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The ’80s were a banner decade for Crew
MILWAUKEE — If you were at County Stadium on that late October day in 1982, you might never guess the celebration was for the World Series runners-up.
When Robin Yount circled the warning track at County Stadium on a Harley Davison motorcycle, the crowd of more than 20,000 fans was thrilled for the return of their beloved Milwaukee Brewers.
To this day, the Brewers’ 1982 team is adored by fans for giving Milwaukee its first World Series since the Milwaukee Braves won back-to-back National League pennants in 1957-58.
After finishing the previous decade with what remains the club’s best record to date in 1979, the Brewers enjoyed their greatest success of any decade in the 1980s, finishing .500 or better five times while reaching the playoffs twice and making the franchise’s only World Series appearance in ’82.
This weekend, as a part of the 40th anniversary of the move from Seattle, the Brewers are celebrating and reflecting on the club’s second decade in Milwaukee. On Friday, the team will wear reproductions of its 1978-89 uniforms, highlighted by pinstripes with “BREWERS” block letters on the front and the ball and glove logo on the cap. The Mariners will wear light blue road uniforms worn from 1981-84.
On Sunday, all fans in attendance will get a bobblehead doll commemorating Cecil Cooper’s base hit to drive home the winning runs in Game 5 of the 1982 American League Championship Series.
Harvey’s Wallbangers
While nearly everyone’s first thought of great Brewers teams goes immediately to the 1982 squad, the 1981 team was impressive in its own right.
With a 62-47 record, the Brewers finished with the best overall mark in the AL East and earned a playoff berth for their second-half record due to the split schedule that season caused by the players’ strike from June 12 to Aug. 10.
But while the Brewers lost the division series to the Yankees, three games to two, the 1981 season is remembered fondly by the players involved.
“That was probably our best team, we just jumped out in front and never looked back,” said Rollie Fingers, who won the AL MVP and Cy Young Awards in 1981. “It was a shame we had the strike in the middle of it, but it may have helped me.
“I remember I only gave up one earned run in Milwaukee that year. It was on a triple to Freddie Patek, I remember. It was one of those years where nothing went wrong.”
Following the club’s first-ever playoff appearance in 1981, expectations were high for the Brewers in 1982. Through the season’s first two months, however, things did not go as planned.
After the Brewers struggled to a 23-24 record on June 1, manager Buck Rodgers was fired in favor of Harvey Kuenn. With that, Harvey’s Wallbangers were born.
“When I think about the 1982 season, that’s the first thing that comes to mind: Harvey’s Wallbangers,” said Robin Yount, who won the first of his two AL MVP awards in 1982. “We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun that season, too. We wanted to win it for Harvey, and we did it his way.”
Over the last four months of the season, the Brewers went 72-43 to finish first in the AL East, one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. After losing in the division series the year before, the Brewers returned to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
As they squared off with the California Angels in the AL Championship Series, the Brewers immediately dropped the first two games of the series in Anaheim. But as the series returned to Milwaukee, the Brewers swept all three games at County Stadium, including a thrilling 4-3 victory to clinch the AL pennant.
Milwaukee loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, which led to the most famous single of Cooper’s career, a two-run hit that put the Brewers on top and won the series.
After winning the ALCS, the Brewers were set to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the “Suds Series,” the first World Series in club history. Though they fell short in Game 7, the 1982 season remains fresh in the memories of players and fans alike.
“My career might be over, and the games are in the past, but the memories, those last forever,” second baseman Jim Gantner said. “That group of guys we had those years, it was unique. No matter how many teams you look at, I don’t think you could find another with so many characters like we had. It was incredible.”
“Pitching was the difference”
But the Brewers would not make it back to the playoffs in the 1980s.
Despite having much the same ballclub as the previous two seasons, the Brewers dropped from first in the AL East in 1981-82 to fifth in ’83, seventh in ’84 and sixth in ’85 and ’86.
