they didn't expect to win during the series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, but that is the only time that a player has said anything. Did you really expect Seth McClung to outdo rookie phenom (and NL ERA leader) Edinson Volquez? If you did, then you are the World's greatest optimist. Seth McClung started out real bad, giving up a 3-run homer to Adam Dunn in the 1st inning, but then settled down to pitch 7 innings and strike out 7 batters. I was working at the park this game, and I get off at the bottom of the 7th inning. So that means that I was sitting up in the wheelchair section (#110) in the right field club level seats watching this horrific 9th inning. We were only down 4-2, then Eric Gagne came in and gave up 2 solo homeruns then allowed 2 more men to reach base. To make matters worse, Yost put in Mota, which I thought was like sending a man out to walk the plank towards his eventual watery grave. Mota was being sacrificed tonight, and I secretly said to myself that I hoped Mota allowed the inherited runners to score. I got my wish when he gave up a single that allowed both runs to score, then I started going apeshit up in the club level booing and yelling out "Say no ta Mota!" as people started to file out of the stadium. I never like to see the Brewers lose, but the only joy that I took out of this game was the feeling that Mota has to be cut soon, since he just really sucks balls and is now a Turnbow-sized liability to this team. Tough loss today, but hopefully the exposure of the back end of the bullpen will warrant some personnel changes. Final score Reds 8, Brewers 2.

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Brewers record : 51 - 43

Game 3 (Sunday) - CC Sabathia (8-8, 3.67 ERA) vs Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.00 ERA)

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Having lost the first 2 games in the series and looking to enter the All-Star break on a positive note, the Brewers would need some kind of magic to pull it off. Thankfully Doug Melvin pulled a rabbit out of his hat when he acquired CC Sabathia. CC is huge, and I'm not just talking about his 6'7" 290-pound frame; I'm talking about his presence on and off the field. His arrival has brought a winning attitude into the clubhouse, and his play today on the field was probably the single best performance by a pitcher this year. Sure, Sheets has had a few shutouts and complete games, and Dave Bush flirted with a no hitter and struck out 13 batters, but today CC pitched a complete game and hit a homerun, which turned out to be the winning run in the game. CC hit a Prince Fielder sized homerun to right field in the 3rd inning and the place went nucking futs! It's was sweet, but the place went just as crazy in the 9th inning when Craig Counsell sent a sac fly to right field to score Bill Hall with the game tied at 2, and the Brewers avoided the sweep. What made it sweeter was the fact that Francisco Cordero gave up the run (although it was charged to Weathers). How does it feel to be battling with Pittsburgh for last place? Just remember that you could have been playing for a good team. At least you have plenty of money to dry your eyes with. I just hope that it was worth it CoCo. Good win today. Final score Brewers 3, Reds 2.

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Brewers record : 52 - 43

So they narrowly avoided the sweep, but for a while there I wasn't sure. I bet the farm on CC and the Brewers to win the 3rd game in the series, so I was a little nervous until the end of the game. Don't tell the government, but I use online gambling sites to place wagers on the Brewers. It is supposedly illegal to gamble on the internet, but since these sites are housed overseas, so that government can't do anything about them. The only problem is that you have to go through a 3rd party (such as eWallet or Paypal) to deposit and withdraw funds from the site. I put $55 on the Brewers to win, and since they were heavy (pun intended because CC is a big guy) favorites to win, I only won $22. But hey, it was something. It was a hell of a lot better than losing $55, which was the other alternative. Although we lost the series, we are going into the All-Star break on a positive note, and Sheets will be the starting pitcher for the NL, and Braun will be the starting left fielder. Corey Hart is a backup, and the rest of the team gets a few days off to spend time partying or chilling with their families. I'd like to do a quick wrap-up on the All-Star game and Home Run Derby, but since I'm already behind, I don't know if I'll do it. Stay tuned though, and don't you go dying on me!

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Next up - Monday July 14th - The Homerun Derby; Tuesday July 15th - National League @ American League (the All Star Game) at Yankee Stadium in New York, NY

- pookon -

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

Brewers vs Rockies 7/7 - 7/10 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 30 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Colorado Rockies July 7 - July 10 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

After sweeping the Pirates, things were looking pretty good with the Rockies coming into town. In any other division, the Rockies season would be over, but since they play in the dismal NL West, they are still in it this year despite sporting a record of 37-51. They are only 7 games back of the division leading Diamondbacks, and they still can catch them if they get hot in September like they did last year (when they won like 20 out of 21 games to close out the year). No matter what the record is, you can never count out a team that is still in contention. I took this series and this team lightly, and I don't mean to spill the beans, but we should've done more in this series than we did. There are some teams that we are supposed to beat (like the Pirates this weekend and the Rockies this week), and although it is a tall order to ask the Brewers to win a 4 game sweep, you should be able to take the series when you have McClung, Bush, Sheet and Sabathia going. Wait..what? That's right, I said Sabathia, as in CC, the former ace from the Cleveland Indians. You already know that the Brewers dealt Matt LaPorta and other prospects for a 3 month rental of Sabathia (who is a free agent after this season), but that won't stop me from gushing all over for the rest of the season. Ok, I really got to get caught up here, so on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Monday) - Seth McClung (5-4, 4.15 ERA) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8, 4.21 ERA)

This is one of those games that the Brewers should have won. They play terrific ball at home, but for some reason they couldn't win today. It must be because everyone was so head over heels about the recent trade that sent Matt LaPorta and 3 other prospects to Cleveland for CC Sabathia. It must have been on Seth McClung's mind today, as he only went 4 2/3 innings. The Brewers offense tried to make a comeback in the 8th inning, but they could only muster up 3 runs. Those 3 runs would not be enough, since McClung and Villanueva had each allowed 2 runs. The Brewers ended up losing by a score of 4-3, and after the 3 game sweep of the Pirates, things weren't starting out the way that I hoped they would have. Fielder hit another homerun today, but it just wasn't enough to grab the victory away from the Rockies. But it was a good sign that the big man is getting hot, and we'd need his bat to get going if we wanted to win this year. He's an integral part of this team, and although he's struggling a bit when compared to last year (which I think was a career year, since you can't expect someone to hit 50 homeruns and 119 RBIs every year) if he comes around this team will be alright. Today is easily forgettable, especially since CC Sabathia will be making his much anticipated and well publicized debut as a Milwaukee Brewer tomorrow. Final score Rockies 4, Brewers 3.

