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Errors costly in Bucs’ extra-inning loss
MILWAUKEE — One bad inning is all it takes to send you from a win to a loss. Within that inning, it’s often one hit or one defensive play that makes the difference.
It took two innings and two defensive miscues to complete the job on Saturday, but the seventh inning made all the difference for the second consecutive night at Miller Park as the Pirates lost, 8-7, to the Brewers.
On Friday, it was a six-run rally highlighted by a misplayed line drive to right field that turned into a game-winning two-run triple. In the second game of the series, a pair of errors by rookie infielders Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker allowed the Brewers’ tying and winning runs to score, respectively.
“We always know every time we come here it’s going to be a battle,” Walker said. “Four-run lead, three-run lead, whatever it may be, it’s never safe here when we play these guys.”
In a long game that featured 14 pitchers, 21 position players and lasted more than four hours, lefty reliever Wil Ledezma finally surrendered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th to rookie center fielder Lorenzo Cain, scoring Ryan Braun from second and sending the Brewers fans among a crowd of 37,782 home happy.
“That was awesome — my first Major League walk-off,” said Cain, who also scored the tying run in the seventh.
Without a fielding error by Walker at second base, the 11th inning may have turned out much differently. As Prince Fielder ripped a grounder toward the rookie second baseman, Walker misplayed it, allowing Braun to advance and putting Fielder aboard safely at first.
“It’s a play I’ve got to make. Plain and simple,” Walker said. “I’ll take the blame. We played our butts off today and a couple of mistakes just cost us the game.”
The other mistake for the Pirates came in that crucial seventh inning.
Entering the seventh inning, lefty Zach Duke was in line for his first career win at Miller Park and the Pirates led by three runs, sitting just three innings from their first road win since July 28 at Colorado.
But after reliever Sean Gallagher gave up a leadoff single to Braun, he was removed in favor of left-hander Brian Burres. As Burres hung a 1-2 slider on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Fielder didn’t miss it, sending the ball an estimated 455 feet to right-center field for his second home run of the game and his 20th career multi-homer game.
Four batters later, Chan Ho Park appeared to have gotten out of the inning, but a fielding error charged to Alvarez on a hard hit grounder to third allowed Cain to tie the game at 7.
“It’s a tough play, but again, it kind of shows our youth a little bit,” said Pirates manager John Russell. “We make those plays and it might be a different game, but the guys really battled. They kept after it.”
While he would have gotten the win had it not been for the seventh inning, Duke was not exactly sharp.
He allowed four runs on nine hits while walking one, recording one strikeout and surrendering a pair of solo home runs.
“It was definitely a battle from the first hitter on,” Duke said. “My location wasn’t very good and my stuff wasn’t all that great. Everything was giving me problems.”
Despite his struggles, Duke did outduel Brewers starter and fellow lefty Chris Capuano.
Starting in place of Manny Parra for Milwaukee, Capuano was roughed up for six runs on six hits in just three innings of work while walking three and giving up two home runs.
“I had flashes tonight where I thought I had great sequences to guys, and then I had flashes where I was having some problems with command,” Capuano said. “I have to do a better job than that. That’s obvious.”
Parra replaced Capuano in the fourth, and proceeded to put down nine of 10 batters faced through three innings of work. He gave up just one hit, a fourth-inning single to Walker, while striking out three batters.
Left fielder Jose Tabata highlighted the Pirates’ offensive outburst, as he homered in the first inning and finished 3-for-5, adding a double and a single. Catcher Chris Snyder also added his second home run of the series in the third, a three-run shot that put the Pirates up, 6-2, at the time.
Walker added a solo homer in the seventh — which appeared to be insurance for the Pirates — off reliever Mike McClendon. Seven runs marked the most scored by the Pirates since a 7-1 victory over the Marlins on Aug. 16.
The loss is the 12th straight on the road for the Pirates, and secures yet another road series loss for Pittsburgh. In 21 road series this season, including the current three-game set with the Brewers, the Pirates now have lost 16 series with just four series wins and one tie.
“It’s tough coming in here, but we battled with them tonight,” Duke said. “Hopefully we can get one tomorrow.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Pirates beat 8/28
Morton poised for Sunday start
MILWAUKEE — Three months after he was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis, right-hander Charlie Morton will start for the Pirates on Sunday against the Brewers.
