Results tagged ‘ Kapler ’
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 (3) @ Dodgers (5) 8/15 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Gabe Kapler–Delivered a couple hits including a two run home run in the first inning to stake the Brewers to an early lead. Kapler has been very consistent this year despite fairly sporadic playing time.
Less Filling:
Manny Parra–Allowed 10 hits in only 5 2/3 innings and was catching way too much of the plate with his pitches. His stuff didn’t seem too bad, but if you can’t put it at the knees on the corners its going to get hit at the major league level. Also failed to execute a sac bunt and ended up grounding into a double play in that at-bat. Gotta be able to get those bunts down as a National League pitcher.
Who’s in Right Field? Blog–It had been a long week and I fell asleep last night in the fourth inning so wasn’t able to watch the whole game.
Brewers (5) vs. Nationals (4) 8/10 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Mike Rivera–Nearly single-handedly kept the Brewers alive in a game they should have lost. Three walks and a couple hits including a three run double to tie it up in the 8th. He’s hitting about 80 points higher than Kendall this year, yet Ned apparently thinks he should play once every three weeks. I don’t think he’d keep up that pace over a full season as a full-timer, but at least one start a week, especially in the dog days of summer, should be the standard.
Gabe Kapler–Well on his way to a Less Filling appearance after going 0 for his first 6 with 3 strikeouts and 6 men left on base. But then he goes and does something like that…..and totally redeems himself.
Manny Parra–He’d struggled in his last handful of starts, but came out and was rock solid today. He certainly deserved a better fate after going 7 strong innings.
Less Filling:
Eric Gagne–Ahh, Eric. He’d been doing so well lately. I was watching the 8th inning today and Gagne had 2 outs with no one on and 2 strikes on Ryan Zimmerman. I went to change my little boy’s diaper and come back to find its all of a sudden 4-1. He’s turning into Turnbow from last year. Go 4-5 outings in a row and be good, and then all of a sudden blow up and allow 3 runs or more. When he blows up, he really blows up. Hopefully he can get things straightened out (again) unlike Turnbow last year.
J.J. Hardy–A very tough 0 for 6 with three strikeouts. And his strikeout with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th could have cost the Brewers the game. Luckily the rest of the bullpen was rock solid and Kapler came through in the 13th.
Brewers (4) @ Cardinals (3) 7/22 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Jeff Suppan–Sure looked like he was heading to Less Filling territory once again after giving up 3 early runs, but was able to settle down and work 7 innings and not give up any more damage.
Prince Fielder–A couple hits including an opposite field single to give the Brewers their first run in the 7th.
JJ Hardy–A couple more hits today including a big run-scoring two-out single that tied the game in the 8th.
Rickie Weeks–A day after struggling in the field, Weeks made a couple really nice plays defensively and drove in and scored key runs in the 8th inning.
Bill Hall–Looked like another tough night for Billy until his two-out home run in the 9th put the Brewers on top. One of the bigger moments of the year for the Brewers.
Less Filling:
Cameron/Kapler–Both went 0 for 4 with a couple strikeouts. Cameron looked terrible on multiple swings.
Brewers (8) @ Diamondbacks (6) 7/1 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
JJ Hardy–Wow, what a hot streak. Two more homers to go along with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Threw in a stolen base to boot.
Corey Hart–3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI, and 2 steals. Quite an all-around game for quite an all-around player.
The Replacements–Rivera, Kapler, and Dillon combined for 4 hits, 5 RBI’s, and a couple runs scored. Plus some good defense as well.
Defense–Some great plays made including a couple by Bill Hall, the dive and tag the bag play by Rivera, and some nice running catches in the outfield. Suppan was getting hit pretty hard so the guys had to be on their toes for sure.
Less Filling:
Jeff Suppan–Staked to a 6-1 lead early on he allowed the D-Backs to chip away.
Guillermo Mota–Yet another run allowed for our “8th inning guy”. He had a 6.48 ERA in June and didn’t start July on a good foot either.
Brewers (9) @ Astros (6) 6/12 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Brewers Offense–Once again the Crew got the bats going big time, including a three home run second inning that staked them to a nice lead. Fielder, Cameron, and Hart all delivered shots in that inning. The key one was Hart’s homer with two out and two on. Sheets had drawn a walk to extend the inning and give Hart that chance.
Tack-on runs–Tack-on runs have been hard to come by for the Brewers at times, but they were able to add some big ones in this game. Kapler hit a bomb in the 9th to give them even more room. Braunie also had a nice day going 2 for 5 with an RBI, a run, and two steals.
Ben Sheets–Once again proved why he’s the ace. Didn’t have great stuff and was playing in a crackerjack park, but worked through 7 innings and put the Brewers in a solid position to win the game.
Less Filling:
The bullpen–Seems to be really hit or miss lately. Either they’re great and give up no runs, or they get smacked around for multiple runs. Mota allowed two in his inning of work and Torres allowed one in the 9th. Again, good thing we were able to add those tack-on runs throughout the game.
