Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: A bare market for Melvin

It is no secret Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin is exploring his options to add a player via trade before the July 31 deadline.

There just aren’t many options.

Based on what the Brewers are looking for (probably established pitching) and what potential sellers would want in return (probably younger pitching), Melvin said there are fewer than 10 teams that could potentially “match up” with the Brewers.

That is what happened when Melvin inquired about Mark DeRosa, then with the Cleveland Indians. Melvin was told by Indians GM Mark Shapiro the Brewers didn’t have what his club was looking for and shipped DeRosa to St. Louis.

Translation: It could be difficult to make any kind of significant move, even if the Brewers’ desire is a position player.

“I don’t know,” Melvin said. “Things can change overnight. You prefer not to give up players on your current club.”

But that could be a challenge since Melvin has already deemed Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar as untouchable. So to pull off a deal and keep the organization’s two best prospects, a big-league player would probably have to be involved.

plus, Waste treatment

Brewers Jeffress gets 100-game suspension

Right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, rated by many as the top pitching prospect in the Brewers’ farm system, has drawn a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a second time for a “substance of abuse.”

The penalty leaves Jeffress, 21, one positive test away from a lifetime ban under the Minor League Drug Treatment and Prevention program.

Substances are not revealed under the minor league drug program but Jeffress admitted in the past to testing positive for marijuana near the end of the 2007 season, while pitching for Class A West Virginia. He received a 50-game suspension at the time, which carried over to the 2008 season.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - GM: Prospects not on table

Having already traded top prospect Matt LaPorta for CC Sabathia last season, Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Tuesday that he had no intention of dealing third baseman Mat Gamel or shortstop Alcides Escobar this season for pitching help.

“Highly unlikely,” said Melvin, who is on the hunt for a starting pitcher. “It’s almost impossible. You never say never but it’s not my focus at all. Those young players are valuable.”

After LaPorta was dealt for Sabathia, who led the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, Escobar moved up to the top spot in the organizational prospect rankings by Baseball America magazine, with Gamel at No. 2.

As badly as the Brewers need starting pitching help with Dave Bush on the disabled list and Manny Parra in the minors, Melvin said the price would be too high if he included Gamel or Escobar. Gamel has been with the Brewers since May 14 and is batting .244 with two homers and 12 RBI in 32 games.

Escobar, 22, is batting .295 with 18 doubles, four triples, three homers, 24 RBI and 26 stolen bases at Class AAA Nashville, where he is rated one of the top prospects in the minors.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Cubs castoff McGehee helping to carry team

With Aramis Ramirez entrenched as their starting third baseman, the Chicago Cubs figured they didn’t need Casey McGehee anymore, despite a banner 2008 season with Class AAA Iowa.

Funny, how things work out at times. Let’s just say the Cubs’ sputtering offense might look more formidable these days with McGehee on the club.

“I really haven’t thought much about it,” said McGehee, who has emerged as an offensive force for the Milwaukee Brewers after beginning the season buried on their bench. “It’s kind of a tough situation (for Chicago).”

The Cubs, of course, had no way of knowing that Ramirez would be lost for many weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Oddly enough, he suffered that injury while trying to make a diving stab of a grounder during a Chicago-Milwaukee series in early May at Miller Park.

Looking to create roster flexibility after the 2008 season, the Cubs placed McGehee on waivers after he batted .296 with 30 doubles, 12 home runs and 92 runs batted in over 133 games for Iowa.

The Brewers claimed McGehee and added him to their 40-man roster. The idea was to add depth to the infield, which turned out to be a prescient move.

At the time, the Brewers could not know that second baseman Rickie Weeks would be lost for the season in mid-May with a wrist injury. Or that third baseman Bill Hall’s offensive freefall would carry over to another season.

JSOnline/Hunt: Cracks appear in foundation

“One week, I think we need a pitcher,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “The next week, a hitter. Then you get worried about the bullpen.

“But it’s too early to panic.”

Melvin’s comments came before the Brewers lost again, 5-4, to the Chicago White Sox to make them 1-5 on the recently concluded home stand and losers of eight of their last 12. The Good Ship Attanasio is starting to take on water, but the GM is correct. The calendar says it’s mid-June and the standings reflected that the Brewers were tied for first place in their division by the time Craig Counsell had bounced out to send, by the sound of things, about half of a filled Miller Park home grumpy.

But the cracks are becoming a little more noticeable. And they’re magnified on the rare occasion when Hoffman grooves a 3-0 pitch to A.J. Pierzynski.

