SoCal Brew Crew Fan

The Brewers have been a poor defensive team for some time...it was just a matter of time before a night like this happened. What's crazy is how many good plays they had too...Yuni, JHJ & Gomez all made super plays...then every horrendous error and the misplays that weren't errors resulted in runs. This is all part of a player's value...a part that has been lacking in this team. Hopefully they can mash the next couple games and overcome it.

He doesn't like long rest and pitched poorly on short rest. Don't mess with Zach. The whole home/road split thing just doesn't make sense with him and is skewed by two really bad games. I do think there is some credence to Marcum's home/road splits since he gives up some long flys that are homers at MP and outs in places like St. Louis. I'm not sure Marcum will make it that far anyway in game 6 if he's really "toast". Just get Zach out there and get the W.

Epic start...truly a career moment for Wolf. Unflappable tonight. That homer to Holliday was ridiculously cheap. Would love to see him get one more of those starts.

Just imagine for a moment that Joe Girardi made that call in a Yankees/Red Sox ALCS...the NY press would have had a field day. There'd be a full page picture of Kotsay's face plant on the cover of the NY Post. RR is lucky to be in a small market this morning.

Lohse just isn't that good. Wolf can be fine and keep us in the game. Their pen shut us down last night, but I'd still take our pen over theirs. 2-2 with Greinke going in game 5 will give a whole new outlook on the series.

It was only a matter of time before our bad defense killed us...it just didn't have to start in CF.

chat room...vent room...now open for business

RR just blew this one in the first...what an idiot.

If they really are looking at a rain delay...why not start a reliever. Even if one or two go right off the bat, they'd still have a good run of Gallardo.

The entire series may be contingent on Uecker's Pocket Doppler.

I think dismissing those that are concerned about Marcum as small sample size as terrible analysis is simply not valid. Normally I would agree with you guys but in this case there is some awfully strong evidence that he has hit some type of wall. His location has been off and his effectiveness has waned. There are theories on this including injury or he's just gassed or maybe it's just a bad streak he could reverse. In truth we don't really know the answer, but all of those explanations are certainly plausible. So the questions are...is something wrong with Marcum or is it just a blip? It's not conclusive, but I'd say something is wrong. That many innings, that little control...in my eyes this is not a healthy Marcum. Do we have a better option in Narveson? Frankly I'm not sure. Here's where there is a small sample issue. He's been effective against St. Louis, but only in 2 outings. He's by far our 5th best starter...he's not in a healthy Marcum's league. He's also not pitched that long in awhile. If it was me, I'd probably go with Narveson and Wholestaff it, but in reality RR has to be the one to make the call...he's the only one with the full access to the information of the current state of Marcum and the alternatives. A proper answer can't come from my naked eye saying Marcum isn't right or a long series of stats that says Marcum is the better pitcher when we may not be dealing with the same Marcum. No rational person is saying Marcum is Suppan 2.0, but to me there is enough evidence to say something is wrong. I just hope we aren't down 3-2 going into game 6...that's going to be an awfully tough, no win call for RR to make...unless of course, we win.

The Boston Globe article on www.boston.com is an absolute must read. The author really dug up some inside dirt on the collapse.

I have selfish reasons for not wanting a delay...my plane back to Milwaukee is on Saturday and I have tickets for 6 & 7. I'd rather not be on a flight wondering if there will even be a game 6.

Even in a good scenario the Cubs are a couple years away...why sign a big FA now when he might not age correctly by the time they are ready to roll. They have a decent (although not what the Red Sox were) farm system. They just need to get through these albatross contracts and they'll have plenty of room to maneuver.

I'd rather he was starting the game for them. In defense of Soup, yes he was a horrible disappointment, but he was nothing but an upstanding guy when he was here, we don't make the playoffs in '08 without his performance in August with Sheets out and it was the Brewers courting of him that signed him to that obscene contract which is where the market was at the time. He didn't pan out, but I never felt a reason to hate the guy. He was a big part of the Cards last World Series team so they're trying to channel some energy...and probably stick it to the Brewers a little. Whatever...I just hope he brings his Brewers cooties for the Cards and leaves them on the mound.

I'm not too worried about anything but the playoff run now, but all the tools are there to dominate the division for a long time with decent management. It will be much more tolerable if we have pennant hanging in the outfield when the Cubs fans start to swarm into MP again.

I have less problem with the strategy than I do the execution. Marcum has hit the point were he doesn't trust his stuff, so he tries to get cute and if he misses it's bad. I'd bust that guy right in on the hands and not be afraid to hit him...then work him away. I think that's what he tried, but he left it over the plate. He's not going to miss those.

Anyone notice RR's mid-inning interview last night. It happened right after Casey's pinch hit appearance. It was the first time I can recall RR being visibly frustrated with Casey. I know he made the move to Hairston which was the right one, but that was the first time I got the vibe that McGehee's days in Milwaukee may be numbered.

I see both sides. Yes, the Cards are in the drivers seat in the series. They now have homefield and get 2 starts from Carp. Our top 2 (Braun & Fielder) may be better, but their top 3 and beyond is deeper. Marcum is toast, Wolf may not be any better and an injured Rickie Weeks is a shadow of his all-star self unless someone makes a mistake inside he can pull. That being said, what does that give them a 60% chance of winning tops? Yo has never pitched well versus St. Louis, but he's been on a nice roll lately...we get him for 2 starts as well. If we get into the bullpens, which could happen in a tight Carp vs. Yo matchup...the top 3 relievers on either team are Ax, KRod and Saito-san. That buys us time to get Braun or Prince another at bat or two. We aren't the only team that has crappy starters...Garcia, Lohse and Jackson can all be had. I'd take Greinke over any of them. Plus, as great as Carp has been...he just had 2 games against the Phillies...the Brewers are way better at this point in the year than the Phils lineup. Carp had a 3.86 ERA against us this year, granted his last outing was a shutout, but they've shown they can get to him. While my money would be on the Cards, it's not so insurmountable that I've given up hope. We have around a 40% chance to make the World Series...the odds haven't been that good in a long time. Hang in there!!! EDIT: Clarification

Spot on. We saw what Greinke looked like on 3 days rest...fairly pedestrian. I'd go: Gallardo Wolf Greinke Narv/Wholestaff Gallardo If RR would take a look at what TLR does and bring a solid reliever into a high leverage situation earlier in the game, he could get through a game with 5 innings and the pen. If Pujols, Holliday & Berkman are coming up in the 5th don't bring in Estrada...use Saito or K Rod. Marcum is toast...he's not Suppan, he's just gassed.

Narv for game 6!

RR actually had some decent comments RE: Loe in the paper today...made me think he, albeit belatedly, figured him out... "Kameron Loe, early in the season I was using him because we didn't have everybody back. He was lights-out against righties but was also throwing well against lefties. Then the lefties started getting to him a little bit. But those three guys to cover the sixth and seventh innings, you couldn't ask much more out of what they've done for us."

Get Narveson some work...we're going to need him in St. Louis

All we need is a rain delay and Johnny Carson...

Cmon Corey...what the heck was that?