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Frustrated Hart out with tight hamstring
MILWAUKEE — He hasn’t spent a day on the disabled list this season, but the minor injuries continue to pile up for Corey Hart. If it’s not his hand, it’s his back. If not his back, his leg.
Hart added to that list of injuries on Friday night, leaving the Brewers’ 10-6 win over the Padres for precautionary reasons with tightness in his right hamstring. On Saturday, the pain kept Hart out of the Brewers’ starting lineup, and manager Ken Macha said he “could be in the lineup” on Sunday.
“It’s one of those things that I think we’re just kind of nervous to play and go out there and make it really bad and miss a lot of time instead of taking it easy for a few days,” Hart said. “I think it’s trying to play cautious and that way I don’t push it and miss more time than I need to.”
Hart, who had missed time earlier this month with back stiffness, did not think the two injuries were related.
Hart speculated that the hamstring tightness may have occurred on his first-inning triple to right field. Eventually, he realized the issue was significant enough to force him out of the ballgame in the eighth inning.
“I felt something kind of pull,” Hart said. “It just gradually kept getting tighter. After I went first to third on [Ryan Braun’s sixth-inning single], I came in right away and I was trying to wrap it up, trying to get away from it stiffening up on me.”
A few more inches on his triple, and Hart’s hamstring may never have become an issue. Hart’s ball hit high off the wall in right field, narrowly missing a home run.
Now, it’s another waiting game for Hart, something he’s grown accustomed to this season.
“It’s crazy — one after another,” Hart said. “My thumb was, like, five days, my back was a couple. It’s tough. I could go out there and try to play today, but if I do it, I might end up making it really bad and missing two or three weeks instead of a couple of days.”
Capuano picks up Gallardo as Crew wins
MILWAUKEE — As far as feel-good stories go, Chris Capuano’s comeback from a second Tommy John surgery ranks up there among the best of them. The Brewers lefty added another chapter on Friday night.
It was one of those nights at Miller Park, where nothing seems to go according to plan. It was also one of those starts for Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo, who was hurt by mistakes and struggled with his command.
Fortunately for Gallardo and the Brewers, they had a lefty in the bullpen ready to go. Capuano pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just one walk while facing the minimum and retiring 10 of 11 batters faced as the Brewers defeated the Padres, 10-6.
With his stellar performance, Capuano made up for one of the shortest outings of the season for Gallardo. Capuano won at home for the first time since May 7, 2007, giving him the perfect belated birthday present, as the lefty celebrated his 32nd birthday on Thursday.
“It’s great to get a win anytime,” Capuano said. “We’ve been working on some stuff and today felt real good with the location and the different pitches. The arm strength feels like it’s starting to come back a little bit. It’s definitely a lot more fun out there pitching.”
On a wild night, the Brewers outslugged the Padres for their third straight win and fourth in five games. Third baseman Casey McGehee led the way, recording an RBI double and a three-run homer in his first two at-bats.
With the two hits, McGehee extended his franchise record streak to 11 hits in 11 straight home at-bats, shattering the previous mark of seven straight hits at home. After being unaware of the 9-for-9 against the Diamondbacks, was McGehee aware of the 11-for-11?
“Now I am,” McGehee answered. “That was nice for us to be able to have that kind of an offensive game, especially supporting Yovani, who’s pitched so well for us. For us to be able to pick him up one time, was really good.”
With a team ERA of 3.18, the Padres’ mark was 23 points lower than any other team in the Majors before Friday’s game. With that in mind, and Gallardo taking the hill for the Brewers, the formula for a pitchers’ duel certainly was there.
None of that seemed to matter, as from the outset, the game was nothing like anyone would have expected. Both starting pitchers, Gallardo and Wade LeBlanc, went just 3 1/3 innings, combining to allow 13 runs on 13 hits with six walks, four strikeouts and four home runs.
Recording just 10 outs to Capuano’s 11 outs, Gallardo surrendered six runs on six hits while walking five and recording just one strikeout.
In the first inning, Gallardo left two curveballs up, over the plate. Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley took advantage of those mistakes, sending them over the fence and giving the Padres an early 3-0 lead.
“He wasn’t as sharp as we have seen him before,” Headley said. “He wasn’t commanding his fastball and he left a few curveballs up. We did a good job coming out and getting on him early.”
