Archive
Mendez stung by long balls in loss
MILWAUKEE — Entering their series finale, the Marlins were tied with the Braves for the fewest home runs allowed in the Majors this season, while the Brewers’ offense was tied for second in the National League with 175 homers in 2010.
The Brewers were the clear winners in that battle Sunday, belting four home runs in the first three innings en route to an easy 7-1 victory over the Marlins in their home finale at Miller Park.
With the four long balls, the Brewers overtook the Reds for first place in the NL in home runs. Ryan Braun opened things up with a two-run blast in the first, and Lorenzo Cain added a no-doubt solo shot in the second, the first of his career.
It was clear at that point that Marlins starter Adalberto Mendez was in for a rough outing. For good measure, Braun added a second two-run homer in the third. Two pitches later, Prince Fielder belted his 32nd of the season, marking the end of Mendez’s start.
“They’ve been doing that pretty much all season,” said Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez. “From one to five — those guys — they know how to score runs.”
Lasting just two innings, Mendez’s start was by far his shortest since being called up earlier this month. In three previous September starts, Mendez was 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA, giving up just three runs on 15 hits over 17 1/3 innings pitched.
With his Sunday outing of two-plus innings and six runs on six hits, Mendez’s ERA jumped to 4.19 as he took his second loss of the season. The problem was an inability to be effective with his slider.
“He was relying on his fastball,” Rodriguez said. “When you face a lineup like the Brewers and you get behind in the count, they can make you pay for it. That fastball, even if it’s 94-96 [mph], they don’t care.”
Even with his slider not working, Mendez expected better results out of his fastball. Unfortunately, it was up more often than not and Mendez struggled to execute pitches against the Brewers.
“It’s about making pitches,” Mendez said. “If you make the pitch, you can throw whatever you want, but I couldn’t do it today.”
All the offense the Marlins could produce came in the first inning as three straight hitters reached base and Gaby Sanchez delivered Ozzie Martinez from third with a sacrifice fly. Beginning with Sanchez’s flyout, Brewers lefty Chris Capuano retired 16 of the final 18 Marlins batters he faced.
Capuano (4-4) left after just 72 pitches with a left groin strain, but not before delivering six strong innings and allowing just one run on four hits and a walk with a strikeout. His win came amid a celebratory atmosphere at Miller Park, which included several standing ovations from the home crowd.
Braun took a curtain call after his second home run, and Fielder had one of his own after being removed in the eighth after what may have been his final plate appearance in a Brewers uniform at home. Finally, all-time saves leader and former Marlins reliever Trevor Hoffman entered to his signature “Hells Bells,” closing out the Brewers’ 7-1 victory.
“As a team, we’re disappointed we’re not further along in a playoff run,” Capuano said. “That’s disappointing. But to have a game where you had some guys get some milestones, had Trevor Hoffman come in and even though it wasn’t a save situation they played ‘Hells Bells’ … it was great to finish at home with a win.”
Mendez’s poor outing also cost the Marlins a chance to split the four-game series with the Brewers, while also dropping them back below .500. Sitting at 77-78, the Marlins will need to win four of their final seven games to finish at an even .500 this season.
Their road record dropped back to 39-39 with three games remaining away from Sun Life Stadium. The Marlins will need to take two of three from the Braves to secure a winning road record for the 2010 season.
The highlight of the game for the Marlins turned out to be an impressive Major League debut for reliever Steve Cishek.
After being recalled on Tuesday, to bolster the Marlins bullpen, Cishek finally made his first big league appearance in relief Sunday. With his club trailing 7-1 in the sixth, Cishek pitched two perfect innings, inducing three ground ball outs, a popup and two fly outs.
“It was definitely a dream come true, that’s for sure,” Cishek said. “I just wanted to go right at them, fill up the strike zone as much as possible and whatever happens, happens. It turned out it worked pretty well.”
After needing only 18 pitches, 16 of which were strikes, to retire six batters, Cishek’s manager liked what he saw in his debut.
“I was impressed with Cishek,” Rodriguez said. “This is the first time I’ve seen his slider working that way. He was very tough on right-handed hitters. Going two innings, throwing strikes, I was impressed with him.”
Brewers seal losing record at home in shutout
MILWAUKEE — When their home record sat at 4-14 in mid-May, third baseman Casey McGehee told reporters the Brewers would get back to .500, even if it took until September.
