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Brewers beat 6/12
Weeks gets standing ovation for 500th hit
MILWAUKEE — With a fifth-inning double against the Rangers on Saturday, Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks recorded the 500th hit of his career.
After the double, Brewers fans gave Weeks a standing ovation. He was then picked off attempting to steal third.
Before the game, the milestone was the furthest thing from Weeks’ mind.
“Honestly, that’s the first I’ve even known about it,” Weeks said when asked about what it would mean to reach 500 hits. “I’m not real big on milestones like that.”
Still, Weeks, who is in his seventh season of his big league career, said he would be happy to get hit No. 500.
“It’s just one of those things that when it comes I’ll, of course, appreciate it,” Weeks said, “but for the most part it’s just one of those things that, when it comes, it comes.”
Lucroy brings different skills to position
MILWAUKEE — He hasn’t been named the No. 1 catcher for the Brewers just yet, but rookie Jonathan Lucroy is certainly going to get a chance to earn the spot.
Lucroy, who was called up May 21 in place of injured starter Gregg Zaun, started his third straight game behind the plate for the Brewers on Saturday. With three starts on the homestand, Lucroy has doubled his career total.
Lucroy brings to the table something the Brewers haven’t had all season: a catcher who can consistently throw runners out. In seven games — one of which he entered late as a pinch hitter — Lucroy has thrown out two of five runners attempting to steal.
“We’re trying to address the stolen bases,” manager Ken Macha said, referring to his decision to start Lucroy. “He’s certainly done a nice job so far with that.”
Although throwing out baserunners is just part of his job as a catcher, Lucroy admits it’s one aspect in which he really strives for success.
“I take a lot of pride in doing that; I fully enjoy throwing people out,” Lucroy said. “I do my best every day to be perfect in that regard, because that’s one part of the game I feel like I can control.
“You really can’t control a lot of parts of the game, so I feel like I can really contribute a lot by throwing runners out and keeping guys off base the best I can.”
With George Kottaras 0-for-7 on the homestand and 3-for-25 with just three walks this month, Lucroy is getting his chance to show what he can bring to the table.
Since he has joined the big league club, Lucroy has been the hardest worker in the clubhouse, Macha said, routinely arriving at the ballpark six or seven hours before the first pitch.
But as with every other position, it all boils down to results for Macha.
“Everybody gets an opportunity,” Macha said. “It’s up to production. So, get some hits, throw out some runners, catch a winner, that’s all part of the formula.”
Wherever Hart bats, success has followed
MILWAUKEE — You don’t see too many guys leading the league in home runs batting second, but that’s what Corey Hart continued to do for the Brewers on Saturday.
Hart, whose 17 home runs were a National League best entering Saturday, also ranked third in the Majors behind the Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista and the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, who had belted 18 homers apiece.
With Hart swinging a hot bat over the last month, manager Ken Macha moved him to the No. 2 spot on Friday. Hart proceeded to go 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.
“I kind of liked it last night,” Macha said of the move. “The guy’s swinging the bat. He’s on base a bunch. I want those guys to get on base for Prince [Fielder] and [Ryan Braun].”
Macha likes the power potential of Hart batting between leadoff hitter Rickie Weeks and Fielder.
If Weeks gets on base in front of Hart, it gives the Brewers the chance for a quick two runs before recording an out. Regardless of his spot in the lineup, Hart continues to hit home runs, totaling 14 since May 15.
“He’s a special hitter. He’s got some tools that not everybody has,” third baseman Casey McGehee said of Hart. “For him to be doing it as consistent as he is right now, is pretty impressive to watch.
“It just extends it so far. He’s hitting second, and that worked. He’s been hitting sixth, and that’s been working. So when he’s going good, it makes a huge difference.”
Macha enjoying new luxuries with bullpen
MILWAUKEE — After using just two pitchers Friday, manager Ken Macha had seven of his eight relievers available Saturday against the Rangers. It’s a luxury Macha hasn’t been able to enjoy too many times this season.
