DuWayne Steurer

Craig Counsell had the worst stance ever. and there's no way it helped him hit. ?

Emulating oglivie and cooper's stances in my backyard playing wiffleball was how I learned to switch hit. seemed like most of the guys on that 82 squad had a unique stance.

Emulating oglivie and cooper's stances in my backyard playing wiffleball was how I learned to switch hit. seemed like most of the guys on that 82 squad had a unique stance.

The Brewers continued their fight for first place with a weekend three-game set against the Blue Jays, sporting their new 414 City Connect uniforms at home for the first time. While the aesthetics of the new uniforms are open to interpretation, the importance of the three game set wasn't, as the Brewers came in tied for first with the Cardinals. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports The Brewers continued their fight for first place with a weekend three-game set against the Blue Jays, sporting their new 414 City Connect uniforms at home for the first time. While the aesthetics of the new uniforms are open to interpretation, the importance of the three game set wasn't, as the Brewers came in tied for first with the Cardinals. Game 1 -- Blue Jays 9, Brewers 4 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL202206240.shtml The Jays tagged Brewers starter Adrian Houser with five runs in the top of the second, leading off the inning with six straight base hits before Houser worked out of the jam. Houser recovered and worked six innings on the night, and while not a quality start, eating up six innings saved manager Craig Counsell from having to use up a bullpen in the first game of an important three-game set. Talk about trying to find a silver lining. Trevor Kelly surrendered two home runs and three earned in his inning of work, bringing his total to seven home runs allowed on the season in just sixteen innings of work. Peter Strzelecki worked two innings, allowing a run, with his ERA sitting at an even 4.00 after his outing, and was sent back to Nashville, with Kelly (somehow) maintaining a spot on the Milwaukee roster. Tyrone Taylor did sock his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot, in the seventh inning. Taylor's recent mini hot streak has seen him get his OPS back over .720 and push his RBI total to third on the team. Adrian Houser dropped his record to 4-8 on the season. Game 2 -- Brewers 5, Blue Jays 4 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL202206250.shtml With Corbin Burnes on the mound, and the offense staking him to a five-run lead by the end of the third inning, this one looked like the Crew was going to cruise to an easy win. In the end however, the Brewers had to sweat out a close one as the Jays slowly climbed back in and made it a one-run game in the end. Tyrone Taylor started the Brewers off with an RBI single in the first. In the bottom of the second, Willy Adames had an RBI base knock, and Andrew McCutchen pushed it to 4-0 with his sixth big fly of the season. McCutchen has pretty quietly put up some decent numbers after an admittedly bad start to the season. Standing at a .684 OPS after sitting in the .550 range five to six weeks ago has to make the Brewers feel a bit better about the investment and hopefully he can continue to put up the kind of numbers he's put up for the last month for the rest of the season. In the bottom of the fourth, Mike Brosseau, freshly returned from the IL smashed his fourth home run of the season. Brosseau and his .843 OPS bench bat are a nice addition for a team that has struggled to score runs consistently. Burnes pitched scoreless into the fifth inning until the dangerous Blue Jays lineup caught up with him. Matt Chapman hit a solo home run and Cavan Biggio drove in a run with an RBI groundout. Burnes worked further into the eighth inning when he gave up another solo home run to Bo Bichette. At 7 2/3 innings of work, Burnes was relieved by Devin Williams, who has been unscored on in his last eighteen appearances. Williams struck out Alejandro Kirk to end the inning and send the Brewers to the ninth with a two-run lead. Josh Hader came in to close things out and struck out the first two batters, then gave up a double and an RBI single. With the tying run now at the plate, Hader induced a game ending ground out and made a winner of Burnes. The earned run was just the third allowed by Hader on the season as we near the halfway point. Burnes record moves to 6-4, and the save for Hader was his 22nd, against one blown save. The Brewers held serve with the Cardinals, and they remain tied for first, going into the series finale Game 3 -- Brewers 10, Blue Jays 3 https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355330 Brewers emergency starter Chi Chi Gonzalez was slapped for three runs in the top of the first, and it looked like it was going to be a long day for the Brewers and fans. However, in the bottom of the first, the Crew and offense struck back. A two-run blast from Rowdy Tellez got the Brewers back within a run. Followed up by an Omar Narvaez RBI double, the game was knotted at three after the first inning. Heading into the second inning, the Brewers proceeded to pour it on. New centerfielder Jonathan Davis started it off with an RBI infield single. Christian Yelich followed up by knocking a run in with an RBI groundout. With the Brewers up a pair, Adames struck next with an RBI single to make it 6-3. To cap the scoring in the second, Tellez came up and added another pair of RBI. Gonzalez pitched four innings for the Brewers today, allowing the three runs in the first. Jandel Gustave pitched a pair of innings to pick up the win, giving up just a pair of hits. Trevor Gott returned from the IL as well, pitching a scoreless inning. Overall, the Brewers pen threw five scoreless today, and given the large lead the offense provided, Counsell never needed to turn to his lockdown trio of Boxberger, Williams or Hader. Gustave picks up the win, his first of the season against no losses. The Brewers took a one game lead in the division as the Cardinals fell to the Cubs this afternoon. With Hunter Renfroe going back on the IL, Davis will get at least a little bit of a longer look in Milwaukee as well. While he's never put up stellar numbers at the MLB level, he's also never had more than a handful of plate appearances in a single season. It will be interesting to see how Counsell continues to use Davis and what kind of move or moves the Brewers may make depending on the expected length of Renfroe's absence. Up next for the Crew is a day off on Monday, followed by a three-game series at the tough Tampa Rays, as the Brewers continue to fight the Cards for the top spot in the NL Central. View full article

