May 2004 Game Reviews

(5/31/04) Brewers 2, Dodgers 3 (10 innings) (Record: 25-24)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Geoff Jenkins & Matt Wise
Ok, due to softball practice and no TV, this game will not be reviewed. I'll get these back up and going tomorrow for sure.

(5/30/04) Brewers 2, Padres 5 (Record: 25-23)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Ben Grieve and Craig Counsell
Reviews will begin again on Monday. Sorry folks for the lack of reviews this weekend.

(5/29/04) Brewers 4, Padres 3 (Record: 25-22)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Wes Obermueller

(5/28/04) Brewers 3, Padres 5 (Record: 24-22)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Ben Grieve
Once again, Friday night games will not normally be available for reviews.

(5/27/04) Brewers 3, Dodgers 1 (Record: 24-21)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Ben Sheets
I'll make this one a very quick review since not much happened during the game. A couple things to point out though...Ben Grieve hit in the 3-hole today. Finally, he is where he should be; the top of the lineup. Grieve responded with a successful day at the plate reaching base in two of his three plate appearances. The Dodgers, thanks to some poor defense in the first gave the Crew two early runs. Had Pod not gotten his first caught stealing of the year in that inning, the damage could have been a whole lot worse. It didn't matter though. The two runs were all Sheets needed. Once again, he displayed incredible command, striking out 8 and walking no one. There isn't much more that can be said about Sheets that hasn't already been said. God, I hope he keeps this up all year. Another perfect save by Dan Kolb and a rough, but scoreless inning by the Transformer, and all of a sudden our bullpen is doing really well. Who would have known not having Ben Ford in there would do this much? Okay, we all did. Anyway, the pen was great this series and helped lead to two very fun wins.
This team is 3 games above .500. I can't believe it either. Now it's time to take on the Padres. Tomorrow is a big game that we'd like to win with Davis on the mound. Saturday and Sunday could be rough games.

(5/26/04) Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 (12 Innings) (Record: 23-21)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Geoff Jenkins and Trent Durrington
I have to admit, I didn't think the Crew was going to win when this went into extra innings. The Dodgers' bullpen and record in one-run games combined with the Crew's bullpen made me think this was a lost cause. However, to my complete surprise, the Crew completely dominated the extra innings. Let's start out at the beginning of the game...
As most good left-handed starters do, Odalis Perez shut down the Brewer offense early. With Gagne and Mota looming in the Dodgers pen, the team needed to do something to avoid a shutout. And do something it did when Trent Durrington stepped to the plate and belted a home run to tie the game up at one. That was the only batting worth mentioning until the late innings rolled around.
Chris Capuano returned tonight, pitched well through four innings, and left the game with some cramping in his left triceps. Do I buy it? No. Chances are he'll be headed back to the DL with a torn labrum. He continued his impressive K per inning he's been doing all year and did not walk a batter. That was impressive but giving up another home run was not. I'll give him credit, he always gives up the homers when no one is on.
After Capuano left, Mike Adams came in for two wonderful innings of relief. Adams handed the ball off to Mr. Clean to clean up the next two innings. Though he was shaky, Bennett didn't surrender a run. After Bennett, Kieschnick, Kolb, Vizcaino, and Kinney combined for four perfect innings of relief. They all did great and deserve a ton of credit. If any of them had allowed a run to score, Gagne would have come in and the game would have been over. The Jenks needs so credit for making his second awesome catch in two days. Hall looked good at shortstop today and the Pod made a nice catch in the 10th inning.
I'll try to keep this review short, unlike the game tonight, but there is a lot I could discuss. I'll just go to listing things....
Yost was ejected in the first inning. Therefore, I don't know who to blame for the tremendous amount of outs the team made on the basepaths tonight. It likely was the players' faults, but there was way too much stealing going on. Pretty much the only person who should ever attempt a steal is the Pod.
The baserunning and hitting really drove me crazy tonight. The Crew's leadoff batter reached base in each of the last four innings. In the ninth, Kieschnick drew a great walk off of lefty Tom Martin. It might have been the at-bat of the game if not for a ton of other good at-bats in the next 3 innings. Counsell, pinch-running for Kieschnick, obviously was stranded in the 9th. In the 10th, Jenkins drew a leadoff walk off of Mota and Overbay hit a single to make it first-and-third with no one out. Ginter popped out, Clark was walked, and Moeller struck out. With the bases jammed, pinch hitter Ben Grieve took it to 2-0 before lacing a line drive right to Robin Ventura at first. At this point I was convinced we were destined to lose.
In the 11th, the Pod led off with a double. A bunt by Bill Hall turned into an out at third base. Then, Hall was thrown out trying to steal second. Inning over.
The luck would change in the 12th. Jenkins led off with a single, which luckily hit second base. Overbay had an awesome AB where he drew a walk. Overbay really made up for his early struggles against Perez with his last two AB's. Ginter came up and laid down a perfect bunt. This is one of the few times a bunt was maybe the smart decision, though I'm not sure that the bases loaded for Moeller with one out was a good situation to shoot for. I'm sure I'm in the minority here who didn't want to see a bunt. Luckily, I was wrong and the bunt worked out perfectly. Ginter placed it great and the throw to first had to be hurried. Alex Cora covered first and couldn't stop the ball from getting by him. I'm still undecided, but I'm thinking Ginter intentionally kicked the ball down the first base line. As the throw rolled away, Jenkins came home and plated the winning run.
This win was one of the most impressive of the year because of the bullpen the Crew beat. The Brewer bullpen deserves most of the credit after throwing 8 innings of scoreless relief. I'm probably the happiest guy out there to be seeing that because the bullpen has frustrated the deuce out of me many times this year. Hey, let's win this series tomorrow. Ben Sheets is on the mound!

(5/25/04) Brewers 3, Dodgers 5 (Record: 22-21)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Keith Ginter & Junior Spivey
The Crew put 16 baserunners on and only scored 3 runs. I guess the problem was twofold; a lack of extra-base hits and an out on the basepaths made by Brady Clark trying to steal second base. Stolen bases kill, and we should know better considering that Clark has been thrown out his last 5 steal attempts. On the very next pitch after Clark was retired, Ginter laced a single to center. Another reason the Crew failed to score was simply not converting with runners in scoring position. A strikeout by Jenkins in the third, though intentional, really hurt the cause.
Perhaps the play that hurt the team the most was the error on Gary Bennett in the third inning. Had it not been for the error, the Dodgers may not have scored any runs that inning. Alex Cora led off the inning with a single, big surprise there. Then, Kaz Ishii tried to bunt him over to second. He laid down a pretty decent bunt, Bennett picked it up, but for some reason he thought he should try his luck throwing to second. The decision was a bad one not only because Cora would have been safe even if the throw didn't bounce off the pitchers mound and travel into center field, but the decision was also poor because Bennett should have known he would throw the ball away. Anyway, after the error, the Dodgers singled us to death. The disturbing aspect of the singles is that most of them were the result of a drawn in infield and Overbay having to play close to first. I honestly think Santos could have gotten through the inning with no harm had it not been for Bennett's error. Nevertheless, Santos should have been better at not giving up the runs. All of the runs were earned despite Bennett's error, only proving more how useless the earned runs distinction really is.
I must mention that Corey Hart made his ML debut tonight, the end result of which was a strikeout. It's okay though. Corey seems to be Sexson circa Indians. He should be a fun one to watch the next few years.
After falling behind early, the Crew had little chance to come back. The Dodgers use the bullpen better than most every other team in the league, and the team has the pitchers to be successful. Once the seventh came around, Mota and Gagne were not going to allow a run to score. Gagne will pitch every game of the series if the situation calls for it, but hopefully, after throwing two innings, Mota will be winded for one of the next two games. Let's hope the Crew keeps battling and can make this series a good one. It's not going to be easy with the pitching that the Dodgers have, specifically the lefty starters. Chris Capuano returns tonight, and I will again issue my warning about him: His numbers indicate that his ERA is going to climb. Sorry guys, 5 home runs and 7 walks in limited starts so far this year is an alarming indication of future problems. I hope I am wrong, and in this case that his numbers are misleading, but I doubt it.

