Game Eighty One: Yankees 5, Brewers 2

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At least this loss was not as embarrassing. Other than that all I can really is that the Brewers are still in first place, currently on pace to finish the season 88-74, and will be finished with the AL East for the rest of the season after tomorrow.

Game Eighty: Yankees 12, Brewers 2

Box Score 

Well then. So much for my optimism.

The Red Sox and Yankees are better than the Brewers. I find it hard to believe that they are this much better than the Brewers, but after tonight's game I am not sure sure. As exhibit A I present you with the collective starting line for Marcum, Gallardo, and Greinke against the Red Sox and Yankees:

6.0 IP, 18 Hits, 14 ER, 21.00 ERA

There is not way the Brewers are that much worse, yet the evidence suggests otherwise. I do not want to put much more thought into the matter because I do not like feeling bad.

All that I can say about tonight's game is that the early 7-0 deficit allowed me to turn my attention to other things and liberate me from any baseball anxiety. Other than that: I just hope the rest of the series is not this bad.

Game Thirty Six: Padres 13, Brewers 6

Box Score

Considering that I have a job, closely following day games is not always possible. Today I only had two opportunities to check the score of the game. This is what I saw:

SDP 5, MIL 6 TOP 7

This was followed by:

SDP 13, MIL 6 F

I did not expect a likely Brewers victory to turn into a blowout loss, especially considering the Padres have an awful offense. What to make of the game, then? In my humble opinion, not too much. What happened today is what I like to call a 'Mulholland Drive' game. Much like the film, today's game looked like it was heading somewhere and then took a turn that did not make any rational sense.

A team that's hitting .219 on the season with a collective .298 OBP is not a strong candidate for an 8-run inning, but that didn't stop it from happening. I could try to analyze what happened in the game and I could try to make sense of what is going on in David Lynch's head. I could, but that wouldn't get me anywhere. Instead I'll just restate the gist of the game: The Brewers were down, then up, then down again. The had a chance to sweep the Padres but the bullpen imploded and they had to settle for the series win. Putting any more thought into this game is like trying to figure out why there was a mutant baby in Eraserhead. It's better to just accept that the baby is there and leave it at that.

Game Seventy Nine: Brewers 6, Twins 2

Box Score

What a delightful weekend of baseball. The enjoyment of the Brewers' sweep of the Twins was enhanced by the Cardinals getting swept by the Blue Jays, allowing the Crew to build a 3.0 game lead in the division. To top it off we had an off-day to bask in the glory of the success of the Brewers.

Next up: A series in the Bronx versus the Yankees. For some reason I have a better feeling about this series than the one at Fenway Park. Considering the Yankees lead the Red Sox in the division, have an offense that is almost exactly as powerful as the Red Sox, and a better pitching staff to boot, I should expect this to be a "Thank you sir, may I have another?" type of series. Instead I believe the Crew can take two of three. I will attempt to justify this feeling with the following reasons:

1) The Brewers should be able to score a lot of runs at Yankee Stadium. While the same goes for the Yankees, I'm inclined to believe that you're better off at an extreme hitters park than a place like Petco Park in San Diego. My thinking is that it's better to be able to come back from down 5-0 than having an 2-0 deficit be insurmountable. This may not be based in reality, but sports-related "feelings" don't have to be. Besides, if the Brewers have big comeback in the series I'll be able to point to this post and look like a genius.

2) The Brewers have Greinke and Marcum pitching in the first two games, respectively. Greinke has been a wild card this season and Marcum did not exactly dominate the Red Sox, but they're two pitchers that can shut down anybody...just like Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan.

3) The final game of the series is a day game while I'm at work. The Brewers are due to win under those "conditions." Like I said, these points don't have to make sense.

All of that said, I expect the Brewers to take one of three but show more friskiness than they did against the Red Sox. Let's see if I'm right.

Game Seventy Eight: Brewers 11, Twins 1

Box Score 

I wanted to start this post by saying "The Brewers really needed a win like that." I decided against that because, really, when couldn't you use an 11-1 victory?

