Crew Comes From Behind....Again

Once again I found myself having heartburn while watching the Brewers play. Regardless of Milwaukee smacking around Roy Oswalt in last nights 4-3 game, they couldn't seem to seal the deal and drive in runs. It wasn't until the 6th inning that Milwaukee was finally able to get Oswalt out of the game and start doing damage. Roy gave up 13 hits last night and 3 earned runs by the time he took his seat on the bench.

Milwaukee, not particulary known for their defense, made two highlight worthy plays during key moments of the game. Ryan Braun fielded a one hopper to left field and threw out Lance Berkman who tried to tap home plate on a head-first slide. Instead, Jason Kendall was able to blocke the plate with his left shin and get the out. To me, it was a toss-up. It could've gone either way. Regardless, the end result was Berkman and Cooper getting the boot.

The next noteworthy plays of the game was Jason Kendall springing up to field a soft bunt in front of homeplate. Kendall grabbed the ball and launched it to third to get the force out. This prevented the Astros from tacking on another would-be run.

The bullpen...The bullpen....The Bull pen.....You can't give enough credit to the relief team. They kept Milwaukee in it and ulitmately delivered a key win that took the series.

Trevor Hoffman worked his way out of his own jam and earned his 11th save, thus becoming the NL saves leader. McClung (1-1), Villanueva, and Coffey all did their part to prevent any further damage to their team and kept the game close. Jeff Suppan got the no-decision. He didn't pitch a horrible game, but certainly wasn't his best of the past 4 games.

*Billy Hall went 0 for 3 with two key strikouts (w/ RISP) and grounded out in to a weak-ass double play (w/ RISP). He's turning in to the same ol' Billy Hall. Macha is giving him plenty of opportunities to make a come-back. I would expect to see Billy Hall sent packing by the trade deadline. With Mat Gammel playing third and Counsell starting against righties. On secondbase Macha will also have Counsell and Escobar. So in theory, Counsell will be playing 140+ games this season. The loan team that could use him the most is the St. Louis Cardinals, a division rival. So this could turn out to be a little more complicated. But it's staring to unfold, Hall's days are numbered.


-Milwaukee FINALLY traded Tony Gwynn Jr. to the Padres for Jody Gerut, a 10-year veteran outfielder. Whatever. I guess it's a win for the Crew, because Gerut almost hit .300 last season and plays pretty decent defense. TGJ was a flop who could never find his place in the clubhouse. He'll probably fit in well in San Diego. As for Gerut, he will provided yet another left-handed bat on the bench for Kenny Macha. Remember the days when Milwaukee had a couple of lefties? Hell, now they have 5 (I think, of the top of my head). Apparently Melvin has recognized his key mistake of 2008, not enough lefties to match up with hurlers like Santanna of the Mets and Randy Johnson of the Giants.Tony Gwynn Sr. (dad) was the one who notified Tony Gwynn Jr. of the trade over breakfest yesterday morning. Cute. Now dad can talk about how big of a flop his son was while playing in Milwaukee while announcing Padre games.


-The Brewers, in need of another left-handed reliever (who doesn't have 2 lefties in their bullpen?) brought up RJ Swindle from AAA-Nashville. In return, The Sounds got back their below-average 2B Hernan Irb-I-suck.


-You guys remember John Kruk's pre-season words he had to say about Milwaukee's pitching. You know, that overgrown turd with small chicken legs? Well, he's eating his words now. The Brewers have the third best winning percentage. You can't blame him, I mean, the guy only knows about the Yankees, Ray, Mets, Phillies, and Boston...oh, and the Dodgers. If you're not one the afermentioned...forget it.

-So, now that we all know the trade between the White Sox and the Padres was all bullsh*t...we can now presume that the Padres are sending out warning flares to all NL teams that they are ready to move their star ace. The Chicago Cubs OR the Milwaukee Brewers will land him by the end of July.



Milwaukee-Minneapolis weekend preview. Should be a good series. There are alot of good match ups.