Brewers record : 49 - 40

Game 2 (Tuesday) - CC Sabathia (7-8, 3.79 ERA) vs Mark Redman (2-4, 7.07 ERA)

I've wished for many things in my life. I've wished for a million dollars, the ability to fly, or to find the girl of my dreams, but I now wish more than anything that I could have been there for CC Sabathia's debut as a Brewer. My stupid job got in the way, so I had to settle for watching it on ESPN's gamecast during the game and Time Warner's DVR later that night. How's that for some product placement? CC wasn't sharp today, but it was one of those games that you could tell that everyone on the team banded together and wanted nothing more than to get him the win in his first start as a Brewer. He only lasted 6 innings, and he gave up an unusually high 5 walks, but I would attribute that to nerves. He is being touted as the "missing piece" and "savior of our season", but he is just a man, and that man can only take the mound every 5th day. It was a sellout crowd today, so I can understand how electric it was inside that joint. I don't blame CC one bit for being a bit erratic today. No one since Neo in the Matrix (who was asked to be the One and save the world) has been asked to do more. Ok, so I guess Jesus Christ was asked to do more since God told him to die so that mankind's sins could be forgiven. But CC is right up there with Neo and Jesus Christ in turns of being called upon to be the savior of mankind. Yeah, I just said that. Call me blasphemous. Do what you got to do. CC did get the win, and the Brewers offense backed him up. Ryan Braun gave him a 3 run cushion in the 1st inning, when he belted a homerun to make the score 3-0 from the beginning. They scored another 3 runs in the 7th inning, and the home crowd went nuts as CC and the Brew Crew won the game tonight. It sucks to give up Matt LaPorta, and I know that this won't be the last time that I mention it, but if we make the playoffs, it will be worth it. I'll mortgage the future for chance to win now. I'm sick and tired of this waiting bullshit; I've been waiting for 25 years. The Sabathia deal is arguably the best thing that has happened to Wisconsin sports since 1996 (when the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl) and I know for a fact that this will be one long and exciting ride in 2008. CC wasn't perfect in his Brewers debut, but at least he left some room for improvement. Final score Brewers 7, Rockies 3.

Brewers record : 50 - 40

Game 3 (Wednesday) - Ben Sheets (10-3, 2.85 ERA) vs Glendon Rusch (2-3, 6.25 ERA)

People always talk about following up a tough act. If the opener kills the crowd, then the headliner needs to go out there and straight up murder the crowd. My friend and former roommate Aaron Spiering took me to see Chris Rock at the Pabst Theater back in like 2005. Rock's good friend J.B. Smoove opened up for Rock, and he was drop dead hilarious. Although I knew that Chris Rock would be funnier, it was hard to imagine that it was possible at the time because J.B. was ridiculously funny. Smoove did his thang, and made way for Rock, who brought the house down with his comedy act. Why do I bring this up? Is it so that I can state the obvious and tell you that Chris Rock is one funny mother fu#&er? No, because you already know that. I bring this up because Ben Sheets has huge shoes to follow, as he is suddenly thrown into a rotation where he is now the co-ace of the pitching staff. Sheets was decent, as he went 6 innings and struck out 11 Rockies, but that turned out to not be enough as the offense was not able to overcome the 3 earned runs that Sheets allowed, and the bullpen was unable to keep this game close. There are very few times that I get flat out pissed off during a Brewers game, but this was one of them. Do you remember Glendon Rusch? Yes, the same Glendon Rusch who went 11-28 as a Brewer with a plus 5.00 ERA as member of the 2002-2003 Brewers? Yeah, that guy. Turns out that guy dominated us tonight and held us to 1 freakin' run. That's right ladies and gents, he out dueled Milwaukee Ace Ben Sheets tonight, and it is simply atrocious and uncalled for that he was able to keep us in check tonight. Color me disappointed with the offense tonight. So Big Ben only gave up 3 runs, so we should win, right? Wrong. Guillermo "say No Ta" Mota came in and gave up 4 runs in the 8th inning, and put this game out of reach. This game summarizes everything that is wrong in this world - Glendon Rusch dominates us and Mota still has a job. Damn it. This game is a perfect example of the thinking that there is always tomorrow. Final score Rockies 8, Brewers 3.

Brewers record : 50 - 41

Game 4 (Thursday) - Dave Bush (5-8, 4.39 ERA) vs Jorge De La Rosa (3-5, 7.26 ERA)

Talking about how good Dave Bush pitches at home is the same as talking about how much of a surprise Seth McClung has been in the starting rotation - overdone and overplayed. Dave Bush outdid himself today. Do you remember when he took a no hitter into the 8th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays? This game was better, as he went 8 inning giving up 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 13 batters, a career high. Bush has always been known as a pitcher that pounds the strikezone, but today he really poured it on. And like always, he chose to be perfect on a day when he didn't have to be. Just as Dave Bush exploded off the mound, the Brewers offense exploded at the plate, scoring 11 runs off of 12 hits. Corey Hart and JJ Hardy hit homeruns today, but it was really a team effort as the Brewers steamrolled the Rockies today. There's npt really much else to talk about today, as the score really tells the whole story here. Now that's what I call domination. Final score Brewers 11, Rockies 1.

Brewers record : 51 - 41

So there was 1 great game (the Dave Bush start), 1 eagerly anticipated game (the CC Sabathia start), 1 disappointing game (the Ben Sheets start) and the close game that the Brewers should have won (the McClung start). There's a little bit of everything; it's just too bad that that we split this series instead of winning it. After the series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, a split against the Rockies is viewed as a let down. We really should have taken 3 out of 4, but to be quite honest with you, it's really tough to do that. You expect your team to win 2 out of 3 at home, but a 4 game series is almost always split between the 2 teams. We have no choice but to take it. At least we split the 4 games, it could always be worse. We do have the Cincinnati Reds coming to town next, and so far this year they have been consumed with fighting off Pittsburgh and Houston for the "dubious" title of NL Central loser. Here's hoping that we finish off the first half on a good note, but since I already know how the Cincinnati series ended, I can't say that I am happy about it. Sorry to let the cat out of the bag, but if you don't know about the Brewers current situation, then you truly have been living underneath a rock. I've never lived underneath a rock (although I have been to the House on the Rock) so I don't know what it is like to be out of the loop. If you are one of those people, then let me know if it really sucks to be you. If I don't hear from you, then I'll just make an assumption that it does suck to be you. But lest I forget that if you make an assumption, you make an ass out of you and umption. Touche.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds July 11 (Friday) - July 13 (Sunday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/

email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Pirates 7/04 - 7/06 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 29 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates July 4 - July 6 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

Today is the beginning of the last homestand before the All Star break, which is a great opportunity for us to gain some games on the NL Central leading Cubs and the NL Wildcard leading Cardinals. Of course, we can only gain games if those other teams lose, but we can't even worry about gaining ground unless we start winning. We win, then hope that they lose. That's kind of how it works. The nice thing about this series is that I would be able to attend 2 of the 3 games, and although I would be working them, it's a bit of a rarity for me to be there for the majority of the homestand. So I got that going for me. That's pretty much it as far as introductions go, as the Brewers face off against the last place cellar dwelling Pirates. So, I guess it's time to get on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Ben Sheets (10-2, 2.77 ERA) vs Tom Gorzelanny (6-7, 6.57 ERA)

What better way to get things going than with a Ben Sheets outing? A victory is almost guaranteed, seeing as Sheets has been near perfect this year and the Brewers are phenomenal at home. Today's game was played during the day, and since it is a holiday (the 4th of July) they figured that people would be able to come during their day off and fill this sucker up. They figured correctly. Another sold out crowd got to watch the Brewers and Ben Sheets band together to start this series (and homestand) off with a bang. There were some fireworks today, but it's wasn't because we were celebrating our nation's Independence (that happened last night in Milwaukee and will happen later tonight in the surrounding communities). There were fireworks in Miller Park by JJ Hardy, who is on a ridiculous hitting streak where he has raised his batting average nearly 50 points and by Bill Hall, who continues to crush left handed pitching. 3 lefties are starting this weekend, so Hall looks to get some considerable playing time. Since he went 3 for 4 tonight with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored (with 1 of those hits being a homerun, and another being a double) it's got to be good to be Billy Hall this weekend. People were booing the mess out of him earlier because his struggles led to the platoon with Russell Branyan. Then when the Muscle started tearing the cover off of the ball, people booed him whenever he came into the game. People, Bill Hall doesn't deserve that; he just said what anyone would have said in that situation. Nobody wants to be benched, and no one wants to be bad at their job. Bill Hall is having an off year, but he's not going to fix it by riding the pine. I've always been a big Hall supporter, and I will continue to do so even if he's having a rough year. But good show tonight Mr. Hall, and the Brewers offense picked up Sheets on a day that they didn't have to. To use a Yostism, Sheets was really battling today, and only lasted 5 2/3 innings. Good work by Carlos Villanueva in the 7th-9th innings, as he only gave up 1 hit and 1 walk. He saved the bullpen after Sheet's short start. Nice. Final score Brewers 9, Pirates 1.

