Sheets stellar as Brewers take series

The Milwaukee Brewers kept it rolling this evening, beating the Astros 4-1. The team has now failed to drop a series in their last four. This is how the Brewers were supposed to play the entire season.

There are several things that can be gleaned from tonight’s game:

1. If the bullpen needs a rest, the Brewers only need to call on Ben Sheets. After pitching a complete game against the Pittsburgh Pirates two starts ago, the Brewers ace goes 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the suddenly slumping Astros. Sheets is eating innings and pitching efficiently and effectively.Benny would’ve had a complete game, but Lance Berkman took too much out of his tank in the ninth. After the Berkman at-bat, he was at 122 pitches. Ned Yost made an unpopular, yet necessary move to call on Salomon Torres at that point. Sheeter was visibly upset at being taken out of the game. That is a nice sight to see for the Brewers pitcher. He always pitches better when he has a chip on his shoulder.




2. The Russell Branyan call-up has been a good decision thus far. He is hitting .300 (in admittedly a small sample size), and he already has two home runs. Tonight’s shot was an absolute beast, measuring in at 465′. That is good for the third longest home run in Miller Park history. Russell may have a long swing, but it is dialed in right now. He is striking out at a high rate, but he is also drawing a healthy amount of walks. His on-base percentage is over .430 after tonight’s game. This “soft platoon” may get hardened if Russell can keep mashing like this.




3. Prince Fielder likes to hit bombs with two strikes on him. Of his eight home runs this season, seven have been with two strikes. Fielder hit another two-run shot with two strikes on him off Brian Moehler tonight. Heat up, Prince. The team could use it.




4. All the talk about Jason Kendall having an awful arm behind the plate is total bunk. After throwing out three runners in tonight’s contest, the Brewers catcher is now hosing runners at a 42%+ rate. It looks like all the work during the off-season helped Jason behind the dish. He’s been a terrific signing thus far in 2008. It is obvious that Ben Sheets loves pitching to him.




5. Ryan Braun is not yet completely comfortable in left field. The Brewers announcers said that the wind made the ball difficult to judge after Braun made a couple of ugly adjustments, but I’m not sure that is totally correct. He is not breaking on the ball perfectly just yet. Braun is improving immensely, however. I will certainly not take that away from him.

Records: Brewers (28-28 ); Astros (30-27)

Hero of the Game: Jason Kendall

Ben Sheets may have pitched 8 2/3 innings of only one-run ball, but he wouldn’t have done it without Jason behind the plate. Kendall baled Sheets out of a couple of jams in the third and fourth inning by gunning out Astros on the basepaths. I’m especially talking about the instance when Kendall threw out Kaz Matsui trying to steal third. If Kendall doesn’t make any of those throws, Sheets is pitching a completely different ballgame.

Goat of the Game: Mike Cameron

Mike looked utterly lost at the plate tonight, going 0-4 with three strikeouts. The Brewers center fielder missed almost the entire first month of the season, and he still has 41 whiffs. That’s quite alarming, actually. With that said, Brewers fans should not have expected anything else from Mike. We all knew that he is a high strikeout guy that will hit about 20 home runs, steal 20 bases, and hit about .240. It may be a matter of weeks before JJ Hardy is batting second and Cameron is shuffled down to sixth or seventh in the order.

On Tap

RHP Dave Bush will take the hill tomorrow in the series finale against the Houston Astros. The Brewers will attempt to sweep the Astros, but RHP Shawn Chacon is likely to have other ideas. The game will start at 1:05pm CT at Miller Park.

Round ‘em Up: Saturday

It’s a beautiful day, and the Brewers won last night.  Therefore, I’m in a fantastic mood this morning.  Let’s take a look at what the blogosphere has to say today:

• Backtracking a bit, Jim Powell has some reflections about the Brewers-Braves series.  He especially liked the sequence when Brian McCann got a strike called on him while he was out of the box arguing with the home plate umpire.  I loved that.  McCann had no reason to complain about that pitch, as the home plate ump gave him four chances to step in the batter’s box to hit.  He refused, so he lost his chance to swing.
• In-Between Hops is still ranting about Prince Fielder and his lack of home runs in 2008.  At least he is no longer blaming it on the lack of meat.  Prince is not hitting home runs at the same rate this season because he is pulling off the ball a lot more.  Pitchers are busting him inside, and he’s not been able to extend his arms.  Hopefully, he’ll be able to adjust.
• Ned Yost is holding true to his new rule for relievers – no more than three days in a row.  Since Eric Gagne and David Riske got injured presumably from pitching too often, Ned is trying to protect his bullpen.  Really Ned?  It took you three years to figure out that probably wasn’t a good idea?  And people say you should be fired…
• Milwaukee’s young stud, Yovani Gallardo, is cautious about trying to pitch again in 2008.  As he should be.  Don’t try to rush yourself back, Yo.  Get yourself reading for 2009.  Brewers fans will patiently wait.
• The Brewers strike out a lot.  That’s not surprising.  You know what else isn’t surprising?  Ned Yost isn’t concerned about it.  Of course he’s not.  Just like it’s still early.
• A sports economist says that Mark Attanasio and the new Milwaukee Brewers are building their franchise in the correct way economically.  Bud Selig and his regime did not build it.  Well, Mark Attanasio cares more than Bud Selig did about the Brewers.  That usually makes a big difference in the outcome.
• Al’s Ramblings notes that the Milwaukee Brewers have the 5th best bullpen ERA if you discount Derrick Turnbow’s numbers.  The starting rotation is actually 5th in innings pitched too, despite the short outings compiled by Manny Parra, Carlos Villanueva, and Seth McClung.  Ben Sheets is probably a big part of that.
• The Brew Town Beat writes a nice piece on Carlos Villanueva.  In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week or so, Carlos has been flat-out nasty in the ‘pen.  He has yet to give up a run, and he’s striking out far more than he did in the starting rotation.  Perhaps there is something to this Carlos as closer talk.  Not that Salomon Torres should be replaced anytime soon.  He’s been great.
• Minor League Ball has a 2008 mock draft going on right now.  In the first round, the Brewers selected RHP Shooter Hunt from Tulane.  He’s a very raw prospect, especially for a collegiate pitcher, and he’s an injury concern right now.  I wouldn’t choose him with the #16 pick, but that’s just me.
• The St. Louis Cardinals have sent OF Chris Duncan to Triple-A to get his swing figured out.  With his power, I thought the Cardinals would give him a little more time to sort things out before dumping him to the minors.  The team called up OF Joe Mather, who has been tearing up Triple-A.
• RHP Franklyn German refused an outright assignment to the minors after being DFA’d by the Texas Rangers.  With a 2.08 ERA, the Brewers might be wise to give him a look.  He would be a huge risk for Milwaukee, however.  His ERA is stellar, but his WHIP is 1.431.  The right-hander walks far too many batters, but he is definitely worth a look at only 28-years old.  With that said, I don’t think the Brewers do anything with Franklyn.  The bullpen has been solid lately.

Homers give Parra plenty of support against Astros

The Brewers remember all too well the drubbing they got the last time the team played the Houston Astros.  It marked the beginning of a 6-game losing streak on the road.  Manny Parra made sure it didn’t happen again.

The inconsistent lefty showed great stuff last night, regularly hitting 93-94mph on his fastball.  His four walks were a bit misleading, as his command was much sharper overall.  It’s amazing what a little confidence can do for a pitcher.

Perhaps it was Houston’s Miguel Tejada that knocked some confidence into the young pitcher.  In the first inning, Miggy hit a laser-like line drive that hit Parra in the stomach.  Milwaukee stared another injury in the face, but Manny showed resiliency and pitched another five innings of one-run ball after the first.

The offense jumped on the opposing starter, Brandon Backe, early in the game.  Mike Cameron and Ryan Braun hit back-to-back jacks in the bottom of the first inning.  That was all the support the Brewers pitching staff needed to win the game.  It was a nice change for the Brewer faithful.  The team has not won too many games that weren’t nailbiters.

Speaking of Ryan Braun, he has been playing with an inner-ear infection.  Reports say that Ryan is experiencing dizziness and a lack of hearing in his right ear.  After a 4-4 performance last night, however, I think Ryan should keep that infection around for a while longer.  Just kidding, Ryan.  Get better soon!  Just keep the bat hot…

Carlos Villanueva looked superb in the bullpen again last night, going two strong, scoreless innings and striking out two Astros.  The young right-hander may have found a niche for himself in the bullpen.  Yost will have to make certain he doesn’t get worn down in August like he did last season.  Lessons learned, Ned…lessons learned…

The big fella accounted for the other home run Milwaukee hit during the game.  Prince Fielder hit an absolute laser beam over the right field wall for a two-run homer.  It was nice to see Prince get back in the home run column, but I would especially like to see him hit an opposite field home run sometime soon.  When Prince got on his power binges last season, he consistently took the ball the opposite way.  He hasn’t done that in 2008 yet.

Records: Brewers (27-28); Astros (30-26)

Hero of the Game: Manny Parra

This award could have gone to Ryan Braun quite easily, but the offense was unneeded today, as Manny gave Ned Yost and the Brewers a very strong outing tonight.  His pitch count was extremely reasonable tonight, which was a nice change for Manny.  He only had 87 pitches through six innings.  50 of those were strikes.  Last night’s outing gives Manny something to build upon.  His consistency needs to improve if the Brewers are going to make a run for the division in the coming months.  All signs point skyward for Manny, but he showed how quickly things can turn around last weekend in Washington.

Goat of the Game: Corey Hart

Sorry Corey.  You went 0-4.  Rickie Weeks went 0-3, but got hit by a pitch, stole a base, and scored a run.  Russell Branyan at least walked once.  You took the collar.  Get ‘em next time, kid.

On Tap

RHP Ben Sheets will face RHP Brian Moehler tomorrow night in Miller Park.  The Brewers look to secure a series victory against the Houston Astros.  The first pitch will go out at 6:05pm CT.

Minor League Boxscores: Saturday

Nashville Sounds (23-31), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0		4	11	0
Albuquerque	0	0	0	1	0	0	8	0	X		9	11	0

LHP Lindsay Gulin – ND, 6.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K – 3.40 ERA
RF Tony Gwynn Jr. – 2-3, 2 1B, RBI, run – .433 BA
CF Laynce Nix – 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, run – .315 BA
1B Brad Nelson – 3-4, 3 1B, run – .337 BA

Huntsville Stars (34-21), — GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Huntsville	1	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1		6	11	2
Mobile	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		3	6	1

RHP Donovan Hand – ND, 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K – 2.70 ERA
RHP Omar Aguilar – (S, 1) 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 0.00 ERA
3B Mat Gamel – 2-4, 2B, HR (13), 2 RBI, BB, 2 runs – .386 BA
C Angel Salome – 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, run – .385 BA
RF Matt LaPorta - 2-3, 2B, 2 BB – .285 BA

Brevard County Manatees (27-27), 6.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Vero Beach	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	0		6	7	0
Brevard County	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	7	0

RHP John Axford – (L, 2-4) 4.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 4 BB, 9 K – 4.12 ERA
LF Charlie Fermaint – 2-4, 2B, RBI, SB (14) – .223 BA

West Virginia Power (21-32), 12.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
West Virginia	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0		5	12	0
Greensboro	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0		4	7	2

RHP Amaury Rivas – (W, 4-1) 5.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K – 2.44 ERA
RHP Corey Frerichs – (S, 2) 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K – 3.08 ERA
2B Eric Farris – 3-5, 3 1B, run – .194 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy – 2-5, 2 1B, run – .316 BA
3B Zelous Wheeler – 1-4, 1B, RBI – .270 BA

Friday’s NL Central Review

UPDATE 05-30-08 2:35pm – Mark Mulder of the St. Louis Cardinals says that he will retire if another surgery is required on his ailing shoulder.  I was very interested in how Mulder was going to bounce back once he made it back to the big leagues, but it is looking more and more unlikely.  Best of luck to you, Mark.

