Live blog Brewers vs. Cubs

So I've decided to give this another shot. I tried doing this on opening day but as you can read in my opening day post I had some problems and it didn't turn out so why not try again now? This style of a blog post is an idea I'm borrowing (aka: stealing) from my favorite sports writer Bill Simmons. This is not that important of a game for the Brewers but it is the start of a very important stretch for them. This game starts a string of 18 consecutive games against division opponents for the Crew and the first nine are at home which is good news, so a win tonight could put us on the right path to a successful homestand which could give the Brewers sole possession of first and possibly give them some breathing room from the Cardinals and Pirates(man it feels weird to say that). So here it is, hopefully this will be as good as I want it to.

7:03 P.M. - Stat flashes up on the pre-game show. Ryan Dempster is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA s his last five starts against the Brewers. This could be ugly