Brewers (3) @ Rockies (2) 6/8 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great;
Jeff Suppan–Got himself in some trouble, especially with 5 walks in only 5 1/3 inning, but the crafty veteran bulldogged his way through it and kept his team ahead.
Joe Dillon–Filling in for Weeks and of course batting leadoff (Yost apparently feels you have to bat in the spot of your replacement; stupidest thing I’ve ever heard regardless of how Dillon did today). 1 for 2 with 3 walks and scored 2 of the Brewers runs. Also stole a base.
Gabe Kapler, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart–All had two hits today.
The Bullpen–back to being solid. 3 2/3 innings today and no runs allowed with only two hits and two walks. Torres really picked it up by coming in and going 1 2/3 for the save including getting out of a sticky situation with a guy on third and one out in the 8th.
Less Filling:
Bill Hall, JJ Hardy, Jason Kendall–The bottom of the order combined to go 2 for 14 and leave 9 runners on. Kendall also had another passed ball.
The elusive “Tack-on Run”–Where was it? Scored all 3 of their runs in the first two innings, then blanked, mostly due to failures to hit with runners in scoring position. I mean getting 11 hits along with 6 walks should mean double digit runs, certainly not only 3. The epitome of the problems came in the 9th when they got runners on 1st and 2nd to start the inning then didn’t score as they failed to get the ball out of the infield after that.
Brewers (10) vs. Diamondbacks (1) 6/4 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Manny Parra–That’s the young lefty we were hoping for. Got in a little trouble early, but instead of crumbling like he had earlier in the year, he gutted it out and finished his outing strong. Consistency, consistency, consistency; don’t go out there and go 4 innings the next time out.
Ryan Braun–Couple hits including a triple, couple RBI’s and runs. Just continues to rake.
Corey Hart–The first inside-the-park home run since Prince’s shot in Minnesota where the outfielder lost the ball in the lights. Also had a run-scoring single earlier in the game.
Gabe Kapler–4 hits, couple runs scored, an RBI, and a great catch early in the game that saved at least one run.
Prince Fielder–He just continues to produce.
Russell Branyan–The Brewers are 9-2 since he was called up. He didn’t cause all of it, but its definetly more than a coincidence that when another lefty bat entered the lineup it started producing. I hope people don’t start thinking he is a long-term answer though.
Less Filling:
Um…………for the first time in Tastes Great, Less Filling history we have none that deserved being placed here. Great job all around.
The Major League Baseball Amateur Draft is tomorrow beginning at 1 pm CT. I’ll be watching and will do a blog entry on the draft tomorrow.
Brewers (9) vs. Cardinals (8) 4/22 (12 innings) — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
What slump? Weeks, Braun, and Fielder all break out with solid games. They go a combined 7 for 13 with 4 walks, 3 runs, and 6 RBI’s.
The Gabes have it–Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler spark a 12th inning rally as Gross draws walk, then steals second. Kapler follows with yet another key hit as his single into center scores Gross easily. Gross is then summarily shipped out of town in a trade to the Tampa Bay Rays (not Devil Rays you satanic monster) in exchange for a minor league reliever. Thanks for the good days Gabe and good luck.
Seth McClung–after being nearly run out of town he’s responded with a couple nice outings in a row. Went 3 scoreless the other day and had a strong 1 inning today. Looks like his mechanics are better, and therefore his location as well.
Only 5 strikeouts in 12 innings today by the offense. Maybe Yost and Skaalen do actually talk to them about being patient and finding a good pitch to hit.
Less Filling:
Quite a list today considering a win, but with that many poor performances, its hard to ignore.
Manny Parra–this guy has to learn to be able to pitch deep into games and not get his pitch counts so high. He threw 106 pitches in only 5 innings today and on the year is averaging an alarming 19 pitches per inning. All this does is require him to come out of games earlier, even if he is doing ok, and further tax the bullpen. If he goes 7 or even 6 today we shorten up that pen and use only 2-3 guys instead of 7.
Ah, that bullpen. 7 pitchers used, with only the above-mentioned McClung not allowing at least one baserunner. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Both Shouse and Riske are credited with holds despite giving up a combined 6 baserunners and 4 runs while facing 10 batters in only 1 1/3rd innings. And then there’s Gagne. Despite the fact Weeks should have made that turn, he still put himself in a 1st and 3rd with no one out situation. Just can’t continue to allow that many runners and expect to get out cleanly.
Weeks’ D–He’s made big strides this year on his defense, but he missed a couple plays today that should have been made. None bigger than that nonchalant turn of a can of corn double play that should have ended it in the 9th. Gotta maintain the focus all the way through a game.
Another 0′fer for Hall. He’s now batting .185 on the year, lower than Weeks. And he’s only walked twice, so his On Base Percentage is .205. Ouch. I addressed him enough yesterday, hopefully he’ll turn it around and quick. I don’t know what the option would be if he needs to come out. Counsell isn’t an everyday player and Braun is firmly planted in the outfield now.
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