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August 2008 - Posts
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Nashville Sounds (59-81), 24.0 GB Game cancelled. Huntsville Stars (31-37), 9.0 GB RHP Mike Jones - (L, 1-6) 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K - 6.09 ERA
LF Michael Garciaparra - 2-2, HR (3), RBI - .347 BA
3B Guilder Rodriguez - 2-4, run - .253 BA
Brevard County Manatees (31-37), 10.0 GB LHP Chris Cody - (L, 4-5) 7.0 IP, 9 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K - 1.83 ERA
RF Mel Stocker - 2-4, 2 1B - .325 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy - 1-4, 2B, K - .292 BA
West Virginia Power (44-24), -- GB RHP Wily Peralta - (L, 0-1) 1.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K - 10.80 ERA
RHP Jose Garcia - 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K - 6.02 ERA
DH Steffan Wilson - 1-4, RBI, 2 K - .290 BA
3B Zelous Wheeler - 0-2, 2 BB, K - .260 BA
Helena Brewers (12-20), 6.0 GB | Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | | R | H | E | Great Falls
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 9 | 2 | Helena
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | | 4 | 7 | 0 |
LHP Efrain Nieves - (W, 6-3) 6.0 IP, 9 hits, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K - 4.61 ERA
RHP Trey Watten - (S, 1) 3.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K - 5.00 ERA
3B John Delaney - 1-3, HR (9), RBI, BB, 2 runs, 2 K - .267 BA
SS David Fonseca - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K - .269 BA
AZL Brewers (7-20), 13.5 GB RHP Seth Lintz - (L, 0-3) 1.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 runs (4 ER), 3 BB, 1 K - 6.87 ERA
SS Carlos George - 2-4, RBI, BB, SB (10), K, 2 E (37, missed catch, fielding) - .234 BA
RF Orton Rodriguez - 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, run - .182 BA
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The Brewers picked up three runs before the first out was even recorded on Friday night. And that's all Brewers' starter, Dave Bush, and the rest of the staff would need to take home a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. This marks the Crew's 7th straight victory over the Pirates, and brings their overall record to 9-1 against them. That's promising considering these two teams face off five more times this season. Tom Gorzelanny cannot be happy about his return to the big leagues. In his first start back last week he gave up six runs in 4.2 innings. Things weren't looking much better for the young man on Friday night. Gorzelanny gave up a lead-off single and walk to Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy, bringing up Brewers' slugger, Ryan Braun. After getting ahead in the count, Braun showed his power by smoking a ball to the opposite field that barely cleared the wall, giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead. With the bases cleared and no on out, Prince Fielder stepped to the plate as if the game hadn't even begun yet. It was as if the Pirates simply spotted the Brewers three runs and said, 'Let's go.' Thankfully for the Brewers, that would be enough. After a single by Corey Hart in the first and another single by Dave Bush in the second, the Brewers would not record another hit off of Gorzelanny in his seven innings of work. So what looked like a disaster for Gorzelanny, turned into a damn good outing. Unfortunately, his offense couldn't pick him up. I have to hand it to Dave Bush. After an absolutely horrendous start, reminiscent of his awful performance in 2007, he has really picked up his game and become a very solid starter for this Brewers team. Bush has turned his 6.04 ERA through May into a 4.12 ERA by carrying a 3.65 ERA through June, a 3.49 ERA through July and a 2.12 ERA in August. While he's struggled against quality teams like Arizona, Chicago and Minnesota, he's dominated bad teams like Cincinnati, Washington, and Pittsburgh. On Friday night, he took on Pittsburgh for his second time in as many weeks and dominated even more this time. Bush pitched 6.2 innings, only giving up a Nate McClouth solo homerun over six hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Bush left the game in the hands of the bullpen in the seventh after tossing just 94 pitches. This is really odd for Ned Yost, who had no problem leaving CC out there for 130 pitches, but has pulled all of his starters at the sub-100 pitch mark since being criticized. Nevertheless, Brian Shouse did his job, getting the final out of the seventh. Eric Gagne induced two pop outs to get out of the eighth inning with a runner on and Salomon Torres picked up his 26th save of the year to finish off the victory.
Records: Brewers (78-56); Pirates (57-77) Countdown to 92 Wins: 14 wins with 28 to play
Scoreboard Watching: Chicago Cubs (6.5 GU): Win -- PHI 2, CHC 3 St. Louis Cardinals (4.5 GB): Loss -- STL 2, HOU 3 Philadelphia Phillies (5.5 GB): Loss -- PHI 2, CHC 3 Down on the Farm: Omar Aguilar continues to be absolutely ridiculous down at AA-Huntsville. This time Omar tossed three innings of no hit, five strikeout baseball. Omar is quietly turning into Luis Pena's replacement as the future young closer of this team. Tom Haudricourt is obsessed with Pena and thought he would get brought up when Mota was struggling, but despite his ability to touch 100 MPH consistently, Pena has been unable to hone his skills and really improve as a pitcher. In fact, his command issues seem to have regressed rather than progressed, considering his three walks and three earned runs on Friday night. Aguilar, on the other hand, has a fastball that touches 98, and scouts are saying that his secondary pitches are finally finding the strike zone. Look for Omar to make the jump to AAA next season considering he too will be sent to the Arizona Fall League. Speaking of the AZL Fall League, look at today's Round 'em Up to see who all will be relocating for an extra bit of seasoning.
