Dave Bush choked immediately against Los Angeles, always a tough customer for opposing pitchers.  He gave up the lead before recording an out in the first inning, when he surrendered a two-run shot by right-fielder Andre Ethier.  The pitch was low and off-speed, normally a difficult pitch to drive, but Ethier crushed it as well as anyone possibly could have, and the game looked ominous from the onset.  Bush, however, managed to settle down nicely and turn in one of his finest bounce-back performances.  After the first inning, he threw 6.0 scoreless and only gave up three hits and one walk in those final frames (he struck out three).

The Crew scratched across a run against an uncharacteristically shaky Derek Lowe, who did not walk a batter, but was struggling with command of his fastball in all of his 7.0 innings of work.  To lead off the second, Prince Fielder grounded out to first.  But Corey Hart came right back and singled to left.  He made it to third on veteran third-baseman Craig Counsell’s 1,000th career base hit, and scored on a Mike Cameron play that was originally ruled an error on Dodgers’ shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, but was later changed to an RBI infield single.  Whatever it was, it cut the L.A. lead to 2-1.  Milwaukee had leadoff runners in almost every inning after against Lowe, but whether it was a rally-killing double play or just the wrong end of the lineup coming up, they simply never could get the game tied up.

To keep the deficit right where it was, Milwaukee’s outfield shone brilliantly, making amazing play after amazing play.  Here’s the recap.  In the bottom of the second, third-baseman Casey Blake crushed a pitch out to the gap in right field.  Utilizing his lanky frame, Corey Hart charged the ball down at a perfect angle, lunged out for the catch, crashed into the wall, and hung on to save sure extra bases.  Initially, I thought that that would surely be the top defensive play of the night.  Thank goodness Gabe Kapler and Mike Cameron were there to prove me wrong.  The Gold Glove center-fielder made a diving catch on a James Loney sinking line drive for out number 1 in the seventh.  Although it was one of Cameron’s best plays as a Brewer, it was nothing compared to what Kapler did next.  All Star catcher Russell Martin, one of the greatest catchers and hitters alike in the Major Leagues, unloaded on a pitch from Bush and sent it whizzing out to deep left.  The fans exploded as the ball cleared the wall easily, and the stadium was electrified…for about .5 seconds.  The reason: Gabe Kapler, leaping head first into the stands, brought the ball back for the greatest catch of his career, and possibly one of the greatest homerun robs of 2008 throughout all of Major League Baseball.   Pumping his fist emphatically, Dave Bush was inspired to retire his last batter a lot more easily, which he did (he struck out Garciaparra on three pitches).  Then it became offense’s turn.

All of the offensive struggles for Milwaukee changed in the eighth inning, when a familiar face showed up in the right-hand batter’s box.  Ryan Braun was back, and he chipped in immediately against one of the toughest lefties in baseball.  Hong-Chih Kuo has a fastball that tops out in the upper 90s, and is complimented by nasty breaking stuff.  Braun’s bat did not leave its moorings until the fourth pitch of the at bat, in which he took a nice cut on a 2-1 fastball and fouled it away.  On 2-2, he hit another fastball and deposited it in no-man’s land behind first base.  By the time the Dodgers fielded it, he was settling in at second with a pinch-hit, lead-off double.  Ray Durham hit an opposite field fly ball to right that got Braun to third easily.  Then with one out, slumping J.J. Hardy got hold of a slider over the plate, and neither he, his teammates, or any Brewers’ fans would be disappointed.  His clutch homer gave Milwaukee a slim lead.  That set things up for a finish that could have given the most stoic fan stomach ulcers.

Still 3-2, Brian Shouse, the reliable lefty specialist, was inserted into the game to take on the lefty Andre Ethier.  Although it is not normal for more than one pitcher to throw the ninth when you have a reliable closer, which the Brewers have in Salomon Torres, but the logic behind it was obvious.  The move instantly backfired, when the athletic outfielder took first base on a walk.  Yost then made the call for Torres, who struggled with his command for the entire inning.  Battling back from being behind the dangerous second-baseman Jeff Kent 3-1, Torres got him on a full count to ground to the always-dependable shortstop Hardy.  Only, he was not dependable on this play.  Looking to turn the double play, he was preparing for the flip to Durham before he brought the ball in, and it trickled past him, igniting the fiery crowd of 52,889.  Now with runners on the corners and nobody out, Torres somehow managed to get the new L.A. left-fielder, Manny Ramirez, to fly out.  Unfortunately, Corey Hart was unable to throw out the speedy Ethier, and the game was tied 3-3.  Things did not look good when Russell Martin hit an infield, two-out single off the glove of a diving Counsell, and looked even worse when Torres lost his command again to pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney (a former Brewer).  Enter Casey Blake.  He had torched the Crew in Friday’s loss, and looked to give his club their third walk-off win in four games.  But the resilient Torres barely retired the man on a tricky pop-out that Ray Durham expertly tracked down to get the game to the 10th.