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Melvin said stealing more was up to Ken Macha, but he added, “You’ve got to be aggressive. You can’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

also, Parra’s replacement still murky

Sutton Says: Braun The Bachelor? Brewers Leftfielder Turns Down ABC’s Offer

I asked Braun if he would like to be either on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” or our network’s other big hit “The Bachelor.” And he told me that “The Bachelor” actually called him to be on the show. Braun the Bachelor. Has a nice ring to it, but unfortunately, he said thanks, but no thanks—much to the dismay of female fans in Milwaukee and around the country.

Now, had Braun accepted the invite, he wouldn’t have been the first professional athlete to be on the show. Former Giants quarterback, and current ESPN announcer, Jesse Palmer was “The Bachelor” a few seasons ago. Palmer picked a lady, but didn’t propose to her and a few weeks later they broke up.

One of the following is real as of 8:03 PM on June 10th, 2009:
Jose Canseco will announce he is breaking up with his girlfriend and that he’d love to take the spot Braun was offered. Oh, and Curt Schilling would like to say he’d love to be on Dancing with the Stars, but there are just too many damn Hollywood Liberals. And Jeff Kent will be on Superstars alongside the Doritos Girl. And Barry Bonds… well…

JSOnline: Brewers security keyed in on disruptive fans

When fans settle into their seats at Miller Park for a Milwaukee Brewers game, the last thing they want to see is an abusive or out-of-control fan.

This season, the Brewers are using cell phone technology to give fans the ability to text message security personnel. The response is quick, anonymous and, team officials hope, results in a peaceful, non-confrontational solution.

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So far, security personnel have responded to an average of seven to eight incidents per game.

During the game Tuesday night, a fan sent a text message from the field level about another fan who would not sit down. A stadium employee responded, gave the man a warning and continued to monitor the situation.

An inning or two later, the fan refused to stop standing and was ejected by police.

Charleston Daily Mail: Smith: Eddie Mathews knew hitting

Call me a sap, but between this kinda gunk and old Vivilore Jordan 45’s...I can’t get enough.

As for sheer power, though, I would rate the left-handed hitting Mathews up there with anyone. He hit towering home runs and was one of the first players other teams put on a shift for. It’s interesting that Matthews, Williams and Musial all batted lefty.

We were sitting in a lounge in Plant City, Fla., one night having a drink. I asked Eddie, “Are hitters born or made?”

He thought for a second and said, “If a batter has the ability to hit .275 and is hitting only .190, I think I can make him hit to his potential. But I can’t make him a .300 hitter. Great hitters are born.

..."I hit 512 home runs and couldn’t hit a curve ball. Every pitcher in the league knew it.”

I said, “How did you hit all those home runs?”

“If you’re patient, you’re going to get your pitch to hit maybe four or five times a game ...and you’d better be sitting on it.”

“Can you teach a hitter to hit with power?”

“No. I’ll use myself as an example. From the first time I ever remember picking up a baseball bat I could hit the ball hard.”

“What were you doing?”

“I don’t know. I played in the Majors for 16 years and I still don’t know.”

JSOnline/Hunt: Don’t fix a team that isn’t broken

To see the public-relations problems the Atlanta Braves have caused for themselves with the Tom Glavine mess brings home a couple of relevant points.

One, however, is not that the Milwaukee Brewers should sign Glavine, but more on that in a moment.

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The final game Sunday in the Milwaukee-Atlanta series was a backdrop for the overriding Brewers issue for armchair general managers everywhere. After the beating Manny Parra took in his previous start at Florida, the reactionary response might have been to get him out of the rotation and take a look at the suddenly available Glavine.

In a game desperate for pitching, someone might roll the dice on Glavine. But it shouldn’t be the Brewers. It’s hard to see where they would have a need for a 43-year-old soft-tosser who is essentially done. The Braves did the right thing, even if they went about it absolutely the wrong way.

Meanwhile, Parra was respectable Sunday. He was hurt by one of the best switch-hitters baseball has seen, and one of the gopher balls he threw to Chipper Jones was a decent pitch. He didn’t lose the game. Point is, Parra’s stuff remains such that giving up on him too soon wouldn’t be altogether advisable.

also, Fielder feasting at the plate

JSOnline/Haudricourt: Macha protecting Gallardo

At age 23, Yovani Gallardo already is a special major league pitcher, and the Brewers intend to keep him that way.