In a move that had been expected since Ross Ohlendorf hit the disabled list earlier in the week, Morton will be recalled from Triple-A for Sunday’s start, while reliever Justin Thomas has been optioned back to Indianapolis to make room on the 25-man roster.
Morton made 14 starts for Indianapolis, posting a 4-4 mark with a 3.83 ERA. In 80 innings of work, Morton recorded 53 strikeouts against 30 walks.
Since giving up four runs in a July 27 start at Syracuse, the past four starts for Morton have been impressive. Morton has allowed just four earned runs on 17 hits in 24 innings over that stretch. He’s also struck out 17 batters while walking nine.
In his last outing against Louisville, Morton tossed six shutout innings, allowing just four hits while striking out four batters.
“I think he’s rebuilding and working on a lot of things down there to get himself mentally and physically ready. I think he’s made great strides,” said Pirates manager John Russell. “We wanted to get him back up here at some point and the opportunity arose for tomorrow. We’re anxious to see how he does.”
Before he lost his starting role in late May and was sent down to Indianapolis, Morton was 1-9 with a 9.35 ERA in 10 starts. For his career, Morton is 10-26 with a 6.13 ERA as a starter, giving up 145 earned runs over 213 innings of work.
Morton’s best start to date in the big leagues was his last of 2009, as he tossed a four-hit shutout against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 30.
After struggling through the first two months of the 2010 season, Russell hopes the time in the Minors will help Morton get back to the type of pitcher he showed he could be with that dazzling performance in Chicago.
“I think he’s learned a lot this year,” Russell said. “I think it’s important that it’s going to be a good building block for him moving forward. It’s part of the learning process. It’s part of the things guys need to do.”
If Morton pitches well Sunday at Miller Park, does Russell see the rotation staying as it is for a while, with the 26-year-old right-hander in it?
“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” Russell said. “I’m anxious to see him pitch again. He’s got tremendous stuff and he’s a guy that should be able to pitch at this level and be very effective.”
Switch-hitting Doumit getting more at-bats
MILWAUKEE — One look at his batting splits will quickly tell you that Ryan Doumit is a better left-handed hitter than he is right-handed. Even so, his manager thinks it’s important to give Doumit some starts in right field against left-handed pitching.
“I think it’s important just to stick him in there right-handed,” John Russell said. “Being a switch hitter, you need the at-bats right-handed against left-handed pitching.”
Since being moved primarily to right field this month with the acquisition of catcher Chris Snyder, Doumit has seen most of his starts come against right-handed starters. Conversely, right-handed hitting Lastings Milledge has typically been in against lefties.
While it’s tough enough to juggle Doumit, Milledge and Snyder as it is, Doumit’s ability to hit from both sides throws another wrinkle into Russell’s plans. Of course, Russell is not exactly a fan of a strict platoon to begin with, so that makes things easier.
If Doumit is swinging the bat well from both sides of the plate, Russell would have no problem starting him every day, regardless of if it were a left- or right-handed starter.
“I think if you look at it, any time you hear that, if you break it down and look at it, you rarely find that it’s just a straight platoon,” Russell said. “That’s why I’ve never been a big believer in it. What we try to do is put guys in a situation where we feel like we’ve got a chance to win and they’re going to have some success.”
Russell likes what he sees in McDonald
MILWAUKEE — Had it not been for some tough luck on what appeared to be a routine out in right field, Pirates starter James McDonald may have delivered one of the best starts of his young career on Friday night.
Instead, he and manager John Russell were forced to continue to focus on the preparation and the process, and not the result. One thing Russell particularly liked was McDonald’s efficiency through the first five innings.
In the first inning, McDonald needed 11 pitches to retire the Brewers in order. For the second inning, it took 12 pitches. The third inning, which featured a bunt single, took 16 pitches. McDonald recovered by tossing just 13 and 11 pitches while facing the minimum again in the fourth and fifth.
“I felt like when I had them two strikes and had them in the hole, I made a pitch and kind of made them induce contact,” McDonald said. “[I got them to] swing early in the count, and tried to keep the game going.”
