Results tagged ‘ Riske ’
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 (1) vs. Astros (3) 7/25 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Manny Parra–Wasn’t great, but did a decent job. Early in the year in that kind of game he would’ve only lasted 4 or 5 innings and let stuff get away a bit. He’s learning how to pitch more and how to pitch later into games.
Carlos Villanueva–Pitched a couple scoreless innings to allow the Brewers to stay in it.
Less Filling:
Brewers offense–Ah, another disappearing act that makes a marginal big leaguer look like Sandy Koufax.
David Riske–Wasn’t credited with allowing a run, but did allow three inherited runners to score.
Brewers (4) @ Diamondbacks (3) 7/2 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Seth McClung–Didn’t have his best stuff, and gave up a lot of hard hit balls. But battled through 5 1/3 innings. Got helped out by some good defense and some bad baserunning by the D-Backs. These are the kinds of games that starters have to grind through sometimes.
JJ Hardy–Two more hits and his hitting streak has reached 13 games.
Mike Cameron–Had really been struggling lately, but came through big time in this game. Drove in the tying run in the 7th and the winning run in the 9th.
Rickie Weeks–Had missed the last couple games due to food poisoning, but came in and hit a pinch hit home run to put the Brewers up. Hopefully this jump-starts his season once again.
Late inning offense–After going over a week without scoring a run after the 6th inning or off a reliever, the Brewers scored a run in each of the last 4 innings in tonight’s game.
Less Filling:
David Riske–Just seems to make a mistake every time out and it gets hit hard.
Offensive patience–Where was it? The Brewers hitters saw only 125 pitches in 9 innings (an average of only 13 per inning) while the D-Backs saw 156 pitches.
Brewers (5) vs. Cardinals (3) 5/11 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, my wife, and all the mother’s out there!
Jeff Suppan–That’s the kind of effort we needed out of him last time out and going forward. He needs to step up and pitch like the Number 2 starter he now is. 7 innings and only 1 run. He did flirt with danger a bit by walking 5 in the first couple innings, but the Cardinals made 4 outs on the bases to help him out of it.
Ryan Braun–35-40 homers a year looks like the rule not the exception. He seems to make such good contact so often, even if he gets under the ball a bit sometimes.
Corey Hart–Just keeps producing.
JJ Hardy–3 for 4 yesterday and has quietly raised his average to .260 after starting the year out pretty poorly. Starting to settle into that 7 spot.
Less Filling:
Bill Hall–His average did finally dip below .200 and he becomes a full-fledged member of the .200 Club, joining Rickie Weeks (.193) and Mike Cameron (.174). Billy did make a very nice play on the Glaus liner to double off Pujols.
Bullpen–Even though Gagne has been removed from the closer role, the last couple innings still provided too much excitement. Riske, Torres, and Shouse had been pretty solid lately but allowed a couple runs and too many baserunners before closing it out.
Brewers (4) vs. Cardinals (3) 5/9 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Hey, hey!!
Tastes Great:
Corey Hart–I know he was only 1 for 4 and left some guys on base, but he produced two huge runs in the fourth inning. First he drove in Ryan Braun with a looper to left and hustled into second for a double. His speed and baserunning ability then allowed him to go to third on a broken bat dribbler to short. This allowed him to score on a wild pitch. His run was produced all by him and his speed and baserunning ability.
Rickie Weeks–Welcome to Tastes Great Rickie. Good to have you aboard. He’s been hitting the ball better lately and came through big-time last night. What a pressure situation and he delivers. Hopefully this sparks a turnaround in him and he gets that average up.
The bullpen–They’ve been much maligned this year because of Turnbow and Gagne’s struggles, but the rest of the guys have been pretty good. Even Riske who started the year struggling is coming around. 4 innings of shutout ball last night by 3 different relievers.
Less Filling:
Bill Hall–Hit it hard a couple times but his average has dipped to .206 now.
Mike Cameron–His average has dipped to .190 and he’s now struck out at least once in 9 straight games. His defense in center has been nothing short of spectacular though.
Manny Parra–I know a lot of people were heaping praise on him for getting out of a bases loaded jam and battling back and continuing to work, but he still only went 5 innings and put himself in some bad situations. His pitch count was better (only 83 pitches in 5 innings, well below his 20 pitches per inning average), but he only threw strikes about half the time. He threw 44 strikes in 83 pitches. Not a recipe for continued or consistent success.
Brewers (0) @ Marlins (3) 5/6 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Matt LaPorta hit his 10th homer of the season and is now batting .342. In his last ten games he has 4 homers and 14 RBI. Oh wait, he’s at AA Hunstville.
Catching prospect (when was the last time we had one of those?) Angel Salome is batting .356. Oh wait, he’s also at AA Huntsville.
3B prospect Mat Gamel is hitting .372 and also has 4 homers and 14 RBI in his last ten games. Yeah, AA Huntsville.