Brewers record : 47 - 39

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Game 2 (Saturday) Dave Bush (4-8, 4.74 ERA) vs Paul Maholm (5-5, 4.05 ERA)
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How magnificent is Dave Bush at home? I'm going to tell you. Fantastic. Stupendous. Unbelievable. Ridiculously good. How bad is Dave Bush on the road? I'd say a couple of words, but to protect the eyes of children, they would include characters such as #%&*! and other random characters that Qbert screams in his little word bubble when a snake or a ball falls down on him. I wasn't able to watch this game since I was at Summerfest to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When I can't watch the game on TV or on the internet, I get text messages on my phone with scoring updates. When I wasn't getting updates for this game, I started to get nervous because that means that both offenses were getting shut down today. When the Brewers mighty offense is held in check, it is very rare that our pitching backs them up to hold down the opponents offense, but today Bush was able to do it by holding the Pirates to 1 run on 4 hits in 8 innings while striking out 7. Gagne pitched the 9th inning, and got the win when Prince Fielder his an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to get the walk off victory in front of the near sell out crowd. And who scored that winning run? Rickie Weeks, who reached base via a walk. JJ Hardy's 16 game hitting streak came to an end when he laid down a sac bunt in the 9th to get Weeks in scoring position. Now that's a team player that cares more about the overall goal (to win games) versus individual goals (hitting streaks). Well done Mr. Hardy, way to be a team player. You get a gold star and your name on the board for displaying honor and selflessness in your performance today. That's why they call it a sacrifice. Oh, and Tom Petty rocked my socks off, just like he does every time that he comes to town. I wish that I could remember more, but i was pretty wasted. Story of my life, but just don't tell my Mom that. Final score Brewers 2, Pirates 1.

Brewers record : 48 - 39

Game 3 (Sunday) - Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.71 ERA) vs Zach Duke (4-5, 4.23 ERA)

Going for the sweep against the Pirates today, and Jeff Suppan had a chance to rebound from some poor outings as of late. Unfortunately he continued with another bad outing today. He only lasted 3 innings (75 pitches) and allowed 6 runs on 5 hits including 2 homeruns. Yuck. Fortunately (the West Bend Mutual Insurance Silver Lining!) the Brewers offense picked up the slack and spared him the loss, as he settled for a no decision. Stetter got the win in relief when the Brewers scored 4 runs in the 4th inning and the rest of the bullpen kept the Pirates scoreless. The Brewers offense poured it on, and totalled 11 runs off 16 hits and featured 2 homeruns by JJ Hardy and 1 by Ryan Braun. Bill Hall went 3-5 today with 3 RBIs, and ended up having a very productive series against the 3 left handed starters. Nice. Whereas yesterday was a pitchers showcase, today was nothing but offense. We just happen to have a better offense than they do. Nah nah nah nah nah, we're better than you are. Hope it's not too dark and scary in the basement Pittsburgh. Final score Brewers 11, Pirates 6.

Brewers record : 49 - 39

That's a really nice way to start out the homestand, and I'm ecstatic that I could be a part of it. I wish that we could play all of our games at home, and even though we played well in Pittsburgh this year, there's no way that we would have been able to sweep them at PNC Park. Hooray hurrah, and all of that other fancy hooplah that surrounds a series sweep. Get hyped. As Borat would say, "Very nice, I like." I just hope that he doesn't say that he wants to have a sexy time with someone's mother-in-law that I know. That would be rough. But the close to the "unofficial" half way point of the season has started of with a bang, with fireworks shooting off inside and outside of Miller Park. Let's roll into the All-Star break on a good note. This certainly was a nice start.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Colorado Rockies July 7 (Monday) - July 10 (Thursday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

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

trying some mobile blogging shit

The kids (Sarah, Jenny, Timmy, and myself) sitting in a big ass Leinenkugel's chair at Summerfest.

This experimental posting was sent from my mobile phone to my email, then to my blogger account. I could have just waited till I got home and connected to my personal computer, but I wanted to see if I could succesfully mobile blog. How do you like the way that shit works!?!

- pookon -

www.pookon.com

He's #1 on the field, #1 in millions of Harts, and now #25 on the National League All-Star Team

Thanks in large part to the overexcited Brewers fans who are finally rallying behind their team, Corey Hart was voted as the 25th man on the NL All Star Team. For too long, he's been overshadowed by the likes of Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and JJ Hardy. He was selected in the 11th round of the 2000 draft, which barely got any notice as compared to his current teammates (who, with the exception of Hardy {2nd} were drafted in the 1st round.) I've already designated an award each year named after him for the player that puts up great numbers but gets no love outside of the city of Milwaukee. This award was previously known as the Goeff Jenkins Most Underrated Player Award, but has since been renamed after Hart since Jenkins' departure. If Jenkins had played on any other team than Milwaukee (which was a terrible when he started to decent/good upon his exit) he would have most certainly won a Gold Glove. He certainly was one hell of a defender who gave 110% every time, and even the Brewer bashers can't refute that. Corey Hart, although a solid defender, is not at Gold Glove status yet, but it's ok since he is a converted infielder. He's what people refer to as a 5-tool player - he hits for power (1) and average (2), has good baserunning skills and speed (3), and good throwing (4) and fielding (5) ability. It's hard to believe that it took the country this long to finally recognize a player of his ability. Even though it is long overdue, I'm glad that they finally got it right. Corey Hart will join other deserving teammates Ryan Braun (the NL's starting Leftfielder) and Ben Sheets (quite possibly the NL's starting pitcher) on the NL Roster, and will most likely see time as a late inning replacement. I hope that he gets on base so that he can show the nation that he is the best and most underrated baserunner in the league. Watch him sometime and you'll see exactly what I mean. No one on the Brewers team is as smart and quick as he his, and Yost has appropriately given him the green light to steal in all situations. Classy move Milwaukee, by giving the final roster spot to someone who truly deserved it. No offense to David Wright, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand or Carlos Lee, but those players have had their chance to shine and will continue to do so in the future. Hart has been overlooked for far too long, and this is his moment to stand in the spotlight. Good move by the people who cast over 8 million votes that vaulted Hart into the All Star game. I know that I'm a bit too biased in this matter, but as a true baseball fan, I believe people made a good call. And a good call deserves a Miller Lite. It's Miller time! First CC Sabathia, now this? What in the hell is this team going to do for an encore? I suggest the playoffs, so that this town will be rocking as hard if not harder than it did in 1982. Only time will tell on that once. Stick around Milwaukee, and you'll see what's brewing.