It came down to the 80th game of the season at Miller Park, but they ultimately came up short. With a 4-0 loss to the Marlins on Saturday, the Brewers guaranteed a second consecutive losing record at home, dropping to 39-41 on the season in Milwaukee.
“I think my point in saying that before was that we weren’t just going to roll over on it, and just say, ‘Oh, well we struggle at home,'” McGehee said. “We were going to keep battling. From where we started to where we are now, we made up some pretty good ground as far as our record here I think.
“It’s a great place to play, and we didn’t do the best job of taking advantage of it at times. I think the whole thing is just a little bit disappointing overall when you look at the overall results, whether it be at home or on the road. We’ve got our work cut out for us, that’s for sure, for next year.”
With all the offense they put up over the last three days, the Brewers probably would have liked to have saved a couple runs for Saturday night.
After scoring 27 runs over the course of three straight wins, the Brewers couldn’t figure out Marlins right-hander Chris Volstad.
Any remaining doubts as to what side of .500 the Brewers would finish on overall were put to rest Saturday as well. With the loss, they dropped to 72-82 overall, guaranteeing they would finish with their second consecutive losing record.
The biggest reason behind the Brewers’ poor home and overall records could be attributed to their inconsistency, especially offensively. Fittingly, this week has provided an excellent example of such inconsistency.
Despite being among the league’s top run-scoring clubs — as evidenced in their 13-1 win over the Reds on Wednesday — the Brewers are among the leaders in being shut out as well. Saturday marked the 14th time this season Milwaukee was held scoreless.
“I think that’s going to happen when you have offenses like this,” McGehee said. “We’re kind of built on hitting the ball out of the park. We can do other things, but that’s how we’re built really, and you’re going to run into stretches where you’re not hitting the ball out or you run into tough pitching. It’s tough to sustain a barrage of power over any time.”
Volstad (11-9) tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering six hits while striking out two batters with no walks. Of those six hits off Volstad, none were for extra bases, which limited the Brewers’ ability to put together any sort of big inning.
Volstad’s success came on the heels of a five-hit shutout in his previous outing, a 4-0 Marlins victory over the Cardinals.
“I definitely tried to bring the last game into this game as much as I could,” Volstad said. “The pace I was working at helped me get momentum. I was getting the ball, getting the sign and making the pitch with not a lot of time to get myself out of whack.”
The Brewers’ biggest opportunity came in the eighth inning, when they loaded the bases with two out on three singles in a four-batter span. Reliever Jose Veras entered to face catcher George Kottaras, who ripped a liner to center field.
Unfortunately for the Brewers, it was hit right at center fielder Cameron Maybin, who secured the final out of the inning.
“You go up there and put a good swing on the ball,” Kottaras said. “That’s what I did. … He made a good play on it.”
Left-handed starter Chris Narveson delivered his fourth quality start in five chances this month, tossing 6 2/3 innings while giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
For Narveson, three hits — two first-inning singles and a seventh-inning homer — ruined what was otherwise an impressive outing.
“I felt pretty good,” Narveson said. “I know it’s toward the end of the season, but for me it actually felt pretty good. At times, I was a little erratic, but for the most part … when I missed with a pitch, I was able to make the adjustment.”
Narveson dropped to 11-9 on the season, despite posting his 11th quality start. Over his past 12 starts, Narveson has posted a 4-3 record with a 4.12 ERA, allowing 34 earned runs in 74 2/3 innings of work. In 14 previous starts, Narveson was 6-6 with a 5.87 ERA, giving up 50 earned runs over 76 2/3 innings pitched.
The biggest change, as his manager sees it, has been Narveson’s ability to realize what he needs to do to be effective.
“I think he’s kind of learned what type of pitcher he has to be, what works best for him,” said Brewers manager Ken Macha. “He does the fastball-changeup thing and mixes in a couple curves.
“I think he was trying to do too much with his breaking balls [earlier in the season]. He’s learned the back-and-forth game with his changeup, and that’s made his fastball better. He kind of saves his curveball for a finishing [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.
Wolf flies under the radar in lopsided victory
MILWAUKEE — On any other night, Randy Wolf’s performance would have been the story of the game. But with the way the Brewers hitters were swinging the bats in a 13-1 victory over the Reds, a quality start and a 2-for-4 performance at the plate got lost in the shuffle.