There is not much to say about this game. The Brewers got a good outing from Gallardo and got a lot of hits, including four home runs and an inside-the-park homer from Yuni Betancourt of all people. To make matters better, the Crew extended their lead in the Central to 2.0 games after the Pujols-less Cardinals lost yet again.

I am optimistic that what we saw from the Brewers over the past two weeks was a mild slump that, given how good the Brewers are, was as bad as we'll see for the rest of the season. I expect this optimism to last until the Brewers go on a two-game losing streak, at which point I will start wondering if they'll ever win again.

Game Seventy Seven: Brewers 4, Twins 3

Box Score

For the past couple of seasons I began to wonder if I had developed some sort of extra-sensory perception with the Brewers. There have been many instances where I just "knew" something would happen and wouldn't you know it: it did. Tonight's game was a perfect example of this, except the opposite.

After Randy Wolf surrendered a go-ahead, 3-run homer in the top of the 6th I knew beyond any doubt that the Brewers were going to lose. That's just what was going to happen. I had a post constructed in my head and was simply waiting for the conclusion of the inevitable to write it. Then, somehow, in the bottom of the 7th with 2-one and two out, Prince Fielder ripped a double to right field that gave the Brewers the lead for good.

In case you were wondering, I will be starting a 1-800 number and airing late-night infomercials in the near future.

Inaccurate premonitions aside, this was an important victory for the Crew. They have been teetering on the bring of a prolonged slump and you don't need to be Miss Cleo to know that losing the opener to the Twins would not be a good sign of things to come. Furthermore, the Brewers really need to gain some ground on the Cardinals while Pujols is out. Also: it's just fun beating teams from Minnesota.

Game Seventy Six: Rays 6, Brewers 3

Box Score

Much like how baseball players need to take a day off every now and then, I decided to take a quick break from the blog. Regarding the rubber match of the Rays series, all I will say is that the Brewers are now 2-6 in days games played while I am at work. This is a trend that must change.

Actually, I do have one more point to make. Ron Roenicke has come under fire for some of the decisions he made in this loss, particularity pinch hitting Kotsay instead of Kottaras in the bottom of the 9th. On paper this is the wrong call and all things considered it was probably, in fact, the wrong call. The problem with evaluating these managerial decisions, however, is that we do not know what all the things are to consider.

I believe the most important role of a major league manager is to keep 25 massive egos focused on a singular goal. This entails, I think, dealing more with people than tactical decisions. If the Brewers like Roenicke, play hard for Roenicke, and want to win for Roenicke, then I can live with him being a poor tactician...even if it can be frustrating at times.

Game Seventy Five: Brewers 5, Rays 1

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Ask and you shall receive.

The Brewers needed "Cy Young" Greinke to take the mound tonight and that's exactly what happened. Watching him shred the Rays lineup was simply a thing of beauty. Even better: the Brewers offense got an early lead and tacked on some insurance runs to ensure the victory. This was the type of victory the Brewers needed to avoid going off the rails...and prevent me from questioning why I'm a Brewers fan for the 15,975th time.

Tomorrow's rubber match will occur during the day while I'm at work. The Brewers seem to lose more often than not when I'm at work, so I'm hoping they put together a strong showing and make my day. Furthermore, I like going into off-days on a positive note, so a win tomorrow would be a very good thing. With that said,  the more important issue is the health of Marcum. A strong outing after his disaster start in Boston would easy the mind of many a Brewers fan. Let's hope that happens.

Other notes:

-The Brewers have yet to lose back-to-back home games.

-With Albert Pujols out 4-6 weeks the Brewers have a golden opportunity to gain ground on the Cardinals. While it's possible Pujols' replacement will be just as good, the Cardinals' 10-2 loss to the Phillies tonight is a pretty good indicator of the importance of Pujols...even if he doesn't pitch.

-Casey McGehee has had a rough season. At the risk of being too charitable, I think a lot of his struggles are the result to awful, awful luck. In tonight's game, for example, he had a would-be double land just a bit foul. When he's not just missing extra-base hits he's to be on the wrong end of amazing defensive plays with disproportionate frequency. Of course, luck is less of the factor when you're getting good wood on the ball.