With that in mind, manager Ken Macha pulled the plug on Gallardo after eight innings and 110 pitches tonight, allowing Carlos Villanueva to finish the Brewers’ 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

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“I do appreciate that a lot,” said Gallardo, who threw 126 pitches two starts prior to this outing in eight shutout innings against St. Louis. “I have no problem with that. They’re doing that with good reason. I just keep throwing until they tell me I’m done.”

Macha had that 126-pitch outing in mind when making the move to Villanueva. In the start after that workload, even with an extra day of rest, Gallardo made it through only 5 1/3 innings against Cincinnati.

JSOnline/Haudricourt - Hall running out of time

It sounds as if the leash on Bill Hall is getting shorter. Much shorter.

“His at-bats and what he has done over the last month, we’re down to the end there where other options are going to have to be explored,” manager Ken Macha said Thursday before the Brewers lost to Florida, 4-3, in the finale of the four-game series.

Macha had Hall in the lineup, primarily because he was 4-for-6 with two homers in two previous starts against Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson. But that match-up did nothing to perk up Hall, who went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and two groundouts to fall to .211 for the season.

Macha made it clear that Hall was running out of time to break out of his prolonged offensive skid.

Doubleheader: Milwaukee Brewers bring drive-In movies to Miller Park

I once went to a “Massacre at Central High” - “Mansion of the Doomed” double feature at the rundone Newark Drive-In (You Can See It From The Jersey Turnpike!)...when a mega riot broke out. Go figure.

The Milwaukee Brewers baseball club held a brainstorming session a while back to see what would happen if movies were linked with a baseball venue. They came up with Miller Park Movies. In early June, the Brewers unveiled drive-in movies in the parking lots of Miller Park. With any luck, this might start a trend for the club, and develop a following for movie nights in the future, with two nights tentatively set for August.

“Teams around the League have been attempting to do something like this over the years,” notes Jason Hartlund, VP of Brewers Enterprises, who oversees all non-baseball-related revenue for the team. He says he’s surprised drive-in movies haven’t been shown previously at another Major League park. “Some franchises don’t have the physical ability to do this kind of thing because of small parking lots,” he reflects. “It’s predicated on the real estate around the park, and the climate.”

...Owens believes pairing movies with baseball is a good move. He says the Brewers are smart to take a page out of the Minor League book. “The Brewers understand the idea of engaging the community,” Owens states. “It’s about developing relationships with your fan base. The fans will come back and ask: What else have you got?”

Regardless of how many times you hear about how bad our economy might be, it’s a fact every business must take into consideration. “At one of our Fan Fest events, we showed Shrek on the pitcher’s mound,” Owens recalls. “It was a huge hit.”

Goold: Those Brash, Untucking Brewers

Tell us what you don’t like about themselves…

Regardless, the relationship between the Cardinals and Brewers has become … testy.

“It’s safe to say,” one Cardinal said a year ago, “we are not fans of those (untucking) guys.”

And that untucking has increasingly become a symbol of the teams’ distaste for one another. The Brewers whipping out of their shirttails after a victory started by Mike Cameron as an ode to his father who would do the same after coming home from work. It gained momentum last year when CC Sabathia joined his teammate in the practice. The Brewers continue to do it still. But on Monday they decided to take it into their clubhouse — an unspoken nod to the club they view as the biggest critic of their celebration. It could be because the Cardinals have just seen it so often. They are 0-4 this year against Milwaukee.

“We just decided to celebrate inside,” Cameron told Haudricourt. “We’ve been working on it for awhile now.”

ESPN: Brewers win pitchers’ duel on Hall hit in 10th

1:05 CT start at Miller Park (the hitters aren’t able to see) + very good pitching matchup == hitters might as well just pack it in

Bill Hall snapped a 1-for-28 slump with a two-out, RBI single in the 10th inning to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter took a perfect game into the seventh inning, and the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo carried a no-hitter into the sixth before each finished allowing just two hits over eight innings.

Milwaukee closer Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth and Carlos Villanueva (2-3) the 10th for the Brewers, setting up Hall’s dramatics off St. Louis’ Kyle McClellan (2-2).
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The last time two starters had no-hitters through five was on June 10, 1997 when Kevin Brown through a no-no for the Marlins and William VanLandingham had a no hitter for 6 1/3 for the Giants.

Homers rule the day as three Twins, two Brewers go deep

Justin Morneau hit a grand slam, Scott Baker pitched into the ninth inning, and the Minnesota Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 6-3 victory Sunday night.