In looking back, Yount sees a distinct difference between the successful clubs of the 1981-82 seasons and those that never made it back to the playoffs in the years following that success.
“Pitching was the difference,” Yount said. “I think that’s true of any great team. Look at any team that wins a championship, they’ve probably got great pitching.”
When asked if it was disappointing not to make it back to the playoffs in his career, Yount did not hold back his feelings on the matter.
“Of course it was disappointing,” Yount said. “That’s an understatement.”
Though they still would not reach the playoffs over the decade’s final three seasons, the 1987 team would provide plenty of memories.
And all within the first two weeks.
Streaking
To open what turned out to be a wild and wacky season, the Brewers tied a Major League record, winning its first 13 games of the year. One month later, the club lost 12 in a row.
But the 13-game stretch to open the season is among many Brewers fans’ favorite memories. Along the way, two highlights stand out.
First, in the team’s ninth game of the season, lefty Juan Nieves tossed the first no-hitter in franchise history, blanking the Orioles on April 15, 1987, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
Nieves became the first Puerto Rican-born pitcher to toss a no-hitter, but he couldn’t do it without a little help from Yount, who made a tremendous no-hitter-saving catch in center field for the 27th and final out.
“There’s no way I wasn’t going to catch that ball,” Yount said. “When I saw it, I just took off running. There’s no time to think in that kind of situation. So I just reacted and luckily I got there and was able to be part of the Brewers’ only no-hitter.”
Three days later, the current Brewers hitting coach delivered the most famous home run in Brewers history, on Easter Sunday no less.
With the winning streak on the line, the Brewers headed to the ninth down, 4-1. At that point, the might have Brewers thought it was over, as did their fans. With that in mind, the crowd of 29,357 gave a standing ovation in appreciation for the 11-game win streak.
But it was far from over.
With two on and one out, slugger Rob Deer crushed a 1-0 curveball out to left, tying the game at 4-4. Rookie B.J. Surhoff followed Deer with a strikeout, but after a walk was drawn by Gantner, the switch-hitting Dale Sveum had a chance to make it 12 in a row.
He did just that.
With a full count, Sveum got a cut fastball, waist-high over the middle of the plate. Sveum jumped on it and blasted a two-run walk-off homer, sending County Stadium into a frenzy, as the Brewers had won their 12th straight to start the season.
“It was one of those games where nobody really wanted to leave,” said Brewers infielder Craig Counsell, a Wisconsin native who stood in the stands that day as a 16-year-old. “If you were there, you’d remember it.”
Later that season, Paul Molitor drew national attention when he hit in a team record 39 straight games. It remains the seventh-longest hitting streak in big league history, and fifth-longest since 1900.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Gallardo tosses five-hitter to cap sweep
MILWAUKEE — Through 5 1/3 innings on Thursday, Yovani Gallardo was perfect. After nine innings, the Brewers ace had turned in the best pitching performance of his career.
Gallardo (7-3) even had two hits of his own before allowing any Thursday as the Brewers beat the Twins, 5-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Miller Park. It was the first Milwaukee sweep of Minnesota since 1996, and the first one at home since 1995.
Entering the sixth, Gallardo was four innings away from becoming the third pitcher in the Majors this season and the first in Brewers history to toss a perfecto. Two batters later, an opposite-field single to right by Twins catcher Drew Butera broke up the perfect game.
In the end, Gallardo still tossed his third career complete game and second career shutout while tying his career high with 12 strikeouts. Gallardo, who tossed 122 pitches, gave up just five hits and did not walk a batter for the first time since April 24, 2009, at Houston.
“That was a pretty awesome display of pitching today,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “No walks, so that’s an indication what his command was. Twelve strikeouts, only five hits. Pretty awesome. And on top of that, he starts the [four-run, third-inning] rally with a double.”
Scoring runs in his at-bats in the third and fourth, Gallardo helped the Brewers provide more than enough offense against Twins starter Nick Blackburn (6-5), who lasted just 3 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits, walking three and striking out two.