Making Wolf’s outing even more impressive was the way he responded after his club put up eight runs in the second and five more in the next three innings. Often with such long innings offensively, a team’s pitcher tends to struggle going back out on the mound.
Wolf just got better as the game went along.
“There were some long breaks, but the main thing is, when it’s that kind of score, you’ve got to go out there and feel like it’s 0-0,” Wolf said. “If you go out there and you see it’s 8-1, 13-1 … all of a sudden it’s four runs, five runs and they’re creeping their way back.
“As a pitcher, you’ve got to keep your focus and pitch the right way. You really don’t want to totally change your aggressiveness or change your whole philosophy just because of the score.”
Not only did Wolf pitch well as his team sent 34 hitters to the plate in the second through fifth innings, he did so after fighting through a rough first inning.
Wolf opened the game giving up three singles and a walk in the top of the first. Fortunately, the veteran lefty managed to hold the National League Central-leading Reds to just one run in the inning.
“Wolfy, another good outing for him,” said Brewers manager Ken Macha. “He got help with some defense in the first inning, a tremendous play by [Ryan] Braun getting the ball off the wall to get their leadoff hitter.”
With a fortunate out on his side, Wolf got the next batter to hit a grounder back to the mound. But with just one out to go in the inning, he walked Jay Bruce and surrendered back-to-back singles before striking out Yonder Alonso to end the inning.
That strikeout was the first of four in a row for Wolf and the beginning of a stretch of 11 consecutive batters retired. Wolf did not allow another hit until a leadoff double in the sixth off the bat of Paul Janish, who replaced Orlando Cabrera at shortstop.
“I didn’t really have the command I wanted early on,” Wolf said. “Luckily, as the game went on, I felt better and better and felt more comfortable out there and I was able to mix my pitches and work my fastball in and out.”
Tossing six strong innings while allowing just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts against two walks, Wolf posted his fourth straight quality start in September. This month, Wolf is 3-1 with a 1.21 ERA, allowing just four runs on 18 hits in 29 2/3 innings pitched.
Since his infamous 12-run outing in Pittsburgh, Wolf has gone 6-2 with a 2.57 ERA in his last 11 starts, giving up 21 earned runs over 73 2/3 innings pitched. In his 31 other starts not including that July 21 loss, Wolf is 13-10 with a 3.81 ERA.
“Randy was great again,” shortstop Craig Counsell said. “He’s been on quite a roll, and he’s put together a good season — a really good season.”
Brewers beat 9/22
McClendon causes stir with quick pitch
MILWAUKEE — As manager Ken Macha sees it, what Brewers reliever Mike McClendon does with two strikes absolutely is not an illegal quick pitch. The four Reds batters McClendon struck out on Tuesday night would likely disagree.
After he struck out third baseman Scott Rolen to end the seventh, home-plate umpire Dan Bellino told Macha he thought it was a quick pitch, though he didn’t make the call.
“He said the hitter wasn’t looking,” Macha said. “Go back and look at the tape, the hitter was looking. But sometimes what happens is the umpire gets caught off guard.”
In the eighth, McClendon continued to work with a shorter, quicker delivery after two strikes, and he struck out the side doing so.
The last of McClendon’s four strikeout victims was catcher Ramon Hernandez, who was noticeably upset afterward, pleading his case with Bellino.
“I don’t think in McClendon’s situation that it should even be in the conversation,” Macha said. “He takes a step back, he does his drop step, and then after he gets to his balance point, either he’s slow or he goes fast. There should not even be a question for that.”
McClendon’s manner of pitching in such situations is acceptable, so long as no runners are on base. With the bases empty, the requirement of coming set before pitching is not in play.
As far as Macha is concerned, pitching quickly is no different than switching up between a fastball and an offspeed pitch. It’s all designed to do the same thing to the hitter.
“The idea of pitching is to disrupt the hitter’s timing,” Macha said. “You do that by throwing changeups and fastballs and all that stuff. This is just a little variation of it, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.”
Another National League Central pitcher, Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook, pitches with a similar style to McClendon’s. When facing him, Brewers hitters made a concerted effort to call timeout to prevent any potential quick pitch.