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/

email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Vote for Corey Hart damn it!

Vote an unlimited amount of times. I've already voted over 1,000 times. Let's show everyone that Corey is #1 on the field and #1 in our Harts! Voting ends Thursday July 10th at 4pm CT, so get out there and vote kids!

- pookon -
http://www.pookon.com/

CC Comes to Save the Day!!

Everyone in Milwaukee is buzzing about the recent acquisition of CC Sabathia. Wait...you don't know about it? Then you've been living under a rock these past few days or you hate sports. I hate to break it to you, but you suck. My sincerest apologies do go out to people who actually live under rocks, but c'mon - you know that it sucks to live under a rock. Get a real house you dirty hermit. This is possibly the greatest thing to ever happen to the Milwaukee Brewers (with the 1982 American League Championship and signing Ryan Braun to a 7 year contract coming in at 2/3 possibly all tied for 1st) and I'll tell you why.

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#1 - It shows that the Brewers are serious and legitimate contenders in the National League, and even in all of baseball. With this signing, it shows that we are no longer the small market team that cries about not being in the same realm as the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs. We are just as good if not better than those teams and their $150 million plus payrolls.

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#2 - It shows that Mark Attanasio/Doug Melvin/Ned Yost are committed to doing whatever it takes to get the Brewers back to the postseason for the 1st time since 1982. I'm only 27, so I was 1 the last time that the Brewers were in the playoffs. That means that there are hundreds of thousands of Brewers fans who have never seen their favorite team play October baseball. That's insane. If it means giving up their top prospect, so be it. I want to win.

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#3 - It shows that they have one of the best teams top to down in all of baseball. That means from the low single A ball clubs to the Major League Brewers. The AA Hunstville Stars are regarded as the best prospect laden ball club in Major League history! They sent 10 players to the Minor League All Star game. That's insane. We could afford to trade LaPorta because we have guys at all levels who can replace him. They may never be the stud that he is, but we don't even know if he will be a stud. I'm willing to win now instead of waiting 3 years to see if LaPorta is as good as advertised. I'm tired of waiting. I've been waiting my whole damn life.

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#5 - They are rewarding the fans for showing their support for the team. I've been working at Miller Park since 2002, and I remember when we were lucky to have 15,000 fans in attendance. Miller Park is sold out or at near capacity every single Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Those fans are coming to support the Brewers, and it's good to see that the ownership group is taking that money and putting in back into the team instead of putting it in their pockets.

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#6 - If players like CC Sabathia agree to come here (I'm not sure if he had a no trade clause with teams that he could/could not be traded to) that shows that players recognize that we are a franchise headed in the right direction. Veteran players like Mike Cameron, Jeff Suppan and Jason Kendall came here for that very same reason, and that only opens the door for future signings.

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#7 - If Yovanni Gallardo can be back in late September/early October, then the Brewers would have the best starting rotation in all of baseball with Sheets, Sabathia, Parra, Gallardo and Suppan. I don't want him to rush back and injure himself long term, but can you imagine how freakishly intimidating that rotation would be? Wow.

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#8 - Even though there's a 99 % chance that Sabathia does not sign a contract keeping him here past this year, there's still a chance that he could really like it here and decide to stick around. If worst comes to worst, we make it to the playoffs then lose him to free agency, and then receive two top draft picks for next year. Seeing how the success that Jack Zduriencik and his team have done in the past (Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, JJ Hardy, Rickie Weeks, Yovanni Gallardo, Manny Parra, etc.) there's no reason to believe that he won't strike gold again.

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#9 - I have never seen the city of Milwaukee get this excited about something. Sure, everyone was gaga back in 1996 when the Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl, but that was a statewide celebration. The Brewers are a representative of the State of Wisconsin, but they really are Milwaukee's team.

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#10 - Did you ever see this happening in Milwaukee? I'd ask you to pinch me, but that would be kind of creepy and weird. If you asked for a sign that this team is for real and that we are winning it all, then this is it. Good show Brewers organization, and way to stay classy. (Sorry, I really wanted 10 things to put on here, and this was the best I could do on short notice.)

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Get hyped Milwaukee, this is one of the biggest things to ever happen to your Milwaukee Brewers. If this doesn't get you all jazzed up, then you are not a fan. Miller Park will definitely be tapped tonight (sold out and rocking) so pity for those of you (and myself) who will not be there to see CC's Brewers debut. Watching it on television, on the internet, or on mobile devices. Whatever you do, strap yourself in, hold on tight, and get ready for the most exciting 2nd half run in Brewers history. You're probably saying that he is just 1 man, what kind of difference can he make? He is going to pitch amazing (he's a CY Young winner for crying out loud) and his presence alone should elevate the play and attitudes of the people around him. Naysayers beware - if you dare naysay around me, I'll knock you out. You better believe it. Be excited for once in your life, and believe that the Brewers can do it. I know we've had several long heartbreaking years of failure and disappointment, but the time has come that all of that shit ceases abruptly. And if I'm wrong, at least I went down with the ship. But God I hope I'm right. I've been waiting 26 years to be right.

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- pookon -

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http://www.pookon.com/

email : pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers @ Diamondbacks 6/30 - 7/3 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 28 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Arizona Diamondbacks June 30 - July 3 at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ

These 4 games are the conclusion of the 10 game, 11 day, 3 city road trip. After winning 2 in Atlanta and dropping 2 at Minnesota, we could either post a losing record, winning record, or tying record based upon the outcome of this series. So it's that important to win as many games as possible. Now I know that kind of sounds like an obvious understatement, but it's mega important for us to win as many games as possible on the road since we have historically been a horrible road team. It would be a high order to win 3 of the 4, since we would be going against some tough pitchers in Doug Davis, Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb, but I held out hope because the Arizona offense is pretty terrible. Over the past few years, the starting rotation has been their strength, so if we can overcome that, we should have no problem winning a few games down here. I'll be just fine with a series split, because it would give us a .500 roadtrip, but anything else would be icing on the cake or gravy on the mashed potatoes. Take whatever food analogy that you want, and feel free to invent your own, but I'm going to get away from that and continue on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Monday) - Dave Bush (4-8, 5.06 ERA) vs Doug Davis (3-3, 3.79 ERA)

This game got off to a promising start, with Rickie Weeks taking a walk, JJ Hardy scoring him on a double, then Prince Fielder knocked him home on a single and the Brewers got off to a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, it all kind of went down hill from there. The Diamondbacks responded by scoring 2 runs in the bottom half of the 1st inning and grabbed the lead for good with a 3 run outburst in the 5th inning. Dave Bush has been really good lately, and while he wasn't horrible today, he gave up 5 runs off of 9 hits in 5 innings of work. The road woes for the Brewers continue and the Diamondbacks anemic offense did enough to work the scoreboard in their favor. This was a pretty average road game for the Brewers that featured mediocre offense, defense, and pitching, which is why they usually lose these games. There's not too much more to talk about here, but hopefully tomorrow we'll rock Randy Johnson like we did back on June 3rd at Miller Park. Final score Dbacks 6, Brewers 3.

