batman

Craig Wilson is good. I just wish he wasn't good against us. Comeback reprise? Hopefully. ~Bill

Great catch by Jenks. One thought though: why do we have a chain link fence where our star/injury-prone player is likely to run crashing into it? Seems like we could do a better job of limiting his risks out there. A nice, big, soft pad on that wall would be really sweet. ~Bill

Nice to see the umpire giving Billy time there.... NOT. How lame was that? Why doesn't he put on a Pirates jersey while he's at it. ~Bill

OVERBAY! This team is amazing. Seriously. ~Bill

Ginter with a great at-bat there, working the pitcher before lining out to third. Not sure if I agree with sending Jenkins there... Keith strikes out a lot, and I don't think the probability of a ground ball double play outweighs the probability of a strike 'em out throw 'em out DP or line drive DP in that situation. Oh well. Burba time continues. ~Bill

Hall and Spivey both down looking with a runner on third. That was unfortunate... great opportunity to get the tying run home. If Victor Santos is the next reliever out of the chute, Nedley needs a new medication. EDIT: Good to see him go to Burba. He's old, but in a wily/filthy kind of way. And I'm talking about his pitching, sickos. ~Bill

Wes Helms needs to go. I don't care where, but he needs to go somewhere other than "The Starting Lineup." Everybody slumps from time to time, but this is pathetic... dude's bailing out on outside fastballs and I don't think he's gotten a legitimate hit in weeks. Put him on the DL with "forgothowtohititis." Yikes. ~Bill

And we're about to get a Matt Kinney vs. Jimmy Haynes game next week. Oh geez... At the Great American Bandbox, no less. They better have some extra baseballs on hand, 'cause they're going to be flying out of there. I didn't get to see the Saenz start, so I appreciate the perspective. It sure would be nice to see somebody other than Sheets that didn't walk a handful of guys every game. I don't even care if they give up a lot of hits, 'cause watching this parade of free bases is just depressing, especially since our offense has been so promising. And if the next couple guys on the depth chart are Ben Ford and Victor Santos, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse. Our Rotation Is A Traveshamockery. How's that for a tagline? ~Bill

Well, that start was regrettable for one Wesley Mitchell Obermueller. 3 IP, 7 ER Nice play by Ginter there. How's that for a weak arm? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

So does this mean we have the worst starting 1B in the league tonight? Not quite... while I'm not sure if he's starting *tonight*, Ty Wigginton of the Mets is hitting .162 with a .275 on-base average and .496 OPS. Not much worse than Wesley Ray Helms, but he deserves credit for his accomplishment in atrociousness. ~Bill

They're the Athletics' affiliate, Michael, and it does indeed look like that walk total is right. That team rules. ~Bill

Lineups: PITTSBURGH MILWAUKEE AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Tike Redman CF .226 0 6 Scott Podsednik CF .306 3 8 Jack Wilson SS .369 2 8 Bill Hall SS .290 1 7 Jason Kendall C .323 0 11 Junior Spivey 2B .293 3 16 Raul Mondesi RF .338 2 14 Geoff Jenkins LF .264 3 14 Rob Mackowiak 3B .246 3 7 Keith Ginter 3B .308 4 8 Craig Wilson LF .351 5 12 Brady Clark RF .229 3 8 Carlos Rivera 1B .143 0 1 Wes Helms 1B .214 1 5 Jose Castillo 2B .279 2 6 Gary Bennett C .212 1 5 Oliver Perez LHP .500 0 0 Wes Obermueller RHP .333 0 1 (2-0, 1.74) (1-1, 6.64) Nice to see Billy, Keith, and Brady getting some action tonight. Helms moves over to first, and down a spot in the batting order, while Clark takes his usual spot and Ginter Overbay's. I think this is the most "tweakage" we've seen from Nedley thus far. Let's hope it doesn't hurt anybody's confidence http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . ~Bill

Craig Wilson is a long-haired blond version of Barry Bonds: .365 AVG, .447 OBA, .703, SLG, 1.150 OPS Dude is raking. And his hair is just outstanding. ~Bill

I use a G4 laptop as my primary computer and also have an old G3 imac desktop. I still use a Windows PC at work in addition to my laptop, but otherwise I'm a strictly Mac guy. A more perfect computer was never built http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . ~Bill

