Fear The Chorizo

That was a ball

Where was that pitch???

Huge out to get here - make Roberts make a decision on Buhler with 1 out

What a crap hit

Sorry, I will take the blame. Tensions are high for me in this game I frankly don't care about the Packers on their way to 7-9 engaging in an October battle against the NFL's dumpster, while the Brewers fight for the World Series. Fake news....7-8-1

MOOSE

Illegal slide, but it's a break of they call him out just because it was a dumb play by machado

It's salty in here tonight...sheesh!

So, I'm guesing greg Maddux was stupidly outmatched in about 95 percent of the starts he made, too because he didn't throw hard at all He sure got a lot of lucky wins Also, shaw is apparently stuck in quicksand getting down the line, too...

It's going to calm a bit as the game wears on, but tonight's weird start time for nationwide TV markets (~6:45 central) means these afternoon winds that normally aren't as big a factor for evening games in LA are going to have an impact.

Posted that in the game thread for tonight earlier - called for strong winds out of the northish around 10-15 mph, then calming as the game wore on. However it indicated winds would be stronger down in valleys/lower-lying areas. wouldn't surprise me if Chavez Ravine is pretty brisk right now...

forecast appears to call for variable winds from the northish at 7-13 mph during the course of the game, diminishing with time...I believe that's blowing in at their ballpark, although it's tough to gauge how that plays in Chavez Ravine...

The pitching stats sure seem to favor the Dodgers tonight. You hope for 5 solid innings out of Chacin and turn this over to the bullpen. I would only throw Hader one inning tonight with a lead and hopefully keep him in the mix for game 5. We really need things to fall exactly right tonight to have a chance against Buehler. Buehler gave up 5 runs in 5 innings (walked in a run by walking the pitcher and gave up a granny) and walked 3 in his last start against the Braves - he's got good stuff but he's not flirting with perfect games every time he takes the hill. Play a good game and score more runs than the Dodgers. This will be the 1st game where both the Dodgers and Brewers will presumably send out their lefty heavy lineups. I'd prefer Hader be used later in tonight's game so if he's dominating he can just finish it out, but depending on Chacin's performance it may make sense for Hader to come in first to try and get the Dodgers to burn alot of RH pinch hitters - then have the right handed back end of the Brewers pen finish the game off. In reality, I'd prefer a solid 7 inning start by Chacin followed by Hader slamming the door - Game 3 is a huge swing game and the Brewers have their best starter this year going on prolonged rest, so there better be a great reason to pull him early aside from the Dodger lineup turning over a 3rd time tonight.

Pulling Chacin/Miley for the 3rd time through lineup is exactly sticking to the plan. Game situation and condition of your best relievers have to also factor in whether that's the right move in the postseason, though. Pen had to pitch 7 innings the night before an afternoon game and Miley's given up 2 singles to that point in the 6th with a pitch count in the mid 70s. We'll agree to disagree on this issue, I guess - I think you've got to give him the opportunity to work past a 2 out single in that spot Saturday, at least until the lead run comes to the plate.

Peralta had a start in LA earlier this year where he gave up 1 run over 4 IP - but racked up a huge pitch count due to walks/deep counts and seemingly was always in a jam. He's on the roster because I'm assuming he'll either get a start or be 1st out of the pen in games 4 or 5 if they want to run Gio out there again...with the Dodgers' lineup, I think they have to give Gio a start in LA.

Not everyone - and all I'm saying is that if you want your best pitchers to get the most outs during a series to lock down "today's game", as evidenced by Hader getting 3 IP of work in Game 1, then pulling Miley or Chacin fast isn't sticking to that plan. The other side of this is the Dodgers have been in their pen more or at least just as much as the Brewers over two games, right? At some point that's gotta lead to the Brewers scoring more runs off what is perceived to be the weak link in their roster, too.