Gallardo’s one-out double in the third led to a four-run inning for the Brewers, featuring two-run home runs by Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder.
“We played good baseball today,” Gallardo said. “We were able to get some runs up there early and get some big hits.
“I’m just going up there trying to help myself out and get on base.”
Amid the excitement of Gallardo’s outing, second baseman Weeks extended his hitting streak to six games with a two-run home run — his 12th of the season — in the third while adding a walk and single in the fourth and sixth innings.
Fielder followed Weeks’ home run with a two-run blast of his own two batters later, his 14th of the season. Despite entering the game batting just a combined 2-for-13 against Blackburn, Fielder and Weeks took advantage of some mistakes by the Minnesota righty.
Macha said he planned to ask bench coach Willie Randolph after the sixth inning if he’d seen a perfect game in his career, but that was before Butera’s single broke up the bid for perfection.
While Gallardo said it was too early to think about it, Fielder acknowledged that it was easy to realize what was going on.
“I don’t know about the perfect game, but you look up there [at the scoreboard] and you saw no hits,” Fielder said. “You knew he was doing well. So, I just wanted him to keep it up regardless of what happens. I just wanted him to keep throwing like he was.”
Though Gallardo allowed five hits over the final four innings, he continued to impress. After striking out just five batters through five innings, Gallardo tallied seven strikeouts in the last four. Nine of Gallardo’s 12 strikeouts came over the final five innings.
Gallardo recorded his eighth career double-digit strikeout performance and his fifth of the season. The last time Gallardo had 12 strikeouts in a game was July 1, 2009.
Over his past six starts, Gallardo has allowed six earned runs on 29 hits in 44 innings of work. Gallardo’s ERA over that stretch is just 1.23, while he’s averaged one earned run on just under five hits per game.
“My command is getting a lot better,” Gallardo said of his recent success. “I’m able to throw my curveball for strikes, slider, changeup, and just mix everything in. … It makes a huge difference.”
Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who was the only batter to hit safely twice in the game for Minnesota, was impressed by what he saw from Gallardo.
“He was definitely tough,” Morneau said. “He’s got a lot of late life on his fastball. The breaking ball is pretty good, [but] I think his best pitch is the fastball. That sets up everything else. It’s hard enough where you can’t just look offspeed and catch up to it. It’s pretty good.”
The Brewers’ sweep was their first of three or more games against the Twins since May 17-20, 1996, at the Metrodome and the first in Milwaukee since Aug. 24-27, 1995, at County Stadium.
Additionally, the club matched a season high with four consecutive victories, which it has done once previously in 2010, when it took the series finale at Washington and swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh from April 18-22.
Milwaukee also earned its third sweep of the season and its first at home. With six more home games to follow and 13 in their next 17 overall, the Brewers appear poised to make a run at getting back to the .500 mark.
“It’s big for us,” Gallardo said of the sweep. “We’ve got a great team here. It’s just a matter of getting things together, and we showed that these three games here at home. Hopefully we can continue it.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Brewers beat 6/24
Weeks’ surge helps get Crew going
MILWAUKEE — With his three RBIs on Wednesday, Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks pushed his season total to 41 and took the Major League lead in RBIs from the leadoff spot.
Weeks’ 11 homers as the team’s leadoff hitter also ranks second behind Kelly Johnson of the D-backs, who has 12.
With right fielder Corey Hart batting behind Weeks, the Brewers have 29 home runs and 95 RBIs from their leadoff and No. 2 hitters, though much of Hart’s production has come from the No. 6 spot.
Brewers manager Ken Macha has said in the past that Weeks’ production is the true key to the club’s offensive success, even more so than sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. But like the club’s sluggers, Weeks struggles at times with consistency.
“He’s like all the other guys, they ride the roller coaster a little bit,” Macha said. “You try to avoid the big dips. He had a pretty big dip there for a while.”
Weeks’ performance over the past month has been an offensive resurgence from the Brewers second baseman, who had been struggling when the club faced the Twins at Target Field in Minnesota last month.