Game Seventy Four: Rays 8, Brewers 4

Box Score

Whenever I watch the Brewers I always keep an eye on what is going around the rest of the league. At one point I noticed that the Padres and Red Sox were tied 3-3. The next time I checked that score the Red Sox were ahead 13-3.

I bring this up because the Brewers are currently scuffling. They are 2-6 over their past eight games and have been outscored 55-26. Part of this is the Brewers losing winnable games (the first two of the Cubs series come to mind), but I think it's mostly a combination of the the competition and the Brewers falling back to Earth after playing at an unsustainable pace of excellent. This optimistic perspective aside, the Brewers need Greinke to come up big tomorrow.

As I have written before, the Brewers have a starting rotation wherein any pitcher is capable of being a stopper. However, the rotation is currently lacking the Ben Sheets/CC Sabathia stopper from years past. Zack Greinke is capable of being this type of pitcher, but he has yet do show to put together a dominant start.  Ever team has slumps, but keeping these slumps short is imperative to your playoff hopes. Let's hope Zack "Cy Young" Greinke shows up at the ballpark tomorrow and gets the Brewers pointed in the right direction.

Game Seventy Three: Red Sox 12, Brewers 3

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I am very happy this series is over. I will be very happy on July 1st when I will wake up knowing the Brewers are done playing anybody in the AL East. For the time being I will gladly take winning one of three at Fenway and move on.

As for the game today, Gallardo was not what you would call impressive. To his credit, by getting pummeled in the first inning took the Brewers out of the game early and prevented me from feeling any stress. Other than that there is really nothing positive to be taken from today's game. The Brewers were helpless against Wakefield's knuckleball and the Red Sox score a lot of runs.

Time to head back to Milwaukee and get ready for the Rays and Twins.

Game Seventy Two: Brewers 4, Red Sox 2

Box Score

As I have written before, a large source of confidence I have in this Brewers team is that any one of their starting pitchers is capable of being a stopper. The Crew was in need of a strong outing after last night's debacle, and who better to do it than a soft-tossing lefty junkballer? Right?

Though this means nothing after the fact, I had a good feeling that the veteran savvy of Randy Wolf would keep the powerful Red Sox offense at bay, and that's exactly what happened. Of course, that would have meant nothing had the offense not scored runs and the bullpen not done their job, but fortunately that was not a problem.

John "Cardiac" Axford has been much more dominant as of late. While he's toed the line of disaster on many occasions, there is something to be said about not allowing any runs. In case you were wondering, the last time Axford allowed a run was May 21st in an outing that still resulted in a save.

All things considered it was a very enjoyable victory. The Brewers avoided the sweep, stayed in first place, won at Fenway Park for the first time since 1997, and with Gallardo facing the 44-year old Tim Wakefield tomorrow, the Brewers have a legitimate chance at winning a series against the Red Sox. You can't ask for more than that.

Game Seventy One: Red Sox 10, Brewers 4

Box Score

That was pretty much what I feared would happened. The Red Sox scored a lot of runs and the Brewers needed to use a lot of pitchers to get through the game. The Red Sox have an absurdly good lineup and are going to do what they did to the Brewers to many more teams this season. Hopefully this is the only time the Brewers will be victimized by the juggernaut that is the Boston Red Sox lineup, but I have my doubts.

Other notes:

-Marcum left the game after throwing 44 pitches in the first inning. The preliminary report is that he has a hip strain, which we all hope is not serious. The lesson here: throwing a lot of pitches in an inning leads to injuries. It's not avoiding pitch counts that matters as much as avoiding high-stress innings.

-The Cardinals dropped their 7th straight to the Royals. Because of this the Brewers get to stay in first place for another day. I'm perfectly fine with other NL Central teams synchronizing their slumps with the Brewers.

Game Seventy: Cubs 12, Brewers 7

Box Score

Once again, I cannot emphasize how much I dislike watching the Brewers play the Cubs.