After the Brewers answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame, Gallardo surrendered two more right back to the Padres. Milwaukee’s offense never gave up, though, as the Brewers scored in each of the next five innings.
In the third, it was McGehee’s three-run blast. An inning later, rookie catcher Jonathan Lucroy added a two-run shot, which proved to be the eventual game winner.
“They picked me up,” Gallardo said. “It just was one of those days for me. It got out of hand. They put up some runs in the first inning for me after I gave up three, and they kept battling. I give them a lot of props.”
Todd Coffey and Zach Braddock joined Capuano in shutting down the Padres offense, which recorded just one hit over the final 5 2/3 innings on Friday night.
Even with that, the story of the day was Capuano, who continues to progress in his return to the Major Leagues.
With the bases loaded in the fourth following back-to-back one-out walks, Brewers manager Ken Macha had seen enough of Gallardo, calling for Capuano. Entering Friday’s game, Capuano had a 4.44 ERA, while opposing hitters had been batting .289 against him with three home runs.
Add five of seven inherited runners having scored in those 15 appearances, and Capuano didn’t exactly seem like the ideal choice in such a pressure situation as the Brewers trailed 6-5 at the time. He performed admirably, stranding all three runners with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.
“Big crossroads there,” Macha said.
“Unbelievable,” Lucroy said. “That’s all you can ask out of a middle reliever: Come in and do something like that. He’s getting back to [the way he pitched before his second Tommy John surgery]. He knows exactly what he wants to do out there. It’s real easy to catch somebody like that.”
After the bullpen nearly blew Randy Wolf’s dominating performance on Wednesday, it was encouraging for the Brewers to see a reliever pick up the slack on an off night for their ace.
While Capuano would still like to see his name in the starting rotation again someday, Friday night’s win will suffice for now.
“It’s just a blessing to be healthy and feel good every day coming to the park,” Capuano said. “I would like to be starting, [but] the main thing is that I’m feeling healthy, my arm’s getting stronger and everything is feeling good.
“I’m just enjoying the opportunities I get to pitch right now.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Axford, Loe at it again in Crew’s tight victory
ST. LOUIS — There was a time when bringing in Kameron Loe and John Axford out of the Brewers’ bullpen was as sure a sign of a Brewers victory as anything.
Things have gotten a bit more interesting lately, but when it comes down to it, Axford and Loe are the Brewers’ No. 1 and No. 2 options out of the ‘pen. If the game is on the line, it’s a pretty safe bet that one, or both, is going to pitch in the late innings.
Lately, even a heavy workload and minor struggles have not been enough to deter manager Ken Macha from making the call for the right-handed duo. More often than not, that strategy has worked out.
With a two-run lead through six innings Tuesday night, Axford and Loe combined for the final three frames as the Crew took the first of a two-game set from the Cardinals, winning, 3-2, at Busch Stadium.
Part of the strategy being successful, Macha conceded, is getting honest assessments from the players about how they feel. The other part is common sense.
“On Sunday, Axford said he was fine, but I wasn’t going to use him because he had been in two out of three days with a lot of pitches,” Macha said.
Pitching for the seventh time in the team’s past 11 games — over a 12-day span — Loe recalled memories of his stellar month of June in Tuesday’s seventh, retiring the Cardinals in order on three groundouts and just 15 pitches. But the eighth inning was a different story.
Just when Loe appeared to be back to his usual, dominant self, he gave up a pair of singles around a grounder to short, prompting Macha to call Axford’s number.
Axford, called upon to pitch more than one inning for the ninth time this season — six of which have been saves — allowed a run on a wild pitch before escaping with the lead intact. In the ninth, Axford shut down St. Louis in order, securing his 18th save of the season.
Axford picked up his sixth save of more than an inning in length in six chances and recorded his ninth appearance of four outs or more. In 36 games this season, Axford has yet to pitch less than a full frame.
“It’s been three in a row now,” Axford said, referring to his save Thursday of 1 2/3 innings and win Saturday, in which he went two full innings. “It’s fine with me, in all honesty. If that’s the way it’s going to be, that’s the way it’s going to be.”