That slump for Weeks came after he opened the season with a career-high-tying 10-game hitting streak, making him only the fifth player in franchise history to begin the season with a hit streak of at least 10 games.
“At the beginning of the year, he was extremely hot,” Macha said. “If I remember right, we played a Pittsburgh series where they pitched him a little differently, and it kind of got him off his game. He was trying to make adjustments and it wasn’t working.”
Over the past five games entering Thursday, however, Weeks had a five-game hitting streak in which he’d collected seven hits in 17 at-bats while scoring five runs and driving in seven runs with two doubles and a home run.
“As of late, he’s done some real good things. The double with the bases loaded in Colorado was a huge hit,” Macha said. “I keep preaching this: Up the middle and opposite field always is a good way to go. That big hit last night went up the middle.”
Macha has confidence in Lucroy’s defense
MILWAUKEE — When rookie catcher Jonathan Lucroy was called up a month ago, the Brewers were concerned with his ability to stop sharp breaking balls.
Though he let five wild pitches get by him on Wednesday night in a 5-3 win over the Twins, manager Ken Macha said he’s been satisfied with Lucroy’s defense since taking over the starting role.
“What were there, five wild pitches? He had a tough time with them,” Macha said. “But he’s been pretty good up until yesterday as far as stopping balls. He caught [Yovani Gallardo] up in Colorado and did a great job as Yo was throwing that hard breaking ball in the dirt.”
In addition to four wild pitches by left-handed starter Manny Parra, reliever Kameron Loe saw one get by Lucroy in the seventh. According to Lucroy, both Parra’s splitter and Loe’s two-seam fastball are plus pitches with a lot of break.
With that in mind, Lucroy was not worried about being unable to stop those five pitches.
“Sometimes those things happen. There’s not really anything I could do to stop them,” Lucroy said. “It’s hard, because they were on his splitter, and when he throws that thing you don’t know where it’s going. That’s why it’s so good, because it’s unpredictable.”
Macha acknowledged before Thursday’s game that he thought one of the wild pitches led to Parra being tentative with his splitter for a stretch, but Macha did not think it had a significant impact on the game.
“I think Manny just got a little streak, maybe three or four hitters where he got tentative,” Macha said. “He came back after that inning and threw the ball well.”
As for the Loe wild pitch, Lucroy said his two-seam fastball is even harder to stop than Parra’s splitter.
“His two-seamer is a hard, sinking fastball,” Lucroy said. “It just bit and went straight down to the ground. That happens. I can’t do anything about that and I can’t block a fastball. I can’t get down quick enough for that. All I can try to do is pick it, and I couldn’t grab that one.”
Braddock tends to have initial advantage
MILWAUKEE — One thing about the matchup between lefty reliever Zach Braddock and pinch-hitter Jim Thome in the Brewers’ 5-3 win over the Twins on Wednesday really stood out to manager Ken Macha: Thome had not previously faced Braddock.
Since calling Braddock up before the series finale at Target Field on May 23, the Brewers have seen the 22-year-old hard-throwing lefty enjoy plenty of success against hitters the first time he faces them.
“If you haven’t faced Braddock, you don’t realize how the ball jumps up on you,” Macha said. “The first time you face somebody like that … he hides the ball, it jumps on you.”
In Thome’s first at-bat against Braddock, the left-handed slugger went down swinging at a 1-2 slider.
After getting Thome to strike out to end the sixth, Braddock struck out another batter who had not previously faced him in center fielder Denard Span. Braddock followed that up with his third strikeout of the game, getting Orlando Hudson — who doubled off Braddock in Minnesota — to go down swinging.
Similar to Braddock has been reliever Kameron Loe, whose movement on his fastball has surprised even his manager at times.
“The movement of Loe’s fastball is off the charts,” Macha said. “I remember back to an at-bat somebody had in Florida and I thought they were all sliders — they were moving so much — but they were all fastballs.”