(5/23/04) Brewers 2, Pirates 1 (Record: 22-20)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Doug Davis, Lyle Overbay, Keith Ginter
Well, we have finally beaten this damn team…it took long enough. The win certainly did not come easy today.
The Pod somewhat came out of his funk by getting a bunt single on the first pitch of the game, stealing a base later that inning, and drawing a walk later in the game. Besides the Pod, there were 5 players who I need to discuss from today.
First, Doug Davis was as crafty as one could be today. He certainly wasn’t dominating, but he was perfect insofar as he didn’t give up a run. His command has been spectacular lately. Today, he spotted the ball wonderfully on both sides of the plate. He doesn’t have the kind of stuff that will intimidate hitters and get him a ton of strikeouts, but he sure uses what he has well. He doesn’t walk many and gives up very few home runs: that is a recipe for success. The thing Davis did today that made me most happy was that he turned in the first good at-bat by a Brewers pitcher in what seems to be over a month. In the fifth inning, Moeller got on with one out. Still tied at zero, the game needed a Brewers strike. Instead of bunting, Davis had probably the Brewers third best at-bat of the game. He worked a 7-pitch walk, if I remember correctly, which eventually led to a bases loaded, one-out situation. Though Counsell and Spivey, who just isn’t ready to be hitting major league pitching yet, blew the opportunity, the AB by Davis was impressive nonetheless.
The second player who needs to be mentioned is Lyle Overbay. Other than the pseudo rally in the fifth, the Crew mustered nothing up against Kip Wells. At least, that was until Lyle Uberbay came to the plate and smoked a solo homer in the sixth. With Davis dealing, it looked like the Overbay shot would be enough to win it.
The third player, Dead-Arm Vizcaino, proved me quite wrong. Davis pitched through the 6th scoreless and got a one-inning hold from the Tennessee Stallion. However, when Vizcaino got the ball, it was clear the game was going to be tied or lost quite soon. Indeed, all knowledgeable Brewers fans were given what they wanted; a leadoff homerun by Thor Wilson on the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth. Damn it. Vizcaino is really starting to piss me off. Luckily, the Pirates could not take the lead as Thor only came to the plate once in the inning.
It was looking like it would be a disappointing game as the Crew made a couple quick outs to start its half of the ninth. Then, the fourth player, Gumby Gintner came to the plate. Being in many conversations about the Crew in the past week or two, I’ve sensed a lot of hostility towards Gintner. I know what the hostility is all about; a high strikeout rate. Though it’s true that Ginter has struggled at the plate a bit recently, people have to remember a couple of things. First, slumps happen. Second, strikeouts aren’t nearly as bad as people think. For Ginter and many others, strikeouts are correlated with walks and home runs. Ginter does two things: he takes a lot of pitches and swings hard when he does swing. I love this kind of player, which explains why I’ve always wanted Gintner in the lineup. If the Crew hitters had struck out instead of hitting into double-plays on Saturday, we probably would have won that game. Anyway, the point I’m making is to keep giving ole Gumby Gintner a shot. Obviously, he is better than Helms. In the ninth today, Ginter fell down in the count and it was looking like he’d strikeout. Instead of just “putting his bat on the ball and putting pressure on the defense,” Ginter guessed fastball, got one at his belt from Brian Meadows, who has been very good this year, and jacked one to left. Had he gotten a curve or a fastball low and outside, he would have stuck out. However, he took a wise shot and gave the Crew a 2-1 lead. If anyone wants to argue with me about the value of putting a ball in play versus swinging away hard, I’d love to entertain offers.
The last player to mention is Dan Kolb. Once again, he was perfect today. Give him the lead, and he’s going to keep it. Now, if we can just get Kolb into the eighth innings of games….
Anyway, the Crew salvaged the roadtrip thanks to the efforts of Doug Davis, Lyle Overbay, and Keith Ginter. Another day off Monday before the awful stretch of tougher teams comes up on the schedule. It’s time for Podsednik, Spivey, and Jenkins to get the asses in gear and for the starting pitching to continue to improve. Let’s see if we get through the next month at .500…..

(5/22/04) Brewers 1, Pirates 3 (Record: 21-20)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Geoff Jenkins
Even though Sheets wasn't nearly as good as last time out, he was still pretty good this game. He didn't have the strikeouts working and actually walked two guys, but a superb ground ball to fly ball rate of 13-5 kept him out of trouble. I believe in 6 of his 7 innings the leadoff guy got on. However, Sheets kept most of these guys from scoring. Two of the ones who did manage to score did so because of a wild pitch, two costly stolen bases allowed, and Sheets' own throwing error past first base. The defense was very poor this game, and Sheets wasn't good enough to make up for a poor day at the plate.
The Crew did manage to get some baserunners on early in innings. However, three double play balls absolutely desroyed any chance of rallying. This was perhaps the most frustrating game to watch this entire year. If we lose again tomorrow, I will be completely disappointed. If we are going to stay near .500, there can be no more awful games played against a team as bad as the Pirates. This review is done.

(5/20/04) Brewers 3, Expos 2 (Record: 21-19)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Bill Hall and Scott Podsednik
Frank Robinson did everything he could to simply hand this game to the Brewers, and it was much appreciated. First, he didn’t start Carl Everett, Brad Wilkerson, or Jose Vidro. The weak Expos lineup made it an easy day for the makeshift Brewers pitching. Due to the rain in the area and the desire to not lose a Wes Obermueller start, Yost decided to start Matt Wise today. Let me just say I love this decision. The logic behind the move was quite strong. It was highly likely that the game would be delayed for a lengthy time after it was started. This could have put an end to a Wes Obermueller start very early and left the team in the same basic situation as with Wise starting. As it turned out, the Brewers caught a break when the game was delayed before the bottom of the first could even come around. Keeping Obermueller until Saturday keeps Ben Hendrickson from being called up, and you know I am in favor of not rushing the prospects at this stage. Anyway, Wise pitched a strong 3.2 innings but seemed to run out of gas in the 4th. No problem: Yost had a quick hook ready for him. Jeff Bennett came in and did a good job holding the lead. Following Bennett, Burba came in for a shaky couple innings where he surrendered the lead.
The Brewer bats were having a tough time getting going against Tomo Ohka. Luckily, the Crew finally hit a home run, courtesy of Bill Hall, for the first time in 6 games. Hall’s two-run shot gave the Crew an early 2-run lead and kept the team in the game as it progressed.
The later innings are where Frank Robinson really drove the dagger through his team’s collective chest. With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, Mike Adams came in for the Crew and surrendered a leadoff walk to Jamey Carroll, or Jeremy Carroll as Uecker enjoys calling him. Robinson then made a flaw that many managers still do these days: he bunted his guy over to second with no one out. There is almost nothing gained by doing this as the out is worth much more than the extra base. The statistics and expansion of this point can be found in a recent article by James Click of Baseball Prospectus entitled, “Taking One for the Team: When Does it Make Sense to Sacrifice?.” Needless to say, the Expos failed to score this inning. Robinson really got stupid when he brought Rocky Biddle in to work the top of the ninth inning. Biddle is just awful, which was demonstrated when Pod jumped jacked a solo, game-winning homer against him to start the inning. After Pod’s homer, Counsell ripped a single into left. Yost, feeling grateful to Robinson’s poor management, returned the favor by bunting Counsell over to second with no one out. Counsell, too, would not score in the inning. Luckily, the one run was all the Crew needed with Kolb coming in to pitch the ninth. It wasn’t looking good when the first pitch thrown by Kolb was laced into right field for a single. However, when Robinson AGAIN decided to bunt with no one out and a man at first, I started writing my review as a victorious one for the Crew. The runner would be stranded at third and the game would end with the Crew taking two out of three in the series.
This was a very successful start to the roadtrip. The Crew ran into a hot Expos team but scrapped out two solid wins. Most importantly, only Helms got hurt. Two games over .500 now, the Crew should be favored to expand on that with three games against Pittsburgh this weekend. I don’t care what happened last time we played them, the Pirates suck. With Sheets and Davis on the mound this weekend, we should hopefully take two.