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Chicago Cubs (33-21), — GB

The Chicago Cubs now have the best record in baseball. It makes me a little sick to say that, but the Northsiders have been playing some fantastic baseball. The week started out a little rocky in Pittsburgh, as the Cubs lost two out of three to the lowly Pirates. The team then welcomed the Los Angeles Dodgers to Wrigley and greeted them with a sweep. They made it four in a row by beating the Colorado Rockies yesterday. Goat Riders of the Apocalypse has a funny article thanking the NL West for being so bad and allowing the Cubs to take up the mantle as the best team in baseball.

One thing Chicago fans should be concerned about is their lackluster performance on the road thus far. They are a very average 10-13 on the road, while posting a great 23-8 at home. As you can see, the Cubs have played many of their games at home. It will be interesting to see what Chicago can do when they are away from the friendly confines of Wrigley for an extended period of time. With that said, the Cubs are getting fantastic pitching right now. Sean Gallagher pitched great this week, earning himself a few more starts in the fifth spot of the rotation. Ryan Dempster is still defying logic (meaning…he’s pitching well), and Carlos Zambrano is still chugging along nicely. He went 8.0 innings and gave up only one run against the Dodgers this week.

• This is an interesting article from Another Cubs Blog. It doesn’t really pertain to the Cubs, but it does indirectly address the Brewers. The article is making the case that it is impossible to tell if a team is overachieving or underachieving based on what a manager does in the dugout. I understand the point here. It is valid. The problem is when a team lays a collective egg when the expectations are high. This article makes the situation a little too simplistic.
• The View From The Bleachers is wondering whether or not the Cubs should try to sign Kenny Lofton. Are the Cubs honestly going to sign every outfielder possible until one sticks? Reed Johnson has not been spectacular, but he’s been solid and instrumental in numerous Cubs wins. Not to mention he’s a big reason Yovani Gallardo is injured for the season (no, I’m not bitter). All in all, Lofton would be an upgrade for many teams, including the Cubs. There’s no reason to mess with the chemistry right now, however.

St. Louis Cardinals (32-23), 1.5 GB

The St. Louis Cardinals are still plugging along, winning series after series. They now have won four straight series after taking care of the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers this week. The pitching has remained a strong point for the Cardinals, and the offense is producing because of the big bats of Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick has been the biggest surprise on the offensive side of the ball for St. Louis, and he’s made Chris Duncan expendable. I don’t believe the Cards will move Duncan any time soon, as they would be selling low at this time, but the point remains viable. The team has some pieces it can move to make the team better for a late-season pennant run.

• Speaking of having pieces to move, Viva El Birdos wants the Cardinals’ organization to take a stand. Do they want to continue to contend this season? If they do, the front office should attempt to package a deal (including Chris Duncan) to get Brian Roberts from the Baltimore Orioles. The lackluster players in the middle of the infield for St. Louis has been reported here many times, so I will not delve into that too much. Brian Roberts would be a dangerous trade for a team that does not have a deep farm system, but they do have the money and will to get a move like this done. It would certainly augment the offensive in a big way.
• In one of my favorite posts of the week, C70 At the Bat has an article that breaks down what every Cardinals t-shirt means. My personal favorite is the #15 Jim Edmonds jersey (the Cubs version). The article says that this person is “either obsessed with Jimmy Radio or just mentally deranged. Either way, please seek professional help.” Nice work.

Houston Astros (30-25), 3.5 GB

After taking two out of three from the Chicago Cubs last week, the Astros have played rather lackluster baseball. They split the series with the Philadelphia Phillies at home, but got absolutely blown out in the series finale. In fact, the bullpen gave up 11 runs in 2 innings that game. That’s hard to do, even if you were trying to do that. If you read St. Louis’ review above, you would know that Houston also lost two of three to the Cardinals on the road. I thought they had a chance to prove they were the second best team in the division in that series, but it was not meant to be.

Lance Berkman and Hunter Pence are still lighting up opposing pitchers at an alarming rate. Berkman is making a run for the midseason NL MVP award, and Pence has officially shaken off his April slump. Michael Bourn is even starting to come around a bit. Kaz Matsui is not, however. I’m still concerned as to what is wrong with Roy Oswalt. He has not pitched like the ace Houston needs him to be, and until he does, I do not believe the Astros will make a serious push for the playoffs. Time will tell, however.

• The Crawfish Boxes analyzes the schedules thus far for the Cardinals, Cubs, and Astros. The Cardinals have had, by far, the easiest schedule of the three. The Cubs have played a majority of their games in 2008 at home. The Astros are right in the middle of the pack. This would suggest (admittedly on a very rudimentary level) that the Astros have a good chance to gain ground in the final 2/3 of the season. The article does mention that the Brewers have had the 2nd hardest schedule in the majors, so they may be able to make a run in the second half.
• The Houston Astros have also made a few roster moves. SP Fernando Nieve has been sent down in favor of Jack Cassel. Cassel has dominated hitters in Triple-A in 2008, so it could be a nice move for the Astros. Dave Borkowski has been DFA’d in favor of Geoff Geary. I don’t want Dave Borkowski, and neither will any other major league team. Astro fans, you’ll still have your pitcher at the end of the day. Don’t worry.

Pittsburgh Pirates (25-28), 7.5 GB

The Pirates are still toying with the hearts of their fans. They go out and take care of business against the first place Chicago Cubs. The team then loses two out of three to the last place Cincinnati Reds. Granted, the series against the Reds was on the road, but it must still be frustrating for Pirates fans. Pittsburgh travels to St. Louis next and will try to right the ship against the second place team in the Central. The Pirates seem to play well against good teams, so it could be a good series.

The offensive forces of Jason Bay and Xavier Nady cannot be stopped. Pittsburgh has some nice trading chips if they would like to move them come July, which I believe they will. The organization has to save face somehow after some of the bad moves they have made (Matt Morris anyone?).

• There has not been much going on in the blogosphere regarding the Pirates, but they did activate Jack Wilson from the DL. The light-hitting Brian Bixler was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Jack. Wait, I think I just implied that Jack Wilson is not a light-hitter. I apologize. They both cannot hit a lick.
• Bucco Blog is always good for a nice little rant regarding the Pittsburgh Pirates. This week, the site takes up the 2008 draft. The article says that Pirates fans are already organizing a revolt against the team if the front office does not open up its pocketbooks and pay for a supreme talent in the draft. The team has consistently overdrafted players, so they wouldn’t have to pay a big signing bonus. The ramifications have obviously been seen in the lack of talent in the farm system in Pittsburgh. If fans are crying out against the management, I believe the team will have to draft a high-profile player with the second pick. Why wouldn’t they?

Cincinnati Reds (25-29), 8.0 GB

The Cincinnati Reds are still on the brink of contention in the NL Central. They are only four games under .500, and they are beating the teams they should beat lately. The Reds split a four-game series with the San Diego Padres (on the road) and took two out of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. For the Reds to be successful, they need to be .500 on the road and just above .500 at home. It’s just that easy, right?

I have been a little concerned that Aaron Harang has been hit around fairly hard in his last couple outings. Perhaps he needs to face the Milwaukee Brewers, as he absolutely owns Milwaukee hitters. It is most likely just a slump that he will work out of, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Edinson Volquez has been fantastic this entire year, but Dusty Baker is still pushing his arm too much. Do the Reds really want to injure the kid?

• The biggest news of the week is that the Reds called up CF Jay Bruce. The Red Reporter runs down some of his minor league numbers so you understand just how good the guy is. He’s someone the Brewers are going to have to face for the next decade or so. He has power, hits for average, plays solid defense, and has speed. The offense just got exponentially better with Bruce in the lineup.
• Do you like the new trend of Sabermetrics? The Red Reporter has a nice article that analyzes the swing tendencies of Brandon Phillips. What does he swing at? How often does he make contact? It’s all here. Brandon is very much like Ryan Braun. He swings at anything and everything, especially the low and outside pitches. When the pitch is right down the middle though, Brandon (like Ryan) absolutely crushes the ball.

Minor League Boxscores: Friday

UPDATE 05-30-08 – Yesterday, I did an interview with Dexter-Sports about the Brewers and the upcoming draft in June.  Here’s the link.

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Nashville Sounds (23-30), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	1	0	2	3	0	1	2	0	0		9	12	0
Albuquerque	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0		4	10	3

LHP Sam Narron - (W, 3-0) 7.0 IP, 10 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 4.05 ERA
CF Tony Gwynn Jr. - 3-5, 3 1B, SB (2), 2 runs – .407 BA
RF Laynce Nix - 3-4, 2B, HR (7), RBI, BB, 3 runs – .309 BA

Huntsville Stars (33-21), — GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Huntsville	0	0	4	1	0	0	3	0	0		8	10	0
Mobile	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	6	0

LHP Brae Wright - (W, 3-5) 8.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – 3.80 ERA
CF Michael Brantley – 2-5, HR (1), RBI, 2 runs – .330 BA
SS Alcides Escobar – 4-5, 2B, RBI, run – .311 BA
3B Mat Gamel – 2-5, HR (12), 2 RBI, 2 runs – .384 BA
C Angel Salome – 1-4, HR (5), 3 RBI – .373 BA
1B Chris Errecart – 1-4, HR (9), RBI – .307 BA

Brevard County Manatees (27-26), 6.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Daytona	4	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	0		9	10	2
Brevard County	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		3	6	0

RHP Josh Butler – (L, 1-6) 4.0 IP, 6 hits, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K – 5.92 ERA
CF Darren Ford – 1-3, 2B, SB (27), run – .236 BA
3B Taylor Ford – 1-4, RBI – .302 BA

West Virginia Power (20-32), 13.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
West Virginia	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0		4	7	0
Greensboro	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0		3	10	1

RHP R.J. Seidel - (W, 2-3) 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K – 4.60 ERA
LHP Mike Ramlow – (S, 4) 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – 2.75 ERA
2B Eric Farris – 1-4, 1B, RBI, SB (3), run – .164 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy – 3-3, 2B, HR (8), 2 RBI, BB, SB (6) – .314 BA

Interview with Huntsville’s Brett Pollock

About a week ago, I posted a little tidbit about Mat Gamel’s defense from Huntsville’s play-by-play announcer, Brett Pollock. It was a snippet of a larger interview that he and I have been working on the past few days. Here’s the full interview. Brett was wonderful about the whole process (seems to be a common theme in the Brewers organization).

Wow, I just realized that I’ve had two interviews in one week. You all are being spoiled…

BrewersNation: Some of my readers are wondering how Mat Gamel’s defense has been progressing in Huntsville? We know he can mash the ball, but how’s the defense coming?

Brett Pollock: Gamel has played real well at third base, better than most of us thought he would based on his error total from last season. The only real bad game he has had was in late April against Jacksonville when he made three errors.

He has made numerous outstanding plays going to his right on the backhand and has displayed a strong arm in those situations. He still gets himself tangled up at times with footwork and could be a little more consistent going to his left but for the most part he has played well.

By comparison, he is ahead of Braun since he has always played the position, and has the ability and the makeup and desire to turn himself into a good defender. He will not not make because he didn’t work hard enough..he realizes he has a good teacher in Don Money and is using him as a resource to make himself a better player at the position.

BN: We know Huntsville is stacked with players like Matt LaPorta, Mat Gamel, and Alcides Escobar. Which prospect playing for Huntsville do you believe has the brightest future in the big leagues?

B. Pollock: Gamel has been very very impressive offensively; he is disciplined at the plate and has displayed good power the opposite the way. If he continues to improve defensively and keeps doing what he is doing with the bat, I think he has a very bright future at the big league level in front of him.

