SB Nation User Blog: TheJay

Brewers 11, Cubs 2

TheJay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:37:03 -0000

W: Braden Looper (7-4)
L: Rich Harden (5-5)

MVP: Casey McGehee (+.180)
LVP: Jason Kendall (-.021)

Win Expectancy Graph
SB Nation Coverage

The Brewers came out swinging today, scoring five runs in the first inning. After Ryan Braun doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, Prince Fielder was intentionally walked to load the bases. Casey McGehee followed with a two-run single that bounced off the second base bag. Mike Hammerin' promptly made it 5-0 with a three-run shot to left center. It was the first time Rich Harden allowed five runs in an inning since August 9, 2005. The Brewers kept scoring, knocking Harden out in the 3rd with a 7-0 lead. It was Harden's shortest major league start.

Casey McGehee had four hits, falling a double short of the cycle. His home run in the sixth inning was a mammoth blast that traveled out of the park over left center. J.J. Hardy also homered. Corey Hart and Ryan Braun chipped in doubles while the team combined for fourteen hits and five walks.

Braden Looper was shaky to start and his defense didn't help. A Corey Hart error in the first led to a bases loaded situation that wound up scoreless after an Alfonso Soriano groundout. A couple slick double plays and conservative basecoaching by Cubs 3rd base coach Mike Quade kept the Cubs scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd innings despite iffy defense at third. Milton Bradley hit a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Cubs on the board, but Looper then settled down and went six for his third straight quality start. Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, and Chris Narveson each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the victory.

Have a happy rest of the Fourth, party safe, and enjoy fireworks tonight.

Game Thread #81: Milwaukee Brewers (42-38) vs. Chicago Cubs (39-38)

TheJay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:57:04 -0000

Current Series

Cubs lead the series 2-0

Thu 07/02	WP: Ryan Dempster ( - ) LP: Seth McClung ( - )	5 - 9 loss
Fri 07/03	WP: Kevin Gregg ( - ) LP: Mark DiFelice ( - )	1 - 2 loss
Milwaukee Brewers Brew Crew Ball @ Chicago Cubs Bleed Cubbie Blue Saturday, Jul 4, 2009, 12:05 PM CDT Wrigley Field Braden Looper vs Rich Harden Mostly cloudy,rain. Game time temperature around 70. Complete Coverage >
Sun 07/05		1:20 PM CDT

A day after the first loss of Mark DiFelice's career in the second game of the series, the Brewers try to avoid dropping a third straight game in Chicago here on the Fourth of July. The forecast calls for intermittant rain, but that's not enough to stop the Parade of Fifth Starters!

Braden Looper, fresh off his sixth win of the season, tries to send the Cubs back to .500 for the year. Looper went 6 1/3 innings last time out against the Mets, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and walks. It was his second consecutive quality start, a string that has reduced his season ERA from 5.21 all the way down to 4.90! Yippee! Looper has made nine career starts against the Cubs, going 2-4 with a shiny 2.37 ERA in 57 innings. His last start against the Cubs was April 10, when he gave up one run in five innings in a no-decision.

The Cubs send righthander Rich Harden to the mound. Harden is 5-4 with a middling 4.57 ERA but he's still striking out more than one batter per inning, which should make today entertaining. He missed nearly a month earlier this year with a back injury but has come out firing since. In his last start, he gave up one run in seven innings in Pittsburgh, striking out nine. He was Looper's opponent on April 10, striking out ten Brewers while allowing only 3 hits and 2 runs (1 earned). He was also saddled with a no-decision in that game.

As Jeff Suppan found out yesterday in between bars of his sonata, it takes more than good pitching to win a game. Trying to provide Brewers fans some early fireworks today is this lineup:

Counsell 2B
Hardy SS
Braun LF
Fielder 1B
McGehee 3B
Cameron CF
Hart RF
Kendall C
Looper P

Bullpen Situation:

Chris Smith threw 2 2/3 innings (50 pitches) on Thursday and is presumably unavailable.
Chris Narveson threw one inning (11 pitches) on Thursday and is in the recent-callup-so-prepare-to-go-three-innings role today.
Carlos Villanueva threw 16 pitches in 2/3 of an inning yesterday.
Mark DiFelice threw 29 pitches in 2/3 of an inning yesterday.
Mitch Stetter threw 1 1/3 innings (15 pitches) yesterday. It was his first appearance in nearly a month without a strikeout.
Todd Coffey has not pitched since Tuesday.
Trevor Hoffman has not pitched since Monday.

Rumorville: Brandon Backe

TheJay — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:26:27 -0000

Adam McCalvy ~~spills the beans~~ gets a "you're really asking about this?" reaction:

The Brewers will do their due dilligence on right-hander Brandon Backe, the former Astro who was designated for assignment last week and refused a trip to Houston's Triple-A club on Monday. [...] "You have to at least take a look," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said.

Backe has been injured a lot over the course of his career, making only thirteen major league starts in 2006 and 2007 combined. He did, however, start a career-high 31 games in 2008, leading the league in earned runs and home runs allowed. He missed two months this year with an injury and was unimpressive upon his return to the majors, giving up 15 runs in 13 innings while striking out 10 and walking six. McCalvy notes his best moments came in the 2004 and 2005 postseasons, when he appeared in seven games with a 2.95 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over 36 2/3 innings.

