Milwaukee Brewers: In the News (May 11)

Deadspin: “In My Acid-Soaked Daydreams, I, Too, Am Playing Flip-Cup With A Giant Sausage”

Sunday’s Game: Cubs 4, Brewers 2
Record: 18-14, Second Place

Sunday’s Game

—The Brewers offense went cold after the second inning Sunday and the Cubs took the final game of the three-game series.

—Two out of three against Chicago is a good series, but it would’ve been great to get the sweep…

—Rickie Weeks crushed a leadoff home run to start the game.

—Jason Kendall’s triple in the second scored Bill Hall, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a walk.

—Jeff Suppan gave up four runs—three earned—in the third to give the Cubs the lead and neither team scored the rest of the game.

—The unearned run came on a bad throwing error by Kendall following a wild pitch by Suppan. It allowed Kosuke Fukudome to score. Fukudome wasn’t even running until after the errant throw by Kendall.

—Ryan Braun hit a double off Carlos Marmol to start the eighth and then advanced to third on a balk, but the Brewers could not cash in a run in the inning despite having a guy at third with zero outs and the bases loaded with just one out. Prince Fielder struck out, Mike Cameron walked (and advanced to second on a wild pitch), J.J. Hardy popped out, Bill Hall walked to load the bases and Kendall grounded out. Frustrating. At least one run should have scored that inning…

—The Brewers left 10 on base during the game and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

—Fielder took some walks, but he was hitless for the series.

—Carlos Villanueva (seventh) and Mark DiFelice (eighth and ninth) pitched three scoreless innings.

—Mike Fontenot made some outstanding plays at third.

—The Brewers had 20 consecutive days with games and went 14-6. They get a much-deserved day off Monday.

Brewers News

—Saturday’s game was fun. The Brewers put 12 runs up on the scoreboard and almost all the Cubs fans were gone by the eighth. More HERE.

—Ken Macha says MLB should review the pitch Ryan Dempster threw that nearly hit Braun in the face. It appears the ball actually hit Braun’s bat, but regardless, it was a close call for Braun and it was a questionable pitch at best (it appeared Dempster put it there on purpose, although Braun said he doesn’t think that was the case. That doesn’t mean Braun was happy about it though).

—Braun stared Dempster down as he ran to first after the home run, took his time getting around the bases and did some hollering before he reached home. Personally, I loved it. It sent a message. “You throw at me, I’m just going to take you deep and I’m going to enjoy it.” Battlekow at Brew Crew Ball didn’t have a problem with it either. But Bob Brenly did. Brenly is a tool (who recently ripped Brewers fans). He’s a bad announcer and was worse at managing. I’m very happy he’s serving in neither capacity for the Brewers.

—Speaking of HBPs, three of the top four players in HBPs this year are Brewers.

—Yovani Gallardo is developing into an ace. He wasn’t great Saturday, but he didn’t get blown up either, showing great composure.

—Braun hit the go-ahead home run in Friday’s game and then was interviewed by Telly Hughes after the game:

Brew Crew Edge Cubs - Funny bloopers R us

—The Brewers will face journeyman left-hander John Koronka and the Marlins on Tuesday. Manny Parra will make the start for the Crew.

—Craig Counsell is having a heck of a season so far. Counsell has always had good plate appearances, but his new batting stance has resulted in a lot more hits and if he keeps it up, he’ll likely be the left-handed bat in a third-base platoon.

—Backup catcher Mike Rivera should be back by Thursday. He’s going on a three-game minor-league rehab assignment starting tomorrow.

—Mitch Stetter, the Brewers' lone lefty reliever, says he’s still learning how to throw with his sidearm delivery. If he’s just learning, I’m looking forward to seeing how good he’ll be when he’s got it all figured out. He’s been very solid so far this season.

—Jorge Julio has a 8.49 ERA this season for Milwaukee and often shows no signs whatsoever of having control. The Brewers could use another lefty in the bullpen. Lefty R.J. Swindle has 0.79 ERA in 11+ innings of relief for Nashville. Just saying…

—Random Fact: Fielder had one home run within two feet of the highest home run in MLB this season and one home run within two feet of the lowest home run in MLB this season.

—Who wrote this column for Mike Woods? There’s no way he actually wrote a positive column about a Wisconsin sports team, is there? Mike discusses how well the Brewers starting pitchers are pitching right now. I do have to point one thing out though...Woods says, “If you’re not surprised at how well the Brewers pitchers have performed, you’re lying.” No, Mike, a lot of us tried to rationally explain that the Brewers starting pitching would be just fine this offseason. It just didn’t fit into the “sky is falling” mentality many panicked fans clung to.

—Sheffield’s House tells us what he learned this weekend.

—Gene Mueller of 620 WTMJ goes after season-ticket holders that sell their tickets to games against the Cubs. I completely agree. It’s beyond lame. If you’re a big enough fan to buy season tickets, then you shouldn’t sell out when the team’s biggest rival comes to town. Stop sucking.

—gptvproductions brings the racing sausage bobbleheads to life:

Minor Leagues

—The Timber Rattlers won their first game on the road of this season behind five scoreless innings from Daniel Meadows. More HERE.

Here’s some recent video of Meadows:

—Pitcher Wily Peralta struggled Saturday and the Rattlers lost 11-2 to the South Bend Silver Hawks.

—Rattler manager Jeff Isom has a hilarious description of tiny shortstop Mike Marseco, saying he looks like “your average middle-school paperboy.” The 5′9″ 140-pounder finds a way to get it done on the field.

—The Brew Town Beat and Jesse Motiff at Bleacher Report wonder how long the Brewers can keep Gamel in the minors the way he’s raking. I’d be surprised if he’s not on the team for the interleague games.

NL Central

—The Cubs traded Joey Gathright to Baltimore for Ryan Freel. And Freel is happy to be in Chicago.

—Cubs reliever Chad Fox injured his elbow Saturday and could be facing the end of his career. He was brutal before the injury…

—Reds starter Johnny Cueto says he was tipping pitches last year and he’s corrected it.

Other News

—Former Brewer Joe Dillon was traded to the Rays. Are the Rays collecting former Brewer bench players and relievers?

—Former Brewer pitching prospect Will Inman is pitching well this year in San Diego’s system. Inman was traded to the Padres in the Scott Linebrink deal a couple years ago and a lot of Brewers fans were less than happy with Inman being included (especially after Linebrink stunk and the Brewers didn’t go to the postseason). I don’t think Inman is as good as his Brewer minor-league numbers (and hype) seemed to indicate, but he could develop into a major-league pitcher and that’s too much to give up for what the Brewers got in Linebrink.

—MLB&id=2858" target="_blank">Former Brewer reliever Luis Vizcaino, who was recently a Cub, is an Indian now.