Results tagged ‘ Cameron ’
Brewers (11) @ Pirates (3) 8/30 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Jeff Suppan–Set a Brewes record by winning his 5th game in the month of August. Another 7 strong innings and only two runs allowed. At least he’s earning that $44 million in the key parts of the season.
Brewers offense–6 of the 8 Brewers position players had multi-hit games. When that happens you’re usually going to win. Weeks and Hardy set the table at the top and the bottom of the order was just as good with Mike Cameron making a big contribution with a home run, double, and 4 RBI.
Less Filling:
Seth McClung–Gave up yet another run in a relief role. He’s pitching himself out of the bullpen rotation for the month of September with all the call-ups. It looks like he’ll only be used in blowout and long relief situations for now. A long way from being the third or fourth best starter as he was for a while earlier this year.
Prince Fielder/Ryan Braun–Once again these two went 0′fer, but this time the rest of the lineup picked them up.
Brewers (3) @ Cardinals (5) 8/27 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Manny Parra–After not getting through 6 full innings in his last few starts he managed to make it 6 strong, allowing only one run in that time. You’d still like to see him manage his pitch count a little better to be able to get through 7 innings with 100 pitches.
J.J. Hardy–3 hits today and seems to be putting a full season together unlike when he faded down the stretch last year.
Mike Cameron–Continues his red hot bat with 2 hits today plus a walk. Even stole another base. He’s got a shot at a 20-20 season. Only needs 5 more steals this year.
Jason Kendall–Put together another two hit day. Hopefully Ned can get him some more rest and keep him fresh down the stretch.
Carlos Villanueva–This isn’t for him loading the bases, but more for the way he handled the confrontation with Pujols. After getting a HUGE final out with the bases loaded Villy pumped his fist, let out a little “Yeah”, and started walking to the dugout. The rest will be covered below.
Less Filling:
Albert Pujols–Once again the Cardinals find themselves in the Less Filling column. Pujols took exception to Villy being pumped about getting out of a jam and took it upon himself to be the moral compass of baseball. He started menacingly walking towards Villy while yelling and pointing his bat at Carlos. He continued to jaw with him and make a Poo-hole out of himself.
Phil Cuzzi–During the confrontation he yelled at Villy to get to his dugout despite Pujols being the one to start the whole thing and the one walking towards Villy. And his strike zone left a lot to be desired all day. Cuzzi hates the Brewers and does not hide that fact. He’s the one that ejected Ned earlier this year before Ned even got out of the dugout to argue a call.
Ryan Braun/Prince Fielder–Both went 0′fer and combined to leave 13 men on base. These situations came back to bite the Brewers later in the game.
Brewers (4) vs. Pirates (3) 8/24 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Mike Cameron–Set a career high with 5 hits, including the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Has absolutely been on fire the past three weeks. As an incredibly streaky hitter over the course of his career he has gone on 4-5 week hot streaks, so hopefully he can continue this as long as possible and get back on another hot streak before the year ends. Also stole a base for good measure.
Bill Hall–One day after questioning if he should even be in the lineup anymore, I have to give Hall his props. He collected three hits today but hitters behind him couldn’t pick him up and drive him in.
J.J. Hardy–On J.J. Hardy Bobblehead Day, he came through in the clutch once again with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 12th. He also had two hits earlier in the day. After a couple lengthy cold spells in July and early August, J.J. seems to be on a pretty good hot streak.
CC Sabathia–Pitched well enough to win, although he wasn’t perfect. Gave up 8 hits in 6 innings and had to pitch out of trouble a few times. But he proved his worth in doing so. I feel he should have been left in to hit in the bottom of the 6th and then (hopefully) pitched the 7th and 8th. Even if he would have gotten an out there, the game was tied and the Brewers had three more innings to score. And CC on the mound would have given us the best chance to keep the Pirates from scoring.
