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Brewers beat 5/28
Brewers players, staff S.C.O.R.E. at local schools
MILWAUKEE — Brewers players, coaches and front office staff visited 26 schools in the five-county area on Friday to talk to students about their community outreach program on S.C.O.R.E. for Excellence Day.
The S.C.O.R.E. (School, Community, Opportunities, Role Models and Excellence) program is in its fifth season, and it provides messages about character education through each of the five elements of the initiative.
As part of the program, left fielder Ryan Braun, broadcaster Brian Anderson, former All-Star Larry Hisle and the Brewers’ racing sausages visited Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts in Milwaukee.
“It’s important to have good life skills,” Anderson told the students. “We want to encourage you to learn that, take it home to your brothers and sisters, your parents, reach out into your community and take this S.C.O.R.E. program and keep it with you. We come out and we want to give you the message, but really the message dies unless you take it out there with you.”
Hisle, who played for the Brewers from 1978-82, talked about how much his community meant to him when growing up.
“I credit that city for as much of my success as I do myself,” Hisle said, referring to his hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. “It afforded me every opportunity and all the resources necessary for success. The only thing missing was how badly I wanted to play baseball.”
During the presentation, Anderson and Braun presented five baseballs — one with each of the letters of the acronym on it — to five students who participated and talked about why each of the program’s elements is important.
Braun, who attended the University of Miami on an academic scholarship, told the students that he always hoped to play baseball professionally, but his studies came first.
The program finished with a question and answer session between the students and Braun, who was noticeably impressed by the students.
“Really impressive,” Braun said of the questions. “I think they really paid attention, and they really believe in this program, and I think the Brewers do, too. So it was a good day all around. I had a good time, and I was thoroughly impressed.”
Stern finds himself on callup express
MILWAUKEE — As the Brewers’ injuries continue to pile up, so, too, do the frequent flier miles for outfielder Adam Stern, who was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Friday.
Stern received a phone call from Nashville manager Don Money, who gave him the news Thursday morning. With that, Stern headed to the ballpark to pack up his things, then caught a flight from Sacramento, Calif., to Milwaukee by way of Minneapolis.
It was the third time in less than three weeks that Stern has been called up from the Minors. As a result, he has spent only two days at home in Nashville this month: May 1-2.
“I haven’t started my car in about three weeks,” Stern said. “So who knows if that’ll start.”
Stern’s journey began with an eight-day Minor League road trip, which included stops in Round Rock, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M. The series in Albuquerque wrapped up on May 10, and the next day Stern was recalled in place of center fielder Carlos Gomez.
He joined the Brewers in Milwaukee for a few days, but with the bullpen needing another arm, Stern was optioned May 15 in favor of right-handed reliever John Axford. Stern never left, however, and was recalled the next day as left-hander Doug Davis went on the disabled list.
Stern made the trip with the club to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, but was optioned before the first game against the Twins.
With that, Stern flew to Sacramento, meeting the Sounds there and playing the team’s first three games against the River Cats. But with outfielder Jody Gerut going on the disabled list Thursday, Stern was on the move again.
All told, Stern has traveled more than 8,000 miles in May.
“Flying doesn’t bother me,” Stern said. “I’m getting to check out the country, I guess. Plus, I’m racking some good frequent flier miles.”
Stern did admit, though, that some flights are more enjoyable than others.
“The flights are a lot better coming here than they are going away from here,” he said. “It’s a lot better when you’re coming up to the big leagues. On the way out, it’s a little bit worse.”
Although he’s happy to be back, Stern knows he shouldn’t settle in or get too comfortable in Milwaukee.
With center fielder Jim Edmonds set to return Monday from the DL, Stern is the most likely candidate to be sent down to the Minors.
“They’ll keep me posted when they need to make another move,” Stern said. “That’s fine. You just do whatever they ask you to do and go with the flow.”
Fielder, Braun swap spots vs. left-hander
MILWAUKEE — With a tough lefty in Johan Santana on the mound for Friday’s series opener with the Mets, Brewers manager Ken Macha opted to switch the order of his three and four hitters for the second time in two weeks.
First baseman Prince Fielder moved up a spot to the No. 3 hole, while right fielder Ryan Braun dropped down from that spot to bat cleanup against the Mets. The only other time this season Fielder has hit anywhere but fourth was May 20 against the Pirates.
The Brewers won that game, 4-3, snapping a nine-game losing streak.
“I did it in Pittsburgh when their lefty pitched,” Macha said. “I kind of like it that way with a lefty. I think with Braun sitting on deck that they have to get the ball closer to the strike zone for Prince. Because if they end up walking him, then you’ve got somebody that has a reputation for hitting left-handers very well.”
Worth noting
Entering Friday’s game Brewers pitchers had not allowed a home run in their last eight games since May 19, one game shy of tying the nine-game franchise record, set from Aug. 17-25, 1976. … The starting pitchers had not allowed a home run in 11 straight games, also one game shy of tying the 12-game franchise record, set earlier in 1976, from May 7-21. … The New York Mets entered Friday’s game having not allowed a home run over the same eight-game stretch since May 19. … The Brewers recorded their first extra-innings win of the season on Thursday as well as their first win when trailing after seven or eight innings. They now own a 1-3 record in extra innings, 1-22 when trailing after seven and 1-24 when trailing after eight. … Milwaukee has hit 18 home runs off left-handed pitchers this season, the most in the National League.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Fielder note 5/26
Fielder showing patience at the plate
MILWAUKEE — Prince Fielder has been more selective at the plate recently, which has helped the Brewers’ first baseman raise his on-base percentage 34 points from .367 to .401 over the past three games.