Against the Dodgers’ closer Jonathan Broxton, Jason Kendall lined out and Ryan Braun struck out on a high 97 MPH fastball.  That put the game in the hands of Durham, who worked a walk.  Then Hardy, looking for vindication, found it.  Durham stole second barely, putting a ton of pressure on Broxton.  Then, off a 2-2 count, Hardy lined a hit to right field.  Durham, running on contact because of the two outs, scored uncontested, though the shortstop was caught in a rundown between first and second.  Up 4-3, onlookers probably expected Torres to reenter the game and lock it down.  He would have, had he not left the game due to an unknown injury or ailment.  As bad as the news was to the Milwaukee club, there was still a ballgame to win.  David Riske struck out the first man to greet him, Pablo Ozuna, but then gave up a hit to center-fielder Matt Kemp.

Then disaster struck…the Dodgers.  In one of the worst base-running blunders I’ve ever seen, Kemp only reached second on a definite double by Andre Ethier.  How did this happen?  The ball sailing towards deep center, and briefly appeared to carry out for a game-winning home run, but Mike Cameron’s unsuccessful leap at the wall produced only a single for Ethier.  Thinking the outfielder was going to pull it in, Kemp paused between first and second, and by the time the ball had been collected by Cameron, he could only touch second.  He would have probably tied the game if he had made a better read.  Luckily, the mistake gave Riske new life, and he got the second out on a nice little hopping catch by Durham at second that speared a Jeff Kent line drive.  Then the future Hall of Famer Manny Ramirez strutted to the plate.  Jason Kendall set up high and away continuously to Manny, a gutsy move to work up to the former Red Sox star, but it paid huge dividends.  Seemingly off balance, Ramirez silenced the crowd as he came up empty on a mighty cut at a high fastball that gave the courageous Riske his third strike and the Brewers the 4-3 victory.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (3-5/1R/1HR/3RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: David Riske (1IP/2H/0ER/0BB/2SO/Save-2nd)

Alex’s Take:

Unbelievable.  Incomprehensible.  Ridiculous.  Thrilling.  Awe-inspiring.  Just a few adjectives that fit Saturday’s 4-3 Brewer win in Los Angeles.  The game seemed destined to end up in another Dodgers walkoff more than once, and early on, seemed destined to end up in another boring Brewers loss.  Gabe Kapler, Mike Cameron, and Corey Hart proved to me that the 2008 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers defense truly is worthy of recognition.  Cameron had baffled me all year with his slew of strikeouts and was not even that impressive out in center, although he played relatively error-free.  But against the Dodgers, he made TWO diving catches in center!  Although Hart’s running grab was impressive, I have never seen a catch greater than the one made in left by Kapler.  As for Braun’s return…he seemed as strong as ever.  As for Hardy’s nearly losing his club the game and battling back to give them the win…WOW!  Though there is a lot of 2008 remaining, I mark this as the one game that proved to me that the Milwaukee Brewers are truly a team deserving of the playoffs.

Dave Bush followed in his fellow starting pitchers’ footsteps with a very good start against Washington on Monday afternoon.  He pitched 6.1 innings, giving up a single run on five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.  The offense was boosted by a leadoff homerun by Rickie Weeks, who had yet to homer in Miller Park in 2008, which tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first.  The game remained knotted up until the fourth inning, when Corey Hart blasted a homerun to score Prince Fielder and himself.  Next inning, Fielder doubled in Gabe Kapler with two outs to pull his club ahead 4-1.  In the seventh, the Crew capped off their scoring witha a two-run, two out double by struggling backup infielder Craig Counsell (he hit a looping line drive that was almost brought in by a diving try, but trickled past Willie Harris) to score Kapler and Fielder.  Later on, Bill Hall drew a bases loaded walk to get an RBI the easy way.  Brian Shouse, David Riske, and Seth McClung teamed up to finish the game for Milwaukee.  The 7-1 victory sealed a 4 game sweep of Washington for the Crew.  They also pull to 17 games over .500, the highest such mark since the days of Yount and Molitor.

