Brewers-Cardinals: rubber match today

Well, it's been bumpy ride the last couple of weeks. However, Milwaukee has still remained a game out of first place with last night's win over the Cardinals. Thanks impart to Prince Fielder who's hustle beat-out an infield hit, thus making way for the go-ahead run.

Tuesday's game was horrible. But let's face it....Wainwright is a Brewer killer. As a result, the Crew mustered together only a couple of hits and scored no runs. They stranded a butt load of base runners too.

Yovanni earned the loss and dropped to 8-6 on the year. Wainwright is now 9-5.

______________

In last night's game Jeff Suppan pitched another solid game against his old teammates. Granted, he did give up the only (4) runs of the game. But that's a given, Soup will always give up 3 to 4 runs and it's the offenses' job to get back in to it. The thing that sucks about that is....well....the offense has to do that every game. Jeff Suppan lasted 5 2/3 innings last night, striking out only 2 batters and walking 4. Is it just me...or are the Brewers' pitchers walks starting to rise again. I hope this isn't a returning problem. Yo had averaged a walk an inning on Tuesday.

Trevor Hoffman gave up a lead-off double, but still held on for his 19th save. Mitch Stetter also stranded an inherited base-runner...doing what he does best.

Mat Gamel blasted his 3 HR of the season, finally putting the Crew on the board. He also played some solid defense, aside from his one mess-up when he fielded that in-field hit and didn't toss it to 2B. He also made a premature decision in picking up a rolling bunt down the 3B line that may/could've rolled foul. But heh, the guy fielded some hard hitting grounders and made some key plays.

Ryan Braun went 2-4 with a double

Craig Counsell, who was the go-ahead run also tallied a clutch double.

-Manny Parra will start in today's game. To make room for him, Chris Narveson is being sent back down to Nashville. You can expect to see Mike Burns sent down when Dave Bush comes back next week Thursday in Cincy.

-Should Milwaukee make a run at Roy Halladay? In turn, giving up Escobar or Gamel along with another high-end prospect? Why not? With the Milwaukee Brewers, you need to live in the NOW....man. You can't constantly be looking 2-3 years down the road. You ride momentun when you're a "small market" team. Here's my spiel: Trade JJ Hardy and Brett Lawrie for Doc Halladay. Lawrie is young enough where the Blue Jays can mold him in to a whatever position they want. Toronto is in CANADA...where Lawrie is from. Stick with Escobar and bring him up in JJ's place. You could also platoon Counsell and Escobar until he gets the hang of it. If the Lawrie and Escobar aren't enough, why not explore other options in Salome? Kendall isn't going anywhere...anytime soon and Mike Rivera is a solid back-up who can step in to the starting role. Halladay in under contract through 2010 @ 14.25MM this season, and 15.25MM next season. Sheboygan Press says that Milwaukee could then unload him if he's too expensive for next year or keep him, thus putting Yo in his place at the #2 spot. Sounds good on paper. But is it worth giving up a JJ or Escobar? For me, I'm cool with JJ getting packaged.

-Cool story on how the Brewers have "invigorated" the Appleton's minor-league team.

-Great news! Another Cubbie is heading to the DL. Typically, I feel bad for those who are injured...but it's the Cub's. And I f$(*#(@'n hate the Cubs. Ryan Dempster has a tear in his wrist....which is quite similar to what Rickie Weeks endured....hmmmm. Trenie pointed that out on her Twitter page. Stupid Twitter....good for something finally!

-Bushy will start Friday up in Appleton for the Timber Rattlers, pitching 4 innings. Nice treat for the Baby Brewers.

Tidbits

HERE is a neat little story by Baseball America about future call-ups to look for in the second half of the season. Alcides Escobar is listed at #2. How long with Macha & Melvin give JJ to snap out of this slump? Granted, he's been hitting pretty decent as of late...but Hardy would make great trade-bait w/ Cory Hart.

This D-Bag predicts the Cubs to wake-up and take the NL Central.

Huntsville is at risk of losing their AA team in the Milwaukee farm system. Their attendance is near the bottom of the league and Gord Ash is threatening to move the team. Where to? Hmmm....

Lambeau Field and Miller Park rank in the top 10 for best fan "experience". Lambeau was first and Miller Park was 7th. Remember last a year ago or so, when Sports Illustrated ranked Miller Park the second-best place (behind Jacobs Field) to watch a MLB game?

Ryan Braun: Wisconsin's sport villain part deux

Well, it's safe to say that Doug Melvin was a bit pissed of with Ryan Braun's statements. Melvin did the right thing in sticking up for the front office and the rest of the team. Ryan Braun should close his mouth for now on. Don't be like Milton Bradley, Ozzie Guillen, and other players and coaches that through their own teammates under the bus.

