Brewers blow six-run lead in loss to Padres
July 31, 2009SAN DIEGO -- Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Brewers opened a four-game series against the National League's worst team, the Washington Nationals, with a defeat. Friday night, Milwaukee began a three-game set with the league's second-worst team.
Brewers: Toast on the coast
July 31, 2009SAN DIEGO -- Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Brewers opened a four-game series against the National League's worst team, the Washington Nationals, with a defeat. Friday night, Milwaukee began a three-game set with the league's second-worst team.
Burns returns after possible deal fizzles
July 31, 2009A potential Deadline deal fizzled, and the Brewers were left to soldier on with a weakened starting rotation that will be re-joined Saturday by right-hander Mike Burns.
Padres 11, Brewers 7
July 31, 2009
W: Edward Mujica (3-4)
L: Tim Dillard (0-1)
HR: Will Venable (3), Kyle Blanks (5)
MVP: Prince Fielder (+.204)
LVP: Tim Dillard (-.357)
I stayed up all night for this?
This game looked like it'd be a fun one for the first few innings. Braden Looper allowed a first inning run to the Padres, but the Brewers responded with seven runs in the top half of the second, their highest-scoring inning of the season. Looper, however, couldn't hold the lead, and gave up his 25th and 26th home runs of the season (setting a new career high), allowing the Padres to close the gap to 7-6. Tim Dillard followed Looper to the mound and poured gasoline on the fire, allowing three runs in the sixth while retiring just one batter.
The second inning was a nice offensive explosion for the Brewers, but it could have been much better. With the bases loaded and no one out, both J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall struck out, and the entire inning would have been negated if not for Looper's two run single that sparked a rally. In an inning where the Brewers sent 13 batters to the plate, Hardy made two outs, both with the bases loaded.
Prince Fielder reached base his first four trips to the plate and went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk for the Brewers, scoring a run and driving in two more. Amazingly, in a game where the Brewers scored seven runs, Corey Hart was the only other Brewer with multiple hits.
Game Thread #103a
July 31, 2009The one where we hope seven runs is enough.
Brewers acquire Vargas from Dodgers
July 31, 2009The Brewers acquired right-handed pitcher Claudio Vargas from the Dodgers for Minor League catcher/first baseman Vinny Rottino on Friday.
Game Thread #103: Brewers (51-51) at Padres (41-62)
July 31, 2009Current Series
3 game series vs Padres @ Petco Park
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Milwaukee Brewers Friday, Jul 31, 2009, 9:05 PM CDT Partly cloudy. Winds blowing from left to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70. |
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| Sat 08/01 | 9:05 PM CDT | |
| Sun 08/02 | 3:05 PM CDT | |
Tonight, the Brewers open their annual six game road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles. Last August, the Brewers went 3-3 on this road trip en route to their first playoff appearance in 26 years. Can they get off to a good start on the 2009 version of this trip? Follow the jump for tonight's starting matchup, lineup and conversation on tonight's game!
Chad Gaudin (4-9, 4.57) was probably the best pitcher released at the end of spring training. Released by the Cubs on April 5, Gaudin was signed by the Padres on April 12, and made his debut with the major league team on April 28. Gaudin has lost four straight decisions, but has pitched very well over his last four starts, posting a 2.19 ERA in 24.2 innings.
Meanwhile, Braden Looper (9-5, 4.79) will open the road trip for the Brewers. Pitching in a pitchers' park like Petco could really help Looper, who is second in the NL with 24 home runs allowed in 2009. Looper picked up his fifth loss his last time out, allowing five earned runs in six innings, but has posted a 3.93 ERA while going 4-1 in his last six starts.
Again, Casey McGehee and his .895 OPS are sitting on the bench while Craig Counsell and his .801 OPS are in there: (h/t JS)
2B Felipe Lopez
3B Craig Counsell
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
RF Corey Hart
CF Mike Cameron
SS J.J. Hardy
C Jason Kendall
RHP Braden Looper
And in the bullpen:
Todd Coffey pitched an inning (15 pitches) yesterday, and also pitched on Wednesday.