(5/19/04) Brewers 6, Expos 3 (Record: 20-19)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Bill Hall and Craig Counsell
Did you guys all see what happened to Helms? Talk about funny. I’ve joked all week about how the Crew is going to leave this series with about four players left who aren’t hurt. Consider the first two games a miracle if no one else falls victim to the death trap that is Hiram Bithorn Stadium. This could be the ultimate of good outcomes. No one else gets hurt, Helms goes down, and we get yet another better player from AAA called up. My early vote is for Jeff Liefer who could be the legitimate left-handed power threat that the team has needed off the bench. Mighty Brooks can only do so much, especially when he is needed to pitch. Of course, this will only be possible if Helms indeed does go on the DL as I assume he will. If not, we’ll be stuck with yet another banged up player on the bench. The fact that Liefer is not on the 40-man roster might indicate that we’d see someone like Corey Hart get the call up. As fun as this would be, it isn’t in the team’s long-term best interests. Let’s hope the organization finds a way to clear room for Liefer. I think getting rid of Ben Ford would be the right way to go.
Anyway, once again this game is going to be tough to review having no visuals with which to work. I again listened to the game on the radio, so I’ll have a few things to add to the box score.
The Crew still isn’t hitting for much power. I don’t think the guys have had a homer since the middle of last week. Still, by constantly putting runners on base, this team is having offensive success. The story would be eerily similar to last night’s ball game, where 14 baserunners only yielded 2 runs, had it not been for a 3-run triple by Bill Hall in the 4-run fourth inning for the Crew. At the time, it looked like the four runs would win it because terrible rainstorms were looking to get the game cancelled shortly after the inning was over. I got pretty upset when the game was stopped in the middle of the 5th inning before it was official. Luckily, after a somewhat lengthy delay, the game began again.
Victor Santos, who threw moderately well through the first four innings, came out again for a solid fifth and grabbed another win. He has now had three strong starts in a row and continues to be a very bright spot on an otherwise mostly dim starting rotation. Santos wasn’t dominating, but he certainly did what he needed to do. Everything I said about Doug Davis and keeping the team in the game yesterday applies to Santos today.
I also made a point yesterday about Overbay’s spot in the batting order saying, “I think it's just about time Overbay gets moved into the cleanup spot. Had he been there this game, he would have gotten an extra AB and had a chance to win it in the end. It seems like a small difference between the 4th and 5th spots, but this game showed why it is a significant one.” Well folks, consider this game Lesson II. Overbay’s hitting streak came to an end, a major disappointment to most of us, mostly because he isn’t getting much to hit these days. He drew two walks again, as he should do. However, I can’t get over Jenkins making the final out in the top of the ninth by hitting into a double play. I just wish Overbay could have had one more chance for his streak. On a more significant note, Overbay should be getting more at bats because his performance has been so much better than Jenkins’ this year. It makes sense to me that the guy with a line of .363/.418/.623 (AVG, OBP, SLG) should be hitting much sooner than the guy with the .263/.326/.444 line. Jenkins will turn his power numbers up a notch, but until he goes on one of his massive tears, he should be in the five-spot.
One last thing I must mention is how well Craig Counsell has played lately. He has his average up to .269 and his OBP up to .367. Not surprisingly, his on-base percentage is higher than his slugging percentage. However, I am pleasantly pleased with how he has been doing this year, though I must admit my expectations were and are low. Now that the Pod is struggling so much at the top of the lineup, I will gladly proclaim myself to be the first to push for Ben Grieve to be our leadoff hitter. This type of logic and brilliance will be in place in baseball within the next 10 years as will better closer usage. Why don’t the Brewers be the first to do it: bat your best on-base guy leadoff? Get ready for this guys, I’m going to mention it every night until Grieve gets hurt.
With Wes Obermueller on the mound, I am feeling lucky about tomorrow’s game. I’m putting my money on the Crew.

(5/18/04) Brewers 2, Expos 3 (Record: 19-19)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Keith Ginter
These games are not going to be easy to review because none of them are on TV. I can't even get highlights or a replay of the game because they don't have electricity in San Juan. I did get to listen to this on the radio, but it was tough to figure out what was going on due to Uecker's banter about rice, blowhorns, and Randy Johnson. Anyway, here are a couple things from the game.
The offense did its usual thing, but simply choked when runners were on base. The team got 16 baserunners, but double-play balls and an out made at home plate cost the Crew a bundle. Overbay continued his hitting streak, and the team got some good supporting efforts from Ginter, Jenkins, and Clark. I think it's just about time Overbay gets moved into the cleanup spot. Had he been there this game, he would have gotten an extra AB and had a chance to win it in the end. It seems like a small difference between the 4th and 5th spots, but this game showed why it is a significant one.
On the pitching side, Doug Davis threw his typical 6 innings with 3 runs. It's hard to find anything particularly good or bad to say about that. I guess I'll take that every time out from him. As long as he keeps the team in the game, I'm happy. The Spos strung together 4 singles in a row during the fourth to score the eventual winning run. Had Davis spaced those singles out, which he could have done by being luckier, I might be talking to you about a great game right now.
One last thing I must mention is that Mike Adams made his major league debut a successful one. I can't begin to tell you how much better he should be than Ben Ford. Of course, only time will tell if he lives up to his great numbers he put up in AAA this year. Unlike Ford and most of our other relievers, Adams has the ability to strike guys out, and I hope he gets playing time in some high-leverage situations.
More to come from San Juan. The next two games will be rainy ones. Too bad for the Crew that it had to run into the Expos now, when the team has finally got its ass in gear. Carl Everett is back, and the Spos are playing good ball. Let's hope the Crew can salvage this series.

(5/16/04) Brewers 4, Braves 1 (Record: 19-18)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Ben Sheets
You guys know what? Every fifth day, this team is the most enjoyable to watch in the entire league. Between the plate approaches of numerous players, the batting of Lyle Overbay, and the awesome comebacks, this team is fun to watch every day. However, when Sheets pitches, there is nothing better than watching these guys play. I wish we had five Ben Sheetsi.
Sheets was incredible today shattering the franchise's single-game strikeout record by four K's. He regained his upper-nineties heater and was dropping curves on everyone. With the 18 K's and only one walk, his K/BB ratio now stands at 66/9. Needless to say, that is by far the best in the league. I think we all can understand this pretty easily: No Brewers starter has pitched like this in quite a long time, if ever. I don't remember anyone starting a season off this hot for the Crew.
I hate to spoil the moment, but I must say that Sheets got a ton of help from home plate umpire Doug Eddings. He was getting both the low-outside corner and the high-outside corner. The strike zone was quite large, but Sheets kept placing the ball in the perfect spots to get the calls. He took what he was given perfectly. He curveball was simply devastating today. When combined with the high strikes, no one could touch the curve. The key to Sheet's success was getting ahead in the count constantly. I don't know if I've ever seen someone ahead 0-2 as much as Sheets was today. My God, he had 91/116 pitches go for strikes! This start was insane. Being ahead constantly, Sheets got numerous guys to swing at strike threes in the dirt. Though he gave up one gopher-ball to Andruw God in the seventh, Sheets seemed to get more unhittable as the game progressed. He was simply unstoppable.
I am asking a favor of anyone who watched this game outside of the Milwaukee area. Did you watch the game on TBS anyone? If so, how were those clowns reacting to the strike zone? I'm assuming they were livid about it. Isn't that ironic how they complain now that Glavine and Maddux are gone? Also, let me know if they said anything else funny like "Jinkins" constantly.
Not much to say on the offensive side, not because they didn't hit but rather because Sheets' start is the only thing that should be discussed. I must tip my cap to Counsell and Hall who both continue their recent strong play. Most importantly, I must tip a larger cap to Lyle Overbay who just doesn't stop. His streak is up to "gonna care soon" game and he is now leading the league in multi-hit games. Another double, another 3 hits, and now he's batting .369...what can I say besides that?
Off to some stupid island in the middle of nowhere to play three untelevised games...yippy!