I think the guest list is a glitch... if anyone was logged in before the time changed back, they are still listed as being active because they are technically in the future. Weird. If anyone else has had a similar chat room problem let me know if you're using a Mac. Once again it is my gift, my curse. Yeah, I have the same problem. I got it to work a couple times using IE but that doesn't work anymore, either. I'm on Jaguar, and have tried it using Safari/Mozilla/IE with no luck. ~Bill

The ghosts have taken over the machine. We are in the futurepast. This message was never always already written. ~Bill PS: Looks like you've got it fixed, Patrick - nicely done!

Mondesi was safe by a mile... Helms was slow to the ball and took his time with the release, and Moeller's tag was up near Mondesi's chest. It wasn't close at all - he was safe by more than the width of the plate. ~Bill

I saw that number, too, and I've got to think that it's keeping users logged in because of the time problems. A Friday night game against the Pirates in April? Unlikely to cause this kind of traffic spike. You never know, though. Hopefully these issues will get resolved soon 'cause the boards are tough to read at the moment. ~Bill

PITTSBURGH MILWAUKEE AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Tike Redman CF .225 0 6 Scott Podsednik CF .309 3 8 Jack Wilson SS .375 2 8 Craig Counsell SS .203 1 5 Jason Kendall C .328 0 11 Junior Spivey 2B .295 3 15 Raul Mondesi RF .316 2 13 Geoff Jenkins LF .277 3 14 Rob Mackowiak 3B .245 3 6 Lyle Overbay 1B .294 2 18 Craig Wilson LF .365 5 11 Wes Helms 3B .227 1 5 Abraham Nunez 2B .273 0 2 Ben Grieve RF .227 2 5 Carlos Rivera 1B .000 0 0 Chad Moeller C .267 2 9 Kris Benson RHP .667 0 1 Ben Sheets RHP .000 0 0 (2-1, 3.91) (3-1, 3.21)

6:49PM Central.

I think the time is screwed up again... maybe they fixed it on their end, and you'll have to set it to CDT. No idea if that's right, just a guess. ~Bill

3 fifth starters and a second baseman. Make it *two* second basemen and then we'll talk. Throw in a High-A utility infielder and you've got yourself a deal! Nugget mining, ~Bill

Matt Kinney is the new Wayne Franklin. Every time he pitches, you can expect two things: the other team will score a ton of runs, and the Brewers will use his incredible leadership as a catalyst toward eventual triumph. Or not. But that was a pretty amazing game. Too bad the Reds are leaving town... ~Bill