Loe saw some adjustments by hitters in his second inning on Tuesday night, but impressed by striking out third baseman Michael Cuddyer for the second straight night on Wednesday.
According to Macha, the key for Loe is to get the first-pitch strike.
“The at-bat against Cuddyer, strike one was very important,” Macha said. “That kind of forced Cuddyer to swing, because he took strike one. They know the ball’s sinking a lot, so strike one was very important for him.
“We’ll see how these guys progress as they get out there a little more in the scouting report.”
Worth noting
With a win Thursday, the Brewers would tie a season-long winning streak of four games. The club previously won four consecutive games from May 18-22. … A win would also give Milwaukee a sweep of the Minnesota, something the club has not done in a series of three or more games since May 17-20, 1996, at the Metrodome. … The Brewers’ last sweep of the Twins in Milwaukee came Aug. 24-27, 1995, when they took a four-game series at County Stadium. … The game on Saturday, July 3 at the St. Louis Cardinals has been changed to a 5:35 p.m. CT first pitch and has been added to the FS Wisconsin broadcast schedule. It was previously scheduled to begin at 3:10 p.m.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Weeks helps Crew overcome wildness
MILWAUKEE — To be effective, Manny Parra has to be wild, to some degree. That was certainly the case for the Brewers lefty on Wednesday at Miller Park.
Despite throwing four wild pitches, Parra (2-5) effectively limited the Twins’ offense, giving up two runs during 5 2/3 innings as the Brewers took the 5-3 victory over the Twins.
Parra tied a club record with four wild pitches in a game, set by Ed Sprague on May 14, 1975, against the Rangers. According to both Parra and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, however, with a splitter like Parra’s, wild pitches are going to happen.
“With my split-finger, I’m bound to throw wild pitches,” Parra said. “I think last year, I shied away from it a little bit … but I’ve got to keep throwing that pitch, that’s the way I’m successful. I get guys swinging at some of those pitches.”
But as Lucroy was quick to point out, Parra only allowed two runners to score following a wild pitch — Twins first baseman Justin Morneau and third baseman Michael Cuddyer in the fourth.
“He did a good job of getting back in control and throwing some strikes,” Lucroy said. “The one thing you can take away from that is the way he bounced back and minimized the damage.”
Perhaps most importantly for Parra, though, the Brewers’ offense made the most of its opportunities, giving the lefty just enough run support to earn his first win since May 23, also against Minnesota, and his first win as a starter since Sept. 25, 2009, against the Phillies.
While the Brewers entered the game with a 5-19 record when not hitting a home run, they played small ball on Wednesday night to get the victory.
After both were stranded following a pair of singles to lead off the first, Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart combined to drive in four of the Brewers’ five runs. Weeks, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, played a role in all five Brewers runs on the night.
“We hustled to get our runs, we scrapped to get our runs,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “Sometimes, you have to do that. It’s not always on the big boys to do everything.”
Following a Weeks walk in the third, Hart ripped a double to the left-field corner, which scored Weeks from first.
One inning later, Weeks drove in a pair when he came up with a big two-run, two-out single to put the Brewers up, 3-2.
With Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee combining for a 0-for-10 night, with a lone RBI from Braun in the seventh on a fielder’s choice, the top of the Brewers’ order showed its run-producing potential.
“I don’t know if we would be 1-2 in most lineups, but we are in this lineup,” Hart said. “We try to get on base for the guys behind us. It’s nice to drive in runs, as well, but I think our goal is to get on as much as we can for Prince and Brauny.
“I’m not a power hitter. … I see myself as a guy that I role play to try to get going for those guys.”
Behind Parra, the Brewers’ bullpen was effective once again, giving up one run over 3 1/3 innings on four hits, while striking out five and walking just one.
Lefty Zach Braddock — who returned to the team after missing Tuesday’s series opener due to a death in the family — got a huge out for the Brewers in the sixth, entering in place of Parra to strike out pinch-hitter Jim Thome.