(5/15/04) Brewers 6, Braves 11 (Record: 18-18)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay
The Crew got beat far and square in this one. The lineup recovered from yesterday and put up the standard "enough runs to win," but with Kinney on the mound there was no chance. Kinney's awful pitching combined with every reliever's ERA regressing toward the mean allowed for quite a few Braves runners to cross the plate. Whereas the Brewer hitters tactfully walked and hit the ball around a bit, the Braves hitters simply smoked every ball pitched their way. It was not a fun game. I'll tell you what was fun though, besides Marcus Giles dying in right, was a little thing we call the Club Level baby.
Yeah, that's all I got.

(5/14/04) Brewers 0, Braves 2 (Record: 18-17)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Victor Santos
Well, there's only so much Lyle Overbay can do by himself. I've said before how I'd expect the Brewers to struggle against left-handed pitching, and tonight was the first time we saw it really happen. Horacio Ramirez has got some good stuff, and the Pod and Jenks really had trouble against him. His area of weakness is control, but the Crew made limited efforts to run deep pitch counts and draw walks. I was particularly disappointed with Brady Clark, who swung early and hit a lot of weak grounders tonight. Really, the only person I'd say was good at the plate was Lyle Overbay who had probably the team's best three AB's by himself.
Though Overbay again was good, the star of the game obviously was Victor Santos. Santos threw 7 awesome innings where he seldom was in too much trouble. He pitched through some shoddy defense but did get some help with Braves players foolishly trying to steal second. One guy, I forget who, was safe but was called out, and the other was out by a mile. With only 7 baserunners, 6 strikeouts, and two guys making outs on the basepaths, Santos was in complete control. As always seems to be the case with a successful start, Santos' location was the best I've ever seen from him. With the movement and offspeed pitches he has, he'll continue to be very good if he can hit his spots like he did tonight. What a relief these past few outings have been from him. They haven't always been pretty, but Santos has gotten the job done. This team really needed pitching like that from someone. Good work Santos.
On the other end of success, Dead-Arm Vizcaino made his triumphant return to the 2004 season. The problem here might he that he has pitched too much recently, so I'll try to cut him some slack. However, he was atrocious tonight. He hung 6 pitches and was lucky only two were hit for home runs. The frisbee slider came back with a vengeance. Everything I saw seemed to indicate a tired arm, so with a few days rest maybe we don't have anything to worry about. We certainly can't have this Vizcaino out there any more. Because of his violent delivery and history of lowering his arm slot when he's tired, maybe Yost should hold off bringing him in on back-to-back-to-back days. Yost must be careful if Vizcaino will be worth anything at the trade deadline.
I'll sum up now: Santos good, offense bad, one bad inning from Vizcaino, and we lose. It was pretty simple. Hopefully tomorrow will be a different story with ace Matt Kinney on the mound.

(5/13/04) Brewers 7, Expos 4 (Record: 18-16)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Doug Davis
I forgot to ask yesterday, but did you all see that at-bat by Alex Cora? I love that guy.
As much as I love Cora, I am loving the way the Crew is playing just as much. This was another textbook victory today. Davis struggled mightily early, but he got little help from the defense behind him. Bill Hall took over second today and looked quite awful on a play. On that same play, Overbay made an error missing a grounder, Hall got to the ball, but he foolishly threw it to first way off the mark. In the same inning, Davis tried to work out of trouble, but a two-run double by the pitcher Sun-Woo Kim plated another two. None of the runs were earned, though Davis was at fault for not overcoming the defensive struggles behind him. After that inning, Davis was unstoppable. He lasted through the eighth en route to a solid victory.
After the three runs allowed in the second, the Crew needed yet another comeback. Though the offense really was a team effort throughout most of the game, a two-run blast by Bill Hall to tie the game in the third stood out as the biggest play of the game. From that point, the Crew struck for four more quick runs and put the game away. I must mention that both Craig Counsell and Wes Helms have been hitting the ball infinitely better this week. Overbay continues to be a double factory. He had one more today and might have had another one, but it was called foul. I was 400 feet away from the play, so I can't tell you if it was fair or not. Either way, he continues to smoke the ball and carry the team.
The Brewers weren't going to let the win be easy with the pitching from Davis and seven runs scored. Instead, the Crew wanted to get Ben Ford an inning of mop-up work with a 4 run lead in the 9th. The guy couldn't even do that much, putting a run home and two guys on base. Kolb had to come in and finish the game off. While fantasy players out there with Dan Kolb on their team were appreciative of Ford's work, I was not despite the fact I have Kolb on my team. Ford needs to cut this shit out. I know there are reasons, mostly financial ones, why the Crew doesn't want to call someone else up. However, Ford has crossed the line too many times and should be let go. I doubt anyone would pick him up, so he'd clear waivers and likely end up in AAA Indianapolis. (Speaking of Indianapolis, Marc thinks the Expos should move there.) Once in Indy, Ford might be able to get his shit together and become a pitcher. There is just too much good going on in the bullpen in Indy to ignore it any longer. The Crew is winning games, and Ben Ford needs to be stopped before he stops this winning trend.
Let's enjoy this winning record while it lasts. The Braves come into town now and will be a tough team to beat as usual. No matter what happens against the Braves, the Crew should hold over or at 500 until May 25th. At that point, the wave of difficult teams comes up, and it's doubtful that the Crew can come out of that over 500. Then again, I said that about the entire month of April, so who knows what to expect from this cast of characters.

(5/12/04) Brewers 4, Expos 3 (Record: 17-16)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay
Another fantastic comeback by the Crew tonight, and we're again over 500. How many thought we'd see this after that last loss to the Reds? While the J.J. Hardy again looms in the back of my head, the team kept my spirits up with its play tonight.
The game was quite uneventful, and no one player really stood out from the rest. The offense really staggered throughout the entire game except for one inning where it scored 4 runs. Is this becoming a trend or is it just me? Overbay had the tying double and Helms the go-ahead single, but both hits probably should have been prevented by the Expos defense. Other than that, the offense was again shut down by Zach Day.
Day's work didn't stop on the mound. He also blasted his first career home run off of Wes Obermueller. Obermueller was not sharp, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings and countless hard hit balls. However, he was saved by his lack of walks and luck that the balls were always hit at someone. Regardless of that, he did do a good job of keeping the game close and giving a good chance for a comeback. He wasn't sharp but deserves some credit for the outcome.
The bullpen probably deserves the most credit for the win throwing three scoreless innings of relief. Kieschnick and Vizcaino again looked quite sharp. Kolb got the ball in the ninth, but might have gotten a break with a bad call by the second-base umpire on Brad Wilkerson trying to steal. Wilky was called out which made the save much easier for Kolb. Instead of having one out and a guy on second, he had two down and no one on. During the ninth, I questioned what Kolb's ground/fly ball ratio was after realizing how many ground balls he has gotten this year. I have been seeking answers to why he has been so successful (i.e. a 0.73 ERA) having only 3 strikeouts in over 12 innings. I found the answer with the GB/FB ratio: He has 24 grounders to only 5 fly balls! What an incredible ratio! I think I've figured out why he has been so dominating, though it has been pretty clear even to the naked eye what he's been doing.
Anyway, this is how you draw up a close win: Fight through some good pitching early, keep the game close while your awful starting pitcher is on the mound, then come back to take the lead and let your few chosen good relievers close it out. A textbook win for the Crew, which hopefully can conclude a sweep tomorrow.