Joe Mauer and Joe Crede also homered for Minnesota, which has scored 43 runs in its last four games. Baker (2-5) allowed seven hits and struck out six in 8 1/3 innings for his first win in three starts since May 8.

Mike Cameron hit a solo homer in the fourth, and Prince Fielder added a two-run shot in the ninth for the Brewers.

The HRs were flying out of the Homer-Dome so much, you’d have thought it was Yankee Stadium!

MLB.com: Cuddyer hits for cycle against Brewers

Michael Cuddyer became the second Twins player to hit for the cycle this season, and the 10th in team history to accomplish the feat, with his performance in Friday night’s game against the Brewers.

The Twins right fielder began his cycle with a three-run homer to left-center field in the first inning off Brewers starter Manny Parra.

Cuddyer led off the third inning with a ground-rule double to left-center field off Parra. He came up to bat again in the fourth inning right after Parra had exited and was replaced by right-hander Mike DiFelice. Cuddyer added an RBI single to center field, capping a four-run inning for Minnesota.

That single left Cuddyer just a triple short of the cycle. And in the sixth inning, in his fourth at-bat of the night, he delivered that triple with a grounder down the left-field line. The right fielder hustled around the bases and beat the throw from Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, earning him a standing ovation from the crowd at the Metrodome

Wolfley: Brewers’ effective pitching surprises ESPN’s Kruk

So does the JUMBO A-B-C Alphabet Chunky Puzzle learner set...but that’s another story.

Before the season started, John Kruk of ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” did not think the Milwaukee Brewers could win their division.

He also did not see them as a wild-card playoff candidate.

“Unless they win the division, I can’t see them getting into the playoffs with that pitching staff,” Kruk said at the time.

...On “Baseball Tonight” he expressed his surprise, but stopped short of saying the Brewers’ rotation can continue the success.

“Coming into the season, we thought they would just have to outscore people in order to win games,” Kruk said “They are winning with pitching, especially their starting pitching, and they are turning it over to a bullpen that has Trevor Hoffman - nine for nine in save opportunities. I didn’t think this team would be any good. When you lose CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, where are they going to get the pitching? Veteran guys are stepping up. Yovani Gallardo is stepping up. Trevor Hoffman, the oldest guy on that team, is actually performing better than anyone. We might see him in St. Louis for the All-Star Game.”

MLB.com: Padres acquire Gwynn Jr. for Gerut

SAN DIEGO—The Padres are bringing Tony Gwynn Jr. home to his native San Diego, as the team swapped outfielders with the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, landing the son of former Padres great and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

The Padres traded outfielder Jody Gerut to the Brewers for Gwynn Jr., who was hitting .309 with a .387 on-base percentage for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville of the Pacific Coast League. Gerut, 31, was hitting .227 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 37 games with the Padres. He has struggled to regain his form of 2008, when he hit .296 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs in 328 at-bats.

MLB.com: Astros bat out of order against Brewers

Manager Cecil Cooper changed the batting order for Wednesday’s game, but he apparently forgot to tell the Brewers. Cooper made two switches to his lineup prior to the game—most significantly, flip-flopping Kazuo Matsui and Michael Bourn, with Bourn leading off and Matsui in the two-hole.

Perhaps out of habit, Cooper incorrectly filled out the lineup card, inserting Matsui in the leadoff spot with Bourn hitting second.

Bourn singled against Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo to leadoff the game, but he was quickly called back. Cooper did not move from his seat in the dugout, even as the umpires explained the situation to Cooper and to Bourn. Geoff Blum, standing on the top step in the dugout, called Bourn over and emphatically explained to Bourn what had happened.

Bourn was sent back to the plate to hit again. Matsui, per rule 6:07 of the Major League Baseball rule book, was called out. Catcher Jason Kendall was credited with the putout.

MIL Journal-Sentinel: Looking within for answers

Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Tuesday that he did not plan to shop for a new second baseman… “Right now, Craig Counsell is doing a good job,” Melvin said. “We’ll stay with what we’ve got.”

Melvin said he heard from the agent of unemployed Ray Durham, who played the second half of the season with the Brewers last year after being acquired from San Francisco. Melvin said he had no plans to pursue Durham, 37.

“I talked to his agent,” Melvin said. “He said Ray is working out but that’s the problem with these guys who are working out. It would take them awhile to get ready.”
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Another second baseman who didn’t sign with another team is Mark Grudzielanek, who became a free agent when he turned down arbitration from Kansas City. Melvin indicated no interest, saying Grudzielanek had had back problems.
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Melvin said shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar would start playing some second base at Class AAA Nashville to be ready in the event of another injury at that position. “He’ll play two days at second base, then one back at short,” Melvin said.