According to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, the decision to remove starter Francisco Liriano, who had thrown only 77 pitches over five innings, was done to try to take advantage of a big opportunity in a National League ballgame.
“Got to try to win a ballgame. We’re losing. He’s probably got one more inning left in him, anyway,” Gardenhire said. “You’ve got a couple of guys on. Try to get him in a situation where, if he hits a double, score a couple runs.
“This National League stuff is different than it is over in our league. Have to take a chance when you can.”
After Braddock, the Brewers used Kameron Loe for one out in the seventh, Carlos Villanueva in the eighth, and John Axford closed it out in the ninth, earning the save.
“We got some big outs from the bullpen tonight,” Macha said. “Braddock coming in in the sixth inning, striking out Thome. Loe getting the strikeout on Cuddyer in the seventh. Good inning by Villa … and Ax made good pitches. He put the ball right where he wanted to.”
Brewers beat 5/23
Brewers’ wildness sets dubious club mark
MILWAUKEE — Brewers hurler Manny Parra tied one club record for wildness on Wednesday and played a key role in breaking another.
Parra tied a 35-year-old record by throwing four wild pitches during a 5-3 win over the Twins. An inning after Parra exited, reliever Kameron Loe also threw a wild pitch, giving the team five during the game, which broke the previous record.
Parra threw wild pitches in the second and fourth innings, then threw two in the sixth inning. Only once, however, did a wild pitch occur in an inning that featured a Twins run. First baseman Justin Morneau and third baseman Michael Cuddyer scored on a Delmon Young single to left in the fourth after advancing one base on a wild pitch one batter earlier.
“With my split-finger, I’m bound to throw wild pitches,” Parra said. “Obviously, it’s not good, but at the same time, I can’t stop doing that.”
While attempting to intentionally walk Young in the sixth, Parra threw the ball over the head of catcher Jonathan Lucroy, allowing Jason Kubel to advance from second to third base.
With Kubel on third, Brewers manager Ken Macha changed tactics and elected to have Parra pitch to Young. The strategy paid off when Young grounded to third baseman Casey McGehee, who threw to Lucroy to get Kubel for the out.
Parra’s four wild pitches tied Ed Sprague’s record, set on May 15, 1975, in Texas. As a team, the Brewers last threw four wild pitches in a game on Sept. 20, 2004.
“Those things are going to happen,” catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. “The two pitchers both have real good pitches. The split is unpredictable for Manny, and then Kameron’s pitch is his two-seamer, and that moves a lot.
“Those are two plus pitches, and they’re both really good but unpredictable. It’s going to happen, but both Kam and Manny did a great job of minimizing it.”
Braun will open second restaurant Thursday
MILWAUKEE — Nearly three months after opening his first restaurant in downtown Milwaukee, Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is set to open his second on Thursday, Ryan Braun’s Tavern & Grill, in Lake Geneva, Wis.
Braun is scheduled to be in attendance on Thursday night, greeting guests, family and friends after the Brewers’ day game at Miller Park against the Minnesota Twins.
“I’m really excited about it,” Braun said. “It’s a great group of people. The chef’s great, the décor is cool, and I love Lake Geneva, so I’m excited to have an extra excuse to get down there as often as possible.
“I’m excited to get down there on Thursday and see what it looks like. I haven’t been there in 2 1/2 weeks, so I’m sure it’s really come together since then.”
According to a press release issued by Braun’s agent, the restaurant, located at 430 Broad Street, was extensively remodeled and will feature a comfortable, casual dining experience. It will serve Italian-American cuisine.
Additionally, the release notes that Braun has been involved every step of the way, from development to design to ambiance, and he is thrilled to open the Tavern and Grill doors to the Lake Geneva community.
As for the differences between Ryan Braun’s Waterfront, his downtown Milwaukee restaurant, and the new establishment, the budding restaurateur said each would reflect the surrounding community.