Today's game was a hot mess of a baseball game. Blown leads, fielding errors, base running errors, wild pitches, passed balls, home runs allow; this game had it all. But again, this type of game and series will happen. There is no need to call for the firing of anybody or demand any wholesale change (except getting rid of Betancourt). Keep in mind that despite losing 3 of 4 to the Cubs, the Brewers are still in first place (Thanks, Nationals!). It's a long, long season.

The season will become more enjoyable as soon as Zack Greinke starts making sense. He's struck out 70 batters and walked only 9 in 53.1 innings. He's capable of frequently throwing pitches that batters cannot hit/do not expect and he does not beat himself with walks. Yet his ERA is 5.23. He consistently does things that you expect from dominant pitchers, yet he has not been dominating.

From what I've seen, and stats back this up, the problem is that opposing batters are hitting his pitches hard when they make contact. Coming into today 25.8% of all balls put in play of Greinke have been line drives. His career average is 20.6%. For a point of reference, the LD% off the immortal Jeff Suppan is 21.3%. I think this trend is too fluky to continue. There's most likely an issue with the sequence of his pitches and a healthy helping of bad luck that's factoring into Greinke's current LD%. There will be a regression to the mean soon. Unless, or course, there isn't.

Coming up: A series with Boston! I'm cautiously optimistic. The Brewers face John Lackey, Jon Lester, and Tim Wakefield, so I expect them to score some runs. Though the Red Sox have a ridiculous lineup, Marcum, Wolf, and Gallardo are more than capable of keeping them in check. At the very least the Brewers will have a chance to demonstrate how good they are. Then again, after the series with the Cubs, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Game Sixty Nine: Brewers 9, Cubs 5

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There are few things I enjoy more than the Brewers beating the Cubs. There are few things I enjoy less than watching the Brewers play the Cubs.

First of all, I hate the Cubs with a fiery passion. Let me explain: Back in September of 2003 the Brewers hosted the Cubs at Miller Park and about 45,000 people attended each game. Despite that high number, I would be shocked to learn that more than 1,000 Brewer fans were at each game. Watching the home park of my favorite team be overwhelmed by Cubs fans sent me into an irrational sports rage that reconfigured the synapses in my brain and caused me to despise the Cubs to the very core of my existence. Granted, the Cubs fans were doing nothing wrong. I love seeing Packer fans take over opposing stadiums, and really, what's wrong with watching your team in person? The answer, of course, is nothing. But it was a horrible thing to see, and because sports fandom is inherently irrational, I feel that being filled with seething hatred was a legitimate response.

To put it another way: I hate watching these games because I really, really want the Brewers to beat the Cubs.

Second, games versus the Cubs are never easy. Ever. Tonight's game is a perfect example of how an ostensibly easy 9-5 victory is actually a source of great misery.The Brewers scored five runs in the top of the 5th to extend their lead to 5-1. Yay! Chris Narveson then walked Carlos Zambrano after being ahead 1-2, then walked Starlin Castro, and then surrendered a booming homer to Jeff Reed, cutting the lead to 5-4. Boo!

The Brewers were kind enough to add four insurance runs and John Axford sealed the victory by striking out the side in the 9th, but not before allowing the tying run to reach the on-deck circle. While the odds of the Cubs winning down four with two outs and two are very small, there is no denying that a 1-2-3 inning would have been more enjoyable. Moving on...

...Tomorrow's game is very important. The Brewers need a victory to give them margin for error in Boston. Should they win tomorrow then the Boston series becomes a matter of not getting swept. God save the queen if they lose.

Game Sixty Eight: Cubs 5, Brewers 4

Box Score

One of the only "rules" I have for this blog is to not use expletives. With that said, tonight's game was a fucking disgrace.

There was so much wrong with the loss that I do not even know where to start, so forgive me for my scattered thoughts:

-Marco Estrada in the 8th? Yes, he go the first out. Yes, the Brewers were up by three. But when he gave up his second consecutive double and the tying run was at the plate in the form of Aramis Ramirez, why was he still allowed to pitch? Moreover...

...why was he in the game to begin with? You know who was available to pitch? LaTroy Hawkins? You know what his ERA is this season? 0.59. You know what happened in the 9th? Hawkins retired the side 1-2-3. And then the bottom of the 10th inning game along...

