Waking a sleeping giant?

Perhaps Boston woke a sleeping giant back in the middle of May when Milwaukee was swept? Since then the Brewers have unleashed a reign of terror on National League foes.

This afternoon, Milwaukee's offense was in full swing with a convincing 10-1 win over 1st place Arizona. This homestand ends with a back-to-back sweep over division contending teams in the NL (AZ & Houston). Manny Parra (4-2) continued to pitch effectively by going 7 strong innings striking out eight batters and giving up one earned run. Parra also retired the last 14 batters. In the last two games, Manny has won both games and struck out a total of 14 batters. Not bad for a rookie winning 3 of his last 4 outings. This is great news since Milwaukee is in need of an effective southpaw.

As for the offense....

Corey Hart (7) smacked a three run in-the-park homer, which is the first one since last summer when Prince Fielder did the same (solo).

Russell Branyan (4) continued his hot streak with another dinger as well. Since his call-up May 24th, Russell the Love Muscle is batting .321!

Gabe Kapler came off the bench to start in center for the horridly slumping Mike Cameron. Perhaps Gabe convinced Ned Yost today that he deserves it full-time by going 4 for 5 with a double, three singles, and an RBI. This Happen'in Hebrew deserves a shot at starting!

Ryan Braun added to the mix by nailing a triple, which is his third of the season.

Jason Kendall continued his mini-slump by going o'fer, he is now batting .244 on the season. He was batting 7th today (Councell was 8th), making no sense to me or probably any one else but Ned Yost, for that matter.

VOTE OR DIE

In the words of P Diddy, he will kill you if you don't vote for Braun and Fielder, you will parish. Also, when are we gonna stop seeing the Billy Hall-Allstar Vote propaganda.

As for Ben Sheets...he needs to be selected, not voted.

Vote early vote often!

McClung Leads Offensive Charge!?!?

It often times helps to have a pitcher who was once a power hitter back in his high school days. Seth McClung, who holds a high school record for home runs back home in West Virginia, let the offensive charge last night for the Crew. Despite not having a hit in his MLB career, the right handed Scotsman had two timely hits off of future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.

On the mound, McClung (3-2) was even better going six innings and giving up only one run (6 hits, no walks). So after a pretty shaky outing against Atlanta, the red headed step child was able to rebound rather nicely.

Both Prince Fielder (10) and Ryan Braun (16) both went yard, with the latter off of Randy Johnson. Which by the way, Congrats To!

Even more interesting was Ned Yost going with Brian Shouse (2) as the closer in the both the eighth and ninth innings. Especially since Torres has had some decent rest as of late. Tim Dillard had a nice inning as well (hld 1).

So, the win streak hits 5 straight with this win. They have won 9 of 11 games with all signs pointing to a renaissance in hitting. Both Braun and Fielder have been on a tear lately resulting in their power numbers climbing. Fielder is being far more hesitant at the plate and working the pitch counts, waiting for a mistake. Although Braun has been striking out more, it is pretty clear that he has been aiming for the fence as of late. Which isn't a bad think especially if you have 16 home runs by the first week of June.

-For me, seeing Billy Hall in the dug out makes me feel uneasy. To see him on the field not so much, because all he has to do is play. But when I see him chummy with Prince Fielder, I wonder to myself what awful things he is discussing with him. His distaste for the club and Ned Yost is pretty evident. Now for the young Fielder to be around that is pretty unhealthy, especially with the idea of having him commit to a long-term contract. He already has bad taste in his mouth from spring training, now one of his close friends that he looks up to is PROBABLY bad mouthing the Brewers. Doug Melvin is doing what a good GM should do, and that's hold on to him and use him in unique situations or against righties. Despite my earlier posts of having Billy traded, perhaps Melvin knows a lot more about baseball then I do (wink wink) and he probably has a good plan up his sleeve.

-Milwaukee could "fortify" their club with a strong draft come Thursday. I don't really think the fans realize how important this day is. Milwaukee has enough picks to really bolster the pitching and plug other holes that are in the foreseeable future. Although Wisconsin cringed when Melvin traded away Cordero (along with Linebrink), most didn't realize that we were able to land the 35th & 53rd picks in Thursdays draft! Jack Zduriencik, who is the VP of player personnel, has been successful in building a baseball team as well as a scouting team. This team has been targeted and in some cases lured away from opposing teams such as Cincinnati. Makes you feel good to know that a lot of questions the front office has will be answered Thursdays, pending of course if the Crew can then sign them!

-Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamel both crack Baseball's Prospect Hot Sheet! These two gems are going to be great players at the big league level!

Enrout to the top....