(5/11/04) Brewers 8, Expos 5 (14 innings) (Record: 16-16)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Ben Sheets
What an incredible game! Upon hearing that J.J. Hardy was out for the year, I really needed a night in baseball like this. I don't know what to say about Hardy's injury and how devastated the farm system is right now. However, I can say that the Astros, Cardinals, Twins, and Dodgers won tonight, and the Brewers had another amazing comeback. And the clincher to make me feel less bad about Hardy was seeing Kerry Wood get injured tonight, though we all knew it was inevitable.
This was an awesome game to usher despite the fact it was Marquette Seniors Night at the ballpark. To start, I got to be on the field level right behind the plate for a great pitchers' duel between two teams I love to watch. I witnessed a 5-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth sitting right behind the Expos dugout. I also saw a certain Daniel K. Bolger there. Then, I got moved to sitting right behind the Brewers' dugout for the final 5 innings. While there, I got to sit right in front of Mark Belling, who was so damn funny. I think he was sitting with "Paul" for anyone who knows who that is. Also, for Tom and Jeff, I got to see Marc, though I didn't work by him. As you can see, me getting paid to sit in $50 seats for an awesome game has me pretty excited.
The game was on pace for the 2:20 pace I predicted before the game. Sheets and Hernandez were going toe-to-toe and Hernandez was winning, and doing so quickly. Since the game was so long and detailed, I'm going to have to cut down the specifics of the review. Sheets pitched rather well again. He gave up 3 runs, but 2 were the fault of Keith Ginter's error at second on a double-play ball. His walk came basically as an intentional one due to a situation, so his control was obviously very good again. I am concerned with his velocity and back problems, but for now everything seems all right. He kept the Crew in the game while the bats slept for 8 innings. In the top of the ninth, Jeff Bennett came in to put the game out of reach, but he couldn't succeed. Only giving up a two-run homer was not enough to stop yet another amazing Brewers comeback. That was still a good spot for Bennett to come in: I'm not criticizing Yost this time.
I can remember a two-year period where the Crew never came back from being down going into the ninth. This year alone I think they've contributed to five blown saves already. I could give you a load of bullshit about team chemistry or will to win, but the bottom line is that these guys can hit, and they love George Webb hamburgers. Even more the cause of tonight's comeback, Rocky Biddle came in to pitch for the Expos.
Livan Hernandez was going strong over his typically ridiculous 130-pitch count, but he just couldn't get the game's last out. The Jenks hit a homer, Helms drew a walk, and Ben Grieve got a solid single. With Rocky Biddle in the game to face Brookimus Kieschnick, I knew the game would be tied. To my surprise, Kiesch didn't hit a grand slam to tie it. Instead, he hit a double down the third base line (third base?!) and let the Pod get credit for driving in the inevitable tying runs. Biddle was pulled, so we all knew the game was going to take a good bit longer.
With the game headed for extras, Yost played his cards properly by inserting Kolb to pitch the tenth. However, Kolb was ONLY used in the tenth!? What the hell? He only threw 9 pitches and his spot in the lineup was leading off the bottom of the tenth. Instead of keeping Kolb in, Vizcaino was brought in. Since he would have to lead off, he could only pitch one inning. I was pissed, but my anger was relieved by Matt Wise's presance in a Brewers uniform. It's about damn time huh? No more Adrian Hernandez! Kolb, Vizcaino, and Wise combined for 4 solid innings of shutout ball. At the same time, Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero were mowing down Brewer hitters. Notice how the Expos used their two big guns for 2 more full innings than the Brewers? This is the perfect example of why the Crew hasn't won in extra innings. However, Matt Wise is the perfect example of how they stand a chance despite Yost's bullpen decisions.
Once Cordero and Ayala were out, the Expos bullpen became greatly exposed. With still about a quarter of the crowd or more remaining in the 14th, Jenkins got things started with a single. Though Helms' three run homer was obviously big, I'd argue that the bigger hit was Overbay's in the inning. His single moved Jenkins from first to third and greatly increased their chances of scoring at least one run. By getting the hit in his 7th plate appearance, Overbay also extended his hitting streak to "not long enough to start caring yet" games. Good job Lyle. All Helms needed to do was anything that wasn't stupid. His homer qualifies as such. He also had a couple of other good at bats in the game, and maybe he's coming out of his early funk. With his error and 0-7 day at the plate, Gintner qualifies for least valuable player. To quote Mark Belling, "Come on Ginter. Swing the damn bat!"
As you can see, I had fun out there tonight, and I am not alone. I'd link you to a nice article Joe Sheehan wrote about the Crew at Baseball Prospectus, but you need to be a premium member. I'll get a few quotes up at the top soon to replace the outdated one I currently have up there. The country is starting to notice the Brewers, and I'm enjoying this, especially when smart writers do it, a lot.

