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D-backs rally to beat Brewers in extras
MILWAUKEE — It’s like someone flipped a switch in the fourth inning.
Through the third, right-hander Ian Kennedy appeared headed for disaster. Something changed in his final three frames of work, though, as Kennedy shut down the Brewers and kept the D-backs within striking distance.
As it turns out, the difference may have been the weather.
“Ian struggled a lot,” D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. “It was humid and he couldn’t get a grip, especially on his changeup. In the fourth inning, it cooled down just a little bit and he kind of got back into it and gave us six innings.”
Kennedy’s turnaround proved crucial in the late innings as the D-backs turned the tables on the Brewers for a 7-4 win in 10 innings on Monday night at Miller Park.
With two wild pitches on the night, Kennedy increased his season total to 13, moving him into a tie for first place in the National League. He also hit three batters, giving him nine on the season and putting him third in the NL.
“He was having a really hard time,” Gibson said. “His changeup I think was the worst. He couldn’t throw that at all, so he was down to really the fastball and the curveball.”
Overcoming the conditions and the rough start, Kennedy helped the D-backs win for just the 16th time this season in 53 games away from Chase Field.
“That’s one of the things about when we come on the road. When we play at home, we always have the roof closed; it’s the same,” Gibson said. “Somebody asked me the other day about our road woes and this is one of the things you have to deal with. It’s humid here.”
Kennedy also surrendered four runs on five hits and three walks. Kennedy did all of this through the first three innings of the D-backs’ series opener with the Brewers.
In the fourth, fifth and sixth, Kennedy was unhittable, as he did not allow a baserunner while retiring the final 10 batters he faced. Though he admitted the humidity was an issue, Kennedy credited an adjustment he made for his mid-start turnaround.
“For me, all I noticed was I kind of gave about 80 percent instead of trying to 100 or 95 percent every time,” Kennedy said. “It was really just trying to adjust to what I had today.”
After Kennedy got them through six, Gibson admitted he was hoping his team “wouldn’t self-destruct at that point.” It didn’t. In fact, it got better as the game progressed.
Arizona’s bullpen followed suit in the seventh, eighth, and ninth, allowing just one baserunner on a walk, while striking out five of nine hitters.
All told, D-backs pitchers held the Brewers without a hit over 20 straight at-bats before Prince Fielder’s one-out single in the 10th.
In the ninth, it was Brewers closer John Axford who was wild. Axford walked the first two D-backs to bat in the inning, before a sacrifice bunt and an RBI groundout to short tied it at 4.
All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman got in on the act in the 10th, surrendering a bases-loaded single to Stephen Drew, which was set up by a pair of walks, for the loss. Pinch-hitter Ryan Church followed with an RBI single to right for the game’s final run.
“I was watching their at-bats, and [Axford] threw some breaking balls — Trevor, also — that they laid off,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “To me, they were pretty good pitches and they laid off of them. So you have to give their hitters some credit, too.”
Hoffman (2-5) took the loss while Sam Demel (1-0) picked up his first Major League win. With the way the game had started for Kennedy and the D-backs, they were happy to deny the win for Narveson and the Brewers.
Winning for the fourth time in their past five games, the D-backs bounced back well from a not-so-impressive 10-1 loss to the Padres on Sunday. In the four wins, Arizona has averaged 5.75 runs per game while giving up 3.5 runs per game.
“We battled and battled,” Drew said. “Ian, I went up to him and he just didn’t have it, and with the sweat and everything else, trying to find a grip. He finally settled in and we got some timely hits and the walk situations were good for us too.
“Overall, everybody just did what they needed to do to get the win.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Astros beat 8/8
Keppinger moves to third spot in lineup
MILWAUKEE — With the way Jeff Keppinger has been hitting this season, his manager said he would be comfortable batting him just about anywhere in the lineup.
Anywhere included the No. 3 spot on Sunday as Astros manager Brad Mills shook up his lineup a bit in the series finale with the Brewers.
“I like Hunter [Pence] behind the guys who are getting on base,” Mills said. “Hunter seems to find some way to get hits. It might not be the prettiest thing all the time, but he finds ways to get hits.”
Keppinger, along with Michael Bourn and Angel Sanchez, has been as consistent as anyone in the Houston lineup when it comes to getting on base. Entering the game Sunday, Keppinger, Sanchez and Bourn had on-base percentages of .355, .353 and .328, respectively.
Only rookies Brett Wallace (.409) and Chris Johnson (.383) had higher on-base percentages than Keppinger. But with the inexperience of Wallace and Johnson, the manager preferred them in the No. 6 and No. 7 spots.
“He’ll do a good job in any spot,” Mills said of Keppinger. “He continues to get on and have good at-bats. If we can get that guy hitting in front of Hunter, we’ll be all right.”