Milwaukee came from behind, again, last night in their 3-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Crew are now 30-28 and tied for third with the Houston Astros. They are still 7 games back from the Cubs, but Deadspin notes that Chicago will be on the road 23 of their next 32 games (hmmm?).

Jeff Suppan gave up 3 runs including a home run last night. He did not pitch too bad thanks impart to the run support. Earlier in the season, giving up 3 runs meant a loss. Soup also gave up 7 hits, but only 2 walks, striking out 6. He last seven innings.

The duo of Mota and Torres is working out nicely for the Brewers. Mota is most effective in the set-up role, that's for sure as he tends to get flustered easily after walking the lead-off or going behind in the count. What's nice about the closing team is Brian Shouse being used when needed with his side-left arm throw.

Torres looked like a true veteran out there, throwing well positioned pitches, working the counts, and not losing his composure. He never lost his cool though, you put Gagne in that same spot that Torres was in (bases loaded-1 out) and you will not have the same out come.

Prince Fielder is definitely hiding round steak under his bed at night to snack-on while his wife is asleep. Keep doing that Prince, just don't get caught by her. She probably had to work pretty hard in converting you in the first place. Your game winning HR (9) was a towering blast of protein!

"I'm a big-time third-base stealer." So says Prince, according to Madison.com

He does say some pretty funny things in post-game interviews.

Both David Riske and Eric Gagne aren't coming off the DL any time soon. Both are recovering slowly. Riske did play a soft toss prior to yesterdays game, but looked no where near game form.

I bet occasionally, more so in the past then now. Here is a break down of Brewers vs Diamondbacks.

Miller Park is rewarding the rick....by allowing free parking for hybrid vehicles. Because you know, the working-class/blue collar citizens of Milwaukee all drive those bitch magnets around.

Top Milwaukee Scout Jack Zduriencik has scouted more than 150 players at the high school and college level......since FEBRUARY!

Outside prospective on the great Sausage Races at Miller Park.

Finally, the batting averages start to rise...

Prince .290

Braun .297

Hart .292 (down from the 300's)

Those that are pretty bad....

JJ Hardy .245

Billy Hall .227 (joke)

Rickie Weeks and Mike Cameron have struck out 88 times so far this year. For the love of God...Mike missed the first 25 games.

-Why did Ned Yost bench Sundays all-pine team? I would have to say that JJ and Rickie should sit more to make room for our bench stars. Until they raise their batting averages and start delivering more hits.

-Out of a (close to) 1000 polled, 57% think the Brewers should trade Billy Hall

My question you Milwaukee is who the hell will they get in return for him? $5mm/year!

JSONLINE.COM

-Brewers grab top viewing spots in the Milwaukee market, thanks to the weekend sweep. This is truly a baseball town.

Trading Billy Hall?

DO IT.

This player is a career .262 hitter/.227 on the season....and he's now asking to be traded because he got benched. Hey Billy...you suck. Way to back up your stance with a LAZY throwing error-5. You may want to do your homework and see that Upton is a tad faster than the average base runner!

Pathetic. No tears will be shed.

-----------------------------------------------

AZ 3

MILW 4

I will write on this first thing tomorrow! Woo hoo! 6-1 on the homestand.

OVER .500!

The Milwaukee Brewers are a game over .500 today (29-28) with a good ol' fashion butt kicking over the Houston Astros.

The bats came alive for Milwaukee with big help from the bench. Gabe Kapler hit a double and a triple in todays game. He is now batting .306 in 38 at bats, plus 4 home runs. He has been a great boost to the moral of this team. Gabe is a player, coach, and motivator.

Ryan Braun hit his 15th home run of the season today. This kid has had a phenominal May and will earn the teams player of the month and possibly National League's Player of the Month.

Russell Branyan hit his third homerun since being called up only a week ago.

Gabe Kapler, Mike Rivera, and Craig Councel all came off the bench to go 6-12! This resulted in two doubles, a triple, and 5 RBI's. That is some much needed help off the bench which was not present during the months of April and May.

Dave Bush was most surprising throwing 7 solid innings, leading the Crew to 10-1 win.

-Ryan Bran bobble head day. Call me old school. I don't get too worked up over bobble heads or any other gimick. For me, all I need is a ball game.

-Gabe Gross started out as a Brewer, but is having some good games as a Ray. He hit a lead-off HR in the 10th to lead the Rays over the Central leading White Sox.

-NBA Finals are set: Boston vs. LA Lakers. Of course, all media outlets are hyping this as a "Renewed Rivalry". That is not the case. This will be a one-year thing. Plus, those players of the 60's & 80's were far more classy. I may tune in. Meanwhile, David Stern is sitting naked in his bed thinking wonderful things about this match up.