After releasing Jeff Suppan, designating Claudio Vargas for assignment, and placing Todd Coffey and LaTroy Hawkins on the disabled list, the Brewers’ bullpen looks a lot different than it did to open the season.
The bullpen now consists of Chris Capuano, Kameron Loe, Zach Braddock, John Axford, Chris Smith, David Riske, Carlos Villanueva and Trevor Hoffman. Of those eight, the last two are the only remaining members from the Opening Day roster.
“We’re starting to lengthen out the bullpen,” Macha said.
For much of the season, Macha’s bullpen troubles consisted of pitchers not performing when called upon and a lack of pitchers available each day to begin with.
Macha was cautious not to get overconfident about his bullpen now.
“One game can put a wrench in that,” Macha said. “The game in Minnesota where [Dave] Bush only got one out, that fired a wrench into it. Or it’s like that Pirate game where we played [14] innings. That started us on the downside there a little bit. Then you’re really struggling to see who’s available.”
Now, Macha’s got a different problem to deal with, albeit one he’s happy to have. Two of his newest relievers, Capuano and Riske, have just one appearance between the two of them on the homestand.
“It’s to the point where some of the guys need work,” Macha said. “I’d like to get Cappy in the game, get him a couple innings. But that’s the value of the starter going seven innings.”
Worth noting
With a crowd of at least 32,600 on Saturday, the Brewers will reach the 1 million mark in attendance in their 29th home game. The team reached 1 million in the 27th home game last season on its way to 3,037,451. … Friday night marked just the fifth time in franchise history that the Brewers had home runs from their starters in the second, third, fourth and fifth positions in the batting order. The last time was against the Giants on April 14, 2001, when the Brew Crew had homers from Tyler Houston, Geoff Jenkins, Richie Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz. … With four home runs Friday night, the Brewers passed the Reds for first place in the National League with 76 home runs. The Reds entered Saturday second with 74, and the D-backs were third with 72.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Brewers recap 5/30
Rickie fine, but pitching problematic for Crew
MILWAUKEE — So much positive energy had been built up over the first five days of the homestand, but it didn’t take long for the Brewers to lose it on Sunday.
With the game tied in the sixth, reliever Jeff Suppan gave up four runs on six hits in just 1 2/3 innings of work, walking three and striking out two.
Suppan (0-2) simply couldn’t execute, and it cost the Brewers the game, as they lost, 10-4, to the Mets.
“It’s as simple as making quality pitches,” pitching coach Rick Peterson said. “Any time a pitcher struggles, you’d like to say something really profound. But it was just an inability to consistently make quality pitches.”
Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey overcame some early struggles of his own to pick up the win. Dickey (2-0) pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on nine hits while striking out three.
But while Dickey gave up just two hits in keeping the Brewers off the board over a four-inning stretch from the third to the sixth, the Brewers saw an early one-run lead turn into a four-run deficit in the seventh.
After struggling early in the season and pitching his way out of the rotation, Suppan had been mostly relegated to working when a game was out of reach. But with four relievers having been used in Saturday’s 8-6 victory, manager Ken Macha called on Suppan with the score tied.
Afterward, Macha and Peterson both said they were confident in Suppan’s chances to succeed in that situation. With that in mind, it only made things more frustrating for Suppan when he was unable to get out of the seventh inning.
“I actually felt pretty good today,” Suppan said. “It was a matter of execution, I was just up in the zone. … It becomes frustrating, because I feel good, and I feel like I take a lot of steps forward. Then, in a game like this, it’s a situation where it’s my job to come in and keep it close, and I wasn’t able to do it.”
Suppan was called to pitch in the sixth inning after starter Randy Wolf needed 114 pitches to get through the first five.
Wolf did not want to point the finger at rookie catcher Jonathan Lucroy, but the two had communication issues with the signs for the second straight outing. The last time, the two battled through a similar problem but the left-hander had his best performance of the season, tossing eight scoreless innings against the Astros.