Final: Huntsville 6, Chattanooga (Reds) 1 Good start from Sarfate, four innings of scoreless relief, and a nice day for Tony Gwynn, Jr... Huntsville Site Game Summary: Before the game, pitching coach Fred Dabney jokingly asked for volunteers. The Stars? weary bullpen lost its only fresh arm with Reggie Rivard?s promotion to Indianapolis, and back-to-back doubleheaders loomed just four days away. Enter Dennis Sarfate, the Stars? number three starter, in his first year at double-A. Inconsistent over three prior outings, Sarfate matched Chattanooga?s Seth Etherton ? a former big leaguer ? pitch-for-pitch, on route to his first Southern League victory. Trailing 1-0, Huntsville (10-7) scored six unanswered runs and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Lookouts (11-7) on Tuesday night at Bell South Park. The Stars maintained a one-half game lead over Birmingham in the West. Sarfate (1-0) surrendered just three hits, and only two hard-hit balls, over five outstanding innings, permitting one run while walking two and fanning two. The Lookouts lone run came on Travis Wilson?s second-inning sacrifice fly after Kenny Kelly led off with a double and took third on Jeff Bannon?s groundout. Down 1-0 in the fifth, Huntsville took advantage of four wild pitches and two errors to score three runs, one earned. Chris Barnwell singled with one out and took third on Johnny Raburn?s hit-and-run single. Barnwell scored on a wild pitch and Raburn advanced to second. After another wild pitch pushed Raburn to third, Enrique Cruz hit a bullet through shortstop William Bergolla?s legs for an error, scoring Raburn from third. Sarfate sacrificed Cruz to second, then Cruz took third on another wild pitch and scored on Tony Gwynn, Jr.?s single for a 3-0 Stars lead. In the eighth, Gwynn, Jr. singled and stole second ? he finished 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to nine games ? and Ryan Knox walked. Kade Johnson stayed hot, ripping a double to right-center, scoring Gwynn, Jr. and Knox to put Huntsville up, 5-1. Knox?s ninth-inning double plated Cruz from first for a 6-1 final score. Etherton (3-1) suffered the loss, snapping his three-game winning streak. He allowed three runs, one earned, on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over seven innings. The Stars? only other available pitchers ? John Novinsky, Tim Bausher and Brian Adams ? shut down Chattanooga over the final four frames. Novinsky authored two scoreless innings. Bausher ? scheduled to start the series finale Friday ? pitched on his bullpen day, fanning the side in the eighth. Adams tossed a scoreless ninth. Huntsville Box Score: GAME DATE: 4/27/04 HVL at CNG HUNTSVILLE 6 AT CHATTANOOGA 1 YTD YTD HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI AVG CHATTANOOGA AB R H BI AVG A.Gwynn CF 5 1 3 1 .242 A.Beattie LF 3 0 0 0 .306 R.Knox RF 4 1 1 1 .250 W.Bergolla SS 4 0 1 0 .262 P.Fielder 1B 4 0 0 0 .279 D.Cesar 2B 4 0 0 0 .443 K.Johnson CAT 4 0 1 2 .378 K.Kelly CF 3 1 1 0 .410 B.Nelson LF 4 0 1 0 .250 J.Bannon 3B 4 0 1 0 .327 C.Barnwell 3B 4 1 1 0 .169 T.Wilson 1B 3 0 2 1 .185 J.Raburn 2B 4 1 1 0 .304 R.Moreta RF 3 0 0 0 .250 E.Cruz SS 4 2 1 0 .195 D.Gil PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Sarfate PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 J.Hill CAT 3 0 1 0 .282 J.Novinsky PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 S.Etherton PIT 2 0 0 0 .111 T.Bausher PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Durham RF 1 0 0 0 .278 J.Belcher PH 1 0 0 0 .188 B.Adams PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 36 6 9 4 TOTALS 30 1 6 1 HUNTSVILLE 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 1- 6 9 0 CHATTANOOGA 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1 6 2 E--W.Bergolla, J.Bannon. DP--HUNTSVILLE 0, CHATTANOOGA 1. LOB-- HUNTSVILLE 6, CHATTANOOGA 5. 2B--R.Knox (4), K.Johnson (3), K.Kelly (5), J.Bannon (9), T.Wilson (2). 3B--T.Wilson (1). SB--A.Gwynn (6), B.Nelson (1). HBP--P.Fielder. SF--T.Wilson. SH--D.Sarfate. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HUNTSVILLE D.Sarfate (W,1-0) 5.0 3 1 1 2 2 0 4.15 J.Novinsky 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.55 T.Bausher 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.64 B.Adams 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 3.38 CHATTANOOGA S.Etherton (L,3-1) 7.0 4 3 1 0 7 0 1.13 D.Gil 2.0 5 3 3 1 2 0 9.00 HB--S.Etherton. WP--S.Etherton 4. SO--A.Gwynn, P.Fielder, K.Johnson, B.Nelson 2, C.Barnwell, D.Sarfate, J.Novinsky, J.Belcher, A.Beattie, D.Cesar, K.Kelly 2, T.Wilson, J.Hill, S.Etherton, C.Durham. BB-- R.Knox, A.Beattie, K.Kelly. T--2:47. A--4132Huntsville Game Log: www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=15927 David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Huntsville update: Huntsville left-handed hitters went 4-for-10, the bulk of that coming from Tony Gwynn, Jr....... But they didn't need any help from the wind. Not that anyone was asking......... Seth Etherton uncorked four wild pitches and allowed three unearned runs, helping the Stars win the 7th of their last nine games. Both sides were hitting into a crosswind tonight, and if you ask most hitters, they'd rather hit into a tail wind because it makes the pitcher's breaking ball tough to turn over ........ The crosswind may have been helpful, but not to Etherton, a former major leaguer with the Anaheim Angels in 2000, carrying the league's 3rd best ERA.... All four wild pitches came in one inning, and came one short of a Southern League record for a game, and matched a club record for Huntsville by an opposing pitcher. I know for sure that Ryan Bowen of Columbus and Buddy Groom of Birmingham both matched that in games in 1989. I don't know how many more did in the Stars' 20-year history. The hit batter, Prince Fielder, didn't hurt Etherton. It came in the 1st inning and Fielder was erased by a double play. After that, Etherton retired 11 straight Stars, striking out five before Chris Barnwell singled to left in the 5th. Before this point, the Stars had not gotten a ball out of the infield. The only hit for the Stars was a bunt single by Gwynn, Jr. to lead off the game......... Etherton was in command. He had a 1-0 lead based on a sacrifice fly by Travis Wilson that right fielder Ryan Knox followed all the way to the right field corner, on the foul line....... Barny's single was a two-hopper to Lookout returnee Andrew Beattie in left. This is his 4th season with Chattanooga.......... That got the wheels rolling....... With the hit-and-run on, Johnny Raburn, now hitting .304 for the Stars, rapped his first pitch solidly to right field, advancing Barnwell to third. Etherton's 1-0 pitch to Raburn went in the dirt and Raburn went to second --- the first of the four wild pitches in this inning by Etherton, tying a Southern League record, last held by Brian West of Birmingham last year. Wild pitch number two, on a 2-0 pitch to Enrique Cruz, skipped away again from Jason Hill and scored Barnwell, tying the game, and moving Raburn to third........ When things go wrong, it's hard to stop momentum. Cruz rifled a 3-0 pitch through the legs of shortstop William Bergolla, scoring Raburn, putting the Stars in the lead for once and for all, 2-1. The Stars would have their fifth straight come-from-behind victory, sandwiched although between a pair of losses. Dennis Sarfate's sacrifice moved Cruz to second, then wild pitch number three moved him to third........ Gwynn fouled off a couple of pitches before a breaking ball bounced away from Hill....... Gwynn hit Etherton's next pitch behind second base beyond the reach of former Huntsville Star Dionys Cesar and Cruz scored to make it 3-1........ Etherton jammed Knox on a pair of 2-2 pitches which he fouled off, then hit a tough grounder to third baseman Jeff Bannon, but he did not field it cleanly, pinning it against his belly, and Knox was on. A tough error that advanced Gwynn to second....... Etherton's fourth wild pitch, again in the dirt to Prince Fielder, advanced the runners to second and third, but Prince ended the inning by lining a bullet to Kenny Kelly in center. The Stars used the mistakes to beat the Lookouts for the 20th time in 28 games going back to last year....... Brian Adams had a little trouble closing it out in the 9th, leaving runners on second and third, but struck out Travis Wilson to end the game, Kade Johnson having to throw to first on the dropped third strike........ Johnson sliced a double to right-center off reliever David Gil, scoring Knox and Gwynn, Jr. to make it 5-1 and a two-out RBI double to left-center by Knox added another......... Kade has now hit safely in eight of his 11 games with six RBIs........ Knox has three doubles in his last 13 at-bats........ The Stars have made just two errors in their last six games and five in their last nine, after starting the season with 18 errors in their first nine games......... Gwynn has a nine-game hitting streak to protect Wednesday. He's lifted his average nearly 100 pct. points since the start of the streak, going 13-for-42 (.310) to give him a .242 average. It's going to get around the league that Dennis Sarfate may have the best pickoff move in the league......... He picked off two baserunners in this game --- Jason Hill in the 3rd off second base and Kenny Kelly in the 4th inning off first. That gives him three this season in just three appearances. This was, by the way, Sarfate's first start since April 10........ The quickness in his step-off move, almost like a dance movement, wowed our play-by-play man, Robert Portnoy, and I'm going to have to keep an eye on this myself when the Stars come back to town. Elbow soreness will cause Mike Jones to miss a start. I don't know how serious this is, but Mr. Portnoy did not convey any alarm in his voice report, and a tight left hamstring has kept Rickie Weeks out of the lineup. He left Monday's first game after beating out a single in the 6th inning........ Tim Bausher lowered his ERA to 1.64 after his first road game of the season. Bausher struck out the side in the 8th inning --- jellylegging Chad Durham on a 3-2 breaking ball and Andrew Beattie looking at a 1-2 change on the outside.

