Results tagged ‘ Torres ’
Brewers (3) @ Pirates (1) 8/29 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Dave Bush–Another solid outing for Bushie. He’s now lowered his ERA to 4.12 with his strong second half. I have to admit, I didn’t think he had it in him.
Ryan Braun–Starting to carry the team a bit. His first inning three-run home run provided the only offense for the Brewers.
Bullpen–It seems like they’re either rock solid or blow up with crooked numbers. Tonight they were rock solid with Shouse, Gagne, and Torres getting the job done.
Less Filling:
Brewers offense–Thank God for Ryan Braun in this one or it would have been a 4 hit shutout. The Brewers offense has been madingly inconsistent this year as evidenced by the last three games. Go off for 12 against the Cards in the first game, then get three early against them the next only to go in a hole, and then do the same thing today.
Prince Fielder–His average has dipped to .268 and despite hitting 6 home runs this month, he hasn’t hit one since August 13th. He’s been chipping in with RBI’s periodically, but he’s still not on pace for 100 RBI on the year all of his numbers are down considerably from last year. I didn’t expect another 50 home run season, but this year’s numbers would have been on the low end of what I’d expect. Also, his defense continues to be attrocious and he committed yet another error last night, his 13th on the year
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 (7) @ Giants (4) 7/20 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Manny Parra–Took a shutout into the 8th inning with a pretty low pitch count, but ran out of gas a bit and ended up going 7 2/3 allowing only 2 late runs. Also picked up a hit, marking the 5th straight game in which a Brewers pitcher has gotten a hit. Who knew!?!
Ryan Braun–I feel a heat wave coming on and it shall be called Ryan Braun. Finished off a series where he went 6 for 13 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run to go along with 5 RBI. Stole a base, walked once, and made a nice sliding catch in yesterday’s game also. What Derby hangover??
Rickie Weeks & JJ Hardy–Were on base a combined 5 times and scored 4 times. It really helps when the top of the order can get on to set up the boppers.
Less Filling:
Bottom of the order–At a time when the top of the order is heating up (Weeks, Hardy, Braun, Fielder), the bottom of the order is cooling off considerably. Kendall’s average has dipped into the .250 range, Cameron is still struggling along around .235, and Branyan’s average has nosedived to .243. Good thing the pitchers have been producing at the bottom lately:)
Brian Shouse–Once again the bullpen, Shouse in this case, took what should have been a relaxing day for Solomon Torres and turned it into a save situaiton. With a 5 run lead in the 9th the closer should be able to rest and get ready for a huge 4 game series against the team directly above you in the standings. Instead he is forced to throw 15-20 pitches in the bullpen and come into a stressful save situation. Granted he only had to get one out, but it was a stressful out nonetheless. That’s about 3 or 4 times that’s happened now since Torres took over. I know he’s got a rubber arm, but it’d still be nice not to have to worry about over-working him. Plus the more times you put yourselves in that situation, the bigger chance something like 5-0 turning into 6-5 happens.
Brewers (5) vs. Reds (6) 7/11 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Ryan Braun–His early home run was the only hit off Reds pitcher Josh Fogg in 5 1/3 innings. He also delivered a double off the wall later in the game but Fielder and Hart failed him.
Less Filling:
Defense–3 errors led to 3 unearned runs for the Reds. Rather pourous defense has been a black mark even during this recent surge in the standings. You’d expect better out of veteran players like Cameron, Kendall, Hall, and even Weeks.
3 wild pitches–Not to be outdone by the defense, the pitching staff felt the need to contribute 3 wild pitches. The one by Torres in the 8th was the most damning as it gave the Reds the lead. Kendall needs to block that one though instead of trying to pick it.
Brewers (5) @ Diamondbacks (6) 7/3 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
JJ Hardy–What a streak!! Another home run and a couple scorched doubles to go along with a single.
Mike Cameron–Starting to swing the bat better lately. He’s always been a slow starter, and hopefully he’s ready to heat up again.
Parra–Pitched pretty well and obviously should have gotten the win. Once slight complaint though is he managed to get his pitch count up there and had to be pulled after 6 innings. That meant the bullpen needed to be stretched out and we saw what happened.
Gagne, Stetter–Both have had their issues earlier this year, but it was nice to see them both pitch good and hopefully get back on track.