Jeff Weaver pitched 7 strong innings last night giving up only 4 hits, 1 run, 0 BB, and 1 K. Shoot, he’s in AAA. I wonder if he’ll get a call pretty soon. If he isn’t brought up by June sometime he has to be released.
David Riskie–ah, finally a major leaguer. He pitched out of a bases loaded-no out jam. Pretty sad when the only good thing from your team is a middle reliever.
Less Filling:
2 hits………2 FREAKING HITS!!!!!!!
Suppan–blows a great chance to show himself as a stopper for this young team. Didn’t pitch terribly but couldn’t get an out in the 6th inning before loading the bases and having to be removed. Needed 7 strong out of him, although if the offense doesn’t score it doesn’t matter how few runs he woulda gave up.
Ned Yost–way to show some creativity after getting swept and running the same lineup out there. Might make one change today with Counsell in for Weeks but God forbid we go outside the box and put 3 or 4 bench guys in to try to ignite something. Also, that toss out seemed a little scripted just like the ones you got tossed 3 of 4 at the end of last year.
Brewers (2) vs. Marlins (3) 4/27 (10 innings) — Tastes Great, Less Filling
I’m back after a brief time off for a wedding over the weekend. A great time was had by all, including myelf. Thank you to Michael R. Hemling for filling in and doing a Tastes Great, Less Filling update for Friday’s game.
Tastes Great:
Not much good to talk about in this game. Only 5 hits in 10 innings. Starter can’t get through the 6th inning. Just crappy game kind of.
The team did show some patience and take 8 walks today. Although as inconsistent as they’ve been lately in that department they’ll probably take 1 in the next game.
4 of the 6 relievers did excellent jobs. Riske, Stetter, Mota, and Gagne combined for 3 2/3 innings, 5 strikeouts, only 3 hits with no walks, and most importantly no runs allowed.
A special Atta boy goes to Mitch Stetter. He’s been money all year and came in in a heckuva pickle in the 7th. Bases loaded and no one out. He gets the first two guys to K and a pop out on the last one. I really like how he works.
Rivera did a heckuva job on the steal of home attempt by Ramirez. Blocked the plate well, made a tough pick of the Prince throw, and hung on to make the tag. Good to see our catchers be able to make positive contributions with the bat and the glove this year.
Less Filling:
Ahhh, where to start. How about the suddenly anemic offense. Only 5 hits today in 10 innings (albeit the 8 walks did help) with 20 men left on base. They scored only 6 runs in the 3 game series with Florida and scored only 24 runs in the 7 game homestand. On the year they’ve scored more than 5 runs only 5 times in 25 games.
That lack of punch offenisvely certainly isn’t helped by the large number of dormant bats from key players (Braun, Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hall, etc.) but it also speaks to the Brewers inability to play small ball or manufacture runs consistently if they aren’t hitting home runs. It’s like they’re set up and Ned coaches them as if they’re an AL team. That approach will not prove consistent as they strikeout too much, walk too little, and just don’t have that big of bats to make it work over the long haul.
Turnbow–yikes. That one game mirage against Philly when he got the save sure feels like a long time ago doesn’t it. He’s gotta be gone soon wouldn’t ya think?
Parra- I know he only gave up two runs today, but he also only was able to make it through 5 1/3 innings again. Now that Bush is getting sent down, it looks like Manny’s gonna stay in the rotation. He needs to be able to manage his pitch count and make it through 6 to 7 innings at least occassionally. Today’s outing is his longest of the year, and that just can’t happen as it taxes the bullpen and leaves your team in a bad spot.
Brewers (1) vs. Phillies (3) 4/24 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Gotta start with the starter…Jeff Suppan. Pitched an excellent game. Was pretty efficient despite not having the greatest stuff today. Went 7 strong innings and threw only 92 pitches. Only threw 51 strikes though, so again didn’t have his best stuff. But gutted out a nice performance that should have put his team in position to win. 3 double play balls always help of course.
Ryan Braun–seems to be breaking out of his slump. Was 3 for 4 today with a double, raising his average to .270.
Bill Hall–welcome to the positive side of Tastes Great, Less Filling. After dropping his average into the .170s he came back with 3 for 4 game today. Need production out of his spot in the order.
Less Filling:
What’s going on on the basepaths lately. Three runners thrown out on the bases today, including Hart making the first out at third and two guys getting picked off. And somehow in the 4th inning we had a double, single, and walk and ended up not scoring while leaving only one guy on base. Two outs on the bases in one inning just can’t happen.
Speaking of leaving guys on, 17 left on base today. In the 7th we had 1st and 3rd with no outs and later bases loaded with one out and couldn’t score. Just unacceptable for Gwynn to K there and for Rickie to take a 3rd strike. That was the swinging point in the game.
Riske–Gets two strikeouts and looks like he’s cruising only to give up the dreaed two out walk. And guess what, it comes around to score after he gives up a single (although Yost shoulda put Shouse in to face Utley there) then a 0-2, 2 out double to Burrell. And that’s your ballgame folks.
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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