Brendan Katin is a name you don't often hear about in the minors, likely because he's going to have to keep clawing to get into the bigs. Nevertheless, Katin is having a pretty good year for the Sounds, hitting .271/.314/.542 in 2008, with 19 HRs and 72 RBIs. But Katin has a huge Achilles' heel. He's struck out 109 times this season with only 13 walks in 321 ABs. That's not exactly a picture of perfection, but considering this is only Brendan's third full season as a professional and first full season in AAA, it's always interesting to keep an eye out. Brendan's power bat could get him into the bigs, but he needs work on his understanding of the strike zone. If he does, look out, he's superb trade bait or perhaps a good fit for a fourth outfielder down the road. With that said, it's almost impossible to teach plate discipline.
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The Brewers pulled out a victory against the Pirates, powered by Ryan Braun's power and Dave Bush's arm. That made me happy. The Cardinals lost to the Astros on a walk-off jack by Lance Berkman. That also made me happy. I wonder if Berkman watched his home run for too long. I wonder if someone looked at Albert Pujols the wrong way. I'm sure there was whining. - The Crew is not about to overlook the Pittsburgh Pirates. A mark of a quality team is beating the teams you are supposed to beat. Milwaukee has been able to do that thus far and will need to continue to do so to make the post-season. They will have quite a difficult stretch of games in September, so they need to beat the cupcakes while they have the chance.
- Baseball Digest Daily says J.J. Hardy is a player to watch through the end of the season. His blend of power, average, and quality defense makes him extremely valuable at the shortstop position -- which is why Radio doesn't want him moving to second or third. I think he would be just as valuable at second base, but that's just me.
- Dugout Central has 25 facts to get you through the weekend. An interesting tidbit is that since the CC Sabathia trade, Milwaukee is 27-16. The Cleveland Indians are 28-16 in that time frame. Wow.
- Harvard graduate, Steffan Wilson, is another offensive player without a defensive home. Even Jack Z doesn't know where he is most valuable on the diamond. He can play both corner outfield spots fairly well, as well as first base. Without Matt LaPorta, Wilson has some room to move up through the system. Will his bat be able rise through the minors? Brevard County and the tough FSL will be a big step.
- Mel Stocker may be in Brevard County, but his baserunning smarts and veteran nature may find him in a Brewers uniform in September. Florida Today has a nice article about the man nobody knew last season.
- According to Mass Hass over at Brewerfan.net, the Helena Brewers will have three players named to the All-Star team. Brock Kjeldgaard and Erik Komatsu are named to the team, while Corey Kemp is an honorable mention.
- Akittell emailed me and let me know that there have been a couple more prospects named to the AFL. His source is someone close to the AFL system. We already know Omar Aguilar has been named, but akittell also names Alexandre Periard, Brae Wright, and David Welch. I will be very interested to see how Periard and Wright handle the Arizona Fall League. I'm not completely sold on Welch yet, but he could show me something this fall.
- A source off the record told me that Brad Nelson and Tim Dillard were informed last night that they will be called-up on September 1st. Apparently, there was a conference call, and the Brewers pretended like Brad wasn't coming to Milwaukee. After naming everyone, they said, "Oops. Brad, you're coming too." The clubhouse went nuts. I'm excited to see Brad make his Milwaukee debut.
- The Houston Astros signed Darin Erstad and Brian Moehler to one-year extensions. I find it hard to believe Ed Wade couldn't find anyone better than Erstad and his .700 OPS or Moehler and his below-average arm.