...and the Brewers did not issue an intentional walk to set up a double play with a runner on third and one out. In other words, they did not do the one thing that gave them the best chance to extend the game.

-But let's not let the offense off the hook. 11 hits, 6 walks, 3 errors, and only 4 runs. In addition, the go-ahead run was on second with one out in the 9th and 10th and was stranded each time.

Ugh.

The other "rule" I have is to stay as positive as possible. This is very difficult because no matter how well the Brewers are playing I am always in fear of a total collapse. This would be an irrational fear to have, except the Brewers do this on an almost annual basis. Consider:

2001: Started 38-34, Finished 30-64
2004: Started 41-34, Finished 26-63
2006: Started 44-43, Finished 31-42
2007: Started 48-34, Finished 35-45
2008: Almost collapsed in September, made the post-season thanks to the Pirates and the Mets
2009: Started: 30-20, finished 50-62

I am hyper-sensitive to any sign of collapse and right now I am on high alert. The Cubs are terrible, and yet the Brewers lost a winnable game last night and gave away tonight's game on a silver fucking platter. Tomorrow they face Brewer-killer Carlos Zambrano and send the mercurial Chris Narveson to the mound to counter. And then the Brewers go to Boston, host the Rays and Twins, and then go to New York to face the Yankees. Ugh.

Deep breath. The Packers won the Super Bowl. There is a lot of baseball left to be played. The Brewers were going to have a cold spell at some point. I will survive.

But still: Fuck.

Game Sixty Seven: Cubs 1, Brewers 0

Box Score

It's tempting to blame this loss on Kameron Loe for giving up the winning run, Ryan Braun for miss-playing a ball in left field, Rickie Weeks for an off-target throw to the plate, or Ron Roenicke for calling for an ill-fated suicide squeeze. But the fact of the matter is that you generally need to get more than six baserunners and one run to win a game. This loss falls on the shoulders of the offense, and I hope it was just one of those games rather than the Brewers' road woes returning. That said, I want to discuss the squeeze play.

I agree with the call. The game was tied at 0-0, the Brewers were bats were more like wet noodles, and there was a runner on third with one out. More importantly, Randy Wolf was ahead in the count 3-1. The last thing you want to do is walk to opposing pitcher, so odds were Wolf was going to see a fastball. Instead he whiffed at ball-four and Betancourt was dead to rights. All things considered, it was a good risk to take, even though is ultimately demonstrated why the play is called a suicide squeeze.

I hate losing to the Cubs and I hate watching the Brewers bats go silent on the road. But the recent play of the Brewers has me feeling optimistic, so I will classify this game as "one of those stinkers that you can't avoid" and look forward to tomorrow.

Game Sixty Six: Brewers 4, Cardinals 3

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There are few things more enjoyable than sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals. Being in first place is one of those things. And hey, why not combine the two?

This was an all-around great weekend series. The Brewers stayed dominant at Miller Park, Prince Fielder continued is absurd hot-streak, and the two new pitching acquisitions served notice that the Brewers are in fact contenders.

Brewer fever is alive and well.

Game Sixty Five: Brewers 5, Cardinals 3

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I cannot recall ever anticipating a June Brewers game as much as the one played today. June has historically represented the month when the Brewers fell hopelessly out of any form of contention. In contrast, today was a match-up between two Cy Young winners with first place hanging in the balance. Being a baseball fan does not get much better than this.

Despite giving up three runs and a homer, Greinke was mostly brilliant. He struck out nine in seven innings and walked none. He's now 6-1 on the season and has 60 strikeouts to only 7 walks. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Greinke trade has worked out well for the Brewers. More importantly, I like watching pitchers that win games and have excellent K:BB ratios, thus the trade has worked out very well for me.

Also of note, John Axford had a dominant, and thus stress-free 9th inning. He had total command with of his curveball, and when that happens the opposition is essentially helpless. I'm hoping that today's outing was a sign of things to come.