So who’s at fault in the quick pitch issue?
“Is it on the hitter? He’s in the box,” Macha said. “If he knows the pitcher is going to do that, it’s up to him to call time.”
Cruz not seeing much playing time
MILWAUKEE — Since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Sept. 7, shortstop Luis Cruz has pinch-hit twice for the Brewers, once in Houston and again in San Francisco.
Cruz has yet to start a game for the Brewers, and though he started nearly 40 games in two years with the Pirates, his manager did not wish to start him against contenders like the Giants and Reds.
After playing in 129 games for the Sounds this year, sitting and watching from the bench is a new role for Cruz.
“I’m just working hard to see whenever they find a chance for me and let me play, that’s the only thing I can do,” Cruz said. “You want to play and help the team win, but the manager is the manager. He’s the one that sets the lineup, and he’s got to pick the guys that he thinks are going to help win games.”
With their official elimination from the playoff race on Sunday, though, the Brewers aren’t going anywhere, regardless of how many games they win. Add in the fact that they need to go 12-0 the rest of the way to finish at .500, and the need for winning games would not seem too high.
Learning what they can about September callups like Cruz, however, would seem like a priority. According to Macha, that’s likely to come in the next two series against the Marlins and Mets, both of whom are also on the outside looking in at the contenders.
“I had thrown a crazy idea out there this morning, I don’t know if I’ve got the nerve to do that,” Macha said without giving any additional details. “It’s a little further out of the box than playing Luis Cruz.”
Joining Cruz in watching from the dugout has been Mat Gamel, who also started one game at third base with Prince Fielder out of the lineup.
Any out-of-the-ordinary lineup against the Marlins would likely include Gamel as well, though what defensive position he would play is uncertain. Before Wednesday’s game, Macha had good things to say about Gamel’s outfield abilities.
“He was running them down in the outfield,” Macha said. “He was outstanding in right field. Watching him run balls down today, he was pretty good.”
Breaking ball key to Braddock’s future
MILWAUKEE — Watching from the home bullpen this week, Brewers lefty Zach Braddock could learn a lot from Reds phenom Aroldis Chapman.
Both pitchers possess left-handed power arms, albeit on different levels. Both pitchers also operate with a slider as their No. 2 pitch. The difference — besides an extra 10 mph in fastball velocity — is the effectiveness of those sliders.
While Chapman’s is nearly unhittable, Braddock’s remains a work in progress.
“He is going to be as good in the big leagues as his breaking ball becomes,” said Brewers manager Ken Macha. “You just can’t come here and just throw one fastball after another, and being 93 [mph], it’ll get knocked around a bit.”
In six appearances this month, Braddock has posted a 7.71 ERA, giving up two runs on two walks and three hits in 2 1/3 innings. Opponents are batting .333 with a .795 OPS off Braddock in September.
For the first time this season, Braddock failed to record an out in each of his last two outings, surrendering a hit to the only batter he faced in each appearance. Aside from a 9.00 mark in three late May outings, Braddock’s 7.71 ERA this month is easily his worst in any month of the season.
Even worse has been Braddock’s performance against lefties, which could likely be attributed to a lack of effectiveness with his breaking ball.
After holding left-handed hitters to a .091 batting average in July and hitless in August, they are batting .400 off Braddock this month.
With those recent struggles in mind, Macha opted not to pitch the lefty Monday night against left-handed-hitting slugger Joey Votto with one on and one out in the eighth. Macha pointed to the last two games in San Francisco to back up his thought process.
“[Kameron] Loe came in and went right through their guys, [Aubrey] Huff being one of them,” Macha said. “The next day, I brought in Braddock against Huff and he hit a line drive. So, I figured Loe could go two innings.”
When asked if Braddock’s performance could be attributed to fatigue at the end of a long season, Macha pointed to the need for a better slider as a counter argument.
Braddock agreed with his manager’s assessment, though he believed his fastball was equally important to his success.
“When I have the ability to change speeds and move in and out, I can be more deceptive. I’m a better pitcher,” Braddock said. “I think strike one and fastball command is of a lot of importance, too. But with the slider comes the added ability to put in the hitters’ minds that there’s something else.”
Capuano’s solid start undone by late homers
MILWAUKEE — With every start, Chris Capuano continues to make progress in his return from a second Tommy John surgery. On Monday, the 100-pitch mark was his latest milestone.