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Nashville Sounds (59-81), 23.5 GB | Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | | R | H | E | Nashville
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | | 10 | 14 | 1 | New Orleans
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | | 11 | 15 | 1 |
LHP Sam Narron - 4.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 ER), 1 BB, 0 K - 4.80 ERA
RHP Luis Pena - 0.0 IP, 0 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K - 6.93 ERA
LHP Erasmo Ramirez - (L, 3-5) 1.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K - 3.46 ERA
RF Brendan Katin - 3-5, 2B, 2 HR (19), 5 RBI, BB, SB (7), 3 runs, K - .271 BA
C Carlos Corporan - 2-5, HR (3), 2 RBI, BB, K - .230 BA
3B Mat Gamel - 1-4, 2 BB, run, 2 K, E (2, fielding) - .238 BA
Huntsville Stars (31-36), 9.5 GB RHP Donovan Hand - (W, 3-4) 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K - 5.09 ERA
RHP Omar Aguilar - (S, 1) 3.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K - 3.16 ERA
2B Ozzie Chavez - 3-4, 3B, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 runs - .444 BA
LF Brent Krause - 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 K - .400 BA
C Angel Salome - 2-3, BB, run - .360 BA
Brevard County Manatees (31-36), 9.5 GB LHP Bobby Bramhall - (W, 5-4) 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K - 2.51 ERA
SS Brent Brewer - 2-4, 2 runs - .253 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy - 1-3, GS (10), 4 RBI, BB, 2 runs, 2 K - .293 BA
3B Yohannis Perez - 2-3, HR (2), RBI, BB, 2 runs - .238 BA LHP Derek Miller - 4.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K - 3.65 ERA
RHP Rafael Lluberes - (W, 2-3) 3.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K - 5.32 ERA
DH Lou Palmisano - 1-4, HR (2), 3 RBI - .308 BA
SS Brent Brewer - 1-3, RBI, BB, run - .254 BA
West Virginia Power (44-23), -- GB LHP Lucas Luetge - ND, 4.1 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K - 3.72 ERA
LHP Mike Ramlow - (W, 6-3) 0.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K - 2.64 ERA
2B Eric Farris - 2-5, 2B, 4 RBI, K - .288 BA
3B Zelous Wheeler - 1-4, HR (13), 2 RBI, 2 K - .261 BA
DH Curt Rindal - 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2 runs, K - .261 BA RHP R.J. Seidel - ND, 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K - 4.51 ERA
RHP Corey Frerichs - (BS, 3)(L, 6-9) 1.2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run (0 ER), 0 BB, 3 K - 2.59 ERA
1B Steffan Wilson - 1-3, run, K - .290 BA
Helena Brewers (11-20), 6.0 GB | Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | | R | H | E | Helena
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 1 | 1 | Missoula
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | | 7 | 11 | 2 |
LHP Brandon Ritchie - (L, 1-3) 3.1 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K - 7.24 ERA
C Derrick Alfonso - 1-3, 1B - .250 BA
AZL Brewers (7-19), 13.0 GB RHP Nic Bucci - (L, 0-3) 3.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K - 7.36 ERA
RHP Jose Sanchez - 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K - 5.40 ERA
RF Hitaniel Arias - 2-4, 2B, 2 K - .177 BA
3B Allixon Cequea - 2-4, 2 K - .275 BA
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After an off-day to digest the disheartening loss to the Cardinals Wednesday, I think it's time to take out a little anger on the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend. The Crew, however, always has problems at PNC Park. Any kind of series win would be wonderful. Also, the Cubs came back against the Phillies last night...bastards. - This is the last article I'm linking to about the Carlos Villanueva - Albert Pujols altercation, as I think Tom Haudricourt nails his analysis right on the head. What did the Cardinals really have a problem with Wednesday? Losing to the Brewers. They're not used to dealing with a quality ball club when Milwaukee comes to town. If Doug Melvin can improve the pitching staff next season, St. Louis may have to deal with a quality team from the north for quite a few years. That is fantastic just to type.
- Brew Crew Ball takes a look at the playoff rosters. Yeah, it's a little early, but it makes for a good read. I'm anxious to see if Melvin and company are willing to make a few bold moves to strengthen the team Sept 1.
- Can the Brewers add October to their baseball schedule for the first time since 1982? Jayson Stark from ESPN wonders the same thing. With CC Sabathia heading the rotation, he sees almost no way the Crew will miss the post-season. And just to let you know...
"The Marlins, Rockies and Diamondbacks -- three franchises that didn't even exist back then -- have played 79 [post-season games]."
Great...in case I didn't feel bad enough about the Crew not playing in October for so long. Expansion teams are making it to the playoffs, and even winning the World Series, before Milwaukee makes it back to the post-season. Wonderful. - Jason Kendall might not actually be human. He is playing in an extraordinary amount of games, to the chagrin of Mike Rivera, and the pitchers absolutely love throwing to him. About 40% of potential base-stealers are getting gunned down, so don't try. The crazy thing is that he's not slowing down at all nearing September. The three off-days in the past week or so will surely help though.
- The Southern League has named its post-season All-Star team. Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar, Mike Brantley, and Angel Salome all made the team. Huntsville's offense has been slow as of late, and it's hard not to blame that on the absence of Matt LaPorta. Gamel and his high batting average sure miss him.
- The Baseball Analysts takes a look at some of the defensive analysis The Hardball Times did a while back. Surprisingly, the Brewers had a very good defense in 2006. Not surprisingly, Ryan Braun was a horrendous defender last season. One of the 15 worst in the past few seasons actually.
- The New York Yankees will be making a big play for CC Sabathia this off-season. It has been said, however, that CC wants to play on the West Coast. I'm sure he'll go where the money takes him though.
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