Even when he started giving up runs, McDonald didn’t use many pitches. Facing five batters in the sixth, it took McDonald 16 pitches to escape with just one run allowed. Finally, in the seventh, when he recorded just one out through six batters, McDonald tossed 19 pitches.
All told, McDonald needed no more than those 19 pitches in any inning while totaling 98 on the night. Through five innings, though, McDonald needed just 63 tosses while facing only one over the minimum and striking out six batters.
“I really liked the way James was efficient in the zone,” Russell said. “He has a tendency in some of his starts of getting ahead and it takes him awhile to put them away. Last night he was doing a good job of getting the outs quickly.
“At times, he was dominant. It’s good to see and it’s good for him to continue to build off that.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Playoff return highlights 2000s turnaround
MILWAUKEE — Along with the turn of the century and the start of a new millennium, the 2000s marked a new era of Brewers baseball, one that included a playoff appearance.
It began in 2001 with the opening of Miller Park, the Brewers’ new state-of-the-art, $400 million home. The changes continued in 2002, when Doug Melvin was named general manager of the club. In 2004, the Brewers had new ownership, as Mark Attanasio took over the club from Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig.
All that set the stage for the team’s return to the playoffs, 26 years after losing the 1982 World Series.
Brewers alumni Geoff Jenkins and Bob Wickman are scheduled to participate Friday in a pregame autograph session to celebrate the 2000s as part of the Brewers’ 40th Anniversary season. On Sunday, all fans will receive a collectible Brewers Bobble Head doll, featuring CC Sabathia securing the final out of the regular-season finale, playoff-clinching game in 2008, compliments of Palermo’s Pizza and Piggly Wiggly.
Inaugural Season
After a one-year delay due to a fatal crane accident, Miller Park finally opened its doors to the public on April 6, 2001. Among those in attendance were President George W. Bush and Selig, both of whom threw out ceremonial first pitches.
With his 435-foot home run in the bottom of the eighth, first baseman Richie Sexson sent the crowd of 42,024 home happy, as the Brewers secured the first win at Miller Park, 5-4, over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers’ new ballpark got rave reviews, to say the least.
“There’s no comparison,” said former Brewers infielder Jim Gantner. “This is an awesome building and a great place to play. You miss County Stadium, but when you see this, you forget about it real quick.”
“I did play in County Stadium and know what it was like to play there,” Sexson said. “This is definitely 10 times better than County Stadium.”
While much of the credit for getting the ballpark built goes to Selig, and deservedly so, the Milwaukee native, along with his daughter, credited the fans on Opening Day 2001.
“There are many people that played a role in building this magnificent park,” Selig told the fans. “But none are greater than all of you.”
“You’re the best fans in the world,” added then-team president Wendy Selig-Prieb. “Enjoy this wonderful ballpark. You deserve it.”
In their first season playing at Miller Park, the Brewers had high hopes, but weren’t any better than previous seasons. In fact, they were worse, finishing 2001 in fourth place in the National League Central with a 68-94 record as injuries decimated the team in the second half.
One year later, the ballpark, with its unique fan-shaped roof, was host to the first 100-loss season in Brewers history, as the Crew finished 56-106, good for last in the division. With that came more changes for the Brewers, this time in the front office.
Melvin gets a second chance
In April 2002, the Brewers fired manager Davey Lopes after just 15 games as Milwaukee skidded out to a 3-12 record in Lopes’ third season at the helm. Five months later, general manager Dean Taylor was cut loose as well, as the Brewers shook up their front office.
Doug Melvin was tabbed for the job, given a second chance to show what he could do running a Major League club. Melvin, the former Texas Rangers general manager who led that franchise to three division titles in four years during the 1990s, was named the eighth general manager in Brewers history on Sept. 25, 2002.
“I don’t believe in rebuilding plans,” Melvin said in a spirited press conference. “If there was a three-year plan, I would wait and buy a ticket in, what, 2005? I don’t believe in that, I want people to be a part of this process to get to where we want to go.
“We’ll enjoy it a lot more if we do it together.”