Rickie Weeks–Was only 1 for 5 at the plate, but had his walk in the 12th and subsequent stolen base set up the game winning run. I feel Rickie needs to utilize his speed better and should be in the 25-30 stolen base range instead of only 17 on the year.
Guillermo Mota–Really came into a tough spot with the bases loaded and no outs, but somehow Houdinied his way out of it without allowing a run. He’s been surprisingly effective in his last 10 games or so.
Less Filling:
Ryan Braun–Somewhat unfamiliar territory for Braunie, but he was about as bad as could be offensively. He went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts and 2 grounded into double plays before being lifted in a double switch in extra innings. Everyone has days like that and hopefully he bounces back with a vengeance against the Cardinals.
Prince Fielder–Struggled right along with Ryan. Went 0 for 4 with a couple K’s and a grounded into double play. Left multiple runners on base as well.
Brewers offense–Collected 15 hits and 4 walks, yet only managed 4 runs. Outs on the bases, 4 double plays, and way too many men left on base allowed this to happen. Not collecting clutch hits have been a bit of a problem in recent weeks.
Riske/Torres/Villanueva–None of them did their job out of the pen as the Brewers blew two different late inning leads and tried to give it up in the top of the 12th. Its amazing how much Riske throws the ball down the middle of the plate on average fastballs and expects it to work. So far this season it hasn’t too well to the tune of a 4.08 ERA. Not the results the Brewers expected when they gave him that 3 year deal in the off-season, and probably why they placed him on waivers this week (although he wasn’t claimed).
Brewers (10) vs. Pirates (4) 8/22 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Brewers offense–Woke up from an early slumber in a big way. Weeks, Hardy, Braun, Hart, and Cameron all had key contributions. One of the great things to see was the opposite field hits. Weeks’ triple, J.J.’s home run, and Cameron’s home run all came to the opposite field. Those three guys are pretty locked in right now.
Ryan Braun–Manufactured a run mostly by himself in the 7th. Doubled down the line, then stole third on the next pitch. The Pirates brought the infield in and Fielder hit a smash right at Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Braun started back towards third, then when Sanchez loligagged with the ball and took his time getting it to first, Braun took off for home and made it safely without a throw. Impressive baserunning.
Dave Bush–Once again gave up early runs, including a two out RBI by the pitcher, and had me wondering if he was reverting back to his old ways. But he came up big and pounded the strike zone while hitting his spots to make it through 7 innings.
Less Filling:
A 10-4 win….everyone gets a pass. Go Brewers!
Brewers (2) vs. Astros (5) 8/19 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Jason Kendall–Seems to be picking it up lately. Got three hits today, and has seen his average climb back up to .250 after today’s game. It’d be huge if he could get that up around .265-.270 by season’s end. Its hard to have a hole in your lineup these days, especially since he doesn’t hit for any power.
J.J. Hardy–Doubled in the Brewers first run and also reached on a walk. Looks like J.J. might be getting hot again after a couple cold spells. Hopefully Yost doesn’t take him out in the middle of a hot streak this time.
Mike Cameron–A couple hits including a run scoring double. Gotta ride this hot streak while it lasts. Just hope he has one more left in him before the season ends.
Bullpen–Threw three innings of scoreless ball to keep the Brewers in the game. Unfortunately bats couldn’t do anything to get back in it.
Less Filling:
Ben Sheets–Only made a couple bad pitches, but those ended up costing him. A two-out triple to Michael Bourn on a hanging curveball and a two out home run by Geoff Blum on a meat fastball did him in. If Ben’s given up runs lately it seems like only a couple pitches have done him in. I’m not sure if he’s trying to be perfect, or not focusing in key spots, or just putting too much pressure on himself after CC’s gems but he needs to get it straightened out.
Gabe Kapler–To be fair to Gabe, he shouldn’t be hitting third. But as it is he struck out twice with the bases loaded and stranded 6 key runners out there.