Final: Indianapolis 3, Louisville (Reds) 2 Nice outing for Hendrickson and a pair of doubles for J.J... Indianapolis Game Summary: Corey Hart's RBI double in the third inning lifted the Indianapolis Indians to a 3-2 International League win over the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night. Indianapolis scored two runs in the first, sparked by back-to-back doubles by J.J. Hardy and Chris Magruder against Louisville starter Brandon Claussen (0-2). Ben Hendrickson (3-0) started for the Indians, allowing two runs and six hits and striking out three in 51/3 innings. He was replaced by Mike Adams in the sixth inning with two runners on and one out. Adams promptly struck out the next two Louisville hitters, then struck out the side in the seventh inning before giving way to Chris Michalak. "The last two times I pitched, Ben (Hendrickson) left runners behind (on base)," Adams said. "It was nice to help him out. It's fun when you can save somebody's runs." Michalak pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout. Jason Childers recorded the last two outs for his sixth save. Felipe Lopez's two-run triple in the third put the Bats within striking distance, but the Indians' pitching staff held the Bats scoreless the rest of the way. Claussen went five innings, allowing three runs and six hits. Claussen struck out four Indianapolis batters, pushing his league-leading strikeout total to 26. Indianapolis Box Score: GAME DATE: 4/27/04 IND at LOU INDIANAPOLIS 3 AT LOUISVILLE 2 YTD YTD INDIANAPOLIS AB R H BI AVG LOUISVILLE AB R H BI AVG D.Krynzel CF 5 0 0 0 .273 J.Clark CF 4 1 1 0 .225 J.Hardy SS 4 2 2 0 .239 F.Lopez SS 4 0 2 2 .304 C.Magruder LF 4 1 2 1 .333 T.Hummel 3B 4 0 1 0 .246 S.Sheldon 1B 2 0 0 1 .242 J.Cruz 1B 4 0 0 0 .315 C.Coste CAT 4 0 1 0 .327 J.Chamblee RF 3 0 0 0 .222 C.Hart RF 4 0 1 1 .305 G.Burnham PH 1 0 0 0 .292 S.Scarbrough 3B 4 0 1 0 .185 S.Smitherman LF 3 0 1 0 .213 L.Figueroa 2B 4 0 1 0 .294 C.Miller CAT 4 0 0 0 .000 B.Hendrckson PIT 3 0 1 0 .286 R.Olmedo 2B 3 1 1 0 .214 M.Adams PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Claussen PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 C.Michalak PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 R.Taylor PH 1 0 0 0 .200 J.Childers PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 S.Randall PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Holbert PH 1 0 0 0 .313 B.Shacklford PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 35 3 9 3 TOTALS 33 2 6 2 INDIANAPOLIS 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0- 3 9 0 LOUISVILLE 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0- 2 6 0 DP--INDIANAPOLIS 0, LOUISVILLE 0. LOB--INDIANAPOLIS 7, LOUISVILLE 5. 2B--J.Hardy 2 (7), C.Magruder (4), C.Hart (5). 3B--C.Magruder (1), F.Lopez (1). SB--C.Magruder (2). SF--S.Sheldon. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA INDIANAPOLIS B.Hendrckson (W,3-0) 5.1 6 2 2 0 3 0 1.66 M.Adams 1.2 0 0 0 0 5 0 4.50 C.Michalak 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.75 J.Childers (S,6) 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.00 LOUISVILLE B.Claussen (L,0-2) 5.0 6 3 3 1 4 0 3.80 S.Randall 2.0 3 0 0 0 1 0 3.24 B.Shacklford 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.50 SO--D.Krynzel 2, C.Magruder 2, B.Hendrckson 2, J.Cruz, J.Chamblee 2, S.Smitherman, C.Miller 2, R.Olmedo, B.Claussen, R.Taylor, A.Holbert. BB--S.Sheldon, S.Smitherman. T--2:30. A--7051Indianapolis Game Log: www.sportsnetwork.com/mer....aspx?GAME