Melvin brought in former Jays general manager Gord Ash as his assistant GM and hired manager Ned Yost, who brought along with him a new coaching staff. But Melvin’s best move in his first days as general manager now appears to have been keeping amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik in place.
Under Zduriencik, the Brewers put together some of the best Drafts in club history, restocking their system with top-level talent, and building one of the best cores of young players in the Major Leagues.
Among those draft during Zduriencik’s tenure are former first-round picks Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks, former Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy, right fielder Corey Hart, staff ace Yovani Gallardo, catcher Jonathan Lucroy and center fielder Lorenzo Cain.
As well as building from within, one of Melvin’s best moves as general manager came in 2008, when he traded highly rated prospects Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley and Zach Jackson to the Indians for Sabathia, who would help carry the Brewers to the Wild Card.
New Ownership
Along with Melvin, Ash and Yost, the organization brought in another new face in 2004, as Mark Attanasio, a Los Angeles investment banker and New York native, took over the club from the previous ownership group, which included Selig-Prieb.
When introduced at a news conference on Oct. 4, 2004, as the Brewers’ owner-elect, Attanasio said he was “up to the challenge” of turning around the ballclub. He also admitted he had dreamed as a child of owning a Major League baseball club.
“As a kid, I lived, breathed and died with the Yankees forever,” Attanasio said. “Once I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to hit a curveball, I gave up dreams of playing Major League Baseball, and when I got a little older thought maybe one day I could own a team.”
One of Attanasio’s biggest impacts upon taking over as the team’s principal owner was a commitment to raising the payroll to make the Brewers more competitive, despite playing in the smallest market in baseball.
After the payroll dipped as low as $27.5 million in 2004, it was raised to $39.9 million in Attanasio’s first season as owner. A year later, the Brewers’ payroll was up to $57.6 million, and by Opening Day 2007, it reached $71 million. When the Brewers reached the playoffs in 2008, the payroll was up to $80.9 million, and in 2010, the Opening Day payroll was up to $90.4 million.
Even with the financial commitment of Attanasio’s ownership group, he acknowledged in his first news conference at Miller Park that he had a lot to do to match the legacy of the Selig family in Milwaukee.
“The Attanasio family feels it has big shoes to fill here,” Attanasio said. “But that being said, we know that we can be the stewards of baseball in Milwaukee for the next 35 years.”
With Melvin, Ash, Yost and Attanasio in place, the Brewers were just a few years away from ending their playoff drought.
The Wait Is Over
When the Brewers returned from St. Louis in 1982 having lost to the Cardinals in the World Series, no one could have guessed it would take 26 years for the club to return to the playoffs. After all, they were expected to be back the following season.
But time after time, the Brewers’ best ballclubs came up short in 1983, ’88, ’91 and ’92. Even in ’07, when the Brewers led the division for much of the season, they came up just two games behind the Chicago Cubs.
Finally, in 2008, it was the Brewers’ turn.
Milwaukee entered the 2008 campaign with high expectations after the ’07 season saw the Brewers post their first winning record since ’92. In an effort to bolster their playoff hopes, Melvin brought in Sabathia just before the All-Star break on July 7. Sabathia was so dominant over the final three months of the season for the Crew that he even garnered a few votes for the NL Cy Young Award.
In 17 starts for the Brewers in 2008, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA, tossing seven complete games, including three shutouts. Aside from a near no-hitter against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, the most impressive of those seven complete games was Sabathia’s last.
On the final day of the regular season, Sabathia made his third consecutive start on three days’ rest and worked all nine innings in the most clutch pitching performance in Brewers history. In front of 45,299 fans, Sabathia threw 122 pitches, struck out seven, scattered four hits and allowed only one unearned run.
“It’s unbelievable what he has done for the guys on this team, this organization and this city,” left fielder Ryan Braun said. “He’s revived baseball in Milwaukee. He took whatever expectation we had and destroyed it.”
Braun played a pretty big role in the club’s run as well. On that night, Braun made the difference at the plate, as he blasted a tie-breaking, two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning, which gave the Brewers the 3-1 win.
Just days earlier, Braun delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 5-1 Brewers win.
“It doesn’t get any better than that. It’s difficult to describe,” Braun said. “The grand slam the other night, that was pretty special, but this one was pretty meaningful.”