Brewers offense–The Brewers had hits in only 4 innings of the game, but got all 10 of their hits for the game in those 4 innings. They also had a walk and an error by Houston in those innings, yet were only able to come out of it with 2 runs after making two outs on the bases and leaving 9 men on base in those 4 innings!!
Dale Sveum–I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a guy get thrown out by 50 feet like Cameron did on the hit to right. And there was only 1 out with the meat of your order coming up. No idea what Sveum was thinking there. Absolutely terrible decision-making.
Brewers (5) @ Dodgers (7) 8/17 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Ryan Braun–Came back from injury in a big way. Still doesn’t necessarily look comfortable up there, but he’s putting the bat on the ball. His two run shot to tie it in the 9th was one of the more dramatic moments of the year so far. Too bad the Brewers couldn’t capitalize on it and get the win.
Mike Cameron–On August 6 the Who’s in Right Field? Blog predicted big things for Mike Cameron in the coming days after he put some good at-bats and solid hits the opposite way together. MLB.com even put my quote on their front page. Since that time Cameron has hit .314 with 4 home runs and 6 RBI in 11 games. That included a 2 for 4 day yesterday with a home run. Its almost like I know what I’m talking about or something.
Less Filling:
Jeff Suppan–It wasn’t a terrible start, but anytime you give up 3 home runs its not good. Hopefully that’s as bad as it gets for Sup down the stretch.
Ned Yost–Once again Ned failed to make sound in-game decisions. This time it was a key spot in the 7th inning with a runner on third and one out. The hottest hitter in baseball Manny Ramirez was coming to the plate. The correct decision was to walk him and pitch to James Loney. Then you have a shot at a double play and getting out of the inning without allowing a run. The only thing I can think of why Ned didn’t do it was because Manny is a righty against righty, while Loney would be a lefty against righty. But Manny Ramirez is killing all pitchers. Instead Yost has McClung inexplicably pitch to Manny and it results in Manny ripping the ball to left to score a run. Just terrible decision-making by Ned that even Bill Schroeder was questioning.
Carlos Villanueva–Came in in the bottom of the 9th inning after the Brewers had miraculously tied it up. Gave up two hits including the game winning home run without recording an out. Not a good thing.
Brewers (2) @ Padres (3) 8/14 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Mike Cameron–Accounted for the only two runs on a RBI single in the 7th and a solo home run in the 9th. You absolutely have to ride him while he’s hot. The Brewers are a little more limited in their options with Braun out, so it will make the decision easier for Ned to leave him in………hopefully.
Craig Counsell–He’s taken some abuse lately, including some from me. Coming into today he was hitting .182 for the month and only 1 of his last 21, yet somehow had managed to start 9 games. He stepped up today though. Was on base 3 times. Unfortunately Nix behind him was unable to do anything.
Less Filling:
Ned Yost–This idea of running a lineup out there based on positions instead of individual players is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve never heard of another manager doing this. So this causes guys like Craig Counsell and Lance Nix to be in key positions at the top of the order, and have more opportunities to bat than better hitters like Fielder, Hart, and Cameron (lately). Just asinine in my opinion.
Another thing I’ve harped on several times with Yost is his poor in-game managerial decisions, including his failure to utilize pinch hitters in appropriate positions. Several times lately he’s left Jason Kendall in to hit in late game key situations, despite having much better hitting options on the bench. Kendall has done nothing to deserve the chance to hit in those situations. He’s hitting under .250 on the year with a sub-.650 OPS. You’ve got to put your team in the best position to win games as a manager, and by leaving Kendall in there Yost is not doing that. There’s a good chance it would have made no difference on the outcome, but it certainly would have increased the chance of his team. You can’t afford to give away at-bats and games at any point down the stretch here. Yet Yost manages like its ok to not put your team in the best position to win by not pinch-hitting, using ridiculous lineups, and not managing with a sense of urgency. The Brewers may very well win the Wild Card and make the playoffs, but it won’t be because of Yost. It will be because of their raw natural talent and more in spite of him than anything.