Brewers record : 44 - 38

Game 2 (Tuesday) - Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.30 ERA) vs Randy Johnson (4-7, 5.46 ERA)

Randy Johnson started off the season going 4-0, but is now riding a 6 game losing streak going into tonight's game. The Brewers touched him for a loss back at Miller Park, but when he left in the 6th inning, he still gave the Dbacks a chance to win it. It would be a totally different story today, as the future hall of famer wasn't very sharp today. The Brewers knocked him around for 7 runs off of 8 hits and 3 homeruns, including 2 by JJ Hardy and 1 by Joe Dillon. It was Dillon's first homerun of the year, which makes him the last non pitcher on the roster to hit a homerun. Yes, even Craig Counsell and Jason Kendall have hit homeruns this year. It's pretty significant because it was his first in the majors as a Brewer, and in his minor league career (spanning 10 years) hit hit 152 homeruns, and was among team leaders at AAA Nashville in 2007 when he hit
20 homeruns. He was always viewed as a power hitter, but until today, he had yet to display that power with the team. Hopefully this is the 1st of many to follow. Enough about Joe Dillon (I still don't know why people are so high on him) - let's talk about JJ Hardy. Lately, he has just been tearing the cover off of the ball and regaining his power stroke. He hit 2 homeruns today, and finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored. If you're scoring at home, he singlehandedly accounted for about half of the offense today. The Dbacks made a push to win the game, but the Brewers bullpen (with the exception of Mota, who gave up a run in the 8th) was able to hold onto the lead and escape with the win. Final score Brewers 8, Dbacks 6.

Brewers record : 45 - 38

Game 3 (Wednesday) - Seth McClung (5-3, 4.18 ERA) vs Yusmeiro Petit (0-1, 3.29 ERA)

Micah Owings was supposed to pitch today, but he was scratched due to a "tweaked gluteus muscle". Isn't the gluteus area your ass? How do you tweak your ass? It takes a real winner to teak an ass muscle. I don't ever claim to be an athlete, but I still don't understand how you can tweak an ass muscle by running, jumping, diving, and swinging a bat. If there are any doctors or athletic trainers out there who know how this is possible, please let me now. I'm not much of an ass man, but this idea intrigues me because I previously didn't think that this was humanly possible. So instead of going against Micah Owings, we have to face this cat Yusmeiro Petit. That sucks, because we really roughed up Owings in Milwaukee on June 4th to the tune of 5 runs off of 8 hits in 3 innings. So that's the bad news. But the bad news continued when Petit pitched more like Pettitte (Andy, of the Yankees) and shut us down for 1 run (2 hits) over 6 innings. The good news is that the resilient Brewers battled back for 3 more in the final 3 innings, including a pinch hit homerun by Rickie Weeks in the 8th inning. Torres came on for the save in the 9th inning, and stayed perfect for his 15th save of the season. Oh, and McClung once again pitched well today. Wait...you thought that I would do a wrap-up of a series that featured Seth McClung and not mention how much of a surprise that he has been since he joined the rotation? You don't know me then. Shame on you. Final score Brewers 4, Dbacks 3.

Brewers record : 46 - 38

Game 4 (Thursday) - Manny Parra (8-2, 3.69 ERA) vs Brandon Webb (12-4, 3.43 ERA)

On the 3rd of July, I spend the day out in Veterans Park with my family in preparation for the fireworks at night. If you're not aware of this, let me be the one to inform you that the city of Milwaukee holds it's July 4th celebration on the 3rd of July, complete with a grand fireworks show at night. I have been going down to the lakefront with my family for close to 25 years now, but the high point of the last few years has been crowding around the radio with friends and family and listening to Uecker and Powell call the Brewers game. I was really looking forward to this game because the Brewers had already won 2 in the series, and they had a chance to go for the win against perennial Cy Young Candidate Brandon Webb. Talk about an uphill climb. Hardy and Cameron each hit homeruns off of Webb, who gave up 5 runs off of 9 hits in 6 innings of work. But the Brewers roughed up Webb (which is very rare) and nothing to show for it, despite a magnificent performance my Manny Parra, who allowed 4 hits and no runs in 6 innings. Stetter pitched a scoreless 7th inning, then Gagne, fresh off of the disabled list, pitched a scoreless 8th inning. We were up 5-0 in the last inning of the game, and we were 3 outs away from the series victory. And then Cinderella's glass slipper fell off. I told my Uncle Gary during the commercial break that we would win this game as long as they didn't put in Guillermo Mota. And what did Ned Yost do? He put it Guillermo Mota. The result? The Brewers lost, and in grand fashion. Mota, Shouse, and the infallible Torres combined to give up 6 runs off of 6 hits while recording 0 outs. It was simply heartbreaking, and extremely disappointing to listen to. I could imagine how bad it would have been if I was actually watching the game. My Uncle Gary brought up a good point - he said that the Brewers never win on July 3rd when we're hanging out at the Lakefront, which isn't true because they last posted a victory in 2006. I think he was just too clouded by today's game and last year's 6-2 ugly loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates where the Brewers committed 4 errors in one of Capuano's 12 losses on the year. This one hurt, really bad, and no amount of alcohol could make it hurt any less. Slapping the bag of box wine later that night with Jenny and Paul certainly helped a little bit, but it stings now that I have to write a wrap-up of this game. I've got to move on from this one, or else I'll be hitting the bottle hard in just a few minutes. Final score Dbacks 6, Brewers 5.

Brewers record : 46 - 39

What could have been a winning series turned out to be a series split in just 1 inning out of 36 total innings of the series. That 1 inning left a super sour taste in the mouths of all Brewers fans, and although there is still a lot of games to be played this year, I have no doubt that this one will go down as one of the worst losses for the year. The only possible thing that can clean this distaste out of my mouth is a kick ass homestand, and thankfully we are playing some sucky teams in Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Cincinnati. Following this 10 game roadtrip, we have a 10 game homestand. There's no doubt in my mind that they can go 7-3 on this homestand, but stranger things have happened in the past. One thing that I know for sure is that I get to work the games on July 4th and 6th, so I'll be there in person to watch at least two games that we should win. Come see what's brewing, because the Brewers are brewing up a barrel of fun.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates July 4 (Friday) - July 6 (Sunday) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

- pookon -

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

Brewers vs Twins 6/27 - 6/29 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 27 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Minnesota Twins June 27 - June 29 at The Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN

I really like coming up here to Minnesota because I have a couple of friends up here that I only get to see once or twice a year. Now that Mike and Katie Bates are living up in the real Northwoods (about 4 hours North of the Twin Cities, which if you're counting at home, makes it about a 9 hour drive from Milwaukee) so I haven't seen them since Christmas. Mike and I are best friends, so it's tough to go this long, but the big surprise was that Katie found out that she was pregnant on Christmas Eve, which would put her at 6 months pregnant since I've seen her last. I'm not normally one to gush and get all giggly over baby stuff, but I'm super excited and super happy for the two of them. They are quite possibly the greatest couple I've ever known, and I couldn't think of two more willing and deserving people to become parents. At least in 3 months it'll give them something to do way up in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully I'm able to meet that little Bates soon after it is born, cause I'd love to see if it takes on Mike's signature laugh. That was a lot of intro that really had nothing to do with the games, but you tune into this blog to read my take on these games and to find out what I was doing/thinking at the time. If you wanted stats, then you can go to mlb.com or espn.com. I won't stop you - hell, I've even provided the links so you don't have to try hard to go there. If you don't want to read about what I think, then what the hell are you doing on my blog? For some baseball talk, we have one of our steady starters (McClung), the rookie who just keeps getting better (Parra), and the incredibly fantastic ace (Sheets). If we can't win the series with those starting 3 pitchers (spoiler alert!) then we just have problems on the road. There figures to be a good amount of Brewers fans in the house, so maybe they can pretend that it is a home game. I'll let them think about that, but since we already know the outcome of this series, I won't dwell on that any longer. On with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Monday) - Seth McClung (5-3, 4.25 ERA) vs Nick Blackburn(6-4, 4.05 ERA)

I wanted to go up to Minneapolis for all 3 games, but ever since I started working at Mark Travel, I have worked every single Friday unless I took a vacation day or called in "sick" (like when I went to Las Vegas). When I call in "sick", they take my vacation time to cover the time that I missed. I can't have that, since I want to try and make it to as many days at Afterglow as possible. So I had to settle for watching this game once again on ESPN's gamecast from the not so comfy confines of my cubicle. Judging from what transpired during this game, I would've been very excited to be in attendance until the bottom of the 8th inning. McClung had a bit of a rough day, giving up 5 earned runs and only lasting 4 2/3 innings. The offense backed him up, but this one turned into a slugfest. The following players hot homeruns : Corey Hart (2 of them, actually), Russell Branyan, JJ Hardy, Alexi Casilla, Jason Kubel and Joe Mauer. Yeah, I know. It just really sucks that Mauer hit the final one out of those players, and it turned out to be the deciding factor in the game as the Twins won by 1 run. And who gave up that homerun? Current lightning rod and sports radio talk show fodder Guillermo Mota. Ouch. Final score Twins 7, Brewers 6.

Brewers record : 43 - 36

Game 2 (Tuesday) - Manny Parra (8-2, 3.95 ERA) vs Livan Hernandez (8-5, 5.22 ERA)

Since both Joey Kany and I had to work Friday night, it was our goal to leave early Friday morning so that we could stop at Leinenkugal's prior to the start of the game (6pm cst). We were supposed to leave around 8:00 am, but that soon turned into 10:30 am. By the time we got on the road, I knew that there was no way that we would get to the game on time if we were to stop at Leinie's for the tour. We rolled into Chippewa Falls around 2:30, and found out that the next tour we could go one would be at 3:30, so we elected to stick around, since this tour was one of the big reasons that we came up here. When we left town, it was nearly 5:00, and we were a little over an hour from the Twin Cities. Thankfully we were able to get a Wisconsin station carrying the Brewers game, as the hilarious voice of Bob Uecker carried us through enemy territory. We found a place to park and entered the stadium around the 4th inning, which was significant because the Brewers scored all 5 of their runs during the 1st 3 innings. So we missed all of the Brewers offense. What a shame. What we did catch however, was a brilliant (although the walks are still an issue) start by Manny Parra. He went 7 innings and only gave up 2 hits while striking out 6, although he did walk 4 batters. Riske came in and kept the shutout intact, but Stetter gave up a homerun to Kubel in the 9th to break up that shutout. That did give those Twins fans something to shout about, but I just pointed to the scoreboard and they cried into their laps. We sat up by Mike and Katie, and our seats were waaaaaaaay up in the leftfield corner and halfway behind a support beam. I mean waaaaaaay up there. I wasn't too upset though, because I was in the company of good friends and I only paid $12 for these seats. They are normally $8, but this was one of those premiere marquee games where they find a reason to charge the fans more money because of all of the visiting fans. I can't be too mad, because we do the same kind of shit to the Cubs fans when they come to Miller Park. After the game, we went out to the 7 Corners, a popular watering hole on the fringe of downtown, which I would say most resembles our Water Street (only with less popped collared douche bags). There were a ton of Brewers fans out drinking, because drinking is what Milwaukee kids do best. I high fived a lot of people, and yelled out Go Brewers at every opportunity. We drank some good beers at some good bars (the White Russians at Town Hall were superb) and hung out with some good people. I really couldn't ask for anything sweeter. Final score Brewers 5, Twins 1.

Brewers record : 44 - 36

Game 3 (Wednesday) - Ben Sheets (9-2, 2.83 ERA) vs Kevin Slowey (5-6, 3.47 ERA)

I got a real nice start this morning, drinking a my breakfast (a Leinie's Sunset Wheat) and trying to avoid Wilson, Katie's Aunt's behemoth of a cat. I don't even know if cat can sum up this beast, I would liken it to a Yeti or to Bigfoot. Yeah, it's like that. You might think that I am joking, but bring this subject up to Joey Kanz someday and he'll back me up on it. We got a late start this morning, but we decided to go out to a local bakery anyway to grab some munchies. We met up with Jess and his girlfriend, and everyone ordered some food except for me. I went to the car and filled up an empty 1 liter bottle of Mountain Dew with a mixture of Leine's Red, Sunset Wheat, and Summer Shandy. So in essence I just continued drinking my breakfast. It wasn't enough to get me going, but I was hyped up enough when I entered the stadium, and I was prepped to do some hardcore cheering. Only there was nothing to cheer about. Ben Sheets had a bad day, and he picked a rough time to do it. It was only his 2nd loss of the year, but he just didn't have his stuff today. He gave up an uncharacteristic 5 runs off of 9 hits (struck out 7) and got no help whatsoever from the offense. Kevin Slowey once again rocked us (in Milwaukee on June 13, he pitched 8 innings and held us to 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5) by going the distance (9 innings) and hold us to 0 runs on 3 hits while striking out 8. Ug-ga-ly. My friend Shawn (who resides in Minneapolis) is a Twins fan so he had no problem rubbing the loss into my skull. I would've beat him up, but aside from being a Twins fan, he's a really cool guy, so I'll just be laughing when our team makes the playoffs and his doesn't. There's not much else to mention here, as the Brewers lose this series against the Twins and fall to 2-4 against them this year. Final score Twins 5, Brewers 0.

