Brewers avoid utter embarrassment

POSTGAME

> A sweep at the hands of the Astros would have made the Brewers truly hit rock bottom.  But, they were able to avoid a sweep by the worst team in baseball, defeating the Astros 5-3. 

Yovani Gallardo was able to go deep into the game, throwing 7 2/3 solid innings while giving up three runs on nine hits.  He walked two and struck out eight.  It was his longest outing of the year, and the second most pitches he’d thrown (114).  Jose Veras came in to get the last out of what could have been a rocky eighth inning, then Kameron Loe recorded the save in the ninth (which was also pretty shaky). 

Gallardo had a rough first inning, giving up back-t0-back doubles to Tyler Greene and Marwin Gonzalez to start the game.  But, Gallardo himself tied the game with an RBI single in the second inning.  Rickie Weeks gave the Brewers the lead with an RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth inning, and Ryan Braun followed that up with an RBI groundout to make the score 3-1.  Gonzalez’s RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning cut into the Brewers’ lead, but Corey Hart added an insurance run in the sixth on 22nd home run of the year.  The Brewers added another important run in the eighth on Martin Maldonado’s RBI double.  The last Astros run came on Scott Moore’s RBI single in the eighth. 

THE ROTATION SITUATION

> The other day, Ron Roenicke announced that the Brewers might start monitoring pitch count and the number of innings that pitchers throw, also mentioning that a few could even be shut down.  If you don’t already know, I’m strongly against pitch count and the emphasis it has on today’s game of baseball, so naturally I’m opposed to this idea.  But let me explain why I think it’s useless. 

The only name Roenicke mentioned as to who would probably shut down is Mike Fiers, who is by far the best pitcher in the Brewers’ rotation right now.  His 1.80 ERA makes him a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate.  So why even think about shutting him down? 

According to Roenicke, the Brewers want to “protect his arm.”  After an eight-inning performance his last time out, Fiers is at 80 innings on the year (excluding 55 innings in the Minors).  If you add those together, he’s at a total of 135 innings, and Fiers has never thrown more than 135 innings, which is RRR’s excuse to possibly shut him down. 

And that’s what I don’t understand.  Not letting a young a guy throw more innings than he has before isn’t going to help him develop.  He has to get out of his comfort zone and throw more innings; he’s in the Majors now. 

I do understand trying to protect his arm, but that’s pretty pointless, considering Fiers doesn’t have much injury history.  For a guy like Mark Rogers, who has a ton of injuries on his ledger, sure, I can cope with not letting him throw as many innings until we know he’s back to 100%.  But Fiers is at 100% right now, and is doing some of the best pitching the Brewers have seen in quite some time.  So why take that away? 

Roenicke has also suggested going to a six-man rotation, which would also hold back the innings of each pitcher.  I’m not for that, either, but at least the guys would continue to pitch, instead of being shut down for the year.  If I had to choose between the two, I’d go with the six-man rotation. 

RRR also tried to compare this to what the Rockies are doing.  Please, our pitching staff isn’t that bad. ( Unless we’re talking about the bullpen, which we aren’t.) 

THE NEWS

> Weeks was tried again at the top of the order, a role he lost earlier this year after his awful start.  He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, so I doubt we’ll see him there tomorrow. 

> Two former Brewers took the mound today.  Chris Capuano took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning against the Marlins before it was broken up by Jose Reyes.  Ben Sheets will try to continue his astounding comeback tonight against the Mets, which will be broadcasted on ESPN. 

> The Cubs picked up former Brewers starter Seth McClung today, signing him to a Minor League deal.  The Brewers tried McClung again this year in the Minors, but just couldn’t control the damage, so he was released two weeks ago. 

The Cubs have already tried something similar to this.  Last year, they signed former Brewer Doug Davis to a Minor League deal, and he eventually reached the Majors.  But that experiment didn’t work out too well, and I doubt McClung will either. 

> One of the Brewers’ first round picks in this year’s draft, Victor Roache, was cleared to take dry swings today.  He’d been out for over four months due to major arm surgery. 

THE NUMBERS GAME

> Jean Segura continues to improve at the plate, as he went 2-for-4 today.  His average is up to .250. 

> Hart’s home run today snapped him out of an o-for-11 slump. 

> This was Gallardo’s third consecutive start in which he himself picked up an RBI. 

> Loe’s save was just the third of his career. 

> Probables for the upcoming series in Colorado:

Mike Fiers (6-4, 1.80 ERA) vs. Jeff Francis (3-4, 6.06 ERA)

Randy Wolf (3-8, 5.46 ERA) vs. Tyler Chatwood (2-2, 5.06 ERA)

Mark Rogers (0-1, 4.08 ERA) vs. Drew Pomeranz (1-7, 5.07 ERA)

THE EXTRAS

> This play may have been the Brewers’ play of the year, and sparks some excitement for the Segura/Weeks double play tandem.