Entering Wednesday’s game, Fielder had walked eight times — including four in one game against the Twins — in the Brewers’ past three games and 15 times in the month of May.
Though his power numbers remain down from this point a year ago, Fielder’s patience may be an indicator that power is on its way.
“If you continue to swing at balls out of the strike zone, you may get hits here and there, but you’re not going to do what you’re capable of doing,” manager Ken Macha said. “Enlarge the strike zone and your production goes down and the amount of runs that the team scores goes down, because you’re not going to score unless you get guys on base.”
On the season, Fielder has a team-leading 27 walks. The eight he has drawn over the past three games represents about 30 percent of his total for the year. With 27 walks, Fielder ranks 10th in the National League and is just six behind the leader.
Fielder walked three times on Tuesday night, including one that extended a four-run seventh inning. Though he remains just fourth and fifth on the team in home runs and RBIs, respectively, Macha likes the direction in which his first baseman is heading.
“I’m very encouraged by what Prince is doing,” Macha said. “His patience is improving. He’s going to start making them get it in the strike zone, and I think it’s going to be very beneficial for him.”
Brewers recap 5/23
Brewers’ staff pieces together win over Twins
MINNEAPOLIS — With the way things had been going, the Brewers needed a complete team effort from their pitching staff on Sunday against the Twins. That’s exactly what they got as five pitchers combined to lead the Brewers to a 4-3 win in the series finale at Target Field.
Before the series finale, manager Ken Macha worried that short pitching performances could leave his staff in a state of “total disarray.” That’s because after a one-third-of-an-inning outing by Dave Bush to open the series and a 12-inning game on Saturday, the Brewers had no starter available after using lefty Manny Parra in the 11th and 12th innings in the second game of the series.
Instead, the Brewers avoided that scenario and put together the best complete-team performance they’ve had since before losing 11 of their last 12 games.
“It was a total team effort today, and it’s been that way the whole way,” pitching coach Rick Peterson said. “Nobody has gone into bed and under the covers. Everybody realizes our struggles, but guys are making a concerted effort to improve themselves.”
With the Brewers down a run in the fourth, right fielder Corey Hart stayed hot, crushing a 1-0 pitch from Carl Pavano to the third deck in left, the first ball that has been hit there in Target Field. At an estimated 440 feet, Hart’s home run was the longest yet at the new stadium.
Hart’s blast was his ninth of the season and sixth in the last nine games. First baseman Prince Fielder added a solo shot to right in the sixth, which proved to be the eventual game-winning run.
But it was the Brewers’ pitching that stole the spotlight on Sunday.
Marco Estrada, who had thrown 21 pitches in relief less than 24 hours earlier, got the nod for the start and gave the Brewers three innings, in which he allowed two runs on four hits.
After Estrada was Parra, who remained available to pitch despite being unavailable to start. After being tagged with the loss the night before, Parra (1-3) got the win, throwing two scoreless innings while giving up three hits, walking two and striking out a pair.
With that, the Brewers led, 3-2, through five innings, despite having used two pitchers that had thrown in relief the previous night.
“That’s fighting right there,” Parra said. “We were trying any way we could to get nine innings. It was a good battle.”
But as impressive as the Brewers’ first two pitchers were, it’s the late innings that have been the biggest problem recently. Fortunately for them, the last three pitchers got the job done as well.
Lefty Zach Braddock, who was called up from Triple-A Nashville before the game, delivered two impressive innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out a pair.
With the way Estrada and Parra started things off, Braddock said he didn’t want to disappoint.
“Everyone who pitched today pitched a great game,” Braddock said. “I just wanted to keep up with everyone else and do the job that was asked of me.”
Next up for the Brewers was veteran reliever Trevor Hoffman, making his 1,000th career appearance. In his first action since stepping out of the closer’s role to work with Peterson on his mechanics, Hoffman was dominant in the eighth.
He needed just 10 pitches, nine of which were strikes, to retire the Twins in order and set things up for John Axford to close it out in the ninth.
“He threw strikes, he was crisp [and] he was hitting the corners,” Macha said. “He threw a very good changeup to [Trevor Plouffe] for a strikeout. It’s encouraging.”
Axford, who got his first Major League save on the final day of the 2009 season, was sent out with a chance for his second in the ninth. In order to do so, however, he had to get through the heart of the Twins’ order.
After a leadoff double by Orlando Hudson to the gap in right, Axford got Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer each to strike out swinging with 96-mph fastballs. Axford still wasn’t done, though, as Jason Kubel singled in Hudson and the Twins loaded the bases two batters later.
But with a 1-2 curveball to Plouffe, Axford secured the win as they avoided what would have been the club’s fourth sweep in their last five series.
“It felt good; I just had to get it done,” Axford said. “It was great, it really was. A lot of emotion right there on the mound. That’s probably some of the most I’ll show really at the end. But I was excited. I wanted to get that save and go home with a 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.
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