Brewers record : 44 -37

So it sucks that the Brewers lost the series, especially when I paid $60 to fill up Joey Kanz's gas tank to get up here. All in all, it was a great weekend, and although I spent plenty of money on food and beer, you can't really put a price on good times with good friends. I miss hanging out with Mike and Katie, and I hope that someday they will decide to move back down to the city. I really don't see that happening though, because Mike's forestry degree requires him to work in places where there are forests. I don't really that the Urban Jungle of Milwaukee qualifies as the forest, but I'll seek some clarification on that by contacting my State Senator. This weekend was almost perfect, but since we missed out on the first few innings of Saturday's game, we missed all of the Brewers' offense in the series. Oh well, at least the Brewers are now 3-3 on this roadtrip, with a 4 game series against Arizona coming up. If they split that, then they have a successful roadtrip (playing .500 on the road is great for any team, even the mighty Red Sox), but if they win 3 of 4, then we have ourselves a winning road trip. That would be beautiful, but I'm perfectly fine with .500 ball on the road because we get The Keg rocking back in Milwaukee.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Arizona Diamondbacks June 30 (Monday) - July 3 (Thursday) at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ

- pookon -

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

Brewers @ Braves 6/23 - 6/25 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 26 - Milwaukee Brewers @ Atlanta Braves June 23 - June 25 at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA

The Atlanta Braves used to be the Milwaukee Braves. Blah blah blah blah. You've heard it all before, either somewhere else or from me on this blog. I'll spare you from that history lecture. I will however point out the obvious - this roadtrip is super important to to the Brewers. 10 games in 11 days on a place where the Brewers have been traditionally horrid - the road. I wish what happened on the road would stay on the road, but it turns out that road wins/losses count as much as home wins/losses in the standings column. A bit of good news came as we enter this series - MLB average leader Chipper Jones would most likely be out the entire series with hamstring issues. He's batting somewhere around .390 with 17 homeruns and 48 RBIs. We'll certainly be alright without having that productive bat in the lineup, although I'm certain that the Braves will not be. The Braves are very much like the Brewers in the fact that they play so well at their home field (Turner Field) and poorly on the road (everywhere else). This series also posses a conundrum for me - I have Mark Teixeira and Chipper Jones on my Fantasy Team. Both of those guys have been providing some much needed offense to my Team "Tap the Keg" (a slang for either attending a game or opening the roof at Miller Park) and I want them to contribute, just not when it's against the Brewers. We'll see what happens. Now, on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Monday) - Ben Sheets (9-1, 2.59 ERA) vs Jo-Jo Reyes (3-5, 4.48 ERA)

Ben Sheets = domination. That is why he is our #1 starter and also why we have no chance of resigning him once he becomes a free agent after the season. I called it when the season started - Ben Sheets would be absolutely amazing, stay healthy, and finish the year with a career high in victories. Following this year, he will collect a massive paycheck from one of the big market teams (New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels/Dodgers) but I hope with every hope/wish that is bestowed upon me that he doesn't end up a member of the Chicago Cubs. I think that that metaphysical dagger to the heart would hurt more than an actual dagger to the heart. I hope that I don't ever have to experience either of those, but I may very well do that because Ben Sheets is pitching too well this year to not collect an oversized paycheck next year. Today, Ben Sheets pitched a complete game 4 hitter. The only blemish was when he allowed a run in the 4th inning. That's how amazing Ben Sheets was today - he always just 1 run and it's a blemish on his record. The other pitchers on this staff would kill to have that run line. The Brewers scored 4 runs, but today they could have gotten away with only scoring half of that. But with a 4-0 lead by the 3rd inning, I bet Ben Sheets settled in a little easier and just went about pitching like the dominant SoB that he is. Ben Sheets is Brewers baseball. Boom! Final score Brewers 4, Braves 1.

Brewers record : 42 - 34

Game 2 (Tuesday) - Dave Bush (4-7, 4.94 ERA) vs Charlie Morton (1-1, 4.24 ERA)

The Brewers got off to a quick 4-0 lead, and they have the Braves defense to thank for that. The Braves committed an atrocious 4 errors in the game which led to 2 unearned runs, but it should have been a whole lot worse than that if the Brewers were able to further capitalize on that. Dave Bush followed up his strong start against the Blue Jays with another impressive start against the Braves. Dave Bush looks like he found an error in his game and is slowly lowering his ERA back to a respectable number. Bush pitched 7 innings, allowing just 1 run and struck out 5, nearly mimicking Ben Sheets' start yesterday. Looks like Big Ben's mojo is rubbing off on everyone else. Let's just hope that it continues, because Dave Bush has the ability to be a very good #4 if not #3 pitcher in the rotation. The Brewers offense scored 4 runs today, which turned out to be just enough for the victory. Once again, I'm not just pointing out the obvious, I'm just saying that Torres picked a day to prove that he was indeed human, as he struggled a bit in the 9th inning. He walked Kelly Johnson, then Mark Teixeira socked a homerun to make this a 1 run game. It got interesting when the tying run was able to reach 3rd with 2 outs, but Torres got Corky Miller to line out to JJ Hardy and the bullet was successfully dodged, Matrix style. It wasn't pretty, but Torres earned his 12th save of the year and more importantly, the Brewers (and Dave Bush) got the win today. That win guarantees the series win, which is huge on the road. Since this is the 1st series out of 3 on this roadtrip, it's good to start it off on a good note. Now - aim high and go for the sweep. Final score Brewers 4, Braves 3.

Brewers record : 43 - 34

Game 3 (Wednesday) - Jeff Suppan (4-6, 4.05 ERA) vs Jorge Campillo (3-2, 2.54 ERA)

Suppan wasn't that bad today, but he also wasn't that good. He was just kind of average. He gave up 4 runs off of 9 hits (pretty average for Suppan, who pitches to contact) but took the loss because the Brewers offense was once again stymied by Campillo. The offense managed only 4 hits, and scored only in the 2nd inning by putting a little rally together. One positive note that I will throw out here is that Mike Rivera continues to impress as the backup catcher. He went 1-3 today, with an RBI that accounted for the 1st run and scoring on Weeks' double, which accounted for the 2nd run. That kind of makes Mike Rivera accountable for all of the runs scored today. Not too damn bad for a guy who only has started 10 games this year. Now this stat may be a little overinflated since it's in a limited amount of at bats, but Rivera is batting .325 on the year. For a guy who plays once every 8 days, I can't imagine how he stays sharp since he never gets to pinch hit because Yost is reluctant to use his backup catcher. I was whining and moaning for Vinny Rotino to be the backup catcher, but Rivera has done one hell of a job back there, both offensively and defensively. That's really about all I have to say about this game, since the Brewers were beaten by the Braves and will have to settle with the series victory. I'll totally settle for that every time, although it feels so much sweeter on the road. Final score Braves 4, Brewers 2.

Brewers record : 43 - 35

I can't stress how important it is for the Brewers to win on the road. The road really has been a ginormous thorn in the Brewers' shoe for as long as I can remember. We took this series, now we have to go up to Miller Park Northwest and take another one from those Twinkies. It's gonna be rough, because the Twins are on a ridiculous hot streak right now, and they have won 9 straight games. I planned on going up to Minneapolis to visit Mike and Katie Bates and take my annual roadtrip up to the Twin Cities. I have a lot of friends up there, whom I met over the course of several years through my friendship with Mike. Mike went to the University of Minnesota, and all of these people I now call friends are his former roommates, and they all still hang out and stay in touch. They're a close knit group of friends, and they have been very cordial to me by allowing me to crash at their houses/apartments over the last few years since Mike has left Minneapolis. It'll be very good to see them all again. I'm using Joey Kanz for his car, and he's going to drive me up there and attend his very first game at the "giant muffin" known by local residents as the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The Twins stuck it to the Brewers by winning 2 of 3 at Miller Park, here's hoping that we can stick it back to them up here.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Minnesota Twins June 27 (Friday) - June 29 (Sunday) at the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN

- pookon -

http://www.pookon.com/

email: pookondotcom@gmail.com

Brewers vs Orioles 6/20 - 6/22 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 25 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Baltimore Orioles at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