Gustave wiggled off the hook.

Cards are tied for first with Flaherty starting 2 games and pitching 6 innings this year. If he's out (more) time they'll figure it out somehow.

Every inning they get out of Chi Chi just feels like a minor miracle. I know he's just a bad pitcher, and not a gawdawful pitcher, but for some reason it just feels like a huge sigh of relief when he gets through an inning scoreless.

I'm hoping with a 5 run lead he can settle in a little bit and just focus on throwing strikes a little bit more.

Berrios is gonna have to stay in there and probably pitch at least 3-4 innings today.

Rowdy knows with Chi Chi pitching, the Brewers need a cushion.

Well, we wanted "bad" Berrios today, and that's what we got. Hopefully we can get a few more innings of Chi Chi not blowing this thing in the opposite direction, or 7 bullpen innings.

Counsell's been leaving his starters in too long this year more times than we'd like. The argument could be made that his hand is forced by a shorthanded pen and not having the guys he'd like to have in the pen, but at the same time, Houser and Lauer especially have been hung out to dry a few too many times.

kelly eh? punting on this game CC. bold strategy.

Over the last 14 days, (NOT counting tonight), McCutchen had an .810 OPS. It would be nice if he'd either hit a nice little hot streak, or even better, just put up a nice .750 or so OPS for the rest of the season. I'm not about to hold my breath, but he hasn't been bad lately.

I can't imagine Flaherty is gonna be in this game too much longer.

Uecker is talking about putting frozen cabbage or lettuce under their hats "back in the day" to keep cool on super hot days like today. I'm not sure Lane believed him at first.

Let's see how this plays out! It's still just the first inning!

well. At least it'll be interesting for one more inning.

this is where I'm at. get a few innings and turn it over to the pen

burnes is a better pitcher. Williams's Airbender is a better pitch. IMO.

McCutchen is just old and nearly washed.

guys, a mod had already asked that we move on from the COVID discussion. thanks.

