TooLiveBrew

PARRA AGAIN!!!! What a catch! He just makes it look sooooo easy!

He needs a third pitch. He struggles the third time through the order. I thought he had a change? He really needs something off-speed. Nelson does have a change, but he doesn't throw it much (which means that he doesn't have much confidence in it)

Nelson returns from blister issue to face Giants San Francisco calls on Lincecum for opener in Milwaukee By Caitlin Swieca / MLB.com | 8/4/2014 7:03 PM ET After being scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday with a blister on his right middle finger, Jimmy Nelson said he'll be ready to go on Tuesday for the Brewers' series opener against the Giants. The blister first developed last Sunday in Nelson's start against the Mets, and it tore off during a long toss session in St. Petersburg. He was on board with the decision to push the start back a few days. "The main thing is not letting it snowball to where it lingers on," Nelson said. "Let's knock it out now so it doesn't carry on." Nelson threw a light bullpen session Sunday in St. Louis to make sure the issue would not affect his pitches. Up to that point, he said it was not an issue because of the location of the blister -- in the middle of the pad of his finger. "I've never had a blister problem," he said. "It's just from sweating and constantly rubbing, just like a runner gets on his heels when you're sweating and your shoes are rubbing. Every pitch I throw, that part of my finger is rubbing right on the seam. We've been doing a bunch of treatments since it happened to harden it up and give it a protective layer so the skin can grow under it. "It's tough, because at the same time, you have to get your throwing in. So you're trying to be careful about the way you're throwing, so you don't make it worse all over again. I should be good. It's been slowly getting better every day. Of course, I'm anxious to get back out there. My body feels good." Nelson, a rookie, has shown improvement in his last two starts, allowing five earned runs in 13 innings after a disastrous outing in his first start in the rotation. He'll face off against veteran Tim Lincecum, who's 3-1 with a 3.64 ERA in his career at Miller Park. As of late, Lincecum has struggled, allowing a combined 11 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings against the Dodgers and Pirates in his two most recent starts. After lasting just 3 1/3 innings against the Bucs, Lincecum identified a mechanical problem which compounded his troubles. "Instead of driving through my back leg, I was peeling off and couldn't really right the wrong," Lincecum said. A simple flip up over the calendars could correct Lincecum's recent woes, though. Over 40 career starts in August, Lincecum owns a 3.24 ERA, his second lowest ERA of any one month. Giants: Sanchez cleared for rehab assignment Now free of all concussion-related symptoms, Giants backup catcher Hector Sanchez is expected to join Triple-A Fresno Tuesday to begin his rehab assignment. Sanchez has been on the disabled list since July 26 after sustaining a concussion from a foul tip off his mask. The team hasn't specified how long of a stint he'll require. Fresno finishes off a two-game series in Salt Lake City Tuesday and has an off-day Wednesday before embarking on a five-day series in Tacoma on Thursday. Sanchez was batting .196 (32-for-163) with three home runs and 28 RBIs before landing on the DL. Buster Posey has received more action behind the dish with Sanchez sidelined, but Posey is expected to receive a day of rest on Tuesday. Brewers: Gennett, Segura sit with stiff quads With two important months remaining in the regular season, the Brewers have some concern about the lingering leg issues dogging their double-play combination. Both second baseman Scooter Gennett (right quadriceps) and shortstop Jean Segura (left quadriceps) were sidelined Sunday after previous injuries flared up in Saturday's loss at Busch Stadium. "It's OK," Gennett said Sunday morning. "It's just one of those things that obviously isn't going to really go away. It probably will eventually. I just need to watch out, how much I'm using it. I can't go all-out speed every time. That's usually how I play, I'm running out every ground ball no matter what the case is." Gennett had previously been out of the lineup for five days just after the All-Star break. He appeared to twist his ankle on a swing in the ninth inning of Sunday's game but remained in to finish the at-bat. Worth noting • Milwaukee has had at least a share of first place in the National League Central every day since April 5. • The Brewers are the only team in the Major Leagues with five players at 50 RBIs or more (Ryan Braun, Khris Davis, Carlos Gomez, Jonathan Lucroy, Aramis Ramirez). • Second baseman Dan Uggla will be released by the Giants after declining an assignment to Triple-A Fresno.

I didn't realize he's been that bad. Are his issues fielding related, throwing related, or both? far more throwing than fielding... he's got a cannon of an arm that cant seem to find its target... ever. Then maybe a move to 1B would be smart. He's a big potential target over there.

I didn't realize he's been that bad. Are his issues fielding related, throwing related, or both?

probably for the same reason Pirates fans think Pedro Alvarez could move from 3B to 1B with no issues... complete blind optimism. "I mean, if Yuni can do it, Braun totally can" If a guy can competently play 3B, there's absolutely no question he'll be able to play 1B with no issues after a small amount of playing time there. Someone like Braun, who was completely awful at 3B... now that's a different story.