“I think they’re both specific to the demographic,” Braun said. “The one here in Milwaukee is a little more modern and contemporary. The one in Lake Geneva is a little more rustic, maybe a little cabin feel if you will.”
Macha would tweak Interleague slate
MILWAUKEE — When asked before Wednesday’s game what he would do to change Interleague Play, Brewers manager Ken Macha had one idea: Balance the schedule.
“This is my suggestion, [though] I don’t know if it’s possible: two 15-team leagues,” Macha said. “Each league has three divisions with five teams in it. You’d have an Interleague series every series throughout the season. That’s my suggestion.”
Macha’s suggestion came after he was informed of an idea from Twins manager Ron Gardenhire in the visiting dugout for changing Interleague Play: Play by American League rules in National League parks and NL rules in AL parks.
Though the Brewers’ manager did not give an opinion on that idea, he was very much in favor of balancing the schedule. As an example, Macha pointed to the geographic rivalry series. The A’s, who Macha used to manage, played the Giants annually. That meant facing outfielder Barry Bonds, then an elite offensive threat.
“For years, with Barry Bonds playing for the Giants, I was in Oakland,” Macha said. “And Seattle, who had a very good team, they were playing San Diego. And at that time, [the Padres] weren’t very good.”
A more recent example that Macha discussed was the Texas Rangers this season. The Rangers have been red hot during Interleague Play, but have not faced the top two teams in the NL Central. Oakland, on the other hand, has faced both Cincinnati and St. Louis.
In addition to balancing out Interleague Play, having six five-team divisions would make the playoff races more equitable, Macha said.
“You don’t play the same schedule, and sometimes, one team runs roughshod over another,” Macha said. “One year in Oakland, we were 17-2 against Seattle. So you have a four-team division, and you’re playing each team 19 times, if you have a couple teams in that division that are bad, you may finish second in that division.
“Then [you win] the Wild Card, instead of coming out of the East, where those teams may be better because their record may not be as good.”
Loe putting together dominant run for Crew
MILWAUKEE — Since being called up from Triple-A Nashville on June 1, reliever Kameron Loe has been nothing short of dominant for the Brewers, allowing only one earned run in 10 outings.
Including his strikeout in the seventh inning on Wednesday, Loe has pitched 13 1/3 innings over those 10 outings, giving up seven hits. Against the Twins on Tuesday, he tossed two scoreless innings and did not give up a hit while walking two and recording three strikeouts.
Though the 6-foot-8 right-hander was not as strong in his second inning of work on Tuesday, he managed to get through the top of the Twins’ lineup and escape with an impressive outing.
“In the second inning when he went out there, their hitters were going back in saying, ‘This ball’s sinking unbelievably,'” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “So they started laying off some pitches that were down. We’ll see how that goes as we proceed.”
It was Loe’s third outing of two or more innings this season, with his season-high coming on June 3 at Florida, when Loe pitched 2 1/3 innings without allowing a run.
Over his two innings on Tuesday, Loe faced eight Twins hitters, with the three strikeouts coming against Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young and Jason Kubel.
According to Macha, the sink on Loe’s pitches has been excellent.
“I watched some of the first inning he pitched [again], and his ball just disappears,” Macha said. “He struck out Cuddyer and he probably thought he was going to barrel the ball up and it was almost on the ground. The sink on his fastball’s been off the charts.”
Second-rounder among three picks to sign
MILWAUKEE — Three additional Draft selections, including second-round pick Jimmy Nelson, were signed this week by the Brewers, the club announced Wednesday.
Nelson, a right-hander from the University of Alabama, joins two other draft picks and three undrafted players in the Brewers’ latest round of signings.
Additionally, the Brewers have signed 21st-round pick Kevin Shackelford, another right-hander from Marshall University, and utility player Derrick Shaw, who was drafted in the 41st round out of Florida A&M.
The three new undrafted signees are lefty Charlie Bashara, right-hander Travis Stortz and center fielder Reggie Keen.