(5/9/04) Brewers 5, Mets 6 (11 innings) (Record: 15-16)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay, Scott Podsednik, and Brooks Kieschnick
Is it any wonder that this team can't win a game in extra innings when Ben Ford or Adrian Hernandez always seems to get the ball in the 10th and on. As Brewer hitters face Mets closer Braden Looper, Mets' hitters get the soft underbelly of and already soft Brewers pitching staff, Ben Ford. Ford didn't pitch too badly, but he certainly did not keep the Mets off the board. He cruised along pretty well, but lost it with two outs in the eleventh. In his defense, he probably should have gotten a couple called strikes, but he still has to be able to pitch around suspect calls.
Victor Santos started the game and pitched as suspected. Before anyone gets excited about 3 runs in 5 innings (and it's sad that anyone would, but I can't blame someone after the last few weeks of starts), remember that those runs came against an already bad lineup, which was made even worse by several people, including Mike Piazza and Ty Wigginton, sitting out today. Nevertheless, at least he gave the team a chance to win. He left after the fifth with the team down 3-1. After two innings of good relief from Jeff Bennett and Brooks Kieschnick, the Crew was ready primed for a comeback.
A monster double by Kieschnick in the 7th led to a Brewer run and brought the team within one run. Then a two out rally, ignited by a Helms single, walks by Grieve and Moeller, and singles by Clark and the Pod, gave the Crew a two run lead. The lead didn't last for long as Dave Burba got the ball in the eighth.
As much as I like Burba, I thought the ball should have and would have been given to Vizcaino that inning. I know Burba has been good, but he was shelled last time out and his numbers indicate that an ERA hike is deserved and likely. Vizcaino has been taking that main setup role all year, and I don't know why it stopped today. Anyway, Burba walked a couple guys, then fell and got a balk called against him. If you see the replay, I think Burba just missed his spot with the pitch, but it's debatable. Anyway, with Wigginton at the plate, the game was obviously going to be tied, and it soon was with his single. I personally think Clark should have gotten the runner at home, but he made a pretty bad throw. It might have cost them the game, but it was a tough play.
Vizcaino got the ball for a shutout ninth, and Ford came in to lose it in extra innings. I think Kolb should have pitched an inning or two, but maybe he was injured or sore from yesterday. That's about the only good excuse I think Yost has. Anyway, a loss is a loss, and I'm sick of losing in extra innings. Call up relievers from AAA now!
Spivey should be back by Tuesday, which will again lead to the question of whether to play Ginter or Helms at third. At the same time, Counsell continues to indirectly suggest to Yost that Bill Hall should be playing more. I'll offer my proposed lineup and a couple things that must be done before the series with the Expos begins:
1) Get Michalak or some other lefty into the bullpen. The tope two Expos hitters, Wilkerson and Vidro, fare equally well against lefties than righties. However, the remainer of the Expos lineup has a good number of lefties who fare much better against righties. This is a great team to have a southpaw against especially if Nick Johnson returns or Ryan Church is called up from AAA.
2) Play Ginter, Hall, and Spivey in the infield. Counsell and Helms have not been good at all recently. Ginter's numbers have taken a hit, but he is still hitting the ball very hard. Hall just needs a better chance if he's going to see the ball and work the count better.
3) No matter who plays short, bat that person 7th or 8th. I'm so sick of the 2nd hitter in the lineup getting five AB's a game and making four outs.
4) Move Grieve up in the lineup. His on-base percentage is at .400 now and he trails only Brooks Kieschnick in the category. He needs to get more AB's every game and be around guys who can drive him in. Simply replacing Counsell with Grieve seems smart to me. The problem the Crew has with doing that is that it overloads the top with lefties. However, against the Expos that won't be a problem. The Spo's have no lefty starting pitchers and only one lefty to come out of the pen, and that guy, Chad Bentz, only has one hand. When the Braves come into town, then the Crew can worry about spreading the lefties out more. When that happens, then Ginter and Spivey can hit in the 2 and 4 holes.
5) If Grieve isn't moved up, then Spivey should hit in the 2-hole and Overbay should move ahead of Jenkins. This should last until Overbay cools down.
Does anyone else get the impression the Spo's are going to sweep this upcoming series? Something tells me those guys are due.

(5/8/04) Brewers 6, Mets 4 (Record: 15-15)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay
I'll try to make up for my short review yesterday.
What can I say about Lyle Overbay? The guy has suddenly taken over as an force at first base. His average is up to .351, and he is slugging well over .600! My complaint with him all year, his lack of walks, is starting to become solved as pitchers become more careful with pitching to him. Obviously, Overbay is playing out of his element right now, but the question is how long can we expect this to last?
Overbay has one thing going in his favor: a long history of solid hitting in the minor leagues. His brief stints in the majors are not enough to discourage me from thinking he is an overall good hitter. However, his line of .351/.384/.632 (AVG, OBP, SLG) should not be expected to continue too long. To show you what I mean, I'll turn to Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA forecasting system:
PECOTA projected Overbay to have a line of .259/.340/.420 for 2004. Had he played in his 90th percentile (PECOTA's projection if he has a full breakout season), Overbay is slated for a .293/.374/.496 line. When compared to his current .351/.384/.632, it becomes obvious that Overbay will likely decline a significant portion, mostly on the slugging side. He is leading the league in extra-base hits, but that is unlikely to continue throughout the course of the year. Nevertheless, Overbay's play is something to celebrate. He was probably the most overlooked player in the Sexson trade. I do, however, caution people into putting him in the Thome/Pujols category right just yet or saying that Prince Fielder should be moved to the outfield. I'll throw a question for people to consider: What is Overbay's trade value right now, and what will it be in the future?
It's obvious that Overbay has been superb, but has anyone noticed that Ben Grieve has a line of .288/.394/.508? Grieve, as he always has done, has quietly been a very solid hitter. Try to overlook the low runs and RBI totals, as those are more products of his position in the lineup and his splitting time with Brady Clark. Do you all think maybe Grieve should be batting higher up? I sure do. The problem of course is the lack of right-handed hitters at the top of the lineup, which could easily be solved if Durrington were to play left field and bat 2nd.
Anyway, Grieve and Overbay led the way to more solid offensive play today. Did you catch that rhyme scheme? The Crew probably would have scored a lot more had Eagle-Eyes Bennett had a better game and Adrian Hernandez not been the worst hitter I've even seen. The Brewers are going to put George Webb out of business.
Luckily, the pitching kept the game interesting and exciting once again. I'm so happy Adrian Hernandez walked 7 guys in 4.1 innings. On a positive note, he didn't allow a hit and an awful error by Helms caused a good amount of damage. When Hernandez left the game with the bases loaded, Kinney kept me on the edge of my seat by allowing the first two guys to reach base and then went 3-0 on Mike Cameron. Have you noticed how black Mike Cameron is? Just wondering. It was so much fun to watch. Somehow Kinney found his control, struck out Cameron, which even I could do, got Wigginton out, which I could do as long as I wasn't pitching for the Brewers, and continued to pitch two more very strong innings. Even though he allowed the two inherited runners to score, Kinney had a great game. He picked up his first win of the year not because he finished out the fifth, but because he got Wigginton out. I can't stress enough how amazing that was. I'm also shocked at how the Crew has held Wigginton down all series long. Boy, I wouldn't want to be Victor Santos facing him tomorrow!
With Kolb back in the pen, Yost's bullpen stupidity couldn't be shown too much today. Vizcaino got the ball in the eighth, and Kolb closed it quickly in the ninth. Kolb has been very good this year, and the Crew really needs him out there; not because it needs a closer as much as because it needs people like Ben Ford not pitching in the eighth.
Back to 500 again. This team just isn't going away easily. It helps that we've played the Mets of course, but there is something that has kept this bunch from losing the 6 in a row that it always seems to do to end any sort of excitement for the year early on. Let's see how many guys Victor Santos can walk tomorrow and if the lineup can win another one for us for the sweep.

(5/7/04) Brewers 7, Mets 5 (Record: 14-15)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay, Keith Gintner, and Doug Davis
Again folks, it's a Friday, so I won't have a review for you tonight. I may change my mind and write a few words tomorrow, but I think everyone, including myself, is more concerned with Team Real Chili Davis.
Update: The all-white lineup is now 2-0!