Mitch Stetter pitched one inning (17 pitches) last night.
Trevor Hoffman pitched an inning on Wednesday.
Tim Dillard has not pitched since Tuesday.
Mark DiFelice has not pitched since Tuesday.
R.J. Swindle has not pitched since Monday.
Chris Smith has not pitched since Monday.
Enjoy the game!
Returning as visitor ‘strange’ for Hoffman
July 31, 2009Former Padres closer Trevor Hoffman knew his homecoming to San Diego wasn't the most prominent news story Friday at PETCO Park. But he took the lack of attention in stride.
Pretty Much Standing Pat
July 31, 2009
It looks like the biggest news of the day is the acquisition of Claudio Vargas, and I'm sure that's plenty underwhelming to most. Vargas is a good bet to outproduce replacement-level pitchers like Mike Burns in the rotation, and the cost was just a minor-league utility player in Vinny Rottino-- who has little value to the Brewer organization right now (maybe he'll resurface as a coach in a few seasons, who knows).
It's been a frustrating few months to watch ineffective starting pitching, but I think Doug Melvin made the right choice here to not go out and buy a rental for the rest of this season. He investigated adding a pitcher who could be around for 2010, but it appears that was not exactly feasible. Without a deal for a stud pitcher like Cliff Lee or Halladay, Melvin made an offer for Brian Bannister of the Royals and was probably in extensive discussions for other pitchers. Things apparently just didn't work out.
In all it's probably not a bad strategy. Struggling at 3.5 games out right now, there's a chance the Brewers rally and make the playoffs but a 1 win upgrade for the rest of the season wasn't worth losing one of the nearly MLB-ready prospects. The options were probably to go for it all-out, stand pat, or get someone who isn't just a rental-- and I'm glad they didn't burn a valuable piece on a moderate upgrade like Washburn.
So where do we stand now? A pretty much straight-up average team looking to get hot and back into the playoff race. It's not out of the question to see a .500 team catch some breaks and win more games than should be expected. And there's still a chance to add another starter in August through the waiver deadline.
And at worst, the Brewers totally fall out of contention and start experimenting for next season. Gamel and Escobar will be ready to fill full-time major league roles at the start of next season, and the only major free-agents are Hoffman, Cameron, Kendall, and Looper. This team will have a ton of valuable trading chips in the offseason and will probably be able to acquire a starting pitcher to make this team a very realistic contender. Beyond those top two prospects, the catching duo of Salome and Lucroy, as well as Green and Cain, will play a role in the 2010 season-- maybe as major league contributors, and maybe as trade pieces.
So though it's disappointing as a fan when the answer to "Buy or sell?" is "Neither!", it's hard for me to complain. My main hope is that Vargas and pitchers like Burns don't end up blocking someone like Nick Green, a righty starter at AAA who is recovering from an injury but has put up his usual 6:2 strikeout to walk rate at AAA while getting a pretty healthy amount of ground balls. Guys like Green, Chris Cody, and Chase Wright should get chances to pitch in the majors until Suppan and Bush are able to pitch again.
So to wrap up, Vargas is a pretty solid stopgap. He's not going to give you many innings, but he has solid skills, strikes out quite a few batters, and doesn't walk all that many despite his tendency to nibble at the strike zone. Whether he's used as a reliever or starter, he's a free major league arm with a track record of a little success, and he was obtained for free. And maybe there is a chance he becomes more effective, he's always had good stuff, featuring a low 90s fastball, a quailty slider and a decent change. He's not the guy we were looking for or the guy Doug Melvin was looking for, but he's a decent arm for free, so it's hard to complain.
Brewers Acquire P Vargas From Dodgers
July 31, 2009The Milwaukee Brewers acquired pitcher Claudio Vargas from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.