The winner of tomorrow's game will have sole possession of first place. In the grand scheme of things tomorrow's game is not all that important. The Brewers have 97 games remaining and play the Cardinals 9 more times. That said, in an even grander, "How often are the Brewers in this position?" sense, the game is quite important. Brewers fans support the team insanely well and are rarely rewarded. A win tomorrow would be the type of victory that makes the "sports is 99% suffering, 1% glory*" ratio worth it.

*Special thanks to Steve Czaban for that poignant truism. 

Game Sixty Four: Brewers 8, Cardinals 0

Box Score

Tonight's game was very enjoyable. It was encouraging to see Narveson come up big after struggling mightily in his last three starts, and it's always nice to thoroughly defeat the Cardinals.

Tonight's game is also an example of something that was fun to watch, but difficult to write about. The Brewers got home runs from players that can hit the ball hard, and Narveson prevented the Cardinals from hitting the ball hard. Sometimes baseball is a really simple sport to understand.

Game Sixty Three: Mets 4, Brewers 1

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Tonight's game was your classic stinker. There was bad starting pitching, bad defense, and almost no offense. The Brewers deserve a tip of the cap for bringing the tying run to the plate in the 7th and 8th, but as the final score indicates, those situations did not accomplish anything.

One of my favorite baseball axioms is that you'll win 54 games and lose 54 games, but it's what you do with the other 54 that counts. I'm perfectly happy declaring calling tonight's game one of those 54 losses and moving on. But before I do...

...something needs to be done with Casey McGehee. Coming into tonight's game he was hitting .231/.290/.333 and, as evidenced by his two errors on back-to-back plays in the top of the 9th, playing bad defense. For the time being the solution is to move him down in the lineup and hope he gets right. If  that does not happen the Brewers are going to have to look to call up Taylor Green from AAA. I hope it does not come to that.

Also, big series coming up against the Cardinals. While I'm hoping for a series win, at this point in the season I would happy with any result other than a Cardinals sweep.

Game Sixty Two: Brewers 7, Mets 6

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It seems like the Brewers have had more fantastic finishes this season than the past ten combined. Tonight's game was no exception.

After Ronnie Paulino put the Mets ahead 6-2 with a 3-run homer in the top of the 8th, I turned off the game and was about to head to the gym. Then I thought to myself "If the Brewers score two runs in the 8th inning and keep the Mets of the board in the 9th, they'll only need one baserunner to bring the tying run to the plate. I'd better turn the game back on...just in case." That proved to be a wise decision.

Braun cut the lead in half with a two-run double and Fielder added a couple million to his free agent contract with a game-tying homer in the subsequent at bat. Axford retired the side on the 9th, naturally allowing the go-ahead run to reach scoring position before ending the inning.

In the bottom of the 9th it came down to Nyjer Morgan, a.k.a. "Tony Plush" with two down and Counsell on 2nd. Thinking it was actually the 8th inning, Mr Plush roped a double into left field and kept the Miller Park Magic alive.

Other thoughts:

-If this blog has taught me one thing, it's that being a sports writer is a very tough job. After Paulino's homer I had a post outlined and ready to go. A few minutes later I was back to square one. I imagine getting paid and working on a tight deadline makes crazy endings less enjoyable for sportswriters than your common fan.

-I really like listening to Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder call games. One of the many reasons I love following baseball is because the announcers tend to be overwhelmingly positive. In tonight's game, Anderson made the following comments during the 8th inning (quotes not exact):

"The last time the Brewers allowed five runs in an inning was in Florida. A game they won in extra innings."

And after Braun hit a double cutting the lead to 6-4 "It's a brand new ballgame!"

If you want to be snarky you could say that allowing five runs in an inning is never an indicator of imminent victory. You could also say that no, it's not a new ballgame when you're still trailing by two runs. Or you could embrace the optimism and appreciate the positive things being said. Even if positive comments are a bit on the goofy side, they usually make me feel good. Allowing yourself to become annoyed by such comments is not exactly a recipe for happiness.

-The Brewers have not lost consecutive games since May 5-6. They have yet to lose consecutive game at Miller Park.