Escobar is sensational defensively and makes the plays going in every direction and possesses a very very strong arm, one of the strongest in all the minor leagues. He has added weight and strength and will continue to do so and once he improves his strike zone discipline a bit and realizes what he is capable of (and doesn’t try to be a home run hitter), he will be a high-quality major league player for a long long time. Many compare him to Tony Fernandez and I think he has the ability to have the same kind of career, which would be a pretty good one.

LaPorta is still very inexperienced at the professional level and like a lot of hitters in that predicament, has had a hard time with the breaking ball. Once he learns to trust his power and let his ability take over, i.e. getting comfortable hitting the ball the other way, he has a solid future as a hitter. The question becomes where does he play in the big leagues and that will largely be determined by factors out of his control until a vacancy is created.

BN: One of my personal favorite prospects plays for Huntsville, Steve Hammond. After hitting a rough patch last year, Steve has come out in 2008 with something to prove. What are Steve’s strengths as a pitcher? What does he need to work on?

B. Pollock: Hammond has been a lot more aggressive and assertive on the mound this year than he was at almost any point last year, save for his complete game shutout at Birmingham and game five of the Southern League championship series. His pitches this year are more crisp and he has piled up quite a few strikeouts. He is a fierce competitor and works as hard in the weight room and on his diet as anybody I have seen. That being said, I think his future in the big leagues will likely be pitching in relief.

BN: Angel Salome has returned from his suspension. He’s widely regarded as the best catching prospect in Milwaukee’s farm system. What do you think about Angel?

B. Pollock: He’s still very young and learning..has made tremendous strides defensively and possesses a strong throwing arm. The ball does jump off his bat, but he has a tendency to pull off the ball.

BN: The biggest surprise for Huntsville thus far in 2008, in my own opinion, has been the play of Michael Brantley. Is his hot start for real, or do you see him fizzling a bit once summer hits?

B. Pollock: Brantley is very young, just having turned 21 two weeks ago, yet has a very very mature approach at the plate that I think will carry him through the rest of the season. He is a very disciplined hitter and knows his role as the leadoff man is to take pitches and try to get on base. He has walked twice as often as he has struck out and he has only fanned 11 times in almost 200 at-bats, that is impressive. His power will come and I think he will wind up having a very good year.

BN: Who is your favorite player to watch on the Stars?

B. Pollock: It wouldn’t be fair to single out one guy..I have had the pleasure of watching a lot of good ones here the last four years (Braun, Gallardo, Dillard, Parra, Villanueva, Gwynn, Jr., Rottino, etc..) and this year’s group and they all have been great to work with and made my job a lot of fun.

BN: What is your favorite part of being a minor league play-by-play announcer?

B. Pollock: It’s tough to give just one favorite part..I guess just being around the game I love and have been following since I learned how to read a box score and understand what was going on in the game. I have been blessed to be around a lot of great coaches (Mark Davis, Sandy Guerrero, Lorenzo Bundy, Dennis Lewallyn) and managers (Don Money, Scott Coolbaugh, Chip Hale) and front office personnel (Diamondbacks, Brewers) in my career and develop a strong working relationship with all of them. I have also been very fortunate to have been on teams with tremendously talented players like the ones mentioned above along with Brad Penny, Lyle Overbay, Chad Tracy, Brandon Webb, Jose Valverde, Jack Cust, Alex Cintron, etc… and develop a strong working and personal relationship with them. I have also had the pleasure of interviewing and interacting with many well known baseball coaches, scouts, front office personnel from other teams as well…a very very lengthy list that includes Richie Hebner, Mike Jorgensen, Bob Gebhard, Sandy Johnson, John Shoemaker, Jackie Moore, Jay Miller and on and on and on…

BN: Give the readers at BrewersNation something to look for in the upcoming weeks.

B. Pollock: A great pennant race, we are tied for the division lead with West Tenn and lead Carolina by three with 27 to go in the half after tonight and will be trying to win an unprecedented fourth straight half division championship.

Round ‘em Up: Thursday

Well wasn’t that a fun game last night!  The strike zone was a bit obnoxious and sporadic, which accounted for the plethora of strikeouts, but both Jo-Jo Reyes and Jeff Suppan threw superb games last night.  Both were on the corners, changing speeds, and keeping the hitters off-balance.  I always love a good pitcher’s duel, so I very much enjoyed last evening’s game.  Great win boys.

• Someone that will not be helping the team any time soon is David Riske.  He is eligible to come off the DL on Friday, but he will not be ready.  The team says there is no structural damage in his elbow.  There is still discomfort, however.  Needless to say, David Riske will not be pitching in a major league game for a little while.
• Adam McCalvy thought it was necessary to point out that Salomon Torres is the top guy in the “closer by committee” schema.  Really?  I couldn’t figure that out after seeing Torres in the game four out of the last five games in the ninth inning.  I suppose I’m also posting the story here…but that’s more because I find it ridiculous the story was written in the first place.
• The Milwaukee JS gives some compelling evidence as to why Ned Yost shouldn’t be fired if the team still has a chance to make the playoffs.  I’m not sure I completely agree in this case, but it’s very hard to argue with cold statistics.
• Here’s an interview Mike Cameron did with Sports Illustrated.
• The Baseball Analysts examine some of the top picks of last year’s draft, including Matt LaPorta.  They make the very astute (and correct, I believe) observation that Prince Fielder may not have his own long-term contract because LaPorta is waiting in the wings.
• MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo believes that the Brewers will take high school shortstop Anthony Hewitt with their first pick in the 2008 draft.  I’m having a tough time seeing the Brewers go any other direction but pitching with their first pick…especially if Joshua Fields is there.
• RHP Omar Aguilar has been absolutely dominant thus far in 2008, sporting a minuscule 0.35 ERA.  Omar was rewarded Tuesday night with a promotion to Double-A Huntsville, and he got off to a good start with two scoreless innings last night.  He didn’t allow a hit and struck out one.  Not a bad start.
• RotoWorld wants you to know that C Angel Salome is pretty good.  He can hit.

Pitchers’ Duel Goes Brewers Way

If you were to tell me that we were in for a pitchers’ duel last night, frankly, I would have been very surprised.  It’s not that I don’t think that Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan can’t throw a good game, but Jo-Jo Reyes?  The Braves lefty walked into Miller Park with a 5.84 ERA after having just been shelled by Arizona last week.  Well, color me surprised as the Suppan and Reyes faced off over eight (almost) scoreless innings.  I’m pleased to write that the Brewers came out on top, 1-0.

I’ve said it before, but the Brewers plate discipline has made many pedestrian pitchers look like staff aces and last night was shaping up to be a dozy for the Crew.  Reyes handcuffed the Milwaukee bats, striking out eight and allowing only three hits over seven innings.

Suppan was equally masterful.  He gave up only four hits and while his walk count was higher than usually (five) he countered that with a season-high in strikeouts (seven).  Suppan was supported by some awesome defensive plays that help strand eight Braves batters on base.

Reyes was marching right along until the bottom of the eighth when he issued his third walk of the evening to JJ Hardy.  Braves manager Bobby Cox brought in Blaine Boyer and Jason Kendall bunted Hardy to second.  Things were looking a bit perilous when pitch hitter Joe Dillon struck out to leave next batter Rickie Weeks with two outs.

Weeks had other ideas as he laced a perfect shot that hugged the third base foul line to bring Hardy home with a RBI triple.

Weeks’ contribution was good enough as Salomon Torres came into to record a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

Records: Brewers (26-27); Braves (28-25)

Hero of the Game: Jeff Suppan

I said it already, but Soup’s night was a masterstroke.  Finally, we’re getting some mileage out of our starting pitchers.  After struggling to make six innings for a lot of our guys, seeing Suppan and Sheets pull extended duties and get quality outings from McClung and Bush has to leave Brew Crew fans with some optimism and the bullpen a big sigh of relief.

Getting back to Suppan, I usually expect that he’ll give up a few hits and tally a few runs being the ground ball pitcher he is.  Suppan’s style requires a tight defense behind him and after Hall’s error in the second I thought this might be another night where the bats would have to be the major contributor.  The defense tightened up (in fact on the next play it was superb D by Kendall, Hall, and Weeks to turn a cross diamond double play) and was above average all night (finishing in style with Hardy’s layout snag to end the game).

Suppan, obviously, had no runs with seven strikeouts… a total that is very un-Suppan-like.  I felt like I was watching something special last night and I was willing to bet that Ned Yost would have walked him out for the ninth if his spot in the line up didn’t come in the crucial eighth.

Runner-Up Hero: Rickie Weeks. Knocks in the only run of the night… need I say more?  Sure? How about 2-4 (making up 2/3rds of the Brewers hits) and some solid DP turning on the defensive side.  That’s the Pretty Rickie we like to see.

Goat(s) of the Game: Mark Texiteira and Ryan McCann

I know Jim usually has to pick a Brewer for this part, but I didn’t want to do the whole wrap without commenting on a bit of drama that helped Suppan get out of the eighth innings thanks to a few PO’ed Braves.  Texiteira got all huffy about a called third strike (there were a TON of them last night… Reyes has six Ks on called third strikes) and spent a few moments belly aching about the call.  The real drama came when the next batter McCann had the same issues with home plate umpire Mark Wenger.  After a first called strike McCann refused to get back in the box and according to new rules set down at the owner’s meetings umps can charge a strike to stalling batters or have the pitcher throw even thought the batter isn’t in the box.

I’ve never seen a more uncomfortable pitch thrown in my life then the second called strike that Suppan threw with McCann half in the batter’s box.  Suppan subsequently struck out McCann who had more words for Wegner and Cox came out to argue his batter’s case.  No one was tossed, but a bit of stubbornness on the part of the Braves batters cost them some ABs when chances were few and far in-between in this game.

On Tap:

The Braves march out Jorge Campillo (1-0, 0.86 ERA) against Seth McClung (2-1, 3.55 ERA) this afternoon to try and steal one game of the series from the Brewers.  It will be the battle of the stretched out relievers as Campillo makes his third start of the season and McClung his second.  The game gets started at 12:05pm and is ON FSN (schedule change).  Good thing, too. I’m recovering from knee surgery and this is just what I need to get through a boring day on the couch.

By: Dan Wiersema

Minor League Boxscores: Thursday

Nashville Sounds (22-30), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	5	1		11	14	1
Albuquerque	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		3	7	2

RHP Richie Gardner - (W, 4-1) 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – 4.68 ERA
RHP Derrick Turnbow – 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 ER, 6 BB, 1 K – 13.50 ERA
2B Callix Crabbe – 3-5, 3 1B, RBI, BB, SB (3), 3 runs – .333 BA
3B Adam Heether – 1-2, HR (5), 3 RBI – .258 BA
1B J.R. Hopf - 1-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, BB, 2 runs – .333 BA

Huntsville Stars (32-21), 1.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Huntsville	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0		2	6	0
Mobile	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4		4	5	2

LHP David Welch – ND, 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 3.61 ERA
RHP Omar Aguilar – (H, 1) 2.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 0.00 ERA
RHP Juan Sandoval – (BS, 2)(L, 1-2) 0.2 IP, 2 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 6.75 ERA
3B Mat Gamel – 1-3, HR (11), RBI, BB – .383 BA
SS Alcides Escobar – 1-4, HR (5), RBI – .299 BA

Brevard County Manatees (27-25), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Daytona	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0		4	11	1
Brevard County	0	0	0	0	4	1	1	1	X		7	9	2

RHP Alexandre Periard – (W, 4-4) 6.2 IP, 9 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – 5.06 ERA
RHP Mike McClendon – (S, 1) 1.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – 5.62 ERA
CF Lorenzo Cain – 2-4, RBI, BB, SB (16), run – .275 BA
DH Darren Ford – 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, SB (26), run – .234 BA

West Virginia Power (19-32), 14.0 GB

Did not play.

