The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Houston Astros 5-2 and took the series, but the Crew almost lost the game on several occasions.
Manny Parra, why do you hurt so much? After cruising through the first three innings of the game and looking untouchable, the Brewers left-hander imploded in the second time through the batting order. The young man loses it so easily. This time, it all started with an infield hit by Miguel Tejada. Parra then started hanging splitters and losing the strike zone completely. He gave up two runs in the inning.
In the fifth inning, things almost got worse. Manny issued two walks and uncorked a wild pitch that put runners at first and second with two outs, and Geoff Blum (a.k.a. the Brewer killer) came up to bat. Blum ripped one to left field, seemingly plating a run. That is, until Gabe Kapler threw a rocket to the plate and gunned down Mark Loretta at home to preserve the 3-2 lead. Parra left the game after the inning, surrendering two runs on six hits and four walks. Not a good outing at all for Manny Parra.
It's difficult to explain what's going on with the southpaw. He appears to have his A-stuff, but completely loses his patience and command after allowing one seemingly innocuous hit or walk in an inning. The wheels just fall off. It is very reminiscent of Dave Bush, actually. Part of it certainly has to be his lack of experience on the mound and the immaturity of being only 25-years old. Manny has top-of-the-rotation stuff, no doubt about that. The young man simply needs to learn to control his emotions on the mound and stay focused. That should come with time. It had better.
The bullpen deserves recognition for closing out the game and preserving the victory.
Carlos Villanueva looked terrific in his two innings of work, throwing a 1-2-3 frame in both innings with three strikeouts. He has found a home in the bullpen. His change-up is devastating the first time through the line-up, and coming out of the pen ensures the opposing team will only see CV one time through. I don't think he will be a closer like many Brewers fans are pulling for, but he has certainly earned time in high-leverage situations.
How about Eric Gagne? Amidst the boos and hisses, the guy wiggled off a massive hook in the eighth inning. Before you bash Gagne by saying he shouldn't have gotten himself into trouble in the first place, you all should know it wasn't his fault. Tejada started the inning with a bunt hit. There was then a questionable call that sent Lance Berkman to first on a hit by pitch. Thousands of Brewers fans across the country thought it was a phantom call, but I actually thought that ball hit Berkman's thigh. You could see the ball change directions and change spin just a bit in the replay. Blum then loaded the bases on a Prince Fielder error. There it is...bases loaded and only Berkman being Gagne's fault.
Perhaps Gagne should tutor Manny Parra on how to come back from a rough patch in an inning. After loading the bases, Gagne got a 1-2-3 double play on a comebacker to the mound and finished off the inning with a ground out to first base. Talk about pulling one out of your *ss! Eric Gagne's performance also saved the Brewers the game. He deserved the "save" more than did Salomon Torres.
Speaking of Salomon, he came in the ninth inning and closed the game out with a 1-2-3 inning. That is all well and good, but why is Torres throwing so many off-speed pitches suddenly? He started all three batters out with a curveball. Milwaukee's closer didn't even through a sinker to Darin Erstad in three pitches. This comes from a guy who threw about 80% sinkers early in the season. Could this mean an injury? Probably not, as off-speed pitches put more pressure on the elbow and shoulder. Could it be a lack of confidence and velocity in the sinker? I'm not positive, but it was popping the glove in the low-to-mid 90s on the corners when he threw it Wednesday. I don't have an answer for you, and it's not necessarily a problem. Just something on which to keep an eye out.
The offense was highlighted by J.J. Hardy's two-run bomb in the seventh inning that gave Salomon Torres and the Brewers the breathing room it needed to secure the victory. Houston's Doug Brocail hung a sinker to the Brewers shortstop, and J.J. deposited it into the Brewers' bullpen in left-center. It's amazing the kind of extension Hardy is able to get on those inside fastballs. He pulls his hands in nicely and keeps his head on the ball throughout the swing. There are other Brewers that could learn a thing or two from that.
One of those players is Rickie Weeks, who just came back Wednesday from a bruised/sprained thumb. Weeks didn't need his bat against the Astros, however, as he coaxed three walks out of the Houston pitchers and scored all three times. You can also add a stolen base to his line score. I know many Brewers fans hate it when people dwell on the number of runs Weeks scores, but it is uncanny how often he scores when he gets on base. Milwaukee's second baseman has crossed the plate 72 times and has gotten on base 150 times thus far in 2008 (including hits, walks, and HBP). Those numbers work out to about 48%. That means just under half the time, the Brewers will score when Rickie gets on base. There is a reason that Milwaukee's offense is so much better when Rickie is right. The evidence is right there.
Records: Brewers (73-55); Astros (64-63)
Countdown to 92 wins: 19 wins, 34 to play
Scoreboard Watching
Chicago Cubs (5.0 GU): Loss -- CHC 1, CIN 2
St. Louis Cardinals (2.5 GB): Win -- STL 11, PIT 2
Philadelphia Phillies (4.0 GB): Win -- NYM 4, WAS 0
Florida Marlins (7.5 GB): Loss -- FLA 5, SF 6
Los Angeles Dodgers (8.0 GB): Loss -- LAD 3, COL 4
Houston Astros (8.5 GB): Loss -- HOU 2, MIL 5
Down on the Farm
The Nashville Sounds have been struggling for almost the entire season in 2008, but the offense broke out in a big way against Round Rock. Four players had home runs for the Sounds, and Brad Nelson went yard twice to continue his fine season in Triple-A. He will almost certainly be called up September 1st. The other home runs were by Callix Crabbe, Brendan Katin, and Joe Dillon. The team pounded out 18 hits as a whole and gave Chris Narveson -- who has pitched much better as of late -- more than enough runs to work with.
Blakeney Billings and Seth Lintz both threw for the Baby Brewers down in Arizona. Both gave up runs, but all three were unearned. The large amounts of unearned runs in the Arizona League can be quite misleading, so it will be interesting to see what the two can do in either Helena or West Virginia next season. Lintz hasn't shown his second-round stuff yet, and Billings has appeared to be very solid in his short time in the desert. I'm not sure what to think of the two just yet. I just know I'm a little higher on Billings than many others are. He has a chance to be a solid pitcher, if only a middle of the rotation type of guy.
I will be very interested to see what the Brewers do with Brock Kjeldgaard next season. The first baseman has 13 home runs in less than 250 at-bats and is an extra-base machine for the Helena Brewers. Yes, he is 22-years old, but this is the first season Brock has played first base. The Crew tried him as a pitcher last season. Will the Crew push him next season? He has a lot of positive things going for him statistically, but he strikes out a rather obnoxious amount.