(5/6/04) Brewers 6, Reds 9 (Record: 13-15)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Bill Hall
There are so many people/plays I can blame this disgusting defeat on, but unfortunately I don't have time to write a long review. Instead of saying anything about the lineup, I will once again tip my cap and give it a "well done." Hall showed why he should have been playing all year instead of Counsell once again.
On the pitching and defensive side, I won't be too hard on Obermueller even though he was crap again tonight. I will also not give Bennett too hard of a time, nor will I give him any break. I'm not going to get too upset with him for his error or wild pitch, Ginter for his error that would have easily been a double-play had he fielded it, or Podsednik's drop of a routine fly ball in that same inning. With three errors and a wild pitch in the same inning, 5 runs is about what should have been scored. Even though Bennett did throw some good pitches, he could have done a better job not giving up 5 runs. Although, if there was a time when runs weren't earned, I guess this would be the time.
So if I am quite upset and not blaming this on those plays, then who am I blaming this one on? That's right folks, this one again goes on the shoulders of Ned Yost. I have said all year that Yost could be one of the worst managers in baseball when it comes to bullpen management, but now I'm convinced he is the worst. You'll all see and read plenty about that awful 7th inning, but I doubt you're going to read anything about Yost's decision in the sixth or seventh with regard to Obermueller. Here are the situations that have my completely puzzled...
1) 6th inning, Brewers have runners on the corners with one out. Obermueller had done alright to that point, but certainly should have been pulled. With a three run lead, Yost didn't want to take him out of the game. Fine. I grant that Obermueller is a very good hitter for a pitcher, so the decision is not all that bad. However, Yost bunts with him on the first pitch. It's not a squeeze play, its solely to get the runner on first over to second to avoid the double play. What the hell? Let him swing away or pinch hit! What in the wide world of shit is that going to accomplish?! Brewers don't score any more that inning.
2) Top of the seventh, bases loaded, two outs, and Obermueller comes up again. Pinch hitter right? Nope. Yost doesn't pinch hit, Obermuller grounds out weakly to second. What makes this so stupid is that Obermueller completely struggled through the previous inning. It was CERTAINLY time to pull him now with a one run lead! I also am remembering a stat that was shown saying opposing hitters were hitting .500 against him the third time through the lineup. Does this make any sense to you?
3) So Obermuller strolls out to start the bottom of the seventh. As if this wasn't bad enough, Yost keeps him in the game even after he allows the first batter to reach. Anyway, he ends up leaving after two guys got on. Hang on folks, it continues.
4) I should compliment Yost on not bringing in Ben Ford, but instead he brings in Jeff Bennett, the one who gave up the game-winning HR last night. Bennett did alright as I mentioned, but the real stupid decision was not pulling Bennett after the first 2 and then 3 errors. His body language on the mound said it all. He wasn't going to pitch through those problems. After five runs had scored, Yost finally gave the ball to Kieschnick, who, not surprisingly, got out of the inning with no further damage. Way too little, way too late!
I could say so much more, but you guys get the point. I could even blame Yost for playing Ginter at second instead of Durrington, but then I'm just nitpicking. Regardless, the Brewers lost another one it shouldn't have lost. Yost needs a spanking or something. And not one of those fun, kinky ones either. I've lost my mind. Time to go.

(5/5/04) Brewers 4, Reds 5 (10 innings) (Record: 13-14)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Brooks Kieschnick
I'm not in a very good mood about this game because the Crew has got to stop losing this way. The lineup is going to be decent all year. Not too many people are going to be traded, and anyone who gets injured can be replaced pretty well. Today was a good example of how even though no one had a particularly strong day at the plate, they were still able to score 4 runs. Three runs came early, and it appeared that it would be enough with Sheets on the mound. However, Sheets made one bad pitch to Javier Valentine and the game was tied. Sheets was a bit shaky out there at times. In fact, he more than doubled his walk total for the year tonight alone. On a positive note, Sheets struck out 10 guys. You can do a lot worse than a 10/4 K/BB ratio. He didn't pitch bad, but I am definitely concerned with him being left in for 125 pitches. That was not a wise decision and I bet he gets rocked or hurt next time out.
What got my blood boiling again tonight was the bullpen. I just can't figure out why Ben Ford keeps getting the ball in situations like tonight. He comes in to face the heart of the Reds order in a one run game!? Why? So, he gives up a game tying homer to Dunn, go figure huh. Then he gets into mucho trouble in the next inning, leaving with runners at the corners and one out. The Reds brought Griffey in to pinch hit, but the Brewers matched up with the more powerful, sexy Brooks Kieschnick. Everyone though Griffey would be intentionally passed, but Kieschnick knew better than to give him a free ride. He pounded the inside corner beautifully with cut fastballs and struck Griffey out with no problems. He made the next batter, Jimenez, look just as foolish. Great job by Kieschnick keeping the Crew in the game. Vizcaino got himself into and out of a jam in the next inning with a lot of help from bad Reds hitters. However, the Crew just couldn't seem to push a runner across and take the game.
When the 10th inning rolled around, the ball was given to Jeff Bennett. I love Jeff Bennett, don't get me wrong, but I am seriously doubting his abilities due to poor numbers. Given that he has no track record at the big leagues, I just don't think we're going to see much better out of him than what he has given. Tonight, Juan Castro hit a home run off of him and won the game for the Reds. I don't know what to say about Bennett, but I can honestly say that I don't think he should be in such high leverage situations. Neither should Ford! The Crew has got to start calling up some different relievers. They have gotten pitching that's been out of this world by Burba and Kieschnick, yet still had one of the worst bullpens in the league. Chris Michalak would sure have looked good against Adam Dunn tonight instead of Ben Ford. I'm starting to wear out this point, so I'll just stop. Eventually I will get my way when it comes to stuff like this; I always do. Look, Matt Kinney is in the bullpen and Wayne Franklin is gone. I'll just have to be patient.
Another candidate for Indianapolis, Wes Obermueller, takes the hill tomorrow. Sorry folks, I can't predict any possible good outcome here. This pitching is driving me nuts, and if Yost brings Ben Ford in again like he did today, he should be fired on the spot. Or if he keeps Sheets, bad back and all, in the game for 125 pitches again, FIRED! And it shouldn't be a classy firing. Oh no. It should be something disrespectful and obnoxious. Like being fired over the scoreboard in center. Or having a camera zoom in on him when one of those long, cane-looking sticks pulls him out of the dugout with the music from Double Dare coming on from when teams didn't win the stunt. Maybe we should have one of those trained monkeys climb down, run into the dugout, give Yost his pink slip, then throw feces at him. Something like that will do fine. I believe I just rambled on for way too long there, so I'll try to stop. I am losing it big time, and I am quite upset with Yost bringing in Ford and keeping Sheets in too long.

(5/4/04) Brewers 6, Reds 2 (Record: 13-13)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Lyle Overbay and Victor Santos
There were really only 3 innings worth mentioning during this game. The first inning was probably the turning point of the game. Victor Santos was awful, walking all three guys that he walked during the game in the first inning. With two on via walk and Casey and Dunn coming up, the game was in jeopardy early. However, Santos got Casey to ground into a double play with probably the only good pitch he threw in the whole inning. He walked Dunn on 4 pitches in the next AB before hanging an awful slider that got called for strike three to Larson to end the inning.
To me, that slider pretty much summed up Santos' game. His location was downright disgraceful, but his changing speeds and decent movement on his pitches got him through 5 strong innings. More than anyone besides knuckleballers, Santos uses his offspeed pitches. He has four offspeed pitches (curve, slider, change, and splitter) which he throws about 67% of the time. It's almost impossible to tell what pitch he is going to throw. He also throws variations of fastballs that keep hitters off balance. However, the drawback to such pitching is high pitch counts and walks. I think the 3 walks in 5 innings is pretty indicative of how he will perform usually, but the 6 strikeouts are a bit inflated. People, please be careful of overemphasizing this one start. His ratios are certainly not good enough to expect starts like this one consistently. The one hit given up is both a good sign for todays game, but a bad sign for future ERA. The Reds, simply by better luck, could have had 5 or 6 hits in this game. Mix those with the 3 walks and you're gearing up for a 5 or 6 ERA. He does a great job with his offspeed pitches, but ultimately his lack of a powerful, well controlled fastball will be his demise against good hitters. Nevertheless, he had a great start, which has some predictive positive value, and most importantly, he got the team a victory.
The other inning worth mentioning is the third, where the Crew put up all 6 of its runs. The inning started off beautifully with a 6-pitch walk by Helms where he worked out of an 0-2 hole. That set the stage for a strong 7-pitch at bat by Bennett where he laced a double of the left field wall. After Santos struck out in horrendous fashion, he slipped on the mound a bit and hit Podsednik to load the bases. He seemed to be unraveling a bit at that point. The next at bat featured a catcher's interference allowing Counsell to reach first and drive in a run. Ginter then had a 6-pitch at bat where he laced a single into left. After a squibber by Jenkins, who had an awful, awful game, led to a forceout at home, Overbay had the at bat of the year. After drawing a 3-0 count, Overbay swung at a pitch, and I was pissed off and started yelling about how the A's only swung once at a 3-0 pitch last year. In his defense, he did swing at a strike. He took the next pitch for a very questionable strike call. The next four pitches were all the same and he fouled them all off in the same fashion. They were all tailing fastballs on the lower part of the inside corner, but Overbay fought them off. On the tenth pitch of the AB, Haynes finally made a mistake and Overbay hit a grand slam to center. Twas a great at bat indeed.
The rest of the game was uneventful until the ninth. Kinney, who as I suggested was moved to the bullpen, pitched 3 strong innings of relief. As anticipated, he got hammered the second time through the lineup in the ninth. This shows that he could be an effective shorter reliever, but there's a lot more to it than that and I don't feel like getting into it now. Anyway, Vizcaino came in and shut the door for the most part with no damage done. Good Brewers win and back to 500!!
I love playing the Reds. Sheets is on the mound tomorrow, so expect the Crew to be shutout by Jose Acevedo.