Brewers (5) @ Padres (2) 8/12 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Jeff Suppan–Took full advantage of the pitcher-friendly dimensions at Petco Park. He pounded the strike zone and dared the Padre hitters to try to elevate the ball and hit it far enough to go out. He gave up two solo home runs and a couple others that went for deep outs, but only allowed 4 hits in 8 innings. He’s been a much better pitcher in August and September in his career and he is showing that again this year.
Prince Fielder–He hit that ball out to right about as hard as you can hit a ball. He generates so much power when he goes all out like that. He’s been on a tear for the past couple weeks and has increased it even more since that dugout fracas.
Mike Cameron–This blog was quoted on the MLB.com front page only 3 day ago with a statement that Cameron is a streaky player and needs to be playing every day during this hot streak (article originally published 8/6). Cameron’s certainly proving me right on that one. Picked up two more hits including his second home run in 5 games since I made that statement.
Less Filling:
J.J. Hardy–Grounded into two double plays, including one in a bases loaded no out situation in the 7th. The Brewers were only up 4-2 at that time, and tack on runs are huge. Hardy was fortunate the Padres committed an error on the next play to allow one run to score, otherwise he would have been largely responsible for the Brewers not scoring with the bases loaded and no one out.
Brewers (5) vs. Nationals (0) 8/8 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
CC Sabathia–With every win down the stretch this year he’s adding a couple million dollars to the contract he’ll sign in the off-season. The Brewers have basically zero chance of re-signing him, but it sure is fun to have him while we can. His 4 complete games in only 7 games with the Brewers already puts him in first in the National League.
J.J. Hardy–Good to see him stay hot despite a poor decision by Ned to give him a day off after breaking his long slump. Also good to see that home run coming to right center. Usually a sign a hitter is pretty locked in and perhaps ready to break out.
Mike Cameron–The two walks with no strikeouts are just as encouraging as the home run in my opinion. He needs to play every day for a while here as he is a very streaky hitter and you gotta ride him while he’s hot.
Less Filling:
Ned Yost–As promised, he’ll remain here until Kendall gets a day off. Kendall by the way went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and 4 left on base.
Brewers (6) @ Reds (3) 8/6 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Rickie Weeks–I am an admitted Weeks apologist. I do like the addition of Durham though and am fine with a soft platoon. That being said, I think Weeks is breaking out of his slumber and about to get it going. His stats have improved over the last month or so. Continuing to bench him is not going to allow him to blossom and improve. I’m fine with Durham playing 1-2 times a week, but not more. Especially if Rickie is starting to play well. A big 4 for 5 today including some clutch hits.
Mike Cameron–Cameron has been swinging the bat well lately, so you can bet Ned will have him on the bench the first game of the Nats series. I’m hoping not, but that’s been Ned’s MO. Cameron hit the ball the other way with authority, which is always a sign of a hitter that is locked in. He’s a streaky hitter and you have to ride him when he’s hot. He should start every game this series.
Jeff Suppan–Started out kind of rocky, but got out of the damage early and pitched 7 strong. Need that kind of performance out of him down the stretch. His ERA in August and September is much better than the other months.
Eric Gagne–He only threw three pitches. But they were all quality pitches in a tight spot. That last fastball to Encarnacion was 94 on the black. If he can do that a little more, watch out.
Less Filling:
Craig Counsell–0 for 5 with 5 men left on base.
Ned Yost–Regardless of what Kendall did today or the day before he should have been out of those games. One of Kendall’s hits Tuesday was a weak flare into right, and today he had a standard grounder up the middle that the pitcher missed. Ned will continue to land here until Kendall gets a day off like he should have a week ago. Also, JJ finally broke his 0 for 28 slump with two hits on Tuesday, so what does Ned do? He benches him. Are you kidding me? Then he’s played Craig Counsell 5 games in a row now. And on the fifth day Counsell goes 0 for 5. Craig is in good shape for his age, but his talent level and age should dictate him to be a 1 to 2 games a week guy if that.
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