Milwaukee Brewers: In the News (April 16)

Wednesday’s Game: Brewers 9, Reds 3
Record: 3-6, Fifth Place

Wednesday’s Game

—Finally, a nice win.

—Cory Provus has the audio game recap.

—Mike Cameron hit two solo home runs, a double, and took a walk. And I have some more ammo for my co-workers. Two guys I work with said Cameron was “worthless” Wednesday morning. It baffles me how strangely some fans value players…

—Rickie Weeks also hit a home run.

—It was 3-3 going into the bottom of the fifth, but the Brewers broke it open there with a five-run inning.

—Braden Looper delivered a quality start, going six innings and giving up three runs.

—Mark DiFelice, Mitch Stetter, and Todd Coffey wrapped the game up with three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and no walks in those three frames. DiFelice and Coffey are quickly becoming the go-to guys in the pen.

—Bill Hall called it a “breakout game” and said the team will gain a lot of confidence from the win. Build on this, Brewers.

Brewers News

—patrickgpe at BrewerFan.net discovered an "interesting" song about Ryan Braun:

—Merle Harmon, the original radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, died Wednesday. He was 82. Harmon partnered with Bob Uecker from 1971 to 1979. Uecker said, “Merle was a great friend and a wonderful partner in the booth, and the memories he leaves us with will be cherished forever.” More HERE.

—Trevor Hoffman had an encouraging bullpen session.

—J.J. Hardy was scratched late from Wednesday’s lineup with a stiff back. Hopefully this is not a lingering problem. Hardy was just starting to get hot.

—There’s been speculation that Ryan Braun’s slow start could be due to an injury, but Braun says he feels great, 100 percent. He hit a double in the game Wednesday.

—Jim Callis of Baseball America says Yovani Gallardo is still an ace in the making and that Mat Gamel’s defense “really is that bad.” Gamel is looking more like the replacement for Fielder at first when he leaves than the answer at third.

—Brew Crew Haiku did not have the new haikus up yet, but they’re doing at least one for every game this season. That’s some serious haiku dedication! 

—Nicole at Cute Sports asks Seth McClung to “stop ruining baseball.”

—Viva Cerveceros screams “Don’t Do It!” to anyone considering a proposal on the big board at Miller. Agreed.

—Stitch ‘n’ Pitch Night returns to Miller Park on July 29.

Minor Leagues

—The Sounds beat Oklahoma City 7-1. Brendan Katin homered and drove in four.

—R.J. Swindle pitched three scoreless, hitless innings with seven strikeouts for Nashville. That’s an impressive outing. Could he be the first relief pitcher called up?

—The Timber Rattlers were swept by the Fort Wayne Tin Caps in Appleton. Efrain Nieves started out very strong, but wore out and gave up three runs in the seventh. He threw 6 2/3 innings and had five strikeouts. It was the first time the T-Rats were shut out this season. The offense has really started out slowly. Rattler Radio and TRatsBaseball.com have more on the game.

—Brett Christopherson of the P-C chatted with Doug Melvin at Time Warner Cable Field before today’s Timber Rattler game.

—Michael Hunt says the Brewers and T-Rats are a good match.

—Brett Lawrie is the third-best prospect in the Midwest League, according to Minor League Notebook.

—Charlie Fermaint was released from Huntsville and outfielder Drew Anderson was re-signed.

NL Central

—Cecil Cooper could be the first manager fired. Wait. I thought Cooper said the Astros were going to win 120 games or something? So, that’s not happening?

—Cubs fans boo Jason Marquis and then he beats his former team and picks up two RBI in the process. And Rich Harden only lasted three innings.

—Aramis Ramirez is still battling a sore back.

—Milton Bradley is a new man. Suuuuure….

—MLB&hl=259468&rwr=1" target="_blank">Chris Carpenter is going to be out “for a while,” according to Tony LaRussa. Heh…

—The Pirates acquired Delwyn Young.

Other News

—Former Brewer Derrick Turnbow is struggling early in AAA with the Rangers organization. Will he ever make it back to the big leagues? Probably. You can’t teach the velocity he has. But he will never be the 39-save Turnbow again.

—The number of black players in MLB took a jump last year up to 10.2 percent, the most since 1995.

—Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle and added two extra hits for good measure.