Milwaukee Brewers: In the News (April 23)

Wednesday’s Game: Brewers 3, Phillies 1
Record: 5-9, Sixth Place

Wednesday’s Game

—Braden Looper has been impressive in 2009 and he continued that streak Wednesday, pitching six scoreless innings.

—Mark DiFelice pitched a nice inning after stumbling a bit in his previous outing. He got two strikeouts in the inning of work on Wednesday and didn’t give up a hit or walk.

—Carlos Villanueva also pitched a hitless, walkless, scoreless inning.

—Todd Coffey is human. He gave up his first run as a Brewer on a Jayson Werth home run in the ninth. Coffey gave up two more hits in the inning (though the last hit should have been the second out in a game-ending double play, but the first base umpire blew the call horribly). Todd got out of it with a save. How can you not like this guy when he says stuff like this:

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“I’ll take the highest ERA in the world as long as we get W’s.”

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—Rickie Weeks returned to the lineup after his collision with J.J. Hardy in Tuesday’s game. Rickie went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

—Hardy was moved to sixth in the batting order and Mike Cameron moved up to fifth. The move worked out well as those two contributed all of the scoring offense in Wednesday’s game. Cameron stayed hot with a big two-out, two-run double in the sixth and Hardy went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

—The Brewers can get their first series win of ‘09 with a victory over the Phillies and Cole Hamels on Thursday. Dave Bush toes the rubber for Milwaukee.

Brewers News

—David Riske will try to rehab his elbow injury, but it doesn’t sound too promising. There’s a very good chance that the Brewers will get nothing from Riske despite investing $13 million in him over three years. That would be very disappointing to say the least. More HERE.

—Is Manny Parra the next Jorge De La Rosa? He’s got great stuff and appears to battle his own mind more than anything else, just like Jorge. But let’s hope Manny gets over that hump. He’s still young and has already performed better than De La Rosa did as a Brewer.

—Justin at the Brew Town Beat says the Brewers should send Parra to Nashville to send him a message and get him back on the right track. JD at View From Bernie’s Chalet agrees.

—Miller Park Drunk says Todd Coffey is the Ultimate Warrior.

—Brew City Sports is predicting Jorge Julio’s career in Milwaukee is over.

—If that’s true, then R.J. Swindle has likely earned a spot on the roster for the foreseeable future. Jordan M at Brew Crew Ball thinks that’s the right move for the Crew.

—Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at R.J. Swindle’s Brewer debut.

—Timber Rattlers announcer Chris Mehring interviews Brewers Director of Player Development Reid Nichols.

—Bill Michaels of 620 WTMJ says things have to get better.

—The Brewers players feel they can be better in ‘09 than they were in ‘08.

—The Milwaukee Cardinals? It almost happened.

Minor Leagues

—The Timber Rattlers won in walk-off fashion on a triple by shortstop Mike Marseco. Cody Scarpetta was dominant, going six innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 10. I watched Cody on opening day. He is impressive. I look forward to watching him in Appleton all summer.

—Rattler Radio has some facts on Scarpetta, including that his dad, Dan, was drafted in the third round of the 1982 draft by the Brewers. Dan Scarpetta pitched in the Brewer organization from 1982-1983 and 1985-1988.

—TRatsBaseball.com has a photo gallery from Wednesday’s game.

—The Rattlers and Peoria Chiefs face off again today for a doubleheader.

—The Timber Rattlers game was rained out on Tuesday. Fang doesn’t like rainouts:

—The Nashville Sounds lost 3-1 to the Memphis Redbirds. Nick Green took the loss. He allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings. More HERE.

—Tigers+acquire+minor+leaguer+Jason+Tyner+from+Brewers" target="_blank">Jason Tyner’s career in the Brewers system was short-lived. The outfielder, who was playing in Nashville, was essentially given to the Detroit Tigers for nothing.

—The Sounds added catcher Pat Arlis.

NL Central

—Dave at Bareknucks.com writes about Cubs fans, and nails it:

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"As for the vast majority of Cubs nation I know what to expect, the truth is that in your own misery you have been programmed to respond to criticism and success in the worst possible way."

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Dave has a lot of rage built up for Cubs nation. I can relate, but I deal with it better now than I did before. I’ve found that what pisses the obnoxious douchebags off the most is to completely ignore them.

—Former Brewer Luis Vizcaino will be released by the Cubs to make room for Tramp Stamp Jeff Samardzija.

—Quevedo at the Buffet shares a nice Cubs joke.

—The cat that ran on to Wrigley Field the other night is safe and sound at a Chicago animal shelter.

—Astros douchebag closer Jose Valverde has a bruised ankle and pulled calf, but his injuries don’t appear to be serious.