Capuano delivered an impressive performance for his third straight quality start, but back-to-back Reds home runs in the eighth made the difference as the Brewers lost their second straight game, 5-2.
Tossing six innings, Capuano gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Reaching the century mark for the first time this season, Capuano’s pitch count of 105 was his highest since throwing 113 pitches on Aug. 19, 2007.
“This was a huge step for him,” said Brewers manager Ken Macha. “Not only getting past 100 pitches, but the game pretty much on the line [in the sixth inning]. First and second with one out, he winds up getting two big outs there.”
Since his rough return to the rotation on Aug. 28 against the Pirates, Capuano has excelled, posting a 1-2 record with a 2.58 ERA in four September starts. Over that stretch, Capuano has allowed just seven earned runs on 17 hits in 24 1/3 innings of work.
In each of his five late-season starts, Capuano has progressed with his pitch count, going from 75 pitches to 80, 83, 90 and 105 on Monday. His best outing came Sept. 8 against the Cardinals when he tossed seven innings while giving up one run on four hits.
While he wasn’t quite as sharp against the Reds, he said he felt even better.
“Physically, this was the best I’ve felt,” Capuano said. “I really felt good out there physically, and got the pitch count up there close to 100. It felt good.”
But did Capuano feel the effects of tossing 100 pitches for the first time in three years?
“No, I feel good,” Capuano answered. “Like I said, I think this is the best I’ve felt so far.”
Unfortunately for Capuano and the Brewers, they were unable to keep the Reds from reducing their magic number even further. After their win Monday, coupled with a Cardinals loss, the number was down to six.
After leaving with the game tied at 2, Capuano handed the ball off to reliever Kameron Loe, who delivered a scoreless 1 1/3 innings before letting things get away from him. With one out in the eighth, Loe (3-5) surrendered a single and back-to-back home runs as the Reds took a 5-2 lead.
Following an Orlando Cabrera single, Joey Votto belted a 2-2 fastball into the second deck in left-center field, putting the Reds on top, 4-2. Afterward, Macha was asked if he considered anyone other than Loe against Votto.
“You’ve got a way to go yet in the game,” Macha said. “[Zach] Braddock really hasn’t been on his game, and [Manny] Parra needed a day off, he had 20-some pitches.”
With no left-handers available and apparently not wanting to use closer John Axford, Macha stuck with Loe, who he viewed as his best option at the time.
Votto had struggled through his first three at-bats, going 0-for-3 against Capuano while being called out on strikes twice. His night went from bad to great with one swing of the bat in the eighth.
“The more times you face him, the better chance he has,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker. “I always say you hate to see a good hitter cold. Sooner or later the law of averages is on his side and he’s going to get somebody. That was as long of a home run to the opposite field I’ve seen.”
Added Votto: “I try not to take previous at-bats into following at-bats. I didn’t have a very good game going into that point. That’s why we play all nine innings.”
Even after the two-run homer, Loe stayed in, and Scott Rolen drove his very next pitch over the fence in right. It was the Reds’ 11th set of back-to-back home runs this season.
Loe made himself unavailable for comment after the Brewers’ 5-2 loss.
With the loss, the Brewers dropped to 36-39 at Miller Park this season. As only six home games remain on the schedule, they’ll need to win four of six to finish at .500 on the year and five of six to secure a winning home record in 2010.
Milwaukee finished 40-41 at home last year after posting four consecutive winning home records. Lately, the bright spot has been the Brewers’ ability to compete with some of the league’s best — or hottest — teams in the Reds, Phillies, Cardinals, Giants and Astros.
Offensively, Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks provided the only bright spots for the Brewers. Weeks went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, while Braun drove in a pair of runs and doubled. Braun’s two RBIs moved him one behind third baseman Casey McGehee, who leads the Brewers with 94 runs batted in.
As it has been most of the season, the problem for the offense was delivering hits with runners in scoring position. The most obvious example came in the second inning, when Carlos Gomez led off with an infield single and reached third on a throwing error with none out. With three straight strikeouts, the Brewers left Gomez stranded at third.
“Gomez is on third, nobody out, we didn’t put the ball in play,” Macha said. “Little things like that hurt you when you’ve got tight games.”
A Schelling For Your Thoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.