We all read or heard about the scouting report on St. Louis. They have great batting power and effective starting pitchers. Their weakness is their bull pen however, and the Milwaukee Brewers took advantage it last night; routing the Cardinals 6-3.
The Chaotic Celtic proved me wrong last night...again. I figured this red headed Gaelic wonder would flounder as we go in to the second half of the season. Instead, he flourished. Despite a two-RBI double given up to Troy Glaus early on in the game, McClung looked sharp and found his grove from the third inning on. Sadly, he was given the no-decision due to Salomon Tores making a costly mistake that Molina cashed in on for a home run to tie up the game in the ninth inning.
“One mistake,” Torres said. “That’s all I can say. One mistake to Molina, 0-1, too good of a pitch. I should have known better. I should have kept the ball down.” Yes it was a costly mistake, but the way he responded to his mistake is what makes him a winner. Sort of like a "it's not if you win or lose...but how you play the game" type feeling. He threw high in the strike zone instead keeping the pitch low for a grounder. He knew what he did wrong and I can assure you that he will correct it. As a result, Tores was able to hold on and earn the win (5-2)
Even more impressive and reassuring was the performance by the bull pen last night for Milwaukee that is. You couldn't have asked for a better outing by Mota, Gagne, and Riske. Only Mota and Riske had a walk a piece while Gagne was absolutely perfect with 2 K's. I truly believe that this is only the start of the turn around for the bull pen. With Riske pitching better in the second half in his career, plus Gagne out to prove that he is still an effective thrower, you can't help but feel positive. Mota still has a lot to prove. He was one bad pitch away from giving the Cards the lead.
As for the offense, you couldn't have asked for a better performance. Well, perhaps in the first couple of innings you could have. Clearly, our All Star Ryan Braun did struggle at the plate last night going 0-6. But that was about it. Both Rickie Weeks (9) and Billy Hall (13) homered for the Crew. The latter providing the heroics in the 10th when Hall blasted a shot to left-center. Quite a good game for Hall who has been making a turn around in the month of July.
Player of the game should be split between Jason Kendall and Billy Hall.
Kendall called a very good game and guided McClung out of the early game struggle. He also added 2 doubles and a single (3 Hits). Billy Hall also had 3 hits and the go ahead homer in the 10th.
JJ Hardy could also be thrown in there to with 4 hits of his own.
-Rightfield Bleachers referenced FanGraphs.com on their conclusion that Mike Cameron is under-appreciated by the Brewer fans. Every time I see his stats when he's about to bat, I wonder to myself "WOW". This cat has 15 HR's in only 63 games plus 39 RBI's. We should all realize that he is a strike out king. But when he makes contact, it can be very effective. His defense has been suspect through out the season thus far. You can't really blame him last night for the double by Glaus. That sun was vicious out in center.
-Ray Durham has a quick first step out of the batters box, evident last night.
-Eric Gagne was lights out for the Brewers last night after 4 piss-poor appearances.
-Chicago lost to Arizona 2-0. Milwaukee is now 2 games out of first. Hardin was impressive, so was Randy Johnson, only a little more.
-Is batting .400 impossible? Good reference to John Olerud in this story (Lawrie note at bottom). He was damn good for a short time while playing for the Blue Jays. I remember wondering why this man would play outfield with a batters helmet. He hit .400 until August!
-USA Today story on Milwaukee.
-St. Louis is favored tonight, again. Suppan (5-6. era 4.71) comes of the DL to avenge his horrid first half against Kyle Lohse (12-2!!! era 3.35). One should expect a high scoring affair.
-Teams sound off on Melvin's moves.
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