No fun in the sun again for the Brewers
June 30, 2010Offensive struggles in home day games continued on Wednesday for the Brewers as Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez shut down Milwaukee, which lost, 5-1, to drop its first series of the homestand.
Astros 5, Brewers 1
June 30, 2010
W: Wandy Rodriguez (5-10)
L: David Bush (3-6)
HR: None
MVP: Casey McGehee (.158)
LVP: Carlos Villanueva (-.246)
Graph of Destruction of a New Town
SB Nation Coverage
And, just like that, a homestand that got off to a roaring start with a sweep of the Twins and a series win against the Mariners ended with a whimper, as the Brewers dropped two of three against the hapless Astros.
Dave Bush was solid for the most part, but threw a ton of pitches in an adventuresome fourth inning. For some reason, Geoff Blum and Chris Johnson were the bane of Bush's existence today: Blum had a single, a double, and a walk against Bush, and Johnson had three singles. Both men reached base four times on the day.
Bush was relieved by Carlos Villanueva to open the seventh inning, and New Town promptly imploded, surrendering three doubles and a walk to put the game out of reach. After a stellar April, Villanueva has come crashing back to earth; @jordanschelling noted during the game that Chuck posted a 0.00 ERA in April, then a 6.43 ERA in May, and now a 7.50 ERA in June.
The sticks obviously didn't do a whole lot this game, although third base butcher umpire Brian Gorman didn't do the Crew any favors, twice calling Casey McGehee out on tag plays when replays showed, in both instances, that McGehee was safe. After his ludicrous strike calls on Prince Fielder last night, one can only assume that Gorman was affronted that his name was left off of ESPN's list of worst umpires. CB Bucknor's got nothin' on you, Bri.
In other news, Corey Hart had a third-inning single to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
Tomorrow, it's onto Saint Lou for the first of a four-game set against the Redbirds and His Most Eminent Respectfulness. 'Til then.
Davis has successful rehab outing
June 30, 2010He was not as dominant as in his last rehab start, but Doug Davis was effective on Wednesday as he took the mound for Class A Wisconsin in Appleton.
Offense struggles with shadows at home
June 30, 2010The Brewers have not hit well during the day at Miller Park. In 14 home day games, the Brewers have just a .238 team batting average, with just 51 runs scored and 15 home runs.
Milwaukee pitchers providing some offense
June 30, 2010Facing the Brewers, the No. 9 spot in the batting order is hardly an easy out. Yovani Gallardo reaffirmed that on Tuesday night, going 1-for-1 with a solo homer and a walk.
Fielder puts slow start behind him
June 30, 2010Prince Fielder has quickly made his slow start a thing of the past. On the Brewers' current homestand, Fielder has four home runs and eight RBIs, increasing his season totals to 17 homers and 35 RBIs.
Gamethread #78: Astros (30-48) vs. Brewers (35-42)
June 30, 2010Win, and it's an excellent homestand. Lose, and it's a pretty good homestand.
So: WIN.
Current Series
3 game series vs Astros @ Miller Park
| Mon 06/28 | WP: Gustavo Chacin (1 - 0) LP: Todd Coffey (2 - 2) |
5 - 9 loss |
| Tue 06/29 | WP: Yovani Gallardo (8 - 3) SV: John Axford LP: Brett Myers (5 - 6) |
7 - 5 win |
|
Houston Astros Wednesday, Jun 30, 2010, 1:10 PM CDT Sunny. Winds blowing from left to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70. |
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Quick and dirty, after the jump.
It's the Bulldog Dave Bush on the mound for the Crew. My Mama taught me not to say nuthin' about someone if I had nuthin' nice to say, so I'll just link you to Dave Bush's stats:And what's good for the goose is good for the other goose, so here are the links to Wandy Rodriguez's stats:
The Brewers line-up, courtesy of the Jester of Darkness:
2B Rickie Weeks
RF Corey Hart
1B Prince FIelder
LF Ryan Braun
3B Casey McGehee
C Jonathan Lucroy
CF Carlos Gomez
SS Alcides Escobar
RHP Dave Bush
Out in the 'pen:
David Riske pitched 1 inning (27 pitches) on Monday.
Carlos Villanueva pitched .2 innings (18 pitches) on Monday.
Chris Capuano pitched 1 inning (17 pitches) on Monday.
Zach Braddock pitched 0.2 innings (12 pitches) last night and also pitched on Monday.
Todd Coffey pitched .1 innings (6 pitches) on Monday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (26 pitches) and picked up a save last night.
Kameron Loe pitched 1.1 innings (20 pitches) last night.
Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 inning (7 pitches) Saturday.
Enjoy the game!
Wednesday’s Chilly Grog
June 30, 2010
Something to read while playing with bombs.
Kyle's off in the woods. I don't know exactly what he's up to, but I have my ideas. Before he left though, he managed to help set up the MLB Power Rankings of the week. The Brewers moved up in rank, from 23 last week to 19 this week. Kyle also posted the results from last week's tracking poll, showing an increased approval rating for Ken Macha. I think it's from all the Perkins dancing.