Game Sixty One: Mets 2, Brewers 1

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I like Chris Capuano. He was a rare bright spot for the Brewers in the '04-'06 seasons. He's also very intelligent and seems like a nice guy. If anybody is going to shut down the Brewers, it may as well be Capuano.

I have a couple more thoughts on this game, but I'm going to skip them so I can catch up. Besides, games like this will happen over the course of a season. That's what I got for you.

Game Sixty: Brewers 7, Marlins 2

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Maybe the Brewers aren't such a bad road team after all.

After three tightly contested victories the Brewers completed a sweep of the Marlins with little trouble. Prince Fielder delivered the decisive blow in the form of a three-run homer in the third and Zack Greinke made sure that would be all the Brewers would need.

There is not much more to say other than then the Brewers are playing very good baseball right now. Assuming good health, it's safe to say that what we're seeing is more a sign of things to come than an aberration. Granted, the .750 pace they've been on over their past 28 games is not going to last, but at the same time it's not like the Brewers are playing that far over their heads.

Next up: A home series vs. the New York Mets followed by a series vs. St Louis. I'm hoping to see the Crew take two of three from the Mets, followed by an emphatic sweep of the Cardinals. The latter is not as likely as the former, but I can hope for whatever I want, right?

Game Fifty Nine: Brewers 6, Marlins 5

Box Score

The Brewers' victory today is something of a miracle. They blew a 5-0 lead and were dead to rights in the bottom of the 9th when the Marlins had the bases loaded with one out. Somehow, Tim Dillard of all people saved the Brewers' bacon.

The situation did not look much more promising in the top of the 11th with nobody on, two out, and Josh Wilson at the plate. Wilson proceeded to justify his being on the Brewers roster with a home run, and John Axford sealed the victory with another one of his saves.

The Brewers have now won 20 of 27 and the only thing going wrong is the continued success of St. Louis. The Brewers and Cardinals play each other 12 more times this season. Those games should be a lot of fun...especially if the Brewers win every one of those games.

Game Fifty Eight: Brewers 3, Marlins 2

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The Green Bay Packers' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV provided me with a boost of euphoria and a moment that will make me happy for a long time. There are few things better than living your life knowing one of your teams just won a championship. That said, I do have one teeny, tiny gripe about the Packers' Super Bowl run: Every post-season game was not a blow out. I'm aware of how absurd this gripe is, but stick with me.

The Packers beat the Eagles in the first round thanks to two missed field goals by David Ackers, a game-saving tackle of DeSean Jackson by Desmond Bishop, and a game clinching interception by Tramon Williams. In the Super Bowl, the Packers essentially sealed the game with this play:

Notice how that play was less than one inch from not happening. The (very small) problem that I have when I look back at the Super Bowl run is that it's far too easy for me to imagine some key plays going the other way, and I don't like thinking about anything other than what actually happened. Again, I'm aware that this is akin to saying "The problem with having millions of dollars is that it's hard to choose which mansion to buy," but I think you get the idea. In professional sports the difference between a win and a loss is impossibly small. It best not to think about this microscopic gap, but John Axford apparently wants Brewer fans to think about it every time he takes the mound.

Axford has fifteen saves on the season and has converted twelve in a row. On the surface this is a sign of dominance. However, if you look closer you'll see that the tying or go-ahead run has reached base in eight of his saves. On three other occasions an opposing player reached base and allowed the batter to represent the tying run.

The Brewers are tied for the Wildcard lead and only 2.0 games back of first place in the division. But when you think about it, they're three or four timely hits away from being in sizable hole. Of course, it's best not to think about it.

Other notes:

-The Brewers have not been six games over .500 since 2009.

-Nyjer Morgan hit a home run in his first plate appearance of the evening. It was also this first time he faced Christ Volstad since this happened. It's also worth noting it was only the fifth homer of Morgan's career.

-Yovani Gallardo has lowered his ERA from 6.10 to 3.72 since May 2nd. It's amazing how the machine-like nature of professional baseball players almost invariably causes their stats to regress to their career norms. Let's hope this hold true for Casey McGehee.