Round ‘em Up: Wednesday

I’m feeling well today after the Brewers pulled out an exciting, yet also frustrating, game against the Atlanta Braves.  The Crew will face a lefty in Jo-Jo Reyes today, so Bill Hall will be in the lineup.  Perhaps he’ll play with that same emotion he played with, especially since he said he hasn’t lately.  Interesting comment…

• After Russell Branyan’s call-up on Monday, MLB Trade Rumors says that Bill Hall could be one of a handfull of third baseman that could be had near the trade deadline.  That would be an interesting move for the Brewers to make, and I believe they will seriously consider it if the Brewers continue to scuffle.

  Anyone else notice Dallas McPherson on that list.  He would be an interesting player to have in Triple-A.  He’s young, been hampered by injuries, but he can flat out hit.  Doug Melvin won’t make the move, as the Marlins are notorious for demanding an arm and a leg.  It would be an intriguing move though.

• Speaking of trades, Eli from MLB Rumors says that Prince Fielder will not be moved this summer.  I hope he doesn’t believe he’s relaying some groundbreaking news here.  The Brewers are not moving their superstar when they still have control of him for another three years.  They might consider it once his salary reaches the $10M range, but not now.

  Eli also says that the Brewers may entertain trade proposals for Ben Sheets near the deadline if the Brewers cannot return to their winning ways.  Really?  I just don’t understand why he feels this is enlightening.  People have been saying this since the season began.  Before that even.

• Eli is just Brewers central today.  He also says that the Brewers are still probably interested in Huston Street.  First of all, Milwaukee is in no position to be buyers right now.  Milwaukee is playing worse than Oakland.  That trade makes no sense.  Secondly, Salomon Torres has handled the closer’s role just fine, thank you very much.  The Brewers will not be trading prospects for Street (who has a history of arm troubles, by the way).  Eli has lost a lot of credibility to me right now.
• Brewerfan.net has a 2008 Draft Preview up.  You all should definitely check this out.  Get to know some of the faces that may be a part of the Brewers farm system in just a couple months.
• Dugout Central names Ned Yost as one of the five managers who are most likely to get fired.  Duh.
• Brewers Fanatics has a little prospect information up about Jeremy Jeffress.  If you want a little more in-depth look at Jeremy, here’s a Prospect Profile of him that I did when I first created this site.  The site has come a long way, no?
• SportsBubbler.com names RHP Omar Aguilar the Prospect of the Week.  I agree that his fly-ball tendencies are a cause for concern, but Ben Sheets also is a fly-ball pitcher.  Benny’s doing just fine.  If Omar can spot his slider, the fly-balls will not matter so much.
• Tennessean.com has an article about Derrick Turnbow and how he’s trying to find his stuff down in Nashville.  Do you want to know why Derrick cannot make it in the big leagues anymore?  Look at what he had to say:

  “I felt like I was always one more bad game away from getting sent down or released,” Turnbow said. “Pitching under that kind of pressure doesn’t lead to good things.”

  If you cannot pitch under pressure, Derrick, I do not want you coming into tight games.  I do not want to rely on you to get an out with runners on base if you cannot deal with pressure.  That comment from Derrick just makes me sick.

• John Sickels has a round-up of the Top 50 pitching prospects and how they are doing.  He says that Manny Parra has been struggling with his command, which is why he has posted a 5.00+ ERA.  John still likes him for the long-term though.  Me too, John.  Me too.
• Here’s an article from Charleston, WV about OF Eric Fryer.  Eric came to WV as a catcher, but has played strictly in the outfield thus far.  He’s done everything the team has asked him to do, and he’s produced along the way in 2008.  You have to like a guy that will play wherever the manager wants him to play and still produce.

Bag It, Bill

UPDATE: Some might find it a bit unfair to go after last night’s hero, but I had the whole post written before last night’s game.  I stick by my opinions in this column.

————————————————————————————–

I commented on Jim’s post yesterday about Bill Hall and his fury over being benched/ platooned in favor of Russell Branyon, but I thought that maybe I would weigh in with a full post on the subject. If you read my comment then some of this will be a repeat.

I stole my post title from a Sports Illustrated cover story from a number of years ago when Michael Jordan tried playing baseball for the Chicago White Sox. SI obviously thought that Jordan should stick to being one of the greatest basketball players ever and give up on a futile effort to becoming a two-sport star. The former Chicago Bull and later Washington Wizards guard took offense and never spoke to SI again. Hopefully, Billy will spare me some wrath.

Either way… bag it, Bill. Now, I certainly don’t believe that Hall needs to hang up his cleats, but anyone who has struggled like he has over the last two seasons has no right to complain that the Milwaukee Brewers, who by-the-way are trying to compete for a division title for the first time in 26 years, benched him in favor of a Major League veteran who was mashing the ball at AAA Nashville.

Jim ran the numbers yesterday, but they bear repeating: a .158 batting average against right-handed pitching and adding a .222 on base percentage against those same righties don’t improve Hall’s case at all. I saw a comment on another blog a few days ago when Russell Branyan was called up and it made a lot of sense. The commentator asked (and I’m paraphrasing here), “How can Hall be a major league player when he can’t hit right-handed pitchers? How many righties did he see in high school, college, and so-far in the majors? How come he hasn’t gotten this down yet? If you can’t hit righties, which make up like 90-95% of pitchers in the Majors… you’re toast.”

I checked and a MLB player will face a right-handed pitcher for nearly 70-80% of his at-bats so the commentator was close. Either way not being able to hit a righty (whether he faces one or one thousand of them) is bad news for Hall.

Enter Mr. Branyan. His numbers (0-5 against the Nationals Monday notwithstanding) in Nashville were phenomenal. He was batting .359 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI in 45 games for Nashville. He had 12 doubles, a .453 on-base percentage and a .693 slugging percentage. You don’t need me to say it, but I will anyways… those are good numbers. Better yet, Branyan is a left-handed bat and in a Brewers line-up flooded with righties this is a welcome addition.

I’m sympathetic to Bill Hall’s situation, but only up to a point. Having a break-out season in 2006 got Hall the big contract. Since then he was shuttled to center field where even as he improved throughout the season in the field his bat was lackluster and even though he was promised this was his last move Hall found himself back in the infield at third for the 2008 season. He has been a team player making the moves without too much complaining, but for as much money as he is getting paid I’ll sell hot dogs if it got me inside Miller Park.

Now Hall is supposed to share the third base duties with Branyan. As the J-S’s Tom Hardicourt reported, Hall is none-too-pleased. Yost was quoted as saying Hall is “very, very upset.” Without sounding harsh…. too bad Bill.

I think I’m on the same page (literally and figuratively) as Jim’s comments . I, too, have been a big fan of Halls and didn’t feel the organization was being all that respectful to him when they bounced him around over the last couple of year. If you want to be an everyday Major Leaguer there are couple of things that you need to do:

Step 1: Play where ever the coach tells you to. Don’t like it? He can find someone else to fill your spot.

Step 2: Play that position well. Hall, after starting the season solidly at the hot corner, has struggled a bit. Two errors in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game against the Nationals almost cost us the game and Hall has 11 on the season now.

Step 3: Hit. Batting .409 against south-paws is great. Batting .158 against righties is not. Hall needs to produce more consistently against all pitchers.

Using the super-scientific method outlined above I have determined that Bill Hall is not any everyday Major Leaguer… at least not right now.

Will Branyan turn out to be our guy at third base? Well, ten years in professional baseball is a good sign that they guy knows how to stick around, so for Yost, Melvin, and company it certainly is worth a shot.  With a young man like Matt Gamel also developing down the minors leagues (his hitting is great, his defense is something to be worked on) Hall is going to need to keep looking over his shoulder beyond this year.

As for Hall, he can be upset all he wants and make thinly veiled threats (“We’ll see what happens the next couple of days,” he said.) all he wants, but unless he starts producing (beyond one game’s worth of heroics) he only has himself to blame.

By: Dan Wiersema

P.S. Hall getting that fantastic flair last night and his (apparently) own-go at the third base steal were both team player and hero’s acts.  He is to be commended for that, but ultimately Hall has to produce is a variety of situations in order to remain relevant for the Brewers’ organization.

I, of course, will be rooting for him to return to 2006 form, but I’m a Brewers’ fan first and a Bill Hall fan second so when push comes to shove I know where I stand.

Minor League Boxscores: Wednesday

Nashville Sounds (21-30), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0		3	11	3
Albuquerque	1	0	4	0	1	1	2	2	X		11	14	0

LHP Chris Narveson – (L, 2-7) 3.0 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 5.06 ERA
LHP Mitch Stetter – 1.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K – 0.84 ERA
LF Callix Crabbe – 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, run – .302 BA
2B Ozzie Chavez – 3-4, 3 1B, run – .236 BA

Huntsville Stars (32-20), 1.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Huntsville	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0		3	17	0
Mobile	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	0

LHP Derek Miller – (W, 5-1) 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K – 3.12 ERA
RHP Patrick Ryan – (H, 4) 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 0.71 ERA
RHP Juan Sandoval – (S, 5) 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 3.97 ERA
CF Michael Brantley – 2-4, 2B, BB, run – .325 BA
SS Alcides Escobar – 2-4, 2 1B – .300 BA
3B Mat Gamel – 4-5, 4 1B, RBI – .384 BA
LF Cole Gillespie – 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, run – .293 BA

Brevard County Manatees (26-25), 5.0 GB

Did not play.

West Virginia Power (19-32), 12.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Lakewood	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1		6	9	1
West Virginia	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0		5	7	1

LHP Chris Cody - ND, 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs (2 ER), 1 BB, 3 K – 1.80 ERA
LHP Mike Ramlow – (L, 2-2) 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 2.91 ERA
CF Lee Haydel – 2-5, 2B, 2 runs – .268 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy - 3-4, 2B, RBI, run – .302 BA
3B Steffan Wilson – 1-4, HR (8), 4 RBI – .252 BA

Brewers win one Hall of a game

Sorry…you’ll have to excuse the pun. Punning can be quite fun sometimes, but I digress.

After complaining about his demotion to a platoon role, Bill Hall gave fans a night to remember in Milwaukee. Billy came off the bench in the bottom of the ninth and delivered a clutch base hit to right. He got second base on a sacrifice bunt and had a beautiful steal of third to get in scoring position. Mike Cameron then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which scored Billy for the winning run. Then, pandemonium in Milwaukee.

Now, I am not going to change my opinion about Bill Hall needing to be restricted to a platoon role, but tonight does prove that Billy can be quite a contributor to the team. I would love to see Bill return to his 2006 form. I would gladly be the first to admit that I was wrong and embrace Bill Hall for the player he has the potential to be. Potentiality and actuality are two different things, however.

I do not wish to dampen the joy from tonight’s win, but I do not believe Bill Hall proved he deserves to start everyday because of his heroics tonight. After all, Russell Branyan did a fine job tonight, going 1-3 with a walk. That’s a .500 OBP if you’re keeping track at home. I understand Bill is not happy, but if that anger gets channeled into Brewers wins, I’m all for it.

How about Dave Bush tonight! After struggling out of the gate and giving up two home runs in the first two innings, he pitches five straight scoreless frames to keep the Brewers in the game. The right-hander pounded the strike zone tonight, which is a very welcome sign. Milwaukee needs more outings like this from the former 12-game winner.

Struggling Brewers had a night against the Braves this evening. JJ Hardy was consistent all around and went 3-4. Perhaps the security of Jason Kendall behind him has a little something to do with that. Julian Tavarez may have not been a Brewer when he struggled this season, but he made his Milwaukee debut in a fine fashion tonight. He sat down the Braves in order in the eighth inning. Tavarez will need to put together a few more scoreless frames before I will believe he’s found his form, however.

Huge win for the Milwaukee Brewers tonight. A tip of the cap to you, Bill Hall. I may have bashed you in the past few days, but you deserve all the praise you have gotten after tonight’s game. Well done.