So how 'bout them Brewers, then? They're ending the month of June well, having won Seven of Nine. They finish the series against the Astros today at 1:10. Hopefully they can keep that momentum up after the commute down to St Louis to face HRH Albert Pujols and the Cardinals.
Around the MLB:
Edwin Rodriguez gets to finish the season as manager for the Marlins, after the club fired Fredi Gonzalez last week.
Willy Taveras was released by the Phillies, making it the third time he's been kicked out this year. The Phillies aren't having a great week either after having to place Chase Utley and Placido Poblanco on the DL.
The Mariners are DFA'ing Eliezer Alfonso to make room for Josh Bard, who was activated from the DL last night.
The Mets signed Michael Barrett to a minor league deal.
Oh, and Carlos Zambrano? He's been placed on the restricted list and won't be back until after the All-Star break. He begins anger management classes today. I hope he feels pretty.
BIrthdays:
I couldn't find any Brewer-related birthdays but Milwaukee-born Mark Grudzielanek of the Cleveland Indians turns 40 today. Otherwise you could congratulate Michael Phelps, who is 25.
Cool Days:
On this date in 1908, Cy Young pitched his third and final no-hitter. It would've been a perfect game too, except that he managed to walk someone. Way to be, Cy.
The next year, the Cubs beat the Pirates in the opening day game for Forbes Field. The stadium was pretty state-of-the-art for its day, featuring awesome things like newfangled elevators and the like.
In 1948, Bob Lemon threw a no-hitter against the Tigers, allowing Cleveland to win 2-0. The coolest part? It was the first American League no-hitter at night.
In 1978, Willie McCovey joined the 500 HR club as a Giant. Why don't we ever hear about players joining the 700 Club? At least they've got a show on the tele.
And that's pretty much that... unless you're looking to combine your love of bacon with your love of zombies.
Drink up and enjoy the game!
Bad News for Randy Wolf, Good News for Ken Macha in BCB Tracking Poll
June 30, 2010This week's poll ran from Monday to Tuesday and received 253 votes. Here are the most notable results:
- Support for Randy Wolf's contract is diminishing: 76% of voters approved of his signing three weeks ago, but just 51% did this week.
- Ken Macha's approval rating took a big jump this week, from 23% to 34%. Rick Peterson also moved up, from 18% to 36%.
- 47% of readers would not support a deal sending Brett Lawrie to Toronto.
- 58% of readers haven't supported and don't plan to support any of Ryan Braun's business ventures.
Follow the jump for the full results.
Which, if any, of these Ryan Braun business ventures have you supported or planned to support?
| Option | Votes | % |
| RB8 | 12 | 5% |
| Remetee | 9 | 4% |
| Waterfront Grill (Milwaukee) | 92 | 36% |
| Tavern & Grill (Lake Geneva) | 40 | 16% |
| None of these | 148 | 58% |
Should Paul Molitor have a statue outside Miller Park?
| Response | Votes | % |
| Yes | 175 | 69% |
| No | 53 | 21% |
| Undecided | 25 | 10% |
Would you support a trade sending Brett Lawrie to Toronto in exchange for pitchers Brett Cecil or Shaun Marcum?
| Response | Votes | % |
| Yes | 77 | 30% |
| Yes, but only if the deal involves Brett Cecil | 22 | 9% |
| Yes, but only if the deal involves Shaun Marcum | 34 | 13% |
| No | 120 | 47% |
Do you approve of the job Doug Melvin is doing as General Manager of the Brewers?
| Response | Votes | % | Prev | Diff |
| Yes | 134 | 53% | 52% | +1% |
| No | 55 | 22% | 24% | -2% |
| Undecided | 64 | 25% | 23% | +2% |
Do you approve of the job Ken Macha is doing as Manager of the Brewers?
| Response | Votes | % | Prev | Diff |
| Yes | 87 | 34% | 23% | +11% |
| No | 108 | 43% | 58% | -15% |
| Undecided | 58 | 23% | 19% | +4% |
Do you approve of the job Rick Peterson is doing as Pitching Coach of the Brewers?
| Response | Votes | % | Prev | Diff |
| Yes | 90 | 36% | 18% | +18% |
| No | 71 | 28% | 48% | -20% |
| Undecided | 92 | 36% | 34% | +2% |
Do you approve of the decision to sign Randy Wolf to a three year deal?
| Response | Votes | % | Prev* | Diff |
| Yes | 150 | 51% | 76% | -25% |
| No | 76 | 30% | 17% | +13% |
| Undecided | 47 | 19% | 7% | +12% |
Do you approve of the decision to sign Doug Davis to a one year deal?
| Response | Votes | % | Prev* | Diff |
| Yes | 150 | 59% | 59% | n/c |
| No | 66 | 26% | 32% | -6% |
| Undecided | 37 | 15% | 9% | +6% |
Brewers go airborne to soar past Astros
June 29, 2010Yovani Gallardo sparked the Brewers' offensive outburst, as the team launched four home runs to even the series with the Astros in a 7-5 victory Tuesday.