Having won just three of their past fifteen games, the Brewers rode into Cincinnati needing a big boost in momentum. Dropping as much as 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Crew looks to make up some ground in the two-team race for the division crown. Image courtesy of © Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK Having won just three of their past fifteen games, the Brewers rode into Cincinnati needing a big boost in momentum. Dropping as much as 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Crew looks to make up some ground in the two-team race for the division crown. Game 1 -- Brewers 5, Reds 4 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN202206170.shtml Game one of the three game set started out with three scoreless frames from each side. Eric Lauer worked through the Reds lineup the first time through allowing just one single, and looked sharp, striking out four in the first three innings. Hunter Renfroe got things going for the offense with two men on in the fourth for the Crew with his eleventh home run of the season. Willy Adames followed up with a solo shot in the fifth inning to give the Brewers a 4-0 lead. Lauer started getting into trouble in the bottom of the fifth, surrendering a two run home run to Albert Almora. In the sixth, Lauer gave up two more solo home runs that knotted the game at four. But in the seventh, Keston Hiura provided the decisive shot. With Hiura struggling against left handed pitching all season, his first home run against lefties came at an opportune time. With the Brewers holding a 5-4 lead, Lauer got through one more out to finish his night at 6 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to Miguel Sanchez, who finished the seventh, Devin Williams worked the eighth scoreless, and Brad Boxberger came on in the ninth to work his first save. Two of the first three men reached base before Boxberger induced a force groundout, to bring up pinch hitter Joey Votto . With the game on the line, Votto flew out to deep right center field, and the Brewers held on for the win. Lauer improves his record to 6-2 on the season, while Boxberger records his first save of the season. Game 2 - Brewers 7, Reds 3 https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN202206180.shtml Jason Alexander got his fifth start in place of injured Brandon Woodruff. While the peripheral stats look average at best and Alexander's strikeout rate is certainly pedestrian, the production and results have been a steady presence in the rotation while the Brewers wait for Woodruff's return. The Brewers gave Alexander an early lead on a first inning RBI double by Rowdy Tellez. The Crew struck again in the third on a two run home run by Willy Adames, and an RBI double by Luis Urias. The Reds squeezed across an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Brewers got two more back in the sixth on a two-run double by Jace Peterson. In the bottom of the sixth, Alexander got into trouble, allowing four base hits and a pair of runs before being relieved by Miguel Sanchez to preserve the lead. Renfroe tacked another run onto the board for the Brewers in the seventh with a solo home run, his second in as many days, and put the Brewers back up 7-3. Trevor Kelly came on in the bottom of the frame and work 1 2/3 innings before giving the ball to Hoby Milner who finished the game out for the Crew. Milner didn't get credit for a save, but struck out two, giving up just a single and dropped his ERA for the season down to 2.20. Jason Alexander picks up the win, the first of the season and career for the 29 year old rookie, who is now 1-0. Game 3 - Brewers 6, Reds 3 https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401355229 Trying to complete the sweep, Craig Counsell handed the ball to Adrian Houser. Houser tossed a quality start today, going six innings and allowing three runs. He ran into trouble in the fourth inning, allowing all three runs in that frame. Houser recovered after that and tossed a scoreless fifth and sixth inning and handed the ball over to the pen. Houser was helped in the first by a nice grab by Andrew McCutchen, who turned back the clock a little bit to his gold glove days and took a run or two off the board from the Reds with this beautiful sliding grab. The Brewers struck first, with an RBI double by Urias in the top of the fourth, followed by Victor Caratini's fifth big fly of the season. Of the twelve Brewers batsmen that have 100 or more plate appearances, Caratini is the only player with an OPS over .800 currently. One would wager that won't hold until the end of the season, but right now, he is providing a boost to the offense when he plays. The Reds tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, but as previously mentioned, Houser settled down and held the Reds bats in check for two more innings, completing six solid, if unspectacular innings of work. The Brewers took the lead back in the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of utility call-up Mark Mathias, and put a few insurance runs on the board in the seventh when Renfroe knocked his third home run in three days with McCutchen on board to make the score 6-3 Brewers. In the bottom of the frame, the Reds loaded the bases with two outs off of Kelly. With aging, but still feared slugger Votto coming up, the Brewers turned to Milner, who struck Votto out to end the threat. After that pivotal moment, Boxberger and WIlliams handled the last two innings with relative ease to complete the game and the sweep. Houser got the win to go to 4-7, and Devin Williams picked up his 5th save. The shorthanded Brewers completed the sweep and with the Cardinals losing to the Red Sox, are now tied again for first in the NL Central. A pivotal series starts next in Milwaukee with the Brewers and Cards squaring off with first place on the line. View full article