I think the schedule was a huge factor. They want him to be able to go 2 times through the order on 3 days rest on Wednesday. ~75 pitches was probably a number they had in their head, and a reasonable one at that. Third time through the order, seeing a perennial MVP caliber RHB, is a big factor too. And look at Ryu; he was just as unhittable as Miley, if not better, until all of a sudden he wasn't. There's just too many good, evidence-based reasons to pull him. You can't deviate from good strategies on hunches all the time. He had to get Taylor out if he wanted to go 6. It was a fair chance but it wasn't meant to be. I get your point, but I don't like basing taking him out off a presumed plan for 3 games later when Miley was the biggest reason the Brewers had a great chance to take a 2-0 series lead. The third time through the order reasoning is definitely a factor, however that can't be the only thing put into the vacuum used to make a pitching change decision. With how he was pitching, Miley should have been given the chance to get Turner out and start the 7th. All the comparisons the Brewers' pen utilization has to the 2015 Royals - the Royals pen was much better, IMO, and they still got 2 Volquez starts of 6IP and a complete game out of Cueto in 3 of their 5 WS games. Ventura and Young were on the short leashes (~4-5IP), and they had to pull Cueto early from an ALCS start that he got rocked...but they still had 2 starters they relied on to log much heavier innings than what the Brewers have. Part of what made this strategy so effective during the regular season was the bullpen shuttle and having a ton of good relievers after September callups to get outs - i.e. using the full 40 man to the team's advantage. Seeing the same quality team/same hitters during a playoff series with reduced relief options makes getting all 27 outs much tougher, particularly when many of those late inning relievers had pitched less than 24 hours earlier in Game 1. Simply restricting the roster to 25 guys has limited how the Brewers can approach their pitching staff, and it should mean giving their best starters at least some leash. Every call to the bullpen is a hunch just as much as pulling the trigger on a starter before it's obvious he's done. The "hunch" for saturday's game was that Burnes was going to get the team into the 8th inning. And I'd argue the schedule was a huge factor to let Miley stay in the game, as I think it's a bad move to try and give him the Game 5 start in LA on short rest. Miley and Chacin should be set up for games 6 and 7 starts on regular/more than regular rest. Pushing those two to go on short rest and handcuff their pitch counts to do so won't win the series - if that line of thought factored in to pull Miley in game 2, IMO it contributed more to the loss than alot of us think and it's going to lead to even more tail chasing on the mound as the series progresses.

If he leaves Miley in there and Miley gives up a ding dong or double down the line CC gets ripped for that too. Whoever would do that has an unrealistic view of the bullpen over the course of playing an opponent up to 7 straight games, no matter how good or deep it is. Bringing in relievers doesn't guarantee any sort of improved success over a starter that's rolling, has a pitch count in the low 70's, and is completely settled into the moment. I'd love to see some flexibility in how soon games are handed over to the pen based on how the starter is performing. Miley was great on Saturday and there was no reason to pull him when CC did - even if the pen is your strength, getting into it knowing your best reliever (Hader) is not pitching and forcing it to get you 10 outs when the Dodgers were going to start attacking platoon advantages with substitutions is asking a lot. The more looks these good Dodger hitters get of the relievers, the more difficult it will be for them to get outs. It's great having a deep bullpen, but I think the rush to get into it at times burns a team, particularly when your starter has just retired 16 straight and had a 2 run lead.

Knebel also threw roughly twice as many pitches as Jeffress did in Game 1, meaning Jeffress was the better option to try and get more than 1 IP between the 7th/8th once it was obvious Burnes was not the answer. To me, it boils down mostly to the decision to pull Miley with two outs in the 6th and the tying run at the plate at the time. I think he pulled him 1 batter too early, because if he gets Turner out in that spot he probably can send him back out to start the 7th and potentially eliminate the rally Burnes' poor performance started. CC was counting on Burnes getting them to the 8th and he failed. Miley has shown the ability to work deep into games on occasion, including against the Dodgers - he should have been given the opportunity to get into the 7th inning, especially with how the pen was used in game 1 of this series. Jeffress has been inconsistent, but the hits he gave up in game 1 were largely luck and he came into the game with the bases juiced. Knebel made things super interesting in the 9th in game 1, too. A big part of this is the Dodgers are just a damn good team full of tough outs - it's going to be a struggle no matter who's on the mound.

I have yet to understand how this team continues to recruit top-flight RBs and OL, yet can't even stumble into a decent QB option. Just once I'd love to see a QB that can throw the ball more than 30 yards without it looking like a wounded duck. The Badgers have a QB type that they recruit, and that type is skinny, unathletic and with mediocre throwing ability. Any more Russell Wilson's looking to transfer? Maybe go after the guy at clemson or ALA' s 2nd option after this season?

Can we stop comparing Hiura to a multi year all star and former league MVP? I get the excitement around him but the way people here talk, you'd think he as a top 5 prospect in all of the major leagues. He's not and you're setting yourself up for huge disappointment if you think he is. Be patient and let him develop for another year. Assuming many of the current top 5 prospects open 2019 in the big leagues (guerrero, jimenez, etc), Hiura more or less will be top 5 in all of baseball. His bat is special.

Who cares about game length? NFL regular season games are basically 3.5 hours, with their playoff games often taking longer than that. That was a fantastic baseball game - the bullpenning had little to nothing to do with the game's pace. It's obvious both hitters and pitchers take a little extra time between pitches this time of year. There were also a ton of great ABs by both teams that racked up pitch counts.

Winning a game where Yelich goes 0-4 with 3 K's and a GIDP....against Kershaw....YES! Nervewracking, but damn that felt good! You can see as this series gets longer, there are going to be some tough outs to get in that Dodger lineup with how many outs the bullpen will need to get...that is a stacked roster.

BURGERS!

hammer time here