Records: Brewers (25-27); Braves (28-24)

Hero of the Game: Dave Bush

I had a sinking feeling in my gut after watching Dave give up two home runs in the first two innings. All signs pointed to the right-hander struggling through another outing and me pounding my fist in frustration all night. Instead of imploding after the second inning, however, Dave showed extreme maturity and resilience on the mound to pitch through the seventh without giving up anymore runs. With Braves starter Tim Hudson showing pretty good stuff tonight and frustrating the Brewers with runners in scoring position, Dave needed to keep the Braves off the board to keep Milwaukee in the game. He did that. Perhaps that’s the “bulldog mentality” Ned Yost keeps raving about. A tip of the cap to you too, Dave Bush. Well done tonight.

Goat of the Game: Jason Kendall

Jason went 0-4 tonight and left five Brewers on the basepaths. I thought he called a great game for Dave Bush and really helped him get through the game after giving up the two long balls early. It was just a rough night for Jason at the dish.

On Tap

RHP Jeff Suppan will take the mound against rookie LHP Jo-Jo Reyes. The Crew looks to secure the series win tomorrow night against the Braves starting at 7:05pm CT.

Recent news

Sorry for the lack of a Round ‘em Up this morning.  I wanted to give the interview with Jonathan Lucroy a little more face-time at the top of the blog.  There are a couple of important things that happened today though.

• The Milwaukee Brewers have officially signed RHP Julian Tavarez and activated him today.  The corresponding move was sending LHP Zach Jackson back down to Triple-A.  It only leaves the Brewers with one lefty in the bullpen, but Zach hasn’t been overly successful as a “left-handed specialist.”  Lefties hit .229 against him in the minors, which is not awe-inspiring.  It’s not terrible by any means, but it is certainly not anywhere near Brian Shouse’s .147 opponent batting average against lefties.  Plus, that .229 BA is in the minors.  Major league hitters are presumably a little better than minor league hitters.

  A lot of Brewers fans are up in arms about the Tavarez signing.  I don’t quite understand the displeasure.  It is the type of low-risk, high-reward move that Doug Melvin needs to make.  The organization cannot warrant dishing out cash to better pitchers unless the team proves it can be competitive.  The Brewers will only be paying Tavarez $390,000, which is the pro-rated minimum.  Julian is a ground ball pitcher who could find success with a little change of scenery.  It’s not like the Brewers are paying him $10M (ahem, Gagne).

• Tom Haudricourt is reporting that Bill Hall is very upset with the situation at third base.  That is, he feels he should be an everyday player, and Russell Branyan should have not been called up.  In fact, Billy is downright livid about this situation.

  Again, I just do not understand.  How does Bill Hall justify his claim that he should be playing everyday?  Is it his blistering .158 BA against right-handing pitching?  How about his .222 OBP against righties?  I just don’t get it.  Ned Yost and Doug Melvin are not there to be friends with the players.  They are there to get the most production out of their players.  In this case, it involves platooning Bill Hall with Russell Branyan.  On that note, don’t judge Branyan on his 0-5 performance yesterday.  It was just one game.  The previous game he performed very well.

  You have to play better before you can start making demands, Bill.  I’m truly sorry the Brewers have bounced you around from position-to-position in the past few years, but you’ve been given the chance to succeed in the infield this season.  You are where you want to be, and you still cannot produce.  I’ve rooted for you for so long, and I feel like I deserve some sort of gift in return.  Would a .240 BA against righties be that difficult?  If it is, I don’t feel Ned Yost should continue to throw you out there at the hot corner.  At some point, you have to produce.

  Oh, and to anyone wondering, Bill Hall is a perfect example of why small market teams do not throw out long-term contracts.  The Brewers rewarded him after a productive season in 2006, but he has not returned the favor.  Now the Brewers are stuck paying a platoon-caliber player $4.8M this season, $6.8M in 2009, and $8.4M in 2010.  The Brewers will likely look to unload his contract soon.

Interview with Jonathan Lucroy

Former third-round pick C Jonathan Lucroy was nice enough to answer questions for BrewersNation a few months ago, and it was very well received. I thought it would be fun to have a follow-up interview with Jonathan to see how his time in West Virginia is going. Of course, Jonathan was more than willing to do the interview. He’s someone I’ve really begun to pull for the more I’ve been in contact with him. Here’s what he had to say.

BN: After playing rookie ball in Helena, what is the biggest difference in moving up a level and playing against better competition in High-A West Virginia?

Jonathan Lucroy: Overall every aspect of the game is better. I have to say the pitching stands out the most. In rookie ball pitchers leave the ball up more, as well as have less experience. The pitching will get even better after the draft, just because the teams will be sending their high-round draft picks here instead of to rookie ball.

BN: All of the readers at BrewersNation know that you are hitting the ball well in WV. In fact, your slugging percentage and on-base percentage are higher than last season’s numbers already. How have you been able to adjust to better pitching so quickly?

J. Lucroy: The main reason I think I’ve had some success here is because of my experience in Hawaii. The pitching I saw there was the equivalent of high-a to possibly double-a. To have to compete against that and then come into a full season and compete against low-a pitching is a very big advantage for me.

BN: In our last interview, you said that you wanted to work on your defensive skills first and foremost. How have your game-calling skills and your defensive skills in general improved?

J. Lucroy: During spring training and the offseason I really put a emphasis on getting my defense better. For me to make it to the big-leagues I have to be able to catch, throw, block, recieve, and call a game. As well as hit. The hitting for me has always come the easiest, and really, hitting is tough. So as you can see, my defensive side of the game will get me there, and my hitting will keep me there, at least I hope. This year I really put a pronunciation on working on my throwing. In Hawaii I had a terrible percentage of throwing runners out. During my offseason workouts I worked on my arm strength alot, and so far it has helped me out tremendously here in West Virginia. My mental side of the game or calling pitches, will come with experience. I have to experience it in order to understand it.

BN: Based on your time in WV thus far, give Brewers fans someone to look for in the coming weeks. Who is a potential “breakout player” that you are currently playing with?

J. Lucroy: I would say probably Steffan Wilson. I think he is one of the most underrated players in our organization. He has a great arm, good defensive instincts at third base, and he hits for alot of power. I’ve seen him hit 450 ft shots easily. There are some really good third basemens in our organization, and I think he and Zealous Wheeler both can hold their own very well.

BN: How is life as a minor league baseball player? Is it a day-to-day grind, or do you think of yourself as someone living the dream, playing the game you love?

J. Lucroy: I would have to say both. I’m very passionate about what I do, and I would never trade any of this for enything else, but it does start to grind on you after a while. Last year I played in a total of 173 games counting college, Helena, and Hawaii. I remember thinking during the last two weeks I was in Hawaii how tired and weak I felt. It was very tough, but I would do it all over again if I had to so I can achieve my life dream.

BN: With the exception of Jeremy Jeffress in Brevard County, there has not been a pitcher garnering more praise than LHP Zach Braddock. He started the year in WV. Did you have the chance to catch for him? How’s his stuff?

J. Lucroy: I did catch him, he throws what I heard is called the “invisi-ball.” Hitters swing at it, and it disappears. He strikes alot of guys out because he is short and quick to the plate. Its deception that allows him to have success. I heard the “invis-ball” comparison from the other pitchers on our team. They couldn’t believe how many hitters swung and missed at his pitches.

BN: What is your goal for yourself in the 2008 season?

J. Lucroy: My goal is to continue getting better. I think that if I go out and work hard and try to get better every day, then everything else will take of itself. I know that there are some guys that say they want to hit .350 or hit 20 hr’s or whatever. I’m not about all that, I just try to go out and handle my business the right way and things will fall into place.

Minor League Boxscores: Tuesday

Nashville Sounds (21-29), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	0		4	10	1
Memphis	0	3	2	0	4	0	0	0	X		9	11	0

RHP Jeff Weaver - (L, 1-3) 6.0 IP, 9 runs (5 ER), 5 BB, 2 K – 6.69 ERA
LF Callix Crabbe – 2-3, 2 1B, 2 BB, run – .282 BA
2B Steve Sollmann – 1-3, HR (2), 2 RBI – .210 BA

Huntsville Stars (30-20), 1.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Huntsville	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	1		4	7	0
Mobile	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	X		5	7	1

LHP Steve Hammond – (L, 5-2) 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K – 3.25 ERA
3B Mat Gamel – 2-4, 2B, run – .374 BA
LF Cole Gillespie – 2-3, HR (9), RBI, BB – .287 BA
C Angel Salome – 1-4, HR (4), RBI – .364 BA

Brevard County Manatees (26-25), 4.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brevard County	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0		3	9	0
Daytona	0	0	0	6	3	0	0	0	X		9	13	1

RHP Jeremy Jeffress – (L, 1-2) 4.2 IP, 11 hits, 9 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – 10.22 ERA
DH Darren Ford - 2-4, 2B, RBI, BB, SB (25), run – .232 BA
CF Lorenzo Cain – 1-4, 1B, 2 RBI – .270 BA

West Virginia Power (19-31), 12.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Lakewood	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		4	12	1
West Virginia	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		3	10	0

RHP Evan Anundsen – (L, 3-4) 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 4.21 ERA
C Jonathan Lucroy – 3-5, HR (7), RBI – .292 BA
RF Caleb Gindl – 2-3, 2 2B, BB – .279 BA
1B Curt Rindal – 2-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, BB, run – .224 BA

Brewers eke out a win in extra innings

Prince Fielder, Gabe Kapler, Carlos Villanueva, and Salomon Torres may have saved Ned Yost his job for the time being.  They were the instrumental players in the extra frames and led the Brewers to a victory over the Washington Nationals 4-3.

Prince served an opposite-field double over the head of Ryan Langerhans.  I wasn’t completely sure what happened next was the correct move, as Corey Hart sacrifice bunted Prince to third.  If he would have done this earlier in the count, it would have made plenty of sense.  A 3-1 count though?  You have to let the best clutch hitter on the Brewers do some damage there.

The move appeared to be the incorrect one, as big Russell Branyan struck out for the fourth time of the game to follow Corey.  Gabe Kapler picked up his teammates, however, and laced the first pitch he saw into center to score Prince.  Milwaukee had a chance to add to that one run lead, but Rickie Weeks grounded out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Salomon Torres then came in and shut the door relatively easily on the Nats.  It was very nice to see a Brewers closer breeze through in inning.  Perhaps Ned has found someone he can trust at the back-end of the bullpen.  Torres sure looked good this afternoon.

I cannot tell you how impressed I was with Carlos Villanueva today.  After struggling in the rotation and getting flak from every Brewers fan and their mother, Carlos came into the game in the ninth inning and struck out the side to send the game into extras.  He then set the Nats down 1-2-3 again in the bottom of the 10th to prolong the game.  In that inning, the young man struck out the first two batters before getting Christian Guzman to ground out to Craig Counsell.  Carlos was sharp today.  Perhaps there is something to the closing idea that The Brew Town Beat has thrown out for the past couple weeks.

The Brewers were down early after Ben Sheets gave up a first inning home run to Christian Guzman on a hanging curveball.  Benny pitched fairly well today, going six innings and striking out six.  He could have gone more, as the Brewers’ ace only had 86 pitches.  The Brewers needed offense though, so Ned pulled Benny in the top of the seventh in favor of Joe Dillon.  Joe reached on an error.

Overall, this was a good win for the Brewers.  They split the series with the Nationals, and the team went 4-6 on the road trip.  After getting swept by the Boston Red Sox, I cannot complain.  I have no way of proving this, but my gut tells me that the Brewers saved Ned’s job today with this extra innings win.  Gord Ash, Doug Melvin, and Mark Attanasio were on hand today.  They were no doubt scouting the skipper to see how he handled himself.  So far, so good for Ned.