With the Brewers finally returning to the postseason, Miller Park hosted the first two playoff games in its history on Oct. 4-5, 2008. The first game, Game 3, was the Brewers’ first win in the postseason since that 1982 World Series. Game 4 was a different story, however, as the Phillies secured a trip to the NLCS with a 6-2 win.
They came up short of winning their first playoff series since 1982, but for fans in Milwaukee and across the state of Wisconsin, the ’08 season was one to remember, and one 26 years in the making.
For the first time since 1982, the Brewers played games in October that mattered.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Pirates beat 8/28
Karstens not likely to miss another start
MILWAUKEE — The Pirates got some good news on Friday. It appears right-handed starter Jeff Karstens’ right arm fatigue is not likely to cost him another start.
After missing his last start on Wednesday, Karstens now looks to be on pace to make his scheduled start on Tuesday in Chicago. Karstens threw at Miller Park on Friday before the Pirates’ series opener with the Brewers.
“He had a light side today,” said Pirates manager John Russell. “It went good.”
LaRoche gets start against Brewers
MILWAUKEE — With the Brewers sending a left-handed starter to the mound on Friday against the Pirates, manager John Russell thought it would be a good time to give Pedro Alvarez the night off.
More importantly, though, Russell saw it as a good chance to get Andy LaRoche a start.
“Andy hasn’t played much,” Russell said. “We’ve been pinch-hitting him quite a bit — and I’d like to get him some at-bats so he feels a little more comfortable at the plate. We’ve been looking at it over the last four or five days moving into this week what would be a good day.
“With [Chris] Narveson pitching today, we thought it would be a good day to get Andy in there and get Pedro a day off.”
While Russell hopes the start will help LaRoche, he sees plenty of benefits in it for Alvarez as well.
“It’s not so much [that] Pedro needs the rest, it was more about getting Andy in the game,” Russell said. “[But] letting Pedro watch again, those young guys when they sit, they can learn a lot.”
This month, LaRoche has started just two games, once at first base and another time at third base. His last start came Aug. 10 at first base against the Padres in San Diego. Since then, he’s pinch-hit 10 times — going 1-for-10 with a single and two strikeouts.
As a pinch-hitter this season, LaRoche has gone 4-for-28 with two doubles and two RBIs along with six strikeouts and two walks. In 55 starts, LaRoche is batting .228 (45-for-197) with three homers, 12 RBIs, six doubles and 16 walks against 29 strikeouts.
“It’s tough for anybody when you’re used to playing a lot and you go to the bench — and you don’t get to play,” Russell said. “We’ve tried all year as much as we can to keep those guys in the game as much as we can and get them some starts here and there.
“It will help them when they pinch-hit. That’s a tough enough job without having any time. Giving them four at-bats every once in a while will help.”
McCutchen’s recent work impresses Russell
MILWAUKEE — Getting a spot start in place of Jeff Karstens on Wednesday, right-hander Daniel McCutchen impressed as he tossed six shutout innings in the Pirates’ 5-2 victory over the Cardinals at PNC Park.
His manager was equally impressed by McCutchen’s performance in relief leading up to the starting opportunity.
“I think he showed a lot more confidence out of the bullpen,” Russell said. “I thought he threw the ball pretty well. I think it kind of helped set up his start.”
McCutchen’s start was his first since July 31, also against the Cardinals. In that start, which was in St. Louis, McCutchen went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. McCutchen struck out just one batter while walking six as he took the loss.
In eight starts this season, McCutchen owns a 6.92 ERA — giving up 30 earned runs over 39 innings of work on his way to a 2-5 record with 20 walks and 20 strikeouts. As a reliever, McCutchen has an impressive 1.74 ERA — allowing just two runs on 11 hits over 10 1/3 innings of work in nine appearances.
“He was more aggressive. He was hitting his spots. I don’t think he was worried how deep he was going to go in the game,” Russell said. “I think he was just out there one hitter at a time, one inning at a time. I think that’s a good lesson that he learned from the bullpen — and if he does start again, it’s something he can draw onto.
“It is one pitch at a time. Execute this pitch, go to the next pitch.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Dodgers earn first sweep since June
MILWAUKEE — No Manny? No problem for the Dodgers.