STL Post-Dispatch: Brewers break out their brooms one more time

Mat Gamel: 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 great defensive play, 1 horrible throw for an error

The Milwaukee Brewers came to Busch Stadium as one of the hottest teams in baseball and left with their shirttails — and the Cardinals — flapping in their wake.

In a relentless and decisive trouncing of the Cardinals, the Brewers entered the series tied for first in the National League with the host club and left with first all to themselves. The Brewers swept the three-games series, their first three-game series sweep in St. Louis in nearly a decade. The broom job also gave them consecutive series wins in their past six three-game series. Milwaukee has won 12 of its past 14 games and 20 of its past 25.
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The Cardinals inducted another member of that home-grown slugger fraternity Monday when Mat Gamel, just called up this past week, made his first start and hit the first home run of his major-league career. The three-run blast against Kyle Lohse in the third inning put the Brewers ahead 4-0.

Braun reached base in four of his five plate appearances and scored four runs. Fielder reached base in all five of his plate appearances.
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They have [won] in nine of their past 10 games at Busch.

MLB.com: Kendall records 2,000th career hit

Brewers catcher Jason Kendall reached the 2,000-hit plateau with a single in the second inning of Monday night’s game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Kendall, who ranks eighth all-time among catchers on the hits list with at least 1,000 career games played, lined a one-out single up the middle off the Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse. The ball was tossed into the Brewers’ dugout for Kendall to have as a keepsake.
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Ivan Rodriguez leads all catchers who have played at least 1,000 games with 2,637 career hits.

MIL J-S: Weeks out for season

Busy hour in Milwaukee news; this, and a live press conference where they’ve announced that DNA evidence has shown there’s been a serial killer running around for the last 20 years.

General manager Doug Melvin just gave us the very bad news that second baseman Rickie Weeks is out for the season with the wrist injury he suffered Sunday.

Weeks has a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist that must be repaired surgically. The recovery time for that surgery is 4-6 months.
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It’s the same injury Weeks had to his right wrist late in the 2006 season. He had surgery in August of that season and was still bothered the next season but he’ll have more time to recover now.
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Melvin said he wasn’t sure yet which player would come up from the minors to replace Weeks on the roster. In tonight’s game against St. Louis, Craig Counsell is playing second and rookie Mat Gamel is making his first start at third base.

MIL J-S blog: Weeks to see wrist specialist

Good thing Craig Counsell is playing so far like he’s a decade younger than he is.

Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks is off to see a wrist specialist, which is not a good sign.

Weeks, probably the most improved player on the club this season, injured his left wrist on a swing in which he struck out Sunday to start the game against the Cardinals. He was removed after that at-bat and it was announced after the game he is flying to Arizona to see specialist Don Sheridan.

Sheridan operated on Weeks’ right wrist at the end of the 2006 season to repair a tendon injury. Sheridan also operated on Weeks’ left thumb after the 2005 season to repair a torn ligament.
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Weeks had a brace on the wrist after the game and was too upset to talk much about it.

“I felt a little pressure, a little tug,” said Weeks… “I’m going to get it checked out. We’ll see what happens.

“It’s an injury. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Hot-hitting Gamel earns promotion

Gamel, 23, ranked among the Pacific Coast League leaders in most offensive categories. In 33 games with Nashville, he was batting .336 with eight home runs, 31 runs batted in, 11 doubles and a triple.

Gamel accumulated 20 extra-base hits, 21 walks and 34 strikeouts in 119 at-bats, with a .428 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2005 June draft, Gamel is not known for his defense. He committed an astounding 53 errors at Class A Brevard County in 2007 and 32 combined last season at Class AA Huntsville and Nashville.

MLB.com: Brewers ink Catalanotto to Minors deal

The Brewers signed utility man Frank Catalanotto to a Minor League contract on Tuesday, adding a versatile veteran—and another left-handed bat—for organizational depth.

