Brewers 5, Cubs 6 (12 Innings)
Player of the Game: Lyle Overbay
Record: 3-2
Honestly,
if this doesn’t remind you of last year, what does? Chalk up the loss to three things: 0-12 hitting with runners in
scoring position, three double plays, and fucking stupid outs on the
basepaths. The 0-12 is
self-explanatory. For the past two
years, the Brewers have been ridiculously poor in driving in runner. A lot has to do with luck, but, if it were
all luck, then it wouldn’t keep happening to the same team over and over
again. Though the Crew is still
unlucky, it also is loaded with the type of hitter that cannot drive runners
home. I’m referring to Geoff Jenkins
mostly, but everyone is involved. Carl
Lee is a very good contact, flyball, and hits kind of guy. Unfortunately, he is going to get pitched
around all year with a runner on third and less than two outs. Geoff Jenkins cannot drive runners home
because he (1) cannot hit left-handed pitchers and (2) is utterly useless
against anyone who can throw over 92 mph.
I’d venture to guess that over 90% of his late-inning at bats are
against either lefties of hard throwers.
So, Jenkins is not the guy you want up, basically ever against a good
pitcher. Branyan is a fantastic player,
but you have to accept the fact that he is going to strike out and not hit for
a high average. Damian Miller will
help, but the Crew is still going to have a hard time with Overbay and Spivey
striking out a lot, bad bench players, and Hardy and Clark simply having
trouble getting the ball out of the infield.
In defense of the Brewers hitters today, Glendon Rusch had an absolutely
ridiculous strikezone. I can’t explain
where it came from, but Maddux didn’t have a zone like that.
As
frustrating as the past two games have been, where the Brewers typical antics
come into play (getting 1-hit, then going 0-12 with RISP), nothing, absolutely
nothing is more frustrating than watching the top of their lineup steal bases. 0-2 today, and it cost them big time. Though you can’t assume Overbay still hits a
home run if Spivey is on first still in the third, you can assume that his
caught stealing hurt a lot in a 12-inning game. Someone get back to me if they figure out if Yost called for
those or not. With Overbay and Lee
coming up, CUT THAT SHIT OUT!
I
have always been incredibly critical of Yost’s bullpen managing. Today is no exception. No only does his use of Tommy Phelps against
right-handed hitters piss me off (he has 8 guys in the bullpen, 4 of which
could go 5+ innings, and they’re all fresh – there is no god damn need to throw
Phelps for an entire inning), but the thing that pissed me off is his refusal
to bring in Mike Adams unless it is the last inning of a game and they are
leading. Turnbow is what he is, and
he’s never going to be able to throw strikes.
He is exactly who you don’t want pitching when you can’t afford to give
up one run. Bottalico and Wise gave
some really nice work out of the pen.
And, the nicest thing to see, Jorge de la Rosa is simply filthy. He has gotten immense amounts of confidence
in his last two outings. Those 5
strikeouts is two innings are not a mirage.
The guy is going to be for real, but he’s still a little ways away.
Let’s
try to forget these past two games. I
must admit the two losses were ridiculously less painful this year than they
would have been the last two years. I
don’t know if that’s because the Crew is still over .500, because the Cubs lost
6 people that enraged me, or if its because the fans don’t know to not be
pessimistic yet this season. Anyway,
opening day tomorrow. Look for me
running naked onto the field and giving a high-five to Russell Branyan. There are still plenty of things to be
excited for this season.