Tigers 3, Brewers 2

TheJay — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:21:04 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Casey McGehee's 2nd career home run gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

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W: Justin Verlander (8-3)
L: Yovani Gallardo (7-4)
S: Fernando Rodney (14)

MVP: Casey McGehee (+.091)
LVP: Ryan Braun (-.136)

Win Expectancy Graph
SB Nation Coverage

It was billed as a great pitching matchup and the game didn't disappoint. Yovani Gallardo struck out eight in seven innings while allowing six hits and three walks. Unfortunately, three of those hits came in the sixth inning, one of them a three-run home run off the bat of Brandon Inge. That home run was the difference as Justin Verlander carved up the Brewers offense. He struck out eight and allowed eight baserunners over 7 2/3 innings. The only runs he allowed came on solo home runs by Casey McGehee and Craig Counsell. Bobby Seay and Fernando Rodney finished off the series sweep.

Dave Bush Has a Fatigued Arm

TheJay — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:32:18 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Status: fatigued.

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June 17 in the JS:

Three starts ago in Florida, Bush was struck on the pitching arm by a line drive in the first inning. He went on to pitch six innings and didn't miss a turn, and doesn't think that incident contributed to his slide.

"I suppose it's possible," he said. "I don't know. I can't put my finger on any one thing. We all have to make adjustments on the fly."

June 20 on McCalvy's blog:

Dave Bush revealed after the Brewers' 9-5 loss Detroit today that he's been dealing with some arm fatigue since that line drive off his elbow earlier this month in Florida. [...]

Had Parra not pitched himself down to the Minors, Macha said the Brewers would have probably used someone in Bush's place on Saturday. "These few days off could have done a little but [for Bush] like it did for Suppan," manager Ken Macha said. "But with four starters at this time, we're unable to do that."

I guess giving up thirteen runs in 6 1/3 innings helps a guy suddenly put two and two together.

Tigers 9, Brewers 5

TheJay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:03:33 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Who says you need to bend the bill of your cap? Alfredo Figaro allowed ten baserunners in five innings but allowed only two to score en route to a victory in his major league debut.

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W: Alfredo Figaro (1-0) - first career win
L: Dave Bush (3-4)

MVP: Mat Gamel (+.115)
LVP: Dave Bush (-.357)

Win Expectancy Graph
SB Nation Coverage

Another game, another short start by a Brewers pitcher. Dave Bush gave up five runs on 7 hits in three innings. One of those hits was (surprise!) a home run. He struck out one, walked nobody, and was pulled after throwing 51 execrable pitches. The Brewers bullpen didn't provide much relief, as Seth McClung, Mark DiFelice, and Todd Coffey combined to allow four more runs on nine hits. Chris Smith capably pitched the final two innings, holding the Tigers scoreless on just one hit.

Ryan Braun went 4 for 5 with a home run and two RBI. Mat Gamel hit the first triple of his career, picked up an RBI on a walk, and was on base four of five times. Craig Counsell raised his average above .300 once again with a single and double in four at bats. Casey McGehee, Prince Fielder, and Corey Hart added hits to the losing cause and even Jody Gerut chipped in an RBI. Five runs might get you an extra burger at George Webb's tomorrow, but it wasn't enough today.

Tigers 10, Brewers 4

TheJay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:41:39 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Unfortunately the rains let up just enough to allow the game to become official.

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Called with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning.

W: Zach Miner (4-1)
L: Braden Looper (5-4)

MVP: Prince Fielder (+.208)
LVP: Braden Looper (-.540)

Win Expectancy Graph
SB Nation Coverage

As ol Pete put it: "Might as well get all the bad breaks and bull$#!& in one night."

Of course, Braden Looper didn't need bad breaks to have a rough night. After Prince Fielder put the Brewers up 3-0 in the top of the first with his 17th home run of the season, Looper gave up a 2-run home run to Marcus Thames in the bottom half. Both teams were scoreless until Miguel Cabrera's home run off the bullpen roof in the bottom of the third. Originally ruled a single after it bounced back onto the field of play, the umpires changed it upon review. In the top of the fourth, Mat Gamel doubled and Jason Kendall singled to start the inning before Craig Counsell hit a sacrifice fly and Casey McGehee grounded into a double play.

That's when the wheels fell off in the rain. Looper got two quick outs but couldn't put the Tigers away. Josh Anderson singled ahead of what was initially ruled a Dusty Ryan home run. The umpires reviewed the play once again and changed it to an RBI double. The point was immediately made moot, though, as Adam Everett singled in Ryan. Curtis Granderson followed with a legitimate home run to make it 7-4. Following the blast, the tarp was called onto the field and Brewers fans everywhere hoped the rain would not let up.

After 123 minutes filled with Telly Hughes interviewing the hapless souls sent into the dugout, being interviewed by Brad Fischer, other FSN filler, and our very own rain delay thread, the game resumed with Chris Narveson on the mound. The Brewers couldn't catch any breaks after the delay, as the Detroit defense flashed the leather with a bizarre 3-6-5 double play and sliding catches in the field. Narveson wound up pitching the final 2 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on three hits with three strikeouts.. After Marcus Thames' second home run of the game put the Tigers up 10-4 in the 7th inning, the tarp once again came out and that was all she wrote.

Game Thread #67a

TheJay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:21:01 -0000

That was a refreshing end-of-spring thunderstorm. Play resumes with the Tigers up 7-4 with 2 out in the 4th inning. More rain is on the way.

Game #67: Rain Delay Thread

TheJay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:38:35 -0000

The Tigers are ahead 7-4 with 2 out in the bottom of the 4th inning. It is not an official game.

Radar:
Intellicast.com
National Weather Service
Weather.com
WUnderground.com

Cameron Suspension Reduced To One Game

TheJay — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:36:57 -0000

Cameron Suspension Reduced To One Game

He'll serve the suspension Saturday in Detroit. Jody Gerut will get to play on FOX!