This time, however, the issues were coupled with a few pitches that just missed the zone and helped lead to Wolf’s high pitch count.
“They just couldn’t get on the same page with signs, and it was a constant battle,” Peterson said. “It’s hard to consistently make quality pitches when that happens. And then, when he did, he was just missing and had some calls that could have gone either way not go his way.”
Wolf allowed just two runs on five hits, but he walked five while striking out just three. Still, Macha was pleased with his starter’s performance.
“Wolfie wasn’t on his game,” Macha said. “[He was] missing a little bit with his fastball [and] wound up with some walks, yet he still had us in the game at the end of five.”
Suppan’s rough outing was even more frustrating for the club after the way the Brewers had begun the game against Dickey.
On a 1-2 knuckleball in the first, second baseman Rickie Weeks belted his 15th career leadoff home run, tying the score at 1.
After Alcides Escobar’s single plated another run in the second, Dickey cruised until the seventh, when Weeks hit another knuckleball out to left for a two-run blast, giving him his fourth career multi-homer game.
“Seems like Weeks likes that knuckleball a little bit,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said.
But after Weeks’ two-run homer put the Brewers right back in the game, the Mets’ four-run ninth off lefty Zach Braddock put away the game.
Just as it was with Suppan, it was a matter of execution for Braddock.
“I left the ball up, and they hit the ball,” Braddock said. “But I had it toward the end, so I had it the whole time, I just didn’t execute early on. I wanted to come in and keep the team in the game as much as possible, but I just couldn’t get it done.”
But even after all that went wrong for the Brewers, they remained focused on the positives after their first winning homestand of the season.
“It just feels good to go out there and get two wins from a good team like that,” Weeks said. “All we can do is go out on the road and try to get some more wins out there. … We let one get away from us today, but I think tomorrow will be a good day for us.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Brewers beat 5/23
Weeks hoping to break out of slump
MINNEAPOLIS — If his two-run, ninth-inning double on Saturday is any indication, Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks may be primed to break out of a recent slump at the plate.
Including a 1-for-5 showing in yesterday’s 8-7 loss, Weeks is 6-for-47 over his last 11 games, all of which he batted leadoff for the Brewers.
That slump is part of the reason manager Ken Macha opted to sit Weeks for the series opener against the Twins on Friday. But after Weeks’ double Saturday night, Macha is encouraged by the approach of his second baseman.
“What I really liked is he hit it to right center,” Macha said. “He stayed on the ball. Hopefully, he’s going to start coming around. Everybody says how [Ryan] Braun and [Prince] Fielder go, so goes the Brewers, but Rickie’s got to get on base, and he hasn’t been doing that.”
Weeks, who Macha characterized as being quiet and hard on himself when things are not going well at the plate, said he is not one to change anything when struggling offensively.
“My whole thing is, if you keep swinging the bat, good things will happen,” Weeks said. “It’s still fairly young in the season, but I’m the type of person that I still want to do good. So I’ve just got to keep working hard.”
One thing that may help Weeks string together a few hits soon is the return of center fielder Carlos Gomez to the everyday lineup in the No. 2 spot. With the way Gomez has looked so far in his return, Weeks is likely to see better pitches to hit than if the Brewers continued to cycle hitters through that spot in the order.
Though he admitted it would be a common reaction to press a bit in order to break out of his recent slump, Weeks said he kept the same approach throughout. After 11 straight games with one hit or less, the second baseman likes his chances of turning it around.
“As a hitter, it’s up to you to turn it around,” Weeks said. “I feel good right now with the way I’ve played. Over the last couple games, I couldn’t catch any breaks, but for the most part, I feel good right now.”
Sidebar 4/12
Brewers belt three homers off Carpenter
By Jordan Schelling MLB.com
A Schelling For Your Thoughts 