Must be Redbirds fan territory.

I agree with you. It isn't done, and that's why pretty much everybody here on the forum was perplexed when it happened. The sideline reporter for the Brewers is down there asking for an update on what happened to Garza. It's now 20 minutes + since he was pulled, and he still hasn't been given an answer to relay to the booth. Doesn't that strike you as odd? How hard is to say "Garza was pulled because of a pulled Oblique muscle?" I like Ron Roenicke the person, but think he's a terrible manager. I'm not looking for reasons to dislike him. Something about this whole thing just doesn't seem right to me. I'm not a conspiracy nut or anything. I just don't understand why it took so long to tell somebody what happened. Obviously I'm not the only Brewer fan wondering the same. If you look at the ESPN conversation, they're all flummoxed, too. Then just read Garza's postgame comments : http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_08_03_milmlb_slnmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=mil If you read that, & still think something's up, then imo yes you are being a conspiracy theorist. ------------------------------- "I'm going to stay positive and say it's not bad," Garza said, "but it's bad enough to where I had to take myself out of the game, and I don't do that. I had to look at long-term more than short-term. I could have kept going and made it worse, and I could have been out, probably, the rest of the year."

Well the scenario that it took a long time to get injury information out to the press is about 1,000% more believable to me than that Roenicke pulled Garza in the 6th to try to tack on another run via Lyle Overbay.

Well, I am. And it easily could've played out like this -- coaching/medical staff asks Garza when he comes in the dugout what was bothering him on the mound in the 6th. Garza says something like, "I felt something in my side/right here, but I'm good." Coaching/medical staff makes executive decision to pull player, player says, "No you aren't, I'm staying in," & proceeds to go get his helmet & bat. Manager reviews situation with trainer/medical staff while the player stands in the dugout, ready to hit & wearing his helmet. Manager decides to take the advice of the medical professional employed by the team to make these kinds of diagnoses, & tells the player, "You're done," & the player reacts angrily. If Garza is the 'gamer' that so many of us here assume he is, then that could easily be how that interaction played out. I don't know, but even for someone who isn't a Roenicke fan like me, it's beyond the realm of possibility that a baseball lifer like Ron would pull a guy working on a shutout with an excellent pitch count. It's just not done.

Except that he pulled Garza because of an injury. Honestly, I get that some fans are convinced Ron is a moron, & nothing he can do or not do will change that. But imo you have to suspend reality pretty far to think that it's reasonable to conclude that he pulled a guy working a 1-hit shutout, on 71 pitches through 6 innings, so he could have Overbay hit. Roenicke has never done anything like that in his entire tenure with the Crew. And then the report comes out that Garza has an oblique issue. And some still choose to believe it was just incompetence? Let's be objective here, folks. If Roenicke had left Garza in the game, only to see him get injured worse, this forum would (rightly so) be enraged. But he did the right thing & protected the player from himself. If he hadn't we would've had weeks of posts about how inexcusable it was -- which would be correct. Again, I understand that some fans' minds are made up on Ron. But if you aren't also going to be fair, then I don't understand how anyone can expect to have a realistic conversation.

Yeah, I'm interested to see if the 7-day downtime & team/league switch affect Lackey at all today.

My guess there is that NM is Arizona Cardinals territory, & the AZ & NM hate for Pittsburgh is from Super Bowl XLIII

Herrera's actually a switch-hitter

Lineup card, via Jerry Narron & the club's Twitter account: http://i.imgur.com/RsEzuwY.jpg

Brewers official Twitter account: RT to wish Mark a happy birthday! http://i.imgur.com/dMjdyfe.jpg

Mike Vassallo pre-game tweets... #1: #2:

Garza, Lackey square off with series win on the line By Caitlin Swieca / MLB.com | 8/2/2014 11:33 PM ET The Brewers and Cardinals split the first two games of their big weekend showdown, leaving Matt Garza and John Lackey to face off in the series finale. Following Justin Masterson on Saturday, Lackey will be the second straight Trade Deadline acquisition to make his Cardinals debut. It will be Lackey's first start at Busch Stadium -- he pitched there in relief for Boston during last year's World Series -- and he is excited about the outing. "I think it's pretty well known what a great baseball town this is," Lackey said. "You call around when you hear something is going to happen. I talked to some guys that have played here, and they all loved playing here and thought it was a great place, and thought I would love it." Lackey will likely be throwing to another Cardinals newcomer, A.J. Pierzynski, who was his battery-mate earlier this season in Boston. "We worked together a lot," Lackey said. "He's an aggressive game-caller, and I think I'm pretty aggressive the way I pitch. I think those coincide pretty well together, I guess." First baseman Lyle Overbay has seen John Lackey more than any other member of the Brewers. Not only is he 11-for-32 against him for his career, they were Spring Training teammates with the Red Sox in 2013. Overbay is a fan. "He's one of the reasons I said [during that] Spring Training, 'Man, these guys are the team to beat,'" said Overbay, whose prediction rang true when the Red Sox won the World Series. "He was finally healthy. The last two or three years, he had been pitching hurt. I was like, 'You watch, he'll start getting some strength and take off.'" Even so, Overbay doesn't think the Cardinals' acquisition of Lackey and Masterson was all bad news for National League Central rivals. "The one that I think helps us is [that they gave] away [Allen] Craig in the Lackey trade," he said. "He's done some damage against us. We may not face Lackey every time, but we would always face Craig." When Garza takes the mound, he'll be bringing a 3-3 record and 4.81 ERA in nine career starts against St. Louis. He took a no-decision in his most recent start, on Tuesday, pitching seven one-run innings against Tampa Bay. Brewers: Nelson slated to start on Tuesday Scratched from Saturday's start because of a blister on his right index finger, Jimmy Nelson won't have to wait long to get back on the mound, as the team believes he'll be ready to pitch against the Giants on Tuesday at Miller Park. The timing of Nelson's minor setback worked out for the Brewers. It came during a three-game series sandwiched between a pair of off-days, allowing for some easy rotation shuffling, and it also gave the Brewers a way to split up Nelson and Wily Peralta, something manager Ron Roenicke and pitching coach Rick Kranitz were already mulling. Nelson developed the blister during his start last Sunday against the Mets, a 2-0 loss at Miller Park, and the skin tore away during a long-toss session earlier this week in St. Petersburg. He will attempt a light bullpen session on Sunday to confirm his availability for Tuesday. If he does have a setback, Yovani Gallardo would move up a day. Cardinals: Wong repays Matheny's faith Manager Mike Matheny considered sitting Kolten Wong on Saturday, knowing that the second baseman was in a slump, but he liked the matchup against Kyle Lohse, and Wong proved him right with a 3-for-5 night that included three RBIs and a home run. The biggest concern with Wong has been his strikeout rate; of his previous 36 at-bats, 13 were strikeouts. "It's always concerning, especially a guy with the hand-eye coordination, the athleticism, the bat speed that Kolten brings," Matheny said. "He's got above-average all of those things. We know he can right the ship. It's just a matter of him getting out there and working. I know we've seen the strikeouts, but we've also seen some balls blistered, driven to the middle of the field. They're not necessarily working out for him, but he's making some good swings, even if he has a few more swing-and-misses than he wants." Worth noting • The Brewers have had at least a share of first place every day since April 5, a statistic that will survive this series. • St. Louis holds a 38-37 edge in the all-time series against Milwaukee in the new Busch Stadium. • Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett reaggravated a nagging right quadriceps injury running to first base on a double play in the second inning and exited the game in the sixth. Roenicke said the matter is minor but that Gennett will probably not start the series finale.

[igt-2012][game-setup][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/brewers.png[/logo][game-info][h1]August 3 | 1:15 P.M.[/h1][h2]Brewers (61-50) | Cardinals (58-51)[/h2][h3]FSWI | WTMJ 620[/h3][/game-info][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/cardinals.png[/logo][/game-setup][pitching-photos]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/pitchers/brewers/garza-11.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/4GK8CfB.jpg[/pitching-photos][game-matchup][divclass=away][h2]7-7, 3.74 ERA, 1.17 WHIP[/h2][h3]Versus Cardinals | Game Log[/h3][h3]Garza has rebounded nicely since a nightmare outing at Washington on July 19 in which he surrendered five runs and only recorded one out. In two starts since, he's allowed two runs and only seven hits in 15 innings.[/h3][/divclass][divclass=home][h2]11-7, 3.60 ERA, 1.23 WHIP (AL #s)[/h2][h3]Versus Brewers | Game Log[/h3][h3]Lackey will be making his Cards debut and pitching on seven days' rest. He went 2-2 with a 3.55 ERA in four July starts. This will be his first career start at Busch Stadium. He pitched there in relief during the 2013 Fall Classic.[/h3][/divclass][starting-lineup][divclass=away] CF Carlos Gómez C Jonathan Lucroy RF Ryan Braun 3B Aramis Ramírez 2B Rickie Weeks LF Khris Davis 1B Mark Reynolds SS Elián Herrera RHP Matt Garza[/divclass][divclass=home] 3B Matt Carpenter 2B Kolten Wong LF Matt Holliday 1B Matt Adams SS Jhonny Peralta C A.J. Pierzynski RF Oscar Taveras CF Peter Bourjos RHP John Lackey[/divclass][/starting-lineup][/game-matchup][game-links][h3][chat]BrewerFan Chat[/chat] | MLB Gameday[/h3][/game-links][/igt-2012]

Incredible catch.

More like 50-10. The previous claim of being undefeated has been forgotten, I see.

Nice to see Ron getting a reliever up & loose

Masterson is all over the place.

C'mon boys. Get right back in this thing!