With Manny Ramirez rumored to be the subject of trade discusions, the Dodgers showed Thursday they could put up plenty of offense without him and shut down their opponents’ bats as the 12-time All-Star took a scheduled off-day for the day game after a night game.
With a 7-1 victory Thursday over the Brewers at Miller Park, the Dodgers completed the sweep, giving them three straight wins for the first time since Aug. 7-10, when the Dodgers won their last two against the Nationals and the series opener in Philadelphia.
The sweep is the Dodgers’ first since they took all three games from the Giants in San Francisco on June 28-30.
“We haven’t done this for a while,” said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. “We certainly need more than this, but you can’t go win five in a row unless you win three in a row. I thought we played these three games very well and we had some key outs that we got out of the bullpen and some key two-out hits. We did a lot of things well this week.
“Hopefully we can build on this.”
While the six-run margin of victory looks like an easy win in the box score, the way the Dodgers got there was anything but. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first and letting the Brewers tie it back up in the fourth on a Prince Fielder home run, things got interesting in the middle innings.
With a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Torre used three pitchers for three outs for a second consecutive game. Starter Carlos Monasterios seemed to lose his command in the inning, walking Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo and hitting Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart.
“I don’t think I lost that much control,” Monasterios said through an interpreter. “But since I hit that hitter, I lost a little bit of rhythm and that’s what happened.”
Torre, who said he thought Monasterios tried to rush through the fifth inning to put himself in line for the win, brought in Ronald Belisario with the bases loaded. Belisario (2-1) retired Ryan Braun for the third straight game, needing just four pitches — all fastballs — to strike out Braun and earn his second win of the season.
George Sherrill then entered to face Fielder, who grounded into a forceout to get the Dodgers out of the jam.
With Belisario matching up against Braun and Sherrill against Fielder, the fifth inning resembled the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s 5-4 win, when Torre used Belisario, Sherrill and Octavio Dotel to close out the game.
“That’s why they’re a good team,” Fielder said. “It’s a good move, bringing tough guys out of the bullpen to kind of shut it down.”
The move did appear to shut the Brewers down. Over the final four innings, the Dodgers’ bullpen allowed just one baserunner — catcher Jonathan Lucroy walked to lead off the seventh. For the game, the Dodgers gave up just two hits, which matched a Milwaukee season.
Reliever Kenley Jansen had a lot to do with that, as he was impressive over the sixth and seventh innings, retiring six of seven batters faced. He did not allow a hit while striking out four batters and walking one.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Andre Ethier was called out on strikes to lead off the inning and was later ejected by home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson following a Matt Kemp strikeout.
“It was just a bad call, I thought it was a bad call,” Ethier said. “The pitch was repeated to the next batter, same exact pitch, I thought even a better pitch, and he called it a ball that time. So I was asking him from the dugout, ‘Are you sure about that?’
“He didn’t like it too much. Neither did I. One of us has the power to kick the other one out.”
Two batters later, Casey Blake blasted a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers some breathing room.
Finally, in the seventh, a walk followed by three straight singles and a fielding error by Lucroy resulted in three Dodgers runs, putting the game out of reach. Jansen got things started with a one out walk in his first career plate appearance and later scored his first career run on Ryan Theriot’s single.
“The seventh inning was not pretty,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “We didn’t back up home. We had a wild pitch. A ball got through Luc’s legs. That stuff happens from time to time, but you hope it would be at a minimum.”
When he wasn’t being asked about Ramirez this week, Torre talked a few times about the need for his players to ignore the standings, focus on themselves and string together a handful of wins as they look to get back in the playoff race.
After winning three in a row, the Dodgers cut their National League Wild Card deficit from eight games — following Sunday’s loss — to five games as of the end of Thursday’s win, with the Phillies having lost earlier and the Giants yet to play.
“We talked about winning series, and we didn’t do that for about a week and a half,” said catcher Brad Ausmus, who recorded his first three-hit game since July 27, 2008. “You’re talking about not only winning series, but mixing in a few series where you manage to sweep the team that you’re playing.
“We’re fortunate to come out of Milwaukee having done that.”
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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