In the ninth inning things changed a little bit after a two run shot by Either in the eighth inning gave the Dodgers the lead by one and the Brewers hoping to get it together in the bottom half of the ninth inning.  Leave it up to George Kottaras to come in as a pinch hitter, again, and send the  ball to the gap in right field.  The liner got to the wall fast, but still gave Mat Gamel enough time to get home (barely) from first base.  Mat Gamel’s slide was perfect and he really made sure his body was to the bag behind the tag.  I wish I could say the same thing about Morgan’s attempt on Wednesday night.

The game played out very much the same.  Scoring was back and forth, both pitchers had a handle on what was going on and the game is tied at 2 through 9 innings of play.  Ramirez was able to finally get a home run as a Brewer and with two double plays and a couple stolen bases, the Brewers seem to have a good handle on their side of the game.  Grienke went 7 innings and threw over 100 pitches, but was still able to strikeout 7 and only walk 2 batters.

Fast forward to the end of the ninth with the game still tied.  The Dodgers come into the 10th facing Kameron Loe, which was a little tense for me to watch.  Loe hammered through the inning with a little double play help.  Now we get to the Brewers 10th and the fun started right away.  Lucroy forces a walk(replaced by Morgan), Cesar Izturis flubs a bunt that is caught by the third basemen, Weeks gets walked and finally Kottaras walked, bringing Ryan Braun to the plate.

I personally would have loved to see another bunt attempt after Morgan made it to third on a wild throw while stealing second base.  There was only one out, it might not have been the best call, but it would have been really exciting.  Much more exciting then the replay I am about to show you.  So, Braun eventually sends a fly ball out to center, giving Matt Kemp a chance to throw out Morgan at home.  Naturally, Morgan was told to stay on third, since the popup was in shallow center, but he took off anyways and this is how it ended:

Here is the link to the video at Brewers.com

As you can see, the play ended when Morgan crossed home plate. Remember we are in real time during the game and the Ump made the call he thought was right at that point. He is likely questioning his skills today. See the screenshot below from the slow motion portion of the above video.

You saw the tag in the reply, I really wish I wouldn’t have.

I have been listening to as many spring training games that I could catch and I really like what I am hearing.  Granted, the MLB spring training season is not really anything to write home about, but at least you get to see that some of the guys that were lucky enough to return are in good health for the most part (I’m looking your way Corey Hart!).  The offseason produced enough excitement for a Brewer fan even without a game being played.  Ryan Braun won MVP, then got some test results that didn’t look very favorable of an MVP winning outfielder.  Of course, Braun has been cleared of all the allegations, but not after waiting for 2 months to hear the final verdict on his appeal.

Other than that, news of Prince Fielder getting shopped around was somewhat entertaining and it was sort of nice to see him end up on a team that is less likely to play the Brewers.  I will be one person to keep a close eye on how Fielder does on the Tigers AND how well Ryan Braun does without the big guy hitting right behind him.

Spring training has produced some nice news stories including one last week when Mat Gamel (Prince’s proposed replacement) put a hurtin’ on the ball with a Grand Slammer and solo shot all in the same game.  Gamel was the first one to mention that he knew that if he wasn’t going to play well, he wasn’t going to be a Brewer.  Well his spring training stats are pretty impressive, hitting with a .246 average so far and that includes 14 RBI’s, on 14 hits and 3 stolen bases.

Today is opening day and let’s hope the Brewers can extend on their outstanding 2011 season!

We won’t know, but after watching one of the most exciting games to open the season, it sure would have been nice to at least see John Axford get his first save.  Some said that apparently Axford learned too much from Trevor Hoffman, but I am sure that he was nervous as can be getting the call to put the Reds away in the 9th.  Of course, we all know, it didn’t quite happen like that…not even remotely close.

Axford is a young man and seems to be able to overcome things like food poisoning and late inning rallies, let’s just hope that he can put this behind him and get his 30+ saves for the year.  The team played very well together, the bats are still hotter than ever and the pitching wasn’t all that bad.  There was one blown call when 1st base umpire thought a short fly ball hit the ground before Kotsay could nab it, but a quick reply showed that Kotsay was on that ball in right field and caught it by 6 inches easy.  Things like this happen, but the Reds capitalized on that and continue to dominate late in the game.

The best part is that it’s early in the season and even though Brewer fans were burning jerseys and looking for apartments in Chicago after the first loss, I think without injuries, the Brewers are going to be a force in the Central for sure.

What do you think?

His stats over the last week are as follows:

• 7 games
• 27 at bats
• 5 hits
• 1 homerun
• 4 runs scored
• .185 avg.

Stats over the last 30 days are:

• 27 games
• 109 at bats
• 27 hits
• 3 homeruns
• 10 runs scored
• .248 avg.

Now, that is not like Braun and we all know that.  So as we see the likes of Prince getting back to normal, Casey still on  an RBI tear and Corey adding to his hitting strike every night, we just have to wonder what is up with Ryan Braun.

Last night against the Cards, it was obvious that Braun is frunstrated when he struck out late in the game and flipped his bat and helmet off while speaking to himself, maybe in the third person, as he tries to figure out why he cannot hit the ball.  His stats over the last 30 days are not all that bad, but they are trending downward.

What do you think his issue is?  Do you think that he is out of sync because of Hart hitting in the #2 spot for the last month?  Do you think it’s just a bad month and he will rebound?

Rank out of 16 National League teams…
Batting
Avg – 6th
Runs – 4
Hits – 2
Homeruns – 3
Doubles – 2
Triples – 7
RBI – 4
Stolen Bases – 10
On Base % – 3
Slugging – 2

Pitching
ERA – 14th
Hits – 14
Walks – 16
Strikeouts – 3
Saves – 16
Walks & Hits/In – 16

Pretty obvious what the problem is. What can be done to fix it without jeopardizing the offense?

Tonight, the lineup is a tad disorganized from normal, but I don’t think it’s going to be a bad thing. There is much talk around the MLB lately, like moving the pitcher up one spot, or moving a #2 guy closer to the bottom, just to see more runs produced in those spots. Speed is a huge part of the game, as well as, having a guy that can bunt players around the diamond. If you have to move those guys around a bit, why wouldn’t you as long as it works out?

Not to mention the fact that when you have more lefties than righties, you are going to have to switch them around based on who is pitching the ball that day. Here is the lineup for tonights game against the Cubs:

• Counsell SS
• Weeks 2B
• Fielder 1B
• Braun LF
• McGehee 3B
• Edmonds CF
• Hart RF
• Kottaras C
• Wolf P

As you can see, Counsell is leading off. I say that since this guy gets hits almost everytime he is in the order, why not? That gives Ricky and Prince and shot at getting him home. If Weeks gets on that leaves 3 RBI guys to get those 2 around the bases. I know it all looks great on paper, or a blog run by a fan instead of a member of the team, but there is some logic to these decisions.

There is just too much critizism when it doesn’t work out in the Brewers favor. We’ll see what happens tonight!

What do you think about the switch? Leave your comments below and let’s discuss!

More info…

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2010/

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2010/drafttracker.jsp

Who do you think the Brewers will select at #14?

On a related note, let’s give it up for Chris Capuano. His return to the big leagues started today. The Brewers called him back to the majors after having two “tommy john” surgeries to his pitching arm. It’s hard enough to come back after one, let alone two. Congratulations to him on having another go around, another chance to pitch, another chance at doing the thing he loves to do. I hope he does well!