After dropping 2 in a row to St. Louis, Milwaukee rebounded last night in a 4-2 win at Busch Stadium. Thanks impart to some small ball, the Brewers were able to claw their way back from being down 2 runs. The Cardinals got off to a quick start with solo jacks by Allen Craig and Matt Holliday off of the shaky Randy Wolf. Lucky for the Crew, Randy Wolf shook it off and pieced together one of the best postseason outing in franchise history. Albeit he has some fierce competition for that nod, but given the circumstances of the game (down 2 games to 1) I feel this is worthy of that make believe award.
Randall Wolfster (1-0) went 7 complete, giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits. He tallied 6 k's and 1 free pass. Wolf even contributed at the plate with a line drive double.
The bullpen did the rest. KRod pitched the 8th and gave up a hit and struck out 1 while John Axford collected his 2nd save of the postseason; giving up 1 hit to Lance Berkman (PH).
At the plate, Jerry Hairston Jr has been unreal! He went 2-4 with a double and a RBI last night and made some key defensive plays.
Jerry Hairston has been the unsung hero this offseason; heck even the month of September he has been on point. Doug Melvin knew exactly what he was getting when he made the mid-season move to bring in Hairston Jr. This veteran infielder can play anywhere on the field, most importantly, he was the fill-in for Rickie Weeks while he was on the mend for his twisted ankle. Felipe Lopez was brought in from Tampa's AAA team/affiliate as soon as Rickie's news broke that he would miss 4-6 weeks. Lopez got off to decent start with a 2 hit game in his first stint back at Miller Park, but it was obvious that Milwaukee needed somone larger than that. Hairston has World Series experience, although not much, but he did have 6 AB's with a hit back in 2009 with the Yankees. He also went 1 for 2 in the ALCS that year against the Angels.
Hairston Jr. brought his cornerstone defensive play to 2B and now he's the sure shot at 3B, in place of the struggling Casey McGehee. The 35 year-old is a leader in the club house and plays with raw emotions in the batter box. He makes contact with the ball and has been relied on a couple of times this postseason to deliver.
Thus far,Jerry has gone....
6 for 16 against the DBacks in the NLDS; with 2 key doubles, 2 walks, and 3 runs batted in. Against the Cardinals, his 6 for 16 with 3 doubles and 1 RBI line has been a reliable crutch in this offense. Especially over the past couple of games where Milwaukee's Braun & Fielder have failed to homer.
Tonight, it's Zack Greinke vs Jamie Garcia (LHP). Corey Hart and Carlos Gomez are starting in the outfield. Hopefully Hart will start to come around. He's been absolutely horrible so far.
Cordell Hart is hitting a piss poor .196 in the postseason play (2008 & 2011). Even worse, the Kentucky redneck is down to a .83 at the plate: 1 for 12, 3 strike outs, 2 walks in the NLCS.
Meanwhile, Nyjer Morgan (who is no stranger to hitting pitches in the dirt) is racking up a stellar average this October. Dude is hitting .310 at the plate and has driven in 3 runs. He's the spark that ignites this team. Nyjer is a must start in game 6 & 7.
Granted, Morgan can be way too much to handle at times (most of the times)....he's the missing piece in this Brewers puzzle of an outfield. He's much needed.
It's fun to read some of these looks from the nation's media outlets. Here are some that are worth reading....
New York Times looks in to the rivalry between St Louis and Milwaukee with an emphasis on beer making.
Wall Street Journal also touches on the suds series.... Did you know it costs $8 to buy a rice beer at Busch Stadium?!?! It's only 5.50 for a barley/hops brewed Miller at Miller Park.
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