Like I said, I believe Braun's frosted tips (hair) are starting to affect his brain.

Brewers inquire about Vazquez

ESPN is reporting that Melvin has called the Braves regarding coveted starting pitcher Javier Vazquez. T.H from JSonline counters this story by mentioning that there is no ideal match, because A. Escobar and Gamel are off limits.

Other ideas:

Buster mentions Corey Hart as a target of Atlanta's.

Hart for Vazquez? I love it. But it doesn't seem like Atlanta would come out even in this trade.

More HERE

Oh...and of course....Melvin denies that the two sides ever spoke...

HERE's another idea.....Halladay would be a great fit in Milwaukee....is this idea too far fetched?

Corey Hart's name has surfaced quite a bit in trade rumors. I would love it if Milwaukee could find a taker. Granted, he's only batting .250 or so, but he was an All Star last season and he WILL come out of this slump. Last time I checked, Atlanta was 2 games out and about to take on the Chicago Cubs. I forsee the Cubs winning this series, thus leaving Atlanta to play Colorado before the AS break. At that time, in the NL East the Braves will appear to be out of it for the time being, thus making them sellers. Of course, Hart would have to be packaged with a "player to be named later" or a second-rate prospect like Vinny Rottino.

If Hart were to leave, McGehee would then move to the OF on a permanent basis. Casey isn't the best infielder and would do better in rightfield. Gamel would then start everyday at 3B and Hall would then have to platoon with Counsell at 2B (ugh, not appealing). Gerut and Frank could then be used as outfield warm-up tossers in-between innings.

Brewers escape Chicago....with one win

What an ugly, pathetic series to listen to over the radio. Having been up north since Thursday morning, I was able to avoid watching this train wreck of a series.

Where to begin. Well, for starters the Milwaukee Brewers were out played in ever facet of the series. From coaching to pitching to fielding to hitting. Milwaukee looked awful. Aside from it's kickass performance on Saturday, the Crew looked overmatched in every way.

Ryan Braun put it best.....Milwaukee needs to add another pitcher. Imagine, if the Milwaukee would add one left-handed pitcher....Manny Para would be sent to the pen and could make spot starts for the remainder of the season. Bush would be back (after the AS break) and suddenly the rotation would be back to "average", which may just be enough in the competitive NL Central. Let's face it, Chicago has the best rotation, but their bats are all jacked up right now. I do fear the day that they come alive and match the level of skill that their starters are shelling out.

No need to write more on this mess of a weekend. Let's just say this...Milwaukee came one bad call away from potentially splitting the series. Had the joke of a call (ball thrown by DeFelice) been called a strike, I wouldn't be surprised if Milwaukee escaped with a win. Wishful thinking though.

Fun game to watch

I had a good time watching the Crew pull a fast-one on the Mets. Granted, I was worried when I saw Mike Burns (1-1) give up a 2-run shot to David Wright in the first inning. However, after that low point Burns was spot-on and rocked through 6 and 2/3 innings to earn his first career win! He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, only 1 walk and 2 k's.

The most entertaining moment of the night was a 3-run double that Ryan Braun had. He lifted a shot in to leftfield, out of Gary Sheffield's (boooo) reach. The bases cleared and Braun rounded 3B when he noticed that the ball dropped out of the Schneider's hands at home plate. He decided to retreat to 3B when he saw Johan Santana throwing the ball. It sailed over the covering 3B and Braun trotted in for a 3-rbi double (inside the park, but it was an error). This is the second time in one week where a Brewer scored on his own hit (Corey Hart did previously).

Prince Fielder launched his 20th HR of the season.

Hart and Hardy are really starting to come out of their slumps. It's been mainly JJ Hardy who's been tested the most in the 2009 season. He started off in April with a .156 average, and then .333 in May. He then dipped again and is now hitting .313 over the past 12 games. MORE on JJ heating up.

Mike Cameron continues his month-long slump. This is to be expected, same thing happened last year. He's good for it.

-Mat Gamel looks like he's heading back down to Nashville. He's been on the bench the past 5 out of 6 games. Mainly due to left-handed batters. Casey McGehee has been making this decision a no-brainer for Melvin and Ash.

24th Round Pick Peter Fatse is on the up and up, now playing with the T-Rats after a brief stint in rookie ball.

Looks like Cleveland and Milwaukee are working out a deal....should be a steal for Milwaukee!

Jeff Suppan is on the market!

CLICK HERE for more details.
Apparently Billy Hall is going to be packaged with him!