Records: Brewers (24-27); Nationals (22-30)

Hero of the Game: Gabe Kapler

Gabe saved the Brewers today with his RBI-single in the top of the 11th.  After sitting on the bench all day, he steps into the batters box and lines a first-pitch fastball into center to score Prince Fielder.  It turned out to be the winning run.  One of the most difficult aspects of baseball is being a pinch-hitter, and most batters take a pitch or two to get comfortable in the box.  Not Gabe.  Not today.  He manned up and roped one to center.  I’ll consider today’s win a Memorial Day present.

Goat of the Game: Russell Branyan

It’s tough to give Russell the Goat after being so excited about his being called up yesterday, but he definitely deserves the award.  After a very nice performance in yesterday’s game, Russell struck out four times tonight.  The big one came in the top of the eleventh, as he only needed a sacrifice fly to get Prince home.  Instead, Russell swung at the first three pitches and quickly got sent back to the dugout.  Rough outing for Branyan today.

On Tap

Milwaukee will head home tonight and start a tough homestand tomorrow against the Atlanta Braves.  The struggling Dave Bush will looked to straighten himself out against the veteran Tim Hudson.  The game will start at 6:05pm CT.

Round ‘em Up: Monday

Wow.  Apparently, everyone has taken off from blogging on this beautiful Memorial Day.  Not me.  I will be off after posting this for you this morning, but I cannot leave everyone hanging this morning.  Plus, there is actually some news to report.

• The Milwaukee Brewers are about to sign RHP Julian Tavarez to work out of the bullpen.  The injuries to David Riske and Eric Gagne have proven too much for the pen to handle.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Tavarez has had time as a starter.  With Jeff Weaver most likely departing for another team in a couple weeks, Melvin needed a replacement.  Tavarez is just that.  He’s not impressive, but he can be solid.  Perhaps a change of venue will do him some good.
• Tom Haudricourt is reporting that former first-round pick RHP Mark Rogers is progressing extremely slowly down in extended Spring Training.  They are hoping something turns around in the coming weeks, otherwise another trip to the doctor will be in order.  I feel bad for the young man.  He simply cannot get healthy enough to prove anything to anyone.
• Jim Powell has a new post, and he says that Doug Melvin, Gord Ash, and Mark Attanasio will be at today’s game.  It could be that it’s the holiday weekend, so they all have time off.  Or…it could be that Ned Yost could be on his way out if the Brewers struggle again.

That’s literally all I have for you today.  It was boring scouring the internet.  Enjoy your Memorial Day.  I know I will!

Minor League Boxscores: Monday

Nashville Sounds (21-28), 4.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12		R	H	E
Nashville	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	4		8	11	2
Memphis	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3		7	10	1

LHP Lindsay Gulin – ND, 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K – 3.05 ERA
LHP Mitch Stetter – 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 0.00 ERA
3B Brad Nelson – 2-4, 2 HR (8), 5 RBI, 2 BB – .327 BA
LF Hernan Iribarren – 2-5, 2 1B, SB (11) – .264 BA

Huntsville Stars (31-19), 1.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Birmingham	0	0	1	3	1	1	0	0	0		6	9	0
Huntsville	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	2	0		5	10	0

RHP Mike Jones – (L, 0-2) 4.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K – 9.00 ERA
RHP Donovan Hand – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – 3.60 ERA
CF Michael Brantley – 3-5, 3 1B – .328 BA
RF Matt LaPorta – 1-4, HR (13), RBI – .293 BA
LF Cole Gillespie – 2-4, 2B, run – .280 BA

Brevard County Manatees (26-24), 4.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brevard County	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4		7	10	1
Dunedin	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		4	11	0

LHP Zach Braddock – ND, 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K – 4.05 ERA
RHP Omar Aguilar – (W, 3-0) 2.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 0.35 ERA
1B Taylor Green – 2-4, 2B, HR (4), 4 RBI, BB – .314 BA
CF Darren Ford – 1-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 runs – .227 BA

West Virginia Power (19-30), 11.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Lakewood	0	1	0	0	6	0	0	4	2		13	17	2
West Virginia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0		2	7	2

LHP Dan Merklinger – (L, 0-4) 4.1 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – 5.50 ERA
1B Steffan Wilson – 2-4, 2B, RBI – .256 BA
RF Caleb Gindl- 1-2, 2B, BB – .272 BA
DH Jonathan Lucroy – 1-4, 1B, RBI – .283 BA

Round ‘em Up: Sunday

Writing the Round ‘em Up in the morning is a lot more pleasant after a win. The Brewers sites are a lot more pleasant to read, and I don’t have to relive the loss thirty times each morning. Not too much has been written on the Brewers this morning, however. That’s probably due to the people that are wasting gas and traveling this weekend.

• This post made my entire night last night. Russell Branyan has been called up from Nashville and will start tonight against the right-handed Tim Redding. To make room for the veteran, Tony Gwynn Jr. got sent down to Triple-A. The young man needs to play every day.Russell is not going to come into Milwaukee and hit .400 against righties, but I can almost guarantee you that he’ll succeed more than Bill Hall against right-handed pitching. It’s nice to see Doug Melvin taking steps towards improving the team. You can only say “it’s early” for so long before time comes to adjust the lineup. I am happy this morning.
• Tom Haudricourt says that Derrick Turnbow is not going anywhere, despite his downright awful numbers in Triple-A. It’s to the point that I don’t really care now. Jeff Weaver, however, has the option to be released from his contract in a couple weeks if he does not make the big league squad. If he continues pitching the way he has, Jeff may be searching for another team soon.
• After spouting off about the Brewers yesterday, The Brew Town Beat is markedly happier today. Seth McClung has infused them with a bit of hope as well. Russell Branyan is another reason to put a smile on your face this morning, Brewers fans. The article also mentions that Carlos Villanueva should get an opportunity in the closer’s role. Disagree. Carlos does not have the stuff to be a closer. His change-up is not good enough right now to be the Trever Hoffman-type closer. And I completely disagree with the comment on Salomon Torres struggling. If Bill Hall wouldn’t have forced him to get five outs last night, he wouldn’t have had to throw many pitches. In fact, Torres almost got two saves in one night…
• Dugout Central mentions that the Milwaukee Brewers have had eight straight seasons with a losing record on the road. In past years, the Brewers were under .500 on the road because they were a bad team. Now, I blame Ned Yost. If you cannot get your players energized to play for you on the road, you are not doing your job as manager.
• As mentioned yesterday, RHP Donovan Hand was promoted to Huntsville yesterday after dominating high Class-A ball with Brevard County. Here’s a nice article on Donovan.  He credits his fine pitching this year to his hard-breaking slider he worked on this off-season. Before 2008, Donovan got by with a fastball and a change-up. He needed that third pitch.It’s crazy to think that Donovan has been promoted three times already in his minor league career, and he was only drafted in June. He was still pitching in college at this point last season. Impressive.

Post of the Day:

After talking about Mat Gamel and his defensive improvements at third base, The Huntsville Times wrote a very, very nice article about Gamel. You cannot help but like the guy after reading this article. He’s taking his defensive trouble’s personally. He wants to prove everyone wrong about his defensive capabilities. His coaches say that his throws have gotten much more consistent this year, but he has still made 11 errors this season. It’s not great, but it’s a step in the right direction.

The other aspect of the article I very much enjoyed was Gamel’s humility. He didn’t tell his girlfriend he was a star prospect in the Brewers system until after she came home to meet his parents. He didn’t tell anyone about being considered for a call up to the big leagues to play DH against Boston. The third baseman is too concerned with becoming a complete baseball player. That starts on the defensive end.

Great article.

The Sunday Harvest

Offensive Player of the Week: SS Alcides Escobar

Last 10:  .419 BA, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 6 BB, 4 SB

Alcides has shrugged off the slow start to his 2008 campaign to have a sizzling hot May.  His .419 average in his past ten games is certainly impressive, but Brewers fans should be much more excited about those six walks.  The slick-fielding shortstop’s walk rate hovered around the 3-5% rate.  That’s Ryan Braun-esque.  His plate discipline appears to have improved dramatically this year.  Brewers fans rejoice.

Honorable Mention

3B Mat Gamel – (Last 10:  .391 BA, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 BB, SB) – Mat has been a given for the past couple of weeks, but I thought we would get him back into the fold this week.  His ability to hit for average and power, yet have above-average plate discipline for a 22-year old is what makes him arguably the number one prospect in MIlwaukee’s system.  He flat rakes.

1B Chris Errecart – (Last 10:  .359 BA, 4 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB) – The most common criticism of the first baseman is that he may not have enough power to stick at the first base position.  Chris has been out to prove the critics wrong this week, as he’s going on a bit of a power binge.  His plate discipline is still atrocious, but we’ll give him a break this week.

OF Eric Fryer – (Last 10: .324 BA, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB) – Eric was a late addition to the West Virginia lineup, and he’s come in firing on all cylinders.  Don’t be too concerned about the low RBI rate.  Very few have been hitting in West Virginia lately.

Pitcher of the Week: RHP Jeremy Jeffress

After struggling with his command in his season opener a couple weeks ago, Jeremy bounced back in a big way.  In his one start this week, he only went 5.0 innings, but he struck out 10 batters and only walked one.  He scattered four hits during his outing to log a scoreless outing.  Right when I’m getting caught up with pitchers like Sam Narron, Steve Hammond, and Amaury Rivas, Jeremy reminds me why he’s the best pitching prospect the team has.

Honorable Mention

LHP Sam Narron – Since getting called up to Nashville because of his fine work down in Huntsville, Sam has turned in two quality starts.  The lefty had two starts this week.  He went six innings and gave up two earned runs in the first outing, while allowing three runs in seven innings in his second outing of the week.  He is still not a strikeout artist, but Sam has proven to be incredibly effective on the mound.

RHP Amaury Rivas – Amaury also had two appearances this week.  He allowed only one run in each of his outings, while keeping his strikeout rate consistent.  The right-hander still has a tendency to walk too many batters for my taste, but he has lowered his season ERA to 2.53 after those two starts.  Nice work.

LHP Mike Ramlow – After beginning the 2008 season in the starting rotation, West Virginia has moved Mike to the closer’s role.  The move appears to be brilliant.  Mike has responded extremely well, going 3-3 in his save opportunities without giving up a run.  He is still pounding the strike zone, which serves any closer well.  It will be interesting to see whether or not this move is temporary.  Mike did not perform poorly in the starting rotation, but he seems to have found a home in the bullpen.  Time will tell.

McClung is McSolid in D.C.

The hard-throwing Seth McClung certainly knows how to make a good first impression.

After fans (including myself) have been lamenting over his inability to throw strikes as a starter, Seth comes out this evening and pounded the strike zone for five very strong innings…with zero walks.  So much for my theory about his BB:K ratio.  Seth was taken out after the fifth and only 68 pitches (46 of which were strikes), presumably because Ned is still stretching Seth’s arm out.  No use in putting too much pressure on his arm this early in the season.

Offensively speaking, Corey Hart continued on his homer binge, socking his fifth home run of the season off John Lannan.  It was a very balanced attack tonight.  Every Brewer position player collected a hit, except for Ryan Braun.  The left fielder took the hat trick, striking out three times. 

Mike Cameron also had a strong game, going deep in the 8th inning.  He finished the game with 2 hits and scoring twice.  That is the player the Brewers paid for during the off-season.  I’ve said it many times before, but when Rickie Weeks and Cam are getting on base with regularity, Milwaukee’s offense is infinitely better.  Funny how that works out.

As Ned Yost promised, the closing duties tonight went to Salomon Torres.  It was interesting that Salomon threw almost exclusively fastballs tonight.  My guess is that he did not wish to make a mistake with a hanging off-speed pitch with a three-run cushion.  Even though Bill Hall forced Torres to get five outs instead of three, the former Pirate was able to retire the side yielding no damage.