Loe and Axford closed out a stellar performance by right-handed starter Dave Bush, who cruised through six innings, giving up just one run — Albert Pujols’ 31st homer — on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Bush (6-10) left after just 91 pitches due to a blister on his pitching hand. Before that early exit, Bush kept the Cardinals’ hitters off balance all night, allowing no more than one baserunner in any inning.
“The biggest thing was keeping the ball down,” Bush said. “There wasn’t anything in particular that was working unusually well, but I was commanding my fastball down in the zone.”
Bush outdueled rookie Jaime Garcia, whose manager said he was “in some of his best form.”
Garcia (10-6) tossed his 16th quality start of the season and fifth of no earned runs at home, giving up just three unearned runs on five hits over six innings pitched. The left-hander was roughed up in two innings, though, both of which were marked by Felipe Lopez errors.
In the third inning, Lopez’s error proved costly. Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee belted a two-run homer to center field, which capped a three-run inning and proved to be the eventual game-winner.
“We lost that game because of me. That’s all,” Lopez said. “I make those plays, we win.”
After a quiet three-game series in Colorado, McGehee was swinging as hot a bat as ever.
Entering the game just 1-for-7 against Garcia with a walk and a strikeout, McGehee hit the ball hard up the middle in each of his three at-bats, including the two-run homer.
McGehee’s second-inning single was ripped hard off Garcia’s left leg, ricocheting into foul territory on the third-base side. An inning later, McGehee belted his 19th homer of the season.
McGehee has hit safely in 12 of his past 14 games, batting .411 (23-for-56) in that stretch with five home runs and 19 RBIs. In the 21 games since July 25, when he broke a homerless streak, McGehee has gone .370 (30-for-81) with six home runs and 22 RBIs.
“It’s a whole [heck] of a lot of luck,” McGehee joked. “The biggest thing was just confidence, I think. For a while there, I was making it a little too complicated.
“I just tried to get back to trying to playing my game and not be something I’m not.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
D-backs among seven with four straight HRs
MILWAUKEE — Back-to-back-to-back-to-back.
With one out in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s 8-2 win over the Brewers, the D-backs connected for home runs in four consecutive at-bats, the first time in franchise history.
Arizona is just the seventh team in Major League history to have four hitters in a row connect for home runs. The feat last occurred on Aug. 14, 2008, when the White Sox did it against the Royals in the bottom of the sixth.
The last time four consecutive home runs were hit in the National League was Sept. 18, 2006, when the Dodgers did it in the bottom of the ninth.
“It’s not very often that happens,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “I was happy to be a part of it for sure. The guys really hit the ball that inning.”
First baseman Adam LaRoche got things started, belting a full-count fastball from Brewers starter Dave Bush deep to right field. Miguel Montero followed with the second, sending a low 1-2 fastball into the seats to tie the game at 2.
At that point, the D-backs had matched the Brewers’ back-to-back home runs of two innings earlier, but they were far from finished.
Mark Reynolds snapped a personal streak of four consecutive strikeouts against Bush, belting a 1-1 curveball to left-center. The last time the D-backs had gone back-to-back-to-back was May 3, 2002, against the Montreal Expos.
“I just wanted to get a hit,” Reynolds said. “I didn’t [care] if it was a homer or a swinging bunt. I’ve been struggling since I got hit in the head. It was a curveball kind of middle away, and I didn’t even swing very hard at it. I just put the barrel on it.”
Finally, shortstop Stephen Drew ripped a 1-0 fastball into the D-backs bullpen in right, tying the Major League record for consecutive home runs.
Drew joins his brother, J.D., as the only brothers to have participated in a string of four straight home runs.
“It was pretty wild,” Drew said. “[LaRoche] starts it off, then you see Miggy hit one and I was like ‘What next?’ Then Mark gets up there and hits one and I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do here?’
“It’s pretty special. You don’t see that too often, and it’s one of those things that was meant to be, and it was a special time.”
Bush is the first pitcher to give up four straight home runs since Chase Wright — who is now in the Brewers’ system — surrendered four to the Red Sox while with the Yankees in 2007.
J.D. Drew was involved in the Dodgers-Padres feat and in the Red Sox-Yankees game.
“I remember watching it on TV that night when J.D. was with L.A., but I don’t remember the one in Boston,” Drew said. “He’s one up on me.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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