Less Filling:
Mota/Shouse/Torres–I know its kind of something you just gotta chalk up to a once in a million time and move on, but this was a disgusting loss. You have a chance to beat one of the best pitchers in the league, have a winning road trip, and rest your closer. But instead the unthinkable happens. These three combined for face seven hitters and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, 6 runs, and got NO FRICKIN’ OUTS!!!
Brewers (7) vs. Orioles (3) 6/22 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Prince Fielder–Really heating up lately. Two big home runs to late to provide some breathing room.
Corey Hart–His second inning home run was huge as it got some momentum back to the Brewers after Parra gave up a couple runs in the first and nearly gave up more in the second.
Bill Hall–I grudgingly put him here as I really am not encouraged by what he did yesterday. His home run was on a ball away that he got lucky and reached out and hooked. Same thing on his other base hit. If he continues to do that, he’ll end up the same way he has the whole year: hitting .220 with an occassional home run. Plus he got picked off too. The results were there for him but not the execution that you’d like to see.
Salomon Torres–I’ve left him off a number of times when he’s bailed the Brewers out, and its time he got his due. He’s perfect in save opportunities since Gagne went down and all indications are he’ll stay in the closers role even when Gagne comes back. Definetly one of the key players in this first part of the season.
Defense–Tied a club record with 5 double plays turned and also had some nice plays made in the field. Braun had a couple sliding catches and Weeks and Hardy both snagged hotshots in the 8th and made nice throws to keep the Orioles off the board.
Less Filling:
Guillermo Mota–Allowed back to back walks in the 9th that forced Ned to have to bring in Torres. It was the second time Torres had to come in during this homestand in a game there he should have been able to rest easy on.
The rest of the offense not named Hart, Fielder, Hardy, or Hall–They didn’t get a single hit and left some runs on the bases. In their defense there were some pretty hard hit outs, especially by Weeks and Braun.
Brewers (5) vs. Blue Jays (4) 6/18 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Ben Sheets–Another solid outing by the club’s ace, despite him not having great stuff. As I’ve said before, that’s what separates Sheets from the rest of the guys; his ability to get the job done time after time even when he doesn’t have his A-game.
Craig Counsell–3 hits out of the leadoff spot.
Corey Hart, Mike Cameron–Both used their legs to create runs. Hart got a double then advanced to third on a shallow sac fly. He scored on a 10 foot dribbler by Cameron that required excellent speed and baserunning ability. Cameron then stole second and ended up scoring on a sac bunt attempt by Sheets. Cameron also knocked a home run.
Salomon Torres–Had to come in for Mota and get a 1 1/3 inning save. He’s 8 for 8 in save chances since taking over for Gagne.
Russell Branyan–Yet another booming homer.
Less Filling:
Braun, Fielder–Combined to go 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts and 8 men left on base.
Guillermo Mota–He’s cracked a few times in recent weeks and had to be bailed out last night after only getting two outs but giving up 3 hits and a walk.
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 (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 (10) @ Cubs (7) 4/29 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
What hitting slump? — The Brewers erupt for 17 hits and 10 runs. Every position starter had at least one hit. They also only struck out 3 times and delivered five 2 out RBI’s.
Mike Cameron –What a way to ingratiate yourself to the new ballclub. 3 for 5 with a walk, two runs, and two RBI’s. If he can hit .270 with a .340-.350 OBP it will be huge for this offense.
Ben Sheets –Dropped down a nice sacrifice bunt even though the defense knew it was coming and was about two feet away from him.
Less Filling:
I’m giving Sheeter a pass since he’s come out on the wrong end of great games he’s pitched many times over the years.
I’m giving Torres a pass as well since he had three ground balls that weren’t hit very hard but managed to find holes, then one legitimate hit. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.
Defense–After starting the year playing excellent defense and committing very few errors, the Brewers have softened up lately. Two errors last night plus a double play that wasn’t turned that should have been. Can’t keep giving the other team extra chances and making your pitchers throw extra pitches.
Eric Gagne–Look, I’m still confident he can get the job done effectively. But at some point it’d be nice to get some 1, 2, 3 innings out of him so it’d be less nerve-wracking. He’s had only 4 “clean” (no hits or walks) outings out of his 14 appearances this year.
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