Sanchez’s bunt attempt earns Mills’ praise
MILWAUKEE — With a runner on and one out in the seventh on Saturday, rookie shortstop Angel Sanchez laid down a bunt toward third base that looked like a sure base hit.
Brewers left-hander Randy Wolf had other ideas, though, as he made a spectacular defensive play for the out, which later earned Wolf the night’s top “Web Gem” on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.”
Despite the outcome, manager Brad Mills praised the decision of Sanchez.
“Angel did a good job of giving it a shot there to get the inning going,” Mills said. “It was a good time to do it.”
Sanchez has been impressive since he was acquired from the Red Sox, solidifying the shortstop position in the absence of Tommy Manzella and Geoff Blum.
Most impressive to his manager, though, has been his comfort level with just doing what he’s capable of and not trying to do more than that.
“That’s what he does, he stays in his lane,” Mills said. “That’s all he has to do. When guys try to do more than they can do or they get out of their lane, sometimes you don’t know what to expect. It’s nice if you can pencil a guy in and you know what to expect.
“He’s going to have some good at-bats. He’s going to be able to move runners, he’s going to drive some guys in at times. That’s huge.”
Astros hope younger lineup helps future
MILWAUKEE — When the Astros opened the season, they had question marks all over the field, except the outfield. Looking at Sunday’s lineup, the outfield remained the same as Opening Day, and the rest was far from it.
Every infield position had a different starter Sunday than the Astros had for the first game of the season. With that in mind, manager Brad Mills hoped the end of this season would make for a better start to the next.
“That’s the biggest thing about being able to play young guys at the end of the season,” Mills said. “So you’re able to answer questions about them going into the following year, because you can’t always find out that many answers in Spring Training.”
That difference between Spring Training and the regular season is one reason Mills is an advocate for bringing up Minor League players and playing a younger lineup when the roster can be expanded in September.
Although he acknowledged that September is not exactly like the first five months of the season, Mills still thinks experience in the season’s final month is more valuable than Spring Training.
“The season is a different animal,” Mills said. “[September] is different, but at the same time it’s closer to it than Spring Training, with the fans in the stands and the times of day and the travel. It might not be the same, but it’s as close as you’re going to be able to get. So you can still answer some questions because of 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.
Frustrating sixth continues Myers’ streak
MILWAUKEE — Five pitches into the game, Brett Myers had given up a leadoff inside-the-park homer and a sharp double to the gap in left.
Those turned out to be the hardest hit balls of the night off Myers, but four soft singles did the Astros right-hander in Saturday at Miller Park.
Myers settled down after the Brewers’ first two batters, retiring 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced. With one out in the sixth, Myers surrendered four straight singles, which led to two more Brewers runs and the Astros’ 5-2 loss.
Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks led off the bottom of the first with a bang, driving an 0-2 fastball off the wall in left-center field. Weeks hustled around for an inside-the-park home run and his seventh career leadoff homer, a franchise record.
Center fielder Jason Bourgeois looked to have a play on the Weeks fly ball, but it got by him and caromed off the wall away from him.
“I thought I had a bead on it. I got a good jump, it just happened to get over my glove,” Bourgeois said. “I thought everything was going right, but it’s a game of inches. It got over.
“A little off line. That’s what I think it was when I looked at the replay. I wish I could have another try at it, but it’s the way the game goes.”
Bourgeois tracked the ball down quickly, but was too late to catch Weeks.
“I knew I had to get it, because I know Rickie can run a little bit,” Bourgeois said. “It just happened to get a little bit away from me. Hats off to him, he was hustling the whole time.”
Corey Hart followed with a double to the gap in left and came around to score after a pair of groundouts, giving Milwaukee the early 2-0 lead.
In the sixth, four straight singles by Hart, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee brought home two more runs, and eventually ended Myers’ night after just 78 pitches.
“The first inning, I made some mistakes,” Myers said. “That first inning I’m fine with. The sixth inning, those are the frustrating ones, when you make good pitches and they end up finding holes. That’s baseball. That’s the way things go for you.”
Tossing six innings in the loss, Myers’ streak of consecutive starts of six or more innings continued Saturday.
Extending his franchise record streak to 23 straight starts to open the season, Myers gave up four runs on seven hits in those six innings while walking one and striking out two.
In the second through fifth innings, Myers faced only one over the minimum as he gave up just one hit — which was followed by a double play — and a walk.
“Brett threw the ball extremely well again,” manager Brad Mills said. “I say it every time, he’s been unbelievable all year long. Tonight he gave us a chance again.”