Catalanotto will report to the team’s year-round baseball facility in Phoenix for 5-7 days of workouts before he’s assigned to a Minor League affiliate, a Brewers spokesman said. It’s possible that he could eventually replace Brad Nelson on the Brewers’ bench if Nelson doesn’t hit a hot streak.
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He spent the last two years with Texas, but was released at the end of Spring Training when the Rangers opted to add Andruw Jones to the roster. Texas swallowed Catalanotto’s $6 million salary for this season, so the Brewers would only owe him a prorated portion of the Major League minimum salary for time he spends in the big leagues.
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He has history with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who was Texas’ GM in November 1999 when Catalanotto was traded along with Francisco Cordero, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson and Bill Hasselman in a blockbuster deal that sent Juan Gonzalez to Detroit. Melvin has since brought Cordero, Kapler and Thompson in for separate stints with the Brewers.

Brew Crew Ball: Why Bob Brenly Hates Ryan Braun

Has anyone caught Mitch Williams’ crusher broomfieldian one-man gangup of Ryan Braun on MLB hugwork? Sad.

The Cubs broadcast shows that Braun was indeed hollering a bit as he approached home plate during his home run trot, and he certainly stared down Dempster after getting out of the box. I can understand taking offense to that, but I think context has to be considered, namely Braun’s heightened anxiety from the previous plate appearance; homering off the guy that, intentionally or not, buzzed your tower has to be cathartic. Cubs fans will no doubt point out the additional context of Braun’s history of somewhat flamboyant home run celebrations, and that’s valid, but I think the key here is that this is was not a premeditated, elaborate ritual, but rather a spontaneous outburst of victory after a perceived direct challenge. I’m more on board with the antipathy toward his standard airplane-arms saturnalia.

Okay, so that’s how I feel about it; Bob Brenly, the Cubs color announcer, clearly feels a bit different. In fact, besides making fun of the size of Braun’s eyeballs, he said the following:

Braun had some issues with some rib muscles early in the season; he may have some issues with his rib muscles as this season progresses if he acts like that on every home run he hits.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether Brenly is advocating violence against Braun or merely predicting it. I guess it’s a good thing Brenly didn’t get the Brewers gig and have to manage someone he so detests, eh?

MLB.com: Lights go out on Brewers, Cubs

It was already on its way to being a dreadfully slow game even before that happened.  In total, it was about a half-hour delay.

To add to the strangeness of the evening, Craig Counsell hit a home run.

The Brewers and Cubs were already well past the three-hour mark on Saturday night and Milwaukee reliever Todd Coffey was about to throw his first pitch with a runner at second base and two outs in the eighth inning when most of the lights along the left-field line at Miller Park suddenly went dark. The right-field lights followed shortly thereafter, leaving players and 44,428 fans in near-darkness.
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A Brewers spokesperson said at the time that the problem had been identified and would be fixed in 10-15 minutes.

By 9:30 p.m. CT, about 13 minutes after the outage, the lights began to warm up again.
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The Brewers had a similar problem in June 2001, their first year at Miller Park. A Brewers-Royals game was suspended after the lights went out after a scoreless first inning, and the teams resumed play the following day with an unofficial doubleheader.

MLB.com: Reds lose as Arroyo’s night ends early

Bronson Arroyo ALMOST matched the -1 game score Brian Tallet had earlier this year for Toronto.  However, if my calculations are correct, he just missed, and finished with a game score of zero.

Arroyo’s line: 1 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 2 HR, 0 SO, 3 BB

The Reds and starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo were jumped early and took a 15-3 loss to the Brewers Wednesday in the first game of a two-game series at Great American Ball Park.

After a 46-minute pregame rain delay, Arroyo tied his season high with nine earned runs allowed and tied his career’s shortest outing at one-plus innings. He gave up seven hits, three walks and two home runs while throwing only 46 pitches.
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The first three Brewers batters reached base on Arroyo in the second inning before a 1-2 hanging breaking ball was launched by Ryan Braun over the center-field fence for a grand slam that ended Arroyo’s night.
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With the Reds looking to save their bullpen, they moved shortstop Paul Janish to the mound for the top of the ninth as their fifth reliever.

PIT Post-Gazette: Pirates lose 17th in row to Brewers, 8-5

Make it a sorry 17.

The Pirates’ latest in a litany of losses to Milwaukee, a nails-to-the-chalkboard 8-5 outcome tonight at PNC Park, was their 17th in a row to the Brewers, marking Major League Baseball’s longest such streak between two teams in four decades: The most recent with 17 or more was the Baltimore Orioles’ 23-game streak against the Kansas City Royals in 1969-70.
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The Pirates’ most recent victory against Milwaukee came May 22, 2008, and the combined score in favor of the Brewers since then has been 103-45, with only four of the 17 outcomes decided by a single run.

The Pirates have also lost 18 straight games to the Brewers in Milwaukee.