Offensive MVP: Corey Hart (2-4/1R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (6.1IP/5H/1ER/2BB/6SO/Win-7th)

My Take:

Ned Yost commented that this series was a lose-lose situation for Milwaukee.  If they swept, they were supposed to; if they failed to sweep, what’s up with those Brewers?  But thankfully, they swept.  Bottom line: Milwaukee had to prove they could play winning baseball at home again and they did.  Dave Bush looked like an awfully good #5 starter, and the bullpen was strong.  The offense collected quite a few runs with two outs, and the Crew is now 17 games over .500!

Seemingly the darkest chapter of the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers began yesterday once tensions rose to the point where Prince Fielder and Manny Parra were shoving and yelling at each other in the dugout.  Time will tell whether the altercation will bring the team a little closer together or focus them a little more.  Tuesday evening was a good start, however.  Behind a spectacular start by Dave Bush (7 innings, 1 run, 7 strikeouts) and plenty of timely hitting by the offense (4-11 with runners in scoring position or a .364 clip), the Brewers downed the Reds 8-1.  Bush ran into trouble in the first inning after being spotted a two-run lead, but he settled down and didn’t surrender a run after Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI infield single.  He had entered the game with atrocious numbers on the road and Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, but he bested both of those personal demons this time around.

Milwaukee started scoring when Corey Hart pounded a two-run, two-out triple in the first.  Mike Cameron knocked Hart in during the fourth inning, and he later scored on a double by catcher Jason Kendall.  Hart hit a sac fly in the fifth that scored J.J. Hardy (who broke out of his offensive funk on Tuesday with a 2-4 performance).  Up 5-1, Prince Fielder was at the plate with the shortstop Hardy on first.  On the second pitch of the at bat, the ball flew dangerously close to his head.  On the third pitch, another sinister pitch forced him to hit the dirt.  On the fourth pitch, the ball sailed out of Nick Masset’s hand and brought the count to 3-1.  On the fifth pitch, the ball sailed out over the center field wall where it was caught not by Reds’ center-fielder Corey Patterson, but by a fan about ten rows back.  Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 1.  In the eighth, the scoring was capped by another Jason Kendall clutch RBI hit that scored Mike Cameron.

Offensive MVP: Corey Hart (2-3/1R/13B/12B/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (7IP/3H/1ER/2BB/7SO/0HR)

My Take:

This is only one game, but there was more than one good sign that came out of it.  The Brewers cashed in almost every one of their scoring opportunities on Tuesday, and only stranded 5 runners as well.  It was against a struggling Edinson Volquez (who has not been nearly as effective after the All Star Game), but it was in a stadium that has given Milwaukee fits for years.  The best news?  Bill Hall hasn’t even played in this series yet…look for him to make his presence felt, as he usually does against the Reds, tomorrow if in the starting lineup.

An electric crowd of 43,489 was on hand to witness the Brewers rally from down 2-4 thanks to another unbelievable game by Ryan Braun.  Dave Bush was not sharp by any means on Saturday evening, and he only pitched 5.0 innings, gave up 4 earned runs and 9 hits in the process.  He was in line for the loss in the fourth when Astros’ right-fielder Hunter Pence crushed a hanging curveball for a solo home run that gave his club a 3-2 lead.  The Brewers had staked their right-hander a 2-0 advantage thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies by Ryan Braun (one in the first inning that scored Ray Durham and one in the third that brought the second-baseman in again).  After Lance Berkman knocked in Kazuo Matsui in the fifth, Houston had a two run lead that held up until the bottom of the seventh.  Durham walked with one out, Craig Counsell popped out, and Milwaukee’s powerful left-fielder hammered a pitch that cleared the center field wall and gave the sellout crowd a lot to cheer about.

Eric Gagne continued his string of good outings with a scoreless eighth, and he was aided by a sliding catch from Braun to retire the side.  In the Milwaukee half, Corey Hart lead off with a double and Bill Hall immediately brought him in with a looping single to center.  Up 5-4, the Brewers’ catcher Jason Kendall was batting with Hall on third and he grounded to Houston’s third-baseman Ty Wigginton, but Wigginton bobbled the ball and had to settle for the out at first, thus, Hall touched home.  Closer Salomon Torres continued to prove that he is one of the best off-season acquisitions made by G.M. Doug Melvin as he skillfully protected the 6-4 lead and picked up his 20th save in the process.