(5/2/04) Brewers 3, Pirates 4 (11 innings) (Record: 12-13)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Scott Podsednik
After the Reds series, I think I heard at least 10 people, including myself, say, "watch, now they're going to be swept by the Pirates." This leads to a very important question..how did everyone know this was going to happen?
The answer is a clear one...because this always happens. I don't believe in trends such as always losing to a team or in a certain situation much, if any. However, the Crew has demonstrated over the past 10 years that any speckle of hope, in this case two monster wins against the Reds, will quickly be put down and destroyed. There was nothing, and I mean NOTHING that would have hurt this team more than a 3 game sweep at home against the Pirates. For the first time in years, fans were coming to the stadium excited. Mix in a spring madness weekend, and fans actually came through the gates to see this team. So what did the team do? Well, it lost to probably the worst team in the league and fell back into last place. Don't bet on 5-digit crowds at the ballpark until the Cubs come now.
So why did the Crew lose? Well, it basically came down to bad luck in the last two games. Neither team pitched very well today. There were a ton of guys on base for both teams that couldn't score. Ultimately, it was a bullshit home run by Craig Wilson again that gave the butt Pirates the victory. I really can't blame anyone in particular for the loss. Davis wasn't good, but he had a relatively good start. There are going to be games like this where everything off the bat ends up falling. Davis just doesn't strike guys out, so he is always at the mercy of much more luck than other pitchers. Ben Ford pitched his first good game of the year and gave the Crew a good chance to win. He deserves credit for his performance today. Jeff Bennett was solid except for the one swing by Craig Wilson. It wasn't a bad pitch and he really didn't hit it very hard.
On the offensive side, the Crew managed 14 baserunners but could only push across 3 of them. The Pod had some good at bats and stole two more bases. There were just too many popups and strikeouts. A popup with 1 out and the bases loaded by Grieve on the first pitch he was from Boehringer was an absolute killer. Unlike previous games, the Crew didn't score much more in the later innings because Gintner started instead of filling in for Helms. Therefore, the run production was spread out.
On the injury side on things...Spivey left the game in the 10th, and I have no clue why. It turns out that Kolb is having hamstring problems, much like Capuano. He is listed as day-to-day, but I wouldn't bet on that. These two guys are the two juiciest pieces of trade bait we have, so let's keep our fingers crossed.
Let the poor play against poor teams continue as the Reds will seek and find revenge in the next series.

(5/1/04) Brewers 7, Pirates 8 (10 innings) (Record: 12-12)
Box Score
Player(s) of the game: Geoff Jenkins
Another great comeback for the Crew tonight, but those Pirates were just too much in the end. I have a hard time being angry with this one because the Crew was down 7-1 halfway through the game.
Of course, Wes Obermueller was the reason for the huge hole the Crew had to climb out of. Yet another terrible start from him, so it’s got to be time to think about changing things up somehow. There really isn’t much I can add besides the fact that Obermueller just isn’t a good pitcher. So where should the Crew find a starter? I don’t know. I don’t really want to see Ben Hendrickson called up yet, nor do I want to see Chris Saenz again. At AAA, Jorge de la Rosa has been atrocious, and Pedro Liriano just might not be cut out for starting in the bigs yet or ever. Matt Ford might be the best call-up choice, but he’s all the way down in AA. Still, he’s the guy I’d like to see if anyone had to get called up. It’s pretty clear that the minors are not the place to look for starting pitching right now. This leaves Sheets and Davis as the only two starters for the moment, though Davis has been trash too. Capuano is going to be out until June I would guess. So, for the next month, Kinney, Obermueller, Ben Ford, Adrian Hernandez, and Victor Santos will be getting starts. Pick your poison.
The Crew simply must do something about this pitching, but there really is nothing to do. Signing people isn’t much of an option, but you can bet Doug Melvin will be working the waiver wire to find another Doug Davis this year. Ideally, what I would like to see is a few average rated, upper-level pitching prospects come over by way of trade, pitchers like Capuano. Unfortunately, the Crew really doesn’t have much to trade, nor are teams that active this time of year. On the trading block this year, I can only see three guys that other teams would want and the Crew would be willing to move, Spivey, Vizcaino, and Kolb. Sorry to say Kolb is injured now.
I don’t know what happened to him, and no website is updating me on the situation. Kolb left the game in the ninth with something wrong. It would be stupid to keep Kolb throughout this year. He must be traded, but if he’s hurt he can’t be now can he? D.L. Kolb is no misnomer because he has had injury problems throughout his career. If he isn’t hurt too badly, get rid of him before he is. Luckily, the Crew has plenty of guys to replace Kolb if he hits the DL. All at AAA: Matt Wise has a 1.84 ERA, 18K, and 2BB in 14.2 innings…Chris Michalak is a lefty with a 1.80 ERA, 10 K, and 5 BB in 15 innings…Mike Adams has a 3.32 ERA but an amazing 25 K, and only 1 BB in 19 innings…. Jason Childers has a 1.64 ERA, 13 K, 4 BB in 11 innings.....Dan Reichert has a 1.84 ERA, 13 K, and 3 BB in 14.2 innings, and Brian Bowles has a 2.45 ERA with 10 K and 3 BB in 7.1 innings. All of these guys would be decent guys and improvements over most others currently in the pen.
Besides Kolb going down, the starting pitching being the worst in the major leagues since, well, since maybe ever, and the fact that the Crew lost a heartbreaker, this game was actually a good one. Let me throw another “besides” into that…besides the fact that the Crew didn’t really draw any walks tonight. The team did, however, manage to put 7 runs on the board. Let me throw another “besides” at you…..besides the fact that this team again didn’t homer and has pretty much decided to stop hitting home runs. Anyway, the 7 runs came primarily because of singles and doubles. The eighth spot getting on base 3 times and the nine spot getting on base 4 times helped the cause a lot. Those pinch hitters and replacements are why this team is scoring so many runs late in games. Helms’ at bats start going to Overbay and Ginter, the starting pitchers give AB’s to Kieschnick and Clark, and so on. On the most positive note, Jenkins had a great game. He was overmatched by Oliver Perez, the good looking young southpaw stud on the Pirates, but the Jenks hung in there and put up three great at bats later in the game. His two-out, two-rbi single in the fifth was key. Perhaps ever more important were his outfield assist in the ninth and great running catch in the tenth.
In the fifth, there was a call on Spivey that cost him a walk and might have made the difference in the game. Instead of focusing on umpire calls, I will focus on Wes Helms still playing. I’ve decided that Overbay should play even against lefties now and Ginter to play every day. Helms needs to sit until he can remember how to hit again. He is why the Crew lost tonight. There, that was much easier than going in depth.
The Crew looks to salvage the series tomorrow with Doug Davis on the mound. If the guys can’t this whole homestand was a waste of time.