Records:  Brewers (23-26); Nationals (21-29)

Hero of the Game:  Seth McClung

No, Seth didn’t pitch a complete game.  No, he didn’t pitch a scoreless five innings even.  What Seth did bring to the rotation was hope.  Brewers fans around the country are now hopeful that Seth McClung and his mysterious “mechanical adjustment” are the answers to the fifth spot in the rotation.  The big right-hander pounded the strike zone, which is a refreshing sign.  With his velocity and his nasty curveball, Seth does not need to work the corners so much.  He simply needs to throw strikes.  McClung’s solid outing this evening has caused me to get my hopes up for him this season.  Do not disappoint me, Seth.

Goat of the Game:  Bill Hall

Sure, Ryan Braun took the collar and struck out three times.  Billy had two errors in the ninth inning, however, and almost made the game too close for comfort.  I told you the Brewers cannot even win comfortably.  They need to make everything nerve-racking.  Even though Bill has shown the capability to make highlight plays at the hot corner, he is also showing the propensity to be incredibly error-prone.  His play is making Russell Branyan infinitely more appealing.

On Tap

Left-hander Manny Parra will battle Washington’s Tim Redding tomorrow afternoon to decide the series.  The game will start at 12:35pm CT.  

Bill Hall will be sitting out the game, so I don’t have to be mad at him so much tomorrow.  Seriously, two errors in the ninth?

Round ‘em Up: Saturday

Yesterday, BrewersNation reader Aaron asked about Mat Gamel and his defense.  Mat is raking in Huntsville (see the boxscores below), but his defense is holding him back from the big leagues.  Last season, the third baseman put up 56 errors.  That’s a lot of errors.  Anyway, I got in contact with Brett Pollock, who is the play-by-play announcer for the Huntsville Stars.  He and I are currently working on an interview that will probably be up on Monday, but here’s a little bit on Gamel’s defense.

BrewersNation: Some of my readers are wondering how Mat Gamel’s defense has been progressing in Huntsville?  We know he can mash the ball, but how’s the defense coming?

Brett Pollock: Gamel has played real well at third base, better than most of us thought he would based on his error total from last season. The only real bad game he has had was in late April against Jacksonville when he made three errors.

He has made numerous outstanding plays going to his right on the backhand and has displayed a strong arm in those situations.  He still gets himself tangled up at times with footwork and could be a little more consistent going to his left but for the most part he has played well.

By comparison, he is ahead of Braun since he has always played the position, and has the ability and the makeup and desire to turn himself into a good defender.  He will not not make because he didn’t work hard enough..he realizes he has a good teacher in Don Money and is using him as a resource to make himself a better player at the position.

Stay tuned for the rest of the interview in the coming days.  Now…on to the Round ‘em Up.  It’s going to be short and without commentary, unfortunately.  I apologize.

• SI.com writes an article that says Ned Yost is the man that Brewers fans love to hate.
• FOX Sports’ Dayn Perry says that Ned Yost is not the manager that can bring Milwaukee to the next level and that he should go.
• Eli from MLB Rumors has Yost as the second most likely manager to get fired.
• Brew Crew Ball takes a look at the problems at third base for the Brewers.  Obviously, Bill Hall needs to be sat against right handers.  As of now, that would put Craig Counsell in against righties.  Not ideal.
• David Riske is still feeling discomfort in his elbow.  Like I said, this injury is a lot more serious than the team is pretending it is.
• Between the Green Pillars lists some of the pitchers the Brewers can go after in the off-season.  How the Brewers have a chance at Rich Harden or AJ Burnett, I have no idea.  I have a feeling that the Yankees are going to offer a lot of money to Burnett.
• Doug Melvin says that the Brewers are still interested in Julian Tavarez.  I thought the Brewers were going to try Tavarez in the rotation, but Melvin says that he could help the bullpen.  That’s not so bad.  I could get behind that….maybe.
• Brew Crew Ball thinks that Jason Kendall is struggling a bit at the plate because he is catching too much.  I disagree.
• Right Field Bleachers writes an open letter asking for the Brewers to sign Ben Sheets after the season.  If Brewers think that Sheets will take a “hometown discount,” they will be surprised come November.
• The Brew Town Beat throws a little hissy fit about the Brewers.  I agree with some of it, but they are overreacting on some of the points.

Minor League Transactions

Jason Shiell got called up to Nashville from Huntsville to help out the pen since Dillard, DiFelice, and Jackson left.

The big right-hander, Donovan Hand, got the call to transfer to Huntsville from Brevard County.  Congrats Donovan.  You definitely pitched your way up the ladder.  You deserve a shot.

Minor League Boxscores: Saturday

Nashville Sounds (19-28), 6.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nashville	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		4	10	0
Memphis	1	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	X		5	12	1

RHP Richie Gardner – ND, 6.0 IP, 9 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K – 5.35 ERA
LF Callix Crabbe – 2-5, 2B – .250 BA
RF Mel Stocker – 3-4, RBI, SB (6), run – .274 BA

Huntsville Stars (30-18), — GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Birmingham	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2		5	10	1
Huntsville	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0		4	8	2

LHP David Welch – ND, 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K – 3.99 ERA
RHP Juan Sandoval – (BS, 1)(L, 1-1) 1.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 ER), 1 BB, 0 K – 3.48 ERA
3B Mat Gamel – 2-5, 2B, RBI, run – .368 BA
1B Matt LaPorta – 1-4, HR (12), 2 RBI, BB – .295 BA

Brevard County Manatees (25-23), 4.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brevard County	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0		3	4	1
Dunedin	2	1	3	1	0	0	0	2	X		9	10	1

RHP Josh Butler – (L, 1-5) 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs (5 ER), 4 BB, 4 K – 5.10 ERA
3B Taylor Green – 1-3, RBI, BB – .302 BA
1B Stephen Chapman – 1-3, HR (7), RBI, BB – .224 BA

West Virginia Power (19-28), 10.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
West Virginia	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		2	7	1
Lake County	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	3

RHP Amaury Rivas – ND, 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K – 2.53 ERA
RHP Corey Frerichs – (W, 3-4) 3.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – 2.37 ERA
LHP Mike Ramlow – (S, 3) 1.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 2.81 ERA
LF Eric Fryer – 2-4, HR (3), RBI – .333 BA
C Jonathan Lucroy – 1-4, 2B – .289 BA

Suppan gets tough loss

Jeff Suppan got a tally in the loss column for today’s game against the Washington Nationals, but he certainly didn’t deserve it.

The veteran was cruising along, getting the lead-off man to ground out in the sixth. Soup then walked Felipe Lopez, which is always a no-no. He looked to recover nicely, however, inducing an easy grounder from Christian Guzman to JJ Hardy. Hardy was right by the bag. He simply had to step on the bag and fire the ball to first to end the inning.

Instead, Hardy rushed himself, bobbled the ball, and got no one. Things then unraveled for the Brewers. Four runs scored in the inning, and the Brewers were unable to sustain any type of rally for the remainder of the game. Prince Fielder and Craig Counsell got on in the ninth with nobody out, but both failed to score as the rest of the offense floundered behind them.

After getting called up earlier in the day, Tim Dillard made his major league debut for the Milwaukee Brewers. He faired much better than did Zach Jackson and Mark DiFelice in the previous days, as he allowed no runs and struck out a batter.

The offense has been getting better. The starting pitching has improved lately (minus Dave Bush yesterday). Yet the Brewers are still struggling to win games. I just don’t understand. The Crew can still come back to win the series, which they should, but I have a feeling they will not make it look easy.

Records: Brewers (22-26); Nationals (21-28 )

Hero of the Game: Jeff Suppan

I know he gave up two walks and a couple doubles in the sixth inning, but he did not deserve the fate he was handed. He pitched effectively and efficiently through the fifth inning, and he even provided the team with its only RBI of the game. I would have given this award to someone on the offense, but no one earned it. Hence…I’ll go with the offensive hero that just happened to be on the mound in the same game.

Goat of the Game: JJ Hardy

JJ Hardy…supposedly the best infielder on the team…somehow cannot get a routine ground ball into his glove well enough to step on second base in the sixth inning. He may not be hitting as well as Brewers fans would like, but we have always been able to rely on his defense. Not the case tonight. Brutal.

On Tap

RHP Seth McClung will try to solidify the back-end of the Brewers rotation tomorrow against LHP John Lannan and the Nationals. The game will start at 6:10pm CT.

Brewers call up Dillard

The Milwaukee Brewers made the call for Tim Dillard from Triple-A Nashville today.  The sinkerballer has been extremely productive in Nashville, posting a 2.01 ERA with a 19:9 K:BB ratio.  I thought he deserved a call up over Zach Jackson anyway.

The team has not announced the corresponding move yet, but all signs point to Eric Gagne being put on the DL.  In fact, his “rotator cuff tendinitis” is much more serious than the team is letting on, so I would not be surprised if Gagne is out for longer than another week or so.  While the team has not specified anything yet, it only makes sense that Gagne’s going on the DL is the corresponding move.

Then again, Zach Jackson could be sent back down to the minors.  That’s just me reaching for something else that could happen.  Gagne’s getting put on the DL, don’t worry Zach.

Friday’s NL Central Review

Chicago Cubs (28-19), — GB

Last weekend, the Chicago Cubs took care of the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. Nothing to get worked up over there. The first place team in the division should take the series from the lowly Pirates. The real test came when Chicago traveled down to Houston for a surprisingly big series. I felt it was a rather sloppy series overall, and the Houston Astros took two out of three against the Cubs.

Chicago is still looking for a reliable fifth starter. Sean Gallagher is the latest arm to get a shot at the fifth spot, but he has been unimpressive in his starts. The right-handed veteran, Jon Lieber, appears to fit better as the long-man in the bullpen. His first start in the rotation was completely uninspiring, and the team quickly put him back in the relief role. My hunch is that Kevin Hart will be getting a shot for the Cubs if Gallagher doesn’t pan out, but he’s still stretching his arm out. Hell, why not stretch out Carlos Marmol? The Cubs use him enough anyway…

• Brewers fans have been hearing rumors about a certain San Diego Padres pitcher coming to the Dairy State. Cubs fans are clamoring to get another Padre to Chicago, Greg Maddux. The Padres appear to be in “sell” mode…so much so that GM Kevin Towers may be ready for a firesale this summer. Maddux’s 3.94 ERA is solid enough to warrant the trade interest, and the search for a fifth starter at the back-end of the rotation could be solved through the trade. I suspect the name Felix Pie may come up in the trade talks if Chicago pursues this.
• Chicago is not only looking for a fifth starter. The team is also searching for a center fielder that can hit from the left side. Management looks to have given up on Felix Pie, which is too bad. The young man has the tools to be a dangerous lead-off hitter. He simply doesn’t get enough chances to grow into a big league center fielder. Since giving up on Pie, Chicago decided to try Jim Edmonds in center. Well…he’s terrible, so that’s not working. Lou Pinella has hinted that a 28-year old rookie, Micah Hoffpaiur will get more playing time in center. You’re telling me that Pie is not better than Hoffpaiur? I don’t believe it.

St. Louis Cardinals (28-21), 1.0 GB

Last week, I was wondering if the Cardinals were beginning to regress back towards .500. They were scuffling along, and I thought the surprise team of 2008 had begun to show their true colors. The St. Louis Cardinals responded to my comments (yes, my personal comments) and took two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays and traveled to San Diego to take the series there. Ryan Ludwick has continued to impress the past week. He’s taking more and more playing time from Chris Duncan in the outfield. Could Duncan be available in the coming month? If Ludwick keeps mashing, it certainly makes Duncan expendable.