Offensive MVP: LF Ryan Braun (1-2/1R/1HR/4RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: RP Eric Gagne (1IP/0H/0HR/0ER/0BB/0SO/Win-4th)

My Take:

What a difference two months and seven days makes.  On May 19, 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers stood at 20-24, had just been humiliated by the Boston Red Sox in a three game sweep, were dead last in the NL Central, and were 7.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who were appearing to run away with the division.  On July 26, 2008, they are 60-44, have recently returned to Milwaukee after completing a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, and are no games behind the Chicago Cubs.  The way the club has bounced back from such a poor start is as astounding as it is encouraging.  There is a lot of baseball left to be played in 2008, but when you consider the fact that Milwaukee has surged to a first-place tie after being as many as 8.5 games behind this season, I like their chances to make this the greatest year for Brewers’ baseball since 1982.

    A day after Milwaukee’s long-proclaimed ace pitcher was unable to neutralize the injury-ridden, yet still dangerous Rockies lineup, a most unlikely candidate managed to outperform both C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets.  Dave Bush, pitching perhaps the greatest game in his major league career, completely baffled the Colorado offense Thursday afternoon.  He yielded one unearned run, struck out a mind-boggling thirteen, walked none, and surrendered only three hits in eight superb innings.

Trailing after the first frame 1-0, Milwaukee’s offense awoke from its slumber and tied the game in the third on a Ryan Braun single which scored lead-off hitter Rickie Weeks.  The fourth inning could have been the Crew’s greatest single performance in a game this whole season.  In a nutshell, they scored six runs, five with two outs off a Gabe Kapler double, a Weeks double, and a Prince Fielder triple.  In the seventh, right fielder Corey Hart (recently elected to the All Star Game) padded the lead with a solo home run to deep left and Gabe Kapler (continuing to prove himself as one of the team’s best off-season acquisitions and bench players) doubled in Bill Hall to put the Brewers up 9-1.  In the eighth, J.J. Hardy came through yet again, sending a pitch over the left field fence, scoring Joe Dillon, and capping Milwaukee’s scoring outburst.  At the end of the day, manager Ned Yost found his club sitting in sole possession of second place in the N.L. Central and a mere four games behind the Chicago Cubs.

Alex’s Take:

Good, better, and great.  That describes how I feel about the Brewer’s four game series against the Colorado Rockies, the Brewers’ offense’s performance on Thursday afternoon, and the pitching of Dave Bush.  There has been talk of setting up a six-man pitching rotation once Jeff Suppan returns from his injury.  Dave Bush, who has been stellar at Miller Park this season (3-2 record, 2.87 ERA before today’s brilliant performance) and Seth McClung, who has been strong away from Wisconsin (1-1 record, 3.28 ERA in 11 appearances) may share the final spot in Ned Yost’s rotation.  Bush and McClung struggle away and at home respectively, thus, the move makes sense.  What to be wary about is the fact that starting pitchers are often very, very, very habitual, and setting up the less-than-conventional rotation might cause them meltdowns.  It is a risky move, but if it plays out well, it could really benefit the Brewers’ already strong starting pitching.  The offense has been quite streaky this year, sometimes displaying dominance like today, or they play more flatly, like yesterday, so I am taking this 11 run day with a grain of salt.  A great fact remains, though: they don’t have to score 11 runs a game to win when their starting pitching is this good.

The Milwaukee Brewers kicked off their series down in Arizona with a 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Monday night.  Dave Bush didn’t have a very good game as he took the loss and fell to 4-8 on the season.  Bush only pitched five innings as he gave up nine hits and five runs.  Four of the five runs were earned.  A error in the fifth inning by Corey Hart that let a run score really hurt the Brewers and Bush.  If that play was made, Bush might have stayed in the game longer in my opinion.

Carlos Villanueva pitched two innings and gave up a solo home run to Mark Reynolds in the seventh inning.  Mitch Stetter then pitched the eighth inning without giving up a run.

The Brewers had three different players all record an rbi in the game.  Things got started for the Brewers right away as J.J. Hardy had a rbi double that scored Rickie Weeks.  Then Prince Fielder singled to scored Hardy and the Brewers were up 2-0 after the top half of the first inning.  However the Brewers wouldn’t score again until the sixth inning when Gabe Kapler walked with the bases loaded to score Fielder.  The Brew Crew had their chances to score more runs but left 18 runners on base.