Myers was outdueled by former Phillies teammate Randy Wolf, though, who effectively shut down the Astros’ bats over 6 2/3 innings in his first start since being hit with a Hunter Pence line drive on Sunday.
Wolf kept the Astros hitters off balance all night, walking just one batter while recording four strikeouts. Although he did give up nine hits, Wolf stranded seven runners over the first five innings.
As if Wolf’s strong outing on the mound weren’t enough, he made a tremendous defensive play in the seventh, tossing out shortstop Angel Sanchez at first on a bunt between the mound and the third-base line.
“He made a lot of big pitches to get out of those innings,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “In the seventh inning, when Sanchez laid that bunt down, I thought he made a tremendous play. That was a huge help there.”
With the loss, Houston finds itself having dropped three straight on the heels of a season-high seven-game winning streak. In each of the three games, the pitching — Wandy Rodriguez’s start on Friday aside — has not been as sharp as it had been of late.
But the offense hasn’t helped either.
Astros hitters went just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position Saturday night, with the only hits being the back-to-back doubles in the seventh that plated both Houston runs. Add a 3-for-15 night on Friday, and the Astros have gone 5-for-26 (.192) with runners in scoring position for the series.
“Any time that you go for a long string and leave a lot of runners on, it is going to catch up with you, if not that night, eventually,” Mills said. “We’re having some good at-bats, it’s just that it didn’t string together through the whole lineup tonight.
“They were able to put some hits back-to-back-to-back, even if they weren’t hit hard. Where we might have had quite a few hits, we weren’t able to string them all together.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Astros beat 8/7
Mills thinks Hart was out on game-winner
MILWAUKEE — While the Brewers were celebrating a thrilling walk-off victory Friday night, the Astros and manager Brad Mills weren’t so sure about the game’s final run.
As right fielder Corey Hart scored the winning run Friday night, Mills was convinced he was out. His opinion remained the same Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately, the ensuing celebration made it tough for Mills to voice his opinion.
“That is the toughest way to argue a call,” Mills said. “To go out there when everybody is running around — the umpires want to leave, they’re trying to get off the field, and I’m trying to state my case as he’s walking off. It’s a bad place to be.
“They were picking Hart up off the ground as I was running around trying to get to the umpire. That’s a tough situation.”
A closer look at Hart’s slide shows his left leg was several inches off the ground as Astros catcher Jason Castro turned to tag the All-Star right fielder. From the camera angle behind the plate, however, it’s difficult to see whether Hart scores before the tag is applied.
Mills said his catcher could have been better positioned on the play, though he understands the difficulty of catching the throw from right fielder Hunter Pence and making the tag at the plate.
“The ball is always going to travel quicker than the guy is able to get the ball and reach back,” Mills said. “We try to get the guys to straddle the bag and let the ball travel.
“When the ball’s coming from right field, it’s the worst for the catcher. His eyes are on the ball, and he can’t even see the runner out of his periphery. It makes it really difficult.”
Astros like Wallace’s approach at the plate
MILWAUKEE — Like the rest of the National League, the Astros are still learning just what kind of hitter rookie first baseman Brett Wallace could be.
Through five starts and 17 at-bats, early indications have been good.
Wallace showed off one part of his skill set Friday night as he drove a double into the gap in left-center field in the fifth, scoring shortstop Geoff Blum from first base. Hits to left-center field were a common theme for Wallace in the Minors.
In particular, manager Brad Mills also likes the calm approach Wallace seems to have in the batter’s box, regardless of the outcome.
“Isn’t that nice to see?” Mills said. “As a young kid, that sure looks nice.”
Bourn has green light when he feels right
MILWAUKEE — When it comes to stealing bases, it’s up to Michael Bourn to decide when he thinks it’s the right situation to go for it.
When Bourn reached base twice on Friday night, manager Brad Mills reminded his center fielder of that fact more often than usual. With Brewers catcher George Kottaras having thrown out just 16 percent of basestealers this season, the Astros knew they could have an easy time on the bases.
But Mills didn’t want to force Bourn to steal.
“I tried to emphasize him running, but you don’t want to force him to run,” Mills said. “He has to be able to feel it.
“He tried to go a couple times and just didn’t feel it. You can’t force a guy to run when he doesn’t feel comfortable, especially a guy like Michael.”
He finished the night with a pair of stolen bases, but Bourn might have had more if his right foot was feeling 100 percent
Bourn has been slowed since his foot was hit with a pitch Wednesday in St. Louis, though he has not missed any time. Although he was left out of the starting lineup Saturday, it had more to do with Bourn’s numbers against left-handed pitching than his right foot.
“It was sore last night. As he was coming off the field, I think you could [see that],” Mills said. “He said it hurts him more to jog than to run.”
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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