The newly acquired Troy Glaus is beginning to heat up, which provides the offense with some much needed firepower. Todd Wellemeyer and Braden Looper have continued to be serviceable, if not above average. Joel Pinero suffered a tough loss on Tuesday, as he lost the game on one pitch (a three-run homer) in the sixth inning. The story of the year in the pen has been the emergence of Kyle McClendon. He’s attacking the strike zone and has nasty stuff. His 2.66 ERA is no fluke.

• Viva El Birdos takes a look at how the Cardinals organization has handled roster moves thus far in the 2008 season. Hindsight is 20/20, but the Kyle McClendon and Chris Perez call-ups, along with the Jason Isringhausen decision, have looked brilliant thus far. Fans are calling for a trade to be made for a middle infielder, but the internal options are producing well enough. There may not be much power, but Aaron Miles and Cesar Izturis have been getting on base at a fairly high rate recently. Every move St. Louis has made has worked out beautifully so far.
• The St. Louis Cardinals have been hitting a surprising amount of home runs in 2008. Offensive output was a concern in the off-season, but the team has impressed thus far. Viva El Birdos argues that the output will increase, as about 72% of St. Louis’ home runs have been solo shots. Instead of seeing this as a problem, the article notes that these home runs will inevitably come with more runners on base. That reasoning is simply wishful thinking, as the math doesn’t quite back that up. Take a statistics course.

Houston Astros (27-22), 2.0 GB

Houston fans got a bit of a mixed bag this week. The Astros took on their Texas-rivals the Rangers and laid a collective egg. I know that the Rangers are playing fairly well this season, but the red-hot Astros should not have lost the series to Texas…even if it was on the road. The team then returned to Houston, got a little home cooking, and took the series from the Chicago Cubs. Huge series win for the Astros. I know the Cubs are in first place, but they’ve already lost series to Milwaukee (twice) and Houston. I wonder how the Cubs will do when they start to play tougher competition.

The Astros do have some issues to work through, however. Their ace, Roy Oswalt, has struggled throughout 2008. He was supposedly the only sure thing on the mound coming into the season, and his problems continued yesterday in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Oswalt will have to get his stuff straightened out for Houston to stay competitive into September. On the other hand, Lance Berkman is still scalding hot. He’s seeing the ball so well that teams should consider simply walking him when he steps up to the plate. I am not a Berkman fan, but he has been enjoyable to watch thus far in the season.

• Astros fans are still calling for the head of lead-off man Michael Bourn. His average is still sub-.200, but his blazing speed and fantastic baserunning skills have kept him at the top of the Astros batting order. Perhaps Bourn should be leading off, just lower in the order. Do I smell another situation where the pitcher bats in the eighth spot? That may cement the idiosyncrasy of the NL Central.
• You cannot keep a talented hitter down forever. I continued to say that Hunter Pence couldn’t keep struggling, simply because he is a gifted hitter. Unorthodox, yes…but talented. After a horrendous April, Pence has bounced back to have a very solid May. How solid? Try .358/.421/.587 solid. Hunter Pence to the rescue indeed.

Pittsburgh Pirates (22-25), 6.0 GB

The past week has been tough for Pirates fans.  After being one of the hottest teams in baseball during the early part of May, Pittsburgh lost an intriguing series to the first-place Chicago Cubs.  The Pirates then welcomed Milwaukee to the unfriendly confines of PNC Park, yet the Brewers were able to take two out of three and the series.  It’s funny how much your outlook can be altered after a single week of baseball.

Pittsburgh’s relative success has mostly been because of the middle part of their batting order.  Jason Bay has shaken off his awful season in 2007 and returned to his All-Star form.  Bay has been carrying the offense with the help of the surprising Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady.  Nady had struggled against the Chicago Cubs, but he came to play against the Brewers.  The Pirates should probably look to trade Nady while his value has been climbing.

• Much of the talk surrounding the Pirates has been about the June draft.  Should the team draft the collegiate hitter, Pedro Alvarez, or the toolsy high schooler, Tim Beckham?  The consensus seems to be that Pittsburgh will open up their wallets and draft Beckham.  The strategy goes like this: If Alvarez speeds through the minors and makes the big league squad by 2009/2010, what good will it do?  The Pirates need more time to rebuild.  Beckham could be a better player down the road, and it will not make a difference if he needs a little more seasoning in the minors.  The Pirates aren’t going anywhere anyway.  Makes sense to me.
• Bucco Blog has a little rant about the management.  The Pirates organization says that it’s striving to hit the .500 mark this season.  The article makes a good point when it says, so what?  What is a .500 record going to do for anyone?  The goal should be making the playoffs, and the Pirates will only be able to do this in the relatively near future if they have a firesale and decide to invest in a major rebuilding process.  I completely agree with this point.  I would rather suffer through a couple awful seasons knowing my team is consciously trying to improve than sit through 10 straight mediocre to below-average seasons.

Cincinnati Reds (21-27), 7.5 GB

The Milwaukee Brewers looked up at the Cincinnati Reds to start the week.  The Reds appeared to keep the hot streak going after sweeping their rivals, the Cleveland Indians.  The team then hopped on a plane for their west coast road trip.  Something must have happened on that plane ride because the Reds have played totally uninspired baseball since Monday night.  The Los Angeles Dodgers easily swept Cincy, and the lowly San Diego Padres took the first game of the series last night.  When Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Josh Bard are all on the DL and you still lose to the Padres, there is something wrong.

One problem is that Corey Patterson is terrible.  His batting average since April 9th has been .188.  And you thought Rickie Weeks was struggling…  More and more fans are calling for Jay Bruce to be called up.  I think it’s getting close to that time for Cincinnati.  Aaron Harang, their most consistent starter, struggled this week as well.  The only positive coming from this week is that Adam Dunn has decided to play some baseball.  He’s been seriously heating up lately.  Baseballs will be flying out of the parks very often I have a feeling.

• The Red Reporter takes a look at the defense.  Overall, the article suggests that 7 out of the 9 positions are playing average or above defense.  The porous spots in the field are shortstop (where Jeff Keppinger used to roam) and in right field.  Ken Griffey Jr. has lost a few steps, so that is understandable.  There is one problem I have with this article.  How in the world can you claim that Adam Dunn is an average defender?  I don’t care what the “raw numbers” say.  The raw numbers also say that he has more errors than the average left fielder.  And please do not compare Dunn’s defensive prowess to that of Juan Pierre.  I almost got sick when I read that.
• In case you have been living in a cave thus far in 2008, Edinson Volquez isn’t too bad.  He’s only on pace to have the best season ever for a rookie pitcher.  The article mentions that the Reds should consider trading Volquez while his trade value is through the roof.  I could get behind that.  Not because I don’t think he’s that good, but because he’s an arm injury waiting to happen.  The Reds are pushing him extremely hard this season, and for what?  A last place finish?  If they are going to push his arm, the Reds will be looking at a Francisco Lirano or Tom Gorzelanny type of second season.  If Dusty Baker intends on limiting his innings down the stretch however, it would be stupid to trade Volquez.  He’s someone that will be atop your rotation with Harang for the next four-five years.

Bush Gets Bashed, Pirates Avoid Sweep

Having secured the first road-series win against the Pirates since 2006 the brooms were out, but another rough outing by Dave Bush left the home team Bucs off the hook.  The embattled starter, switching spots with Jeff Suppan in the rotation, gave up six runs between the fourth and fifth innings to blow open a close game.  Final score: Pirates 8, Brewers 4.

Stranding runners was a huge problem for the Crew last night again as they left 14 runners on base.  Cory Hart had a solo shot in the fourth inning to give the Brewers a 1-0, but the lead was short lived as a flawless Bush imploded.

Pirates pitcher Tom Gorzelanny had a high pitch count early in the game, but the Brewers continued to get him out of jams as they couldn’t capitalize.

Bush had back-to-back massive collapses in the fourth and fifth innings, surrendering a two-run shot to Jason Bay and five total hits for four runs.  The fifth was just as bad at the hot-hitting Nate McLouth got his third hit of the evening (4-for-4 for the night), a throwing error by Prince Fielder, and a Xavier Nady solo homer scored runs for the Bucs.

The Brewers comeback came short as Gabe Kapler scored Bill Hall on a RBI pinch-hit single in the sixth and Joe Dillon also scored JJ Hardy on a pitch-hit RBI single in the seventh. Rickie Weeks hit another homer to save face for the Brewers in the eight.  More stranded runners in both theses innings were bad news for the Brew Crew.

The game was pushed out of reach by a seventh in two run tally by the Pirates against Brewer’s reliever Zach Johnson whose bad seventh was softened by a 1-2-3 eighth.

Records: Brewers (22-25), Pirates (22-25)

Hero of the Game: Dave Bush, Innings 1 through 3

Bush was lights out for the first three innings giving up only one hit and retiring eight straight after giving up that hit.  The defense backed him up solidly, too.  Bush sprayed a variety of ground outs and flyouts to his teammates providing effective cover for a struggling offense in the final game of the series. Like a abused wife in a Lifetime Channel movie I was thinking this time would be different, but…

Goat of the Game:  Dave Bush, Innings 4 and 5

He just never fails to disappoint.  Just when all was well in the world, Bush drops a bomb on us.  These two innings were a disaster.  Whatever Bush has early in games he certainly throws it all away later in games.  The pitches that were outs innings 1 through 3 were dropping for hits all over the field.  I can’t say right now, but Villanueva versus Bush is like choosing between the lesser of two evils because Bush has now given up 10 homers compared to V-Dub’s 12.

On Tap:  Jeff Suppan (2-3) opens the series against the Washington National’s Odalis Perez (1-4) in DC.  The Brewers hope to win the road series against the struggling Nats in order to save face on this troublesome road trip and start next week’s home stand on the right foot (ha! stand! foot! hilarious!).  First pitch: 6:05pm.

By: Dan Wiersema

Minor League Boxscores: Friday

Nashville Sounds (19-27), 5.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Memphis	1	1	4	0	1	0	0	3	0		10	11	1
Nashville	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		2	4	2

LHP Chris Narveson – (L, 2-6) 5.0 IP, 9 hits, 7 runs (4 ER), 0 BB, 5 K – 4.53 ERA
RHP Derrick Turnbow – 0.2 IP, 1 hit, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K – 14.54 ERA
CF Laynce Nix – 1-4, 2B – .286 BA

Huntsville Stars (30-17), — GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Birmingham	0	1	1	0	0	3	2	1	0		8	14	4
Huntsville	0	0	0	1	5	0	0	0	0		6	12	1

LHP Derek Miller – 6.0 IP, 9 hits, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 3.42 ERA
CF Michael Brantley – 2-4, 2 1B, SB (15), run – .321 BA
SS Alcides Escobar – 2-4, 2 1B, RBI, run – .294 BA
3B Mat Gamel – 2-4, 2 1B, RBI, BB, run – .367 BA
DH Matt LaPorta – 1-4, 3B, RBI – .296 BA
C Angel Salome – 1-4, HR (3), RBI – .356 BA

Brevard County Manatees (25-22), 4.0 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brevard County	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0		2	4	3
Dunedin	1	0	1	1	0	0	7	0	X		10	14	1

RHP Alexandre Periard – (L, 3-4) 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs (1 ER), 3 BB, 3 K – 5.21 ERA
C Andy Bouchie – 1-3, 2B, RBI – .226 BA
CF Darren Ford – 1-3, 2 BB, SB (23), run – .224 BA

West Virginia Power (18-28), 11.5 GB

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
West Virginia	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	2		5	9	2
Lake County	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	1

RHP R.J. Seidel – ND, 4.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – 4.86 ERA
LHP Chris Cody – (W, 1-0) 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – 0.00 ERA
CF Lee Haydel – 2-5, 2 1B, SB 2 (21) – .275 BA
RF Caleb Gindl – 2-4, 2 1B, RBI – .270 BA
LF Eric Fryer – 2-4, HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 runs – .317 BA
SS Brent Brewer – 2-4, 2B, RBI, run – .207 BA