It was a really bad game as well for the Brewers because the Cubs and Cardinals both won their games.  The Brewers are now 5.5 games out of first place.  Brewers Blog

For the second night in a row the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 4-3.  The Brewers are playing great baseball and right now it seems like they are getting every break and taking advantage of other teams mistakes.  Exactly like a good team should do.

Dave Bush was awesome as he pitched first seven innings of the game.  Bush only allowed four hits and one run while picking up the win and improving to 4-7 on the season.  The bullpen has been getting a lot of rest so far this week as Ben Sheets and Bush both went late in to the game.  That is exactly how you want your starting pitchers to pitch!

Brian Shouse tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth inning before he turned things over to Salomon Torres who almost blew the game.  Torres served up a two run home run to Mark Teixeira which brough the score to 4-3.  Luckily for the Brewers, Torres was able to finish out the game and pick up the save.

At the plate for the Brewers they recorded four runs on seven hits.  Ryan Braun got a rbi single in the first inning and then J.J. Hardy scored on a rbi groundout by Corey Hart.  In the second inning Hardy came up to the plate and hit a rbi double to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.  On to the fourth inning when Rickie Weeks hit a rbi sac fly that scored Jason Kendall for the Brewers fourth and final run of the game.  That was enough production out of the offense to pick up the win.

The Brewers will go for the sweet on Wednesday.  The way they are playing, I think they will get the job done!

Brewers Blog

Dave Bush took a no hitter into the eighth inning only to have it broken up by a Lyle Overbay triple to start the inning and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Blue Jays 8-7 and swept them in the three game series.  It would have been a lot better game had the Brewers bullpen not allowed the Blue Jays to score six runs in the ninth inning and make it a very close game.

Bush pitched eight innings and gave up two hits and one run.  That was a wonderful performance out of Bush as he picked up his third win of the season.  Somedays you just have everything working for you and that appeared to be the way for Bush.

Tim Dillard tried to finish the game in the ninth inning but gave up three hits including a two run home run to Overbay.  Dillard did record two outs in the inning but turned things over to David Riske who then loaded the bases and gave up a grand slam to Joe Inglett.  With the Blue Jays only one run down, the Brewers brought in Salomon Torres to record the final out of the game and secure the Brewers victory.

Russell Branyan once again went deep for a three run home run to lead the Brewers with two rbi.  Big daddy Prince Fielder was right behind him with two rbi including a inside the park home run.  Yeah you read that right, Fielder had a inside the park home run!  J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall both had one rbi in the game as well for the brew crew.

Great series sweep for the Breweres.  They will now play the Baltimore Orioles this weekend.

Brewers Blog

The Milwaukee Brewers were doubled up on the scoreboard Thursday night as the Florida Marlins beat them 8-4.  The Brewers actually outhit the Brewers 14 to 13 but the Pirates pushed across more runs in the game.

Dave Bush dropped another game this year and is now 1-5 on the season.  Bush pitched five innings and allowed nine hits and six runs in the game.  Just another terrible performance for Bush.  Mark DiFelice pitched a scoreless sixth inning before Zach Jackson pitched two innings and gave up four hits and two runs.

Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks both hit solo home runs for the Brewers.  It’s too bad they were both solo shots because the Brewers could have really used some more runs.  Gabe Kapler and Joe Dillon both had one rbi to go along with Hart’s and Week’s rbi’s.

Brewers Blog

The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 on Monday night to beat the Cardinals three games to one in their four game series.  The Brewers are now 19-19 on the season and four games behind the league leading Chicago Cubs.

Ryan Braun led the Brewers on Monday night with two solo home runs in the game as he finished with two rbi.  Bill Hall also had a solo home run in the game to account for his one rbi.  Corey Hart finished with two rbi as he had a two run single in the third inning.  Mike Cameron also had a rbi ground rule double in the third inning.

Dave Bush finally picked up his first win of the season as he improved to 1-4.  Bush tossed six innings of four hit baseball while only letting one run score.  Eric Gagne pitched two innings of relief after Bush exited the game and he was his normal self as he gave up two walks and let one run score.  Mitch Stetter then walked four batters to let another run score.  So the Brewers bullpen really didn’t pitch well, it was a good thing that Bush only gave up one run before turning the game over to the bullpen.

The Brewers now welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers into town as they will play a three game series.  Brewers Blog