2-4: Prince Ignites Offense

Prince Fielder picked a great time to snap out of his mini-funk last night against the Braves. Milwaukee hung on to beat the Atlanta 5-4 thanks impart to Fielder's 3 for 4 evening; he was apart of all 5 runs last night. He drove in 3 runs on three nicely placed singles and collected 2 runs. Furthermore, he seemed to have his confidence back at the plate; not necessarily swinging for the fence. Marco Estrada was just called up Tuesday evening and he had little time to prepare, but he had an solid outing in recording his first major league win. The ex-Washington National was able to play catch with his old teammate Will Nieves doing the play calling. He looked at ease and comfortable on the mound, never once showing any stress. All things considered, he did leave a fastball hanging for Jason Hayward to blast out of the park for a 3-run dinger. Other than that, he was johny on the spot with most of his pitches, seldomly having come from behind in the count. The bullpen was excellent last night and they sealed the deal for the win. Zach Braddock made his 2011 debut and had threw a scoreless 7th inning. In fact, Braddock-Loe-Axford didn't even give up a hit and they recorded 2 strike-outs. Now that's the 1-2-3 punch Milwaukee has been looking for. Keep in mind, this is against a very potent offense. Carlos Gomez recorded a timely hit and ran the base path very well. The man has blazing speed, along with Nyjer Morgan (who also collected a hit) that resulted in Gomez being tagged at the plate. If you ask me, he was safe. The very next play Mark Kotsay (2 for 2) drove in the decisive run that resulted in Prince sliding head first in to home. Although the television viewers at home (as well as Brian & Bill) all knew he was out. I would very much like to see Nyjer Morgan as a platoon outfielder until Corey Hart returns later this month (fingers crossed). Let him give Carlos Gomez a day or two off every week and then fill-in at RF, rotating with Kotsay & Almonte. He needs to see the field early-on this season, because once Hart comes back--he will go to a limited role that mainly involves pinch hitting/running. -Jeff Suppan signed a minor league contract with the Royals. He will be returning to the state of Missouri where he used to play for the Cardinals (twice in his career). Even better? We get to hear Yost bullshit "Soup pitched a good game this evening".