-Though Axford drives me nuts, he has 36 strikeouts in 26.1 innings. He can get away with allowing baserunners because he can get outs without the ball being put in play. As maddening as he can be, it's important to remember that he's also very nasty.

Game Fifty Six: Brewers 6, Marlins 5

Box Score

Two inescapable truths were on display tonight:

1) Ryan Braun can hit a baseball a very long distance. After being victimized by Joey Votto on Wednesday, Braun promptly evened-out the Brewers' fortunes with a pinch-hit, go ahead homer in the top of the 9th that may still be flying. Yuniesky Betancourt did his best to make sure it would be a game-tying homer, but he was able to (miraculously) able to avoid getting tagged out after an unlikely base hit. And it's a good thing he was safe, because the Brewers were in need of a road victory like this. Even more impressive: the homer occurred on Braun's one and only swing of the day. The home run both provided the decisive margin of victory and provided me a highlight that will give me enjoyment for years to come.

2) John Axford is having control issues. He threw 29 pitches and only 11 strikes. His command was so bad that he almost threw an errant intentional ball. Fortunately he was able to strike out the Brett Hayes with the bases loaded to end the game; otherwise I would have been in a very, very bad mood. Axford got the save, the Brewers won, and I was made happy, but jeepers creepers, did the bottom of the 9th have to be so difficult? I don't want to think about how anxious I will feel if the Brewers are one win away from making the playoffs and it's up to Axford to protect a one-run lead. Yikes.

Other Notes:

-Corey Hart is currently hitting .292. This is good news.

-Casey McGehee is currently hitting .244 and has generally looked crappy this season. If it seems like he's hitting a lot of routine ground balls, it's because that's what he's been doing. This season 54.5% of the balls he's put into play have been on the ground. His career rate is 46.2%, which makes me hopeful that he'll turn his season around soon. In the meantime he does not exactly inspire me with confidence.

-The stats in the above note came from fangraphs.com. FanGraphs is one the best baseball websites out there. It has an absurd amount of data and cool features, such as win-expectancy graphs. Speaking of win-expecancy graphs, here's what the one from tonight's game looks like:

Game Fifty Six: Reds 4, Brewers 3

Box Score

At least the game-winning homer happened with two outs in the eight and not with two outs in the ninth.

The Brewers have been on the right side of this type of game recently, so you had to figure that they were due for a loss like this sooner or later. It happens, it's a long season, and so on. This is not to say that tonight's game should just be accepted and we should move on.

It's pretty clear that Axford and Loe are the only two relievers Ron Roenicke has any confidence in. I don't have much faith in Takashi Saito to suddenly become healthy and reliable, so Mr Melvin is probably going to have to swing a trade sooner or later. In the meantime, Roenicke could stand to be less conventional with his bullpen use.

Last season John Axford was used for outside the confines of the 9th inning on multiple occasions. Tonight would have been a great place to summon him from the bullpen before the 9th inning. With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 8th, Loe hit Brandon Phillips, allowing reigning NL MVP Joey Votto to come to the plate representing the go-ahead run. In his career, left handed pitchers have a .208 average and .595 OPS against Axford. Conversely, lefties hit .306 and have  a .844 OPS against Loe. I think my case states itself. Granted, there are lots of legitimate reasons Axford was not used tonight (he did throw 28 pitches last night), but assuming everything was normal, Axford, the best reliever the Brewers have, should have faced Votto.

All that aside, the Brewers at least showed signs of life in on the road. It would be nice to get at least split in Florida. The series against the Marlins will be a good gauge to see how excited we should be for the rest of the season.

Game Fifty Five: Brewers 7, Reds 2

Box Score

What do you know? I was wrong about my bad feelings about this game. The Brewers scored some runs off a no-name starter and held on for the victory.

I give kudos to Greinke for lasted six innings despite not being on top of his game. It helps having the opposing pitcher ground into a double play with the bases loaded and nobody out (how's that for some good fortune on the road), but my goodness, I've never seen a pitcher give up on his fastball and throw essentially nothing but sliders. Greinke did not come across as someone who was having fun tonight, but he got the job done.