With the six new signees, the Brewers have now signed 34 players, 29 of which were draft picks from the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
Worth noting
Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday’s game. … Lefty reliever Zach Braddock rejoined the Brewers before Wednesday’s game after leaving the team and missing Tuesday’s series opener due to a death in the family. … The Brewers, who came back from three runs down on Tuesday night to win, 7-5, tied a season high for their biggest comeback.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Narveson recovers from slow start to win
MILWAUKEE — With the Brewers beginning a stretch of 20 games in 20 days on Tuesday, manager Ken Macha talked prior to the opener against the Twins about avoiding a game that taxed the entire bullpen. He also discussed needing to get long reliever Chris Capuano some work.
Six batters into the first inning against the Twins, it looked like he might get both.
After hitting the leadoff batter and walking two men, Brewers starter Chris Narveson allowed three consecutive singles, giving up three runs without recording an out. That prompted Macha to get Capuano warming up in the bullpen.
Narveson promptly retired 14 of the final 16 batters, and he picked a man off, escaping with an improbable 7-5 victory at Miller Park.
With the bases loaded and three runs already in, Narveson induced a popup to center field from Twins third baseman Danny Valencia. From there, the lefty settled in and turned the game around, avoiding a disastrous start.
“It’s a mentality a lot of times,” Narveson said. “It was kind of one of those things where you said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to step up and pitch the way you can. You’ve got a good game plan. You know how to attack these hitters. Go out and execute it, and go from there.'”
Narveson (6-4) got the start against the Twins because right-hander Dave Bush was pushed back to Friday due to poor career numbers against the club, including a career-worst outing at Target Field earlier this season when Bush was unable to escape the first inning.
Through six batters, Narveson appeared destined for the same fate. The rest of the way, he nearly faced the minimum number of batters. First-inning struggles have been common for Narveson, whose ERA in the frame jumped to 12.27 for the season. But he rebounded against the Twins to earn his sixth victory of the season, tying him with Yovani Gallardo for the team lead.
“He threw the ball over a little better, and he used his breaking ball and changeup a little bit better,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He did a good job of hanging in there because we could’ve put him away in the first inning, and he got out of it. And then he did a really nice job of hanging in.”
Narveson also contributed some timely hitting in the fourth inning, driving in the go-ahead run to complete a four-run rally.
The Brewers opened the inning with four hits in a row, including a three-run homer to right field by Casey McGehee that tied the ballgame, 3-3. But it was the fifth hit of the inning, off Narveson’s bat, that put the Brewers ahead for good.
“I was able just to stay inside of it and get it down the line,” Narveson said. “There was definitely luck and skill involved, but I think you’re just trying to help the team win the game any way you can.”
After trailing early against Twins starter Scott Baker (6-6), who has had a history of success against the Brewers, tagging him for four runs in the fourth was a big boost for Milwaukee. Baker won both of his starts against the Brewers in 2009.
“They’ve got a quality starting staff. That was big for us to be able to come back on a guy of his quality,” McGehee said. “He’s given us some fits. I know last year, he was tough on us, so it was definitely nice to be able to get something going against him.”
The Brewers scored three more runs in the sixth and seventh, including a Rickie Weeks solo home run, giving them breathing room. The insurance came in handy when reliever Todd Coffey gave up two runs without recording an out during his first appearance since May 29.
With the tying run at the plate in the eighth inning, though, closer John Axford came in and shut the Twins down, recording six outs for his fifth save of the season. He surrendered only one hit, to Joe Mauer with two outs in the ninth inning, but he recovered to fan Justin Morneau and end the game.
The Brewers hope that they can make up some ground during their nine-game homestand, and taking the first game was a positive first step. When asked about it after the game, Macha said the club just needed to get back to .500 first. Milwaukee’s win against the Twins improved its record to 30-40. The Brewers trail the NL Central-leading Cardinals by nine games.
“When you’re this far behind … it would be nice to get within the tail lights of .500,” Macha said. “They’re around the bend right now. It’s still a long way off, but a good homestand would help that out.”
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