Brewers Miss the Sweep, Losing to the Diamondbacks in Game Three
It was a cold night in Phoenix Tuesday night as Brewers fans watched their team take a beating from the Diamondbacks in game three of the five-game NL Division playoff series. Heading in to game three, the Milwaukee Brewers lead the series with two wins at Miller Park, but the Diamondbacks came back strong to prevent the sweep.
Just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position while losing the first two games, it seems the Diamondbacks didn’t waste any time sending runners around once they got home to the desert. Rookie Josh Collmenter dominated Milwaukee, helping the Diamondbacks beat the Brewers 8-1. The hatchet-throwing right-hander had two impressive outings against Milwaukee during the regular season and kept it going in the playoffs, holding the Brewers to Corey Hart’s leadoff homer in the third inning and one other hit over seven. Collmenter retired 15 of the last 16 hitters he faced and set an Arizona rookie postseason record with six strikeouts.
Milwaukee’s power pair of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun didn’t produce and Fielder had the only hit between them with an infield single in the ninth.
The Brewers’ clubhouse was quiet, but Nyjer Morgan was among those still smiling. “We’re a confident unit here,” he said. “It’s just one of those things where we took a nice little butt-whooping there, but we’ll come back and we’ll be ready to go.”
With only one win needed to seal the deal, the Brewers are in a sweet spot with two games remaining in the series.
Game four is tonight at Chase Field at 8:30 p.m. CST.
Brewers Face the Diamondbacks at Miller Park for Game One of the National League Division Series
The National League Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers opens their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks today at 1:07 p.m. (CST).
The Brewers (96-66) capped their turnaround year with their first-ever NL Central title. The Brewers, led by sluggers Prince Fielder (38 homers, 120 RBI) and Ryan Braun (.332, 33 homers, 111 RBI), return to the postseason for the first time since 2008, when they were the wild card. The Brewers didn’t clinch the NL’s No. 2 seed and the chance to open at home until the final game of the season September 28th.
The Diamondbacks wrote their own improbable playoff story, going from worst to first in the NL West. Arizona went 65-97 last season, but turned that around with a young team that defied expectations and finished 94-68, including a major league-best 48 come-from-behind victories.
On another note, it’s nice to know there won’t be any rain delays or postponed games due to weather, as both clubs play in home ballparks with retractable roofs, and it marks the first time in postseason history that two teams with retractable roofs are playing each other. With weather expected to be in the lower 50’s with windy conditions Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee, the retractable roof is expected to be closed for Game number one of the Division Series.
Milwaukee Brewers Still Have To Face Some Big Contenders
Nearing their conclusion of June with 13 wins out of the 23 games played this month, the Milwaukee Brewers still face the New York Yankees for a three game series that begins this Tuesday. Sitting at a very comfortable nine games over the .500 mark— not to mention a 73 percent “home game” winning percentage, (which is currently the major league’s best) the Brewers have managed to increase their lead in the NL Central standings by three games. Granted, the Brewers are 15-24 on the road so far this season, but lets not forget what happened just a few short years ago.
In the 2008 MLB season the Milwaukee Brewers had a huge lead at the All Star break only to watch it slip right through their fingers. And they started out their recent road trip by losing 3 of 4 to the Cubs, 2 of 3 to the Red Sox and 2 of 3 to the Rays (at home). Clearly Milwaukee has to do something to increase their road games if they expect to have any chance in the playoffs, let alone the World Series. Granted, the Brewers have yet to lose two straight home games, which was improved to 28-11 after Saturday’s 11-1 win over the Minnesota Twins at Miller Park, but the indelible fact of their history on the road leads me to remain skeptical, at least at this point in time.
I feel slightly reserved because in just a few short weeks the Brewers will travel to Colorado to play a four-game series against the NL West Colorado Rockies. Then in August they face the St. Louis Cardinals, not once, but twice! This series will be pivital for the Brewers as the Cardinals are easily their biggest threat to any chance of winning the NL Central.
As a dedicated Brewer fan I will always cheer them on, win or loose, but despite the numbers declaring their current lead in the NL Central I am going to remain humbly skeptical at this point.
Uecker returns to the Brewers radio booth
Just three months after heart surgery,the Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame radio broadcaster Bob Uecker will be back behind the microphone this Friday when the Washington Nationals visit Miller Park.
In his 40th season broadcasting Brewers games, the 75-year-old Uecker underwent surgery April 30 to replace his aortic valve, aortic root and part of his ascending aorta.
Uecker, who displayed his customary humor during a guest appearance on the air June 24 in the second inning of the Brewers’ game against the Minnesota Twins, will hold a news conference prior to Friday’s game.
I’m sure many listeners share my sentiment when I say that it will be great to hear those famous words, “Play Ball!”
Milwaukee Brewers on a Roll?
With a 1-and-1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers this past Wednesday and Thursday, coupled with their 3-to-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series at Chase Field, it appears that the Milwaukee Brewers may be on a roll? But what direction are they rolling — that is the question…
Yovani Gallardo continued his strikeout tear with 10 in five innings, Rickie Weeks and Jim Edmonds homered, and Ryan Braun scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. The Brewers got the lead back in the fifth, and Rickie Weeks led off with a single, but was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice from Joe Inglett. Braun then followed with a liner to left that went off the glove of a diving Gillespie. However, Gillespie recovered the ball quickly and relayed it to Stephen Drew, who gunned down Inglett at the plate. Braun did ultimately wind up at third on the play and scored on a wild pitch from Jackson for the 3-2 lead. Clearly any prediction on what direction the Milwaukee Brewers are heading is incumbent upon the apparent streak of Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo.
Gallardo reached double digits in strikeouts for the third time in four starts — the first Brewers pitcher ever to do so — but ran up his pitch count in the process, leaving the Mexican-born right-hander to settle for five workmanlike innings. The 24-year-old struck out at least one batter in each inning he pitched on the way to 10 strikeouts in all, and held Arizona to two runs on three hits. Gallardo (4-2) has won each of his last four starts and is the only pitcher in the franchise’s 42-season history to reach double-digit whiffs three times in the span of four starts.
Lets hope that he can maintain what he has going and keep the Milwaukee Brewers on the rise in wins!