I don't know too much about the Baltimore Orioles, other than the fact that they have been the laughing stock of the AL East since the departure of Cal Ripkin Jr. I went to Baltimore with my family back in 2000 when my Dad was attending a conference. Our hotel room was situated right downtown, and overlooked both Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium (home of the Baltimore Ravens). I could look down into the baseball stadium, but I couldn't attend a game because the Orioles were out of town that week. That little tidbit from my life is the only connection that I have with the Orioles and the only thing that I could think of to put in the opening section of this blog. I'd also like to point out that the Orioles and currently not in last place in their division (that distinction goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, who were just swept out of town by the Brewers.) I'd also like to point out that the Blue Jays fired their manager after getting swept by the Brewers. That's kinda rough. We played so goos that we cost someone their job. Sucks for him. As for the Orioles, despite featuring a line up of players that I don't know (with the exception of Brian Roberts, and I only know of him because he was rumored to be traded to the Cubs in the offseason. Every post I read on mlbtraderumors.com seemed to be filled with trade talk of Brain Roberts or CC Sabathia, both of which remained with their team during the Winter.) the Orioles are actually one of the surprise teams this year (along with the Tampa Bay Rays.) That's about all I can say about the Orioles, so on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Friday) - Jeff Suppan (4-5, 3.92 ERA) vs Radhames Liz (1-0, 6.27 ERA)

Jeff Suppan picked a bad time to have arguably the worst start in his career, although the report was that it was just his worst start in the last 10 years. Since he's only been pitching in the majors for 14 years, it doesn't make it sound any better to say it's the worst in 10 years. Here's how bad it was - Suppan allowed 6 runs on 7 hits while walking 2 in 1 2/3 of an inning. That's right ladies and gents, Suppan failed to make it out of the 2nd inning. The Brewers offense backed him up a little bit as they scored 5 runs through the first inning. So after 3 complete, it was the Orioles 6, and the Brewers 5. Normally it would have been ok, but the Brewers offense got shut down after that. The Orioles managed to tack on 3 more runs in the final 6 innings. The Brewers bullpen (mainly Carlos Villanueva, with 4 innings pitched) did a good job eating up innings, but the offense failed to bail out Suppan after his horrid start. There's not much left to say about this game, but there are two more games left in the series to close out this homestand. Final score Orioles 8, Brewers 5.

Brewers record : 39 - 34

Game 2 (Saturday) - Seth McClung (5-3, 3.79 ERA) vs Daniel Cabrera (5-3, 4.46 ERA)

Seth McClung continues to dazzle since he joined the starting rotation. I wonder how many more good starts it will take out of McClung before I stop mentioning how much of a surprise he has been and just mention that he is a bona fide starting pitcher. Today McClung went 6 2/3 innings, and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. He also struck out 6, but ended up walking 5 batters. That's the only part of his line that troubles me, as his main flaw in his past as always been his lack of control. Seeing him walk 5 batters troubles me, but if those runs don't end up scoring, then it's kind of like no harm, no foul. Eventually it could become a problem, but if the defense buckles down and limits the damage, then I'm alright with it. I didn't get to watch this game because I was playing in a beer pong tournament with Brodey in Chicago. On the way down, we got AM 620 on the radio long enough to hear all of the Brewers offense (they scored 1 run in the 1st inning and 2 runs in the 3rd) but thankfully not long enough to hear McClung give up 2 runs in the 6th inning. Shouse pitched the 8th inning, and Torres pitched the 9th, getting his 11th save of the year. Looks like I also have to stop talking about what a surprise Torres has been in the closer role as well. Corey Hart is quietly putting together an amazing season, hitting a 2 run homerun, and he is consistently batting around .300 since the year began. They have an award for WE Energies High-Energy Player of the Year (Bill Hall won it in 2006, JJ Hardy won it in 2007, and Ryan Braun is the early favorite to win it in 2008) but they should have a Corey Hart award for most under appreciated player on the team, which Corey Hart would win every single year. Oh yeah, and the Brewers won today. I probably should mention that in case you didn't already know. Oh, and Brodey and I sucked down in Chicago as we went 0-2 in the tournament and failed to represent Milwaukee in the midst of all those Cubs fans. I feel like I not only let Brodey down, but I let my city down as well. Hopefully I have another chance to stick it to the city of Chicago. Until then - Final score Brewers 3, Orioles 2.

Brewers record : 40 - 34

Game 3 (Sunday) - Manny Parra (7-2, 4.29 ERA) vs Garrett Olson (5-3, 5.01 ERA)

Manny Parra is an absolute stud, although he didn't really look like one today. He was unusually wild today (I blame lack of confidence, which is common among youngsters) as he walked 6 batters in 5 innings. He once again left after a short start, but the Brewers had the lead at that point thanks to Hart and Hall hitting early homeruns. Prince Fielder chipped in with two of his own and, and has now hit 4 homeruns over the course of this homestand. Can we say that the big man is heating up? God I sure hope so. If he gets it going, we have arguably the best 2-5 men in the lineup in all of baseball. It's also worth mentioning that the Brewers defense turned 5 double plays today, which is one of the reasons why those 6 walks didn't really haunt us at all. The only problem with Parra only going 5 innings was that the Brewers needed to empty out the bullpen to finish the game. DiFelice, Riske and Mota all contributed with 1 scoreless inning apiece. And then it got interesting. Remember that 8-7 game against Toronto (the one where Bush had a no-hitter going in the 8th inning)? Remember when I bitched about overusing Torres? Today was another game that he shouldn't have been pitching. Mota, in his 2nd inning of work today, started off the 9th inning by walking two batters. With the tying run in the on-deck circle, Ned made the U.S. Cellular call to the bullpen and brought in Salomon Torres. Torres got his 12th save on the year by inducing the 5th and final double play of the game. Final score Brewers 7, Orioles 3.

Brewers record : 41 - 34

With the series win wrapped up with the victory today, the Brewers just completed a 6 - 3 homestand, which improves their home record to 25 - 13. In case you're not very good with numbers and math in general, that equates to pretty damn good. If only they can play .500 ball on the road... They are sitting pretty in the NL Central, but they still trail the Cubs and the Cardinals by a few games. There's still plenty of time to catch them though, because we still have this upcoming 10 game road trip and 10 game homestand before the All-Star break. That is the theoretical halfway point of the season, which is plenty of time to make a push for the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. That's thinking too far ahead for me, so I'm just going to concentrate on the upcoming road series. It's going to be a tough one, as the Brewers head North to take on the Minneapolis Twins, then down to the dirty South to face the Atlanta Braves, and then they head West young man to take on the Arizona Dbags...err...Dbacks. These next 20 games wull set us up for the remainder of the season. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Since I'm so late on this posting, I know how they did on the road. I had hoped for a 6-4 roadtrip, but you're gonna have to sit tight and wait for my blog wrap-up to see how they did. It's that or go to Brewers.com if you don't already know the outcomes. I'd prefer you wait, because I get more hits that way. Check back soon, as I have a whole lot of catching up to do. Smell ya later.

Next up - Milwaukee Brewers vs Atlanta Braves June 23 (Monday) - June 25 (Wednesday) at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA

- pookon -

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