Sheets Goes The Distance.....almost (28-28)

Apparently 9 2/3 innings wasn't enough for Ben Sheets (6-1) to make him happy in last nights 4-1 win over Houston. Giving up seven hits, only one walk, and an earned run in another solid outing for the pitcher who is trying to raise his net worth before the deadline. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth Ned Yost did something that actually gained some respect from me. He had the balls to pull Sheets and put in Torres (5) to get the easy one-out save. Why?
Well, let us not forget that Sheets loves to get the weirdest injuries and oddest times. His pitch count was up to 122 and Yost knew that he wouldn't have an extra day off this coming week so he pulled him. Nothing wrong in that. In all, I think that Sheets pitched and Ned coached great games last night. Last nights win was only Sheets' second win in the hard month of May.

On the otherside of the plate, the Brewers' middle of the order came up big last night. Both Cory Hart and Russell Branyan had two hits each Branyan went yard by blasting the ball in to the Mountain Dew Deck. That HR by Branyan was the third longest dinger in Miller Park history. Prince Fielder must be secretely eating slabs of meat while away from home/wife because he too went yard (8) for The Crew for the second straight night. That is a good trend to see.

Not a bad way to end a pretty crappy month (13-16). On the bright side, the Brewers have won 6 of their last 8 games to end the month.

The beginining of June looks to be a tough schedule, starting with a series at home with Arizona, traveling to Denver (where we play pretty bad), and then right back at Houston where the Brewers were swept only weeks ago.

-Carlos Villenueva, is sad he's out of the rotation, but is kicking ass in the relief role!

-Jason Kendall continues to prove his critics wrong! In last night's game he threw out 3 of 4 base stealers (attempts). We all remember gripping during the off season that Melvin let lazy ass Estrada (who couldn't throw out his grandmother) for Kendall (who couldn't throw out his mother). In fact, I think Estrada was near the bottom of the league in toss-outs while Kendall was just above him on the stat sheet.

-Eric Gagne had to leave the team to tend to his wife, who is experiencing difficulties with her six-month pregnancy. I hope everything works out for he and his family!

-Yovanni Gallardo is hesitant to speed up his recovery. Take your sweet ass time Yo. At your age, you can't rush a return. At Sheets age, you have to!

-USA Today annalyzes why teams are struggling, including Milwaukee, during the first two months of play.

-Milwaukee will have 6 picks in the first 62 on Thursday's draft day. Melvin must be licking his chops. Although this class of draftees is average at best, there are a few diamonds out there. What to address? Left handed pitching, 3rd base, shortstop, and First Base. The latter may give us an indicator of how much faith the brass have in Prince Fielder. With Matt LaPorta tearing it up in the minors as an outfielder, he could easily step in to his old first base role. Not to mention Fielder's agen is a prick who will try to bleed the Brewers out of every dollar they have to offer. By drafting another first baseman it puts the pressure on Prince and LaPorta. Hence giving the Brewers more options. That's just me thinking aloud however. Don't mean much. I did not know that in 2005 the Brewers picked Jemile Weeks in the eighth round, but he opted to go to college where he jacked up his value. He could be another option for the Brewers in the second round.

-Neat story on Gary Vanden Berg, the man behind the scenes who makes Miller Park look it's sharpest. I have to say, that on High-Def, Milwaukee's turf looks the leagues best. Granted, they have a controlled climate. But you have to give credit to this guy. Every once in a while I will see some rough spots out in right field while attending games in person. Other than that, it looks squared away!

-Story on Jeff Suppan and other big league stars who support our troops overseas. Too bad Barry Zito is having such an awful year as his Strikeout For Troops program relies on his strike outs. Soup's Troops is a program Jeff launched that provide a day at the park for returning vets. Good for them...just wondering why there aren't more stars doing this?

-Astros limp out of the Suds City with a 4 game losing streak. We all know what that feels like. Looks like they are going to try rebuilding their farm system with fresh young talent through the draft. I could see them unloading a solid veteran in return for some rising prospects. The Brewers are in just the role to be on the receiving end of that! Although that would be doubtful, considering the fact that both play in the Central and are neck and neck right now.

-Manny Rameriz hit his 500th HR last night. He calls himelf the best right fielder in Boston's history. No, I don't think so. Especially for someone who batted .214 in May.
-Dice K to the 15 day DL.........Ortiz to follow
-The Kid, Ken Griffey Jr, should be hitting his 600th any game now. Good for him.
-Jay Bruce hit the game winning homerun in the 10th over the Braves. Cincinnati is loving this kid. He's the real deal and will be ROY for the National League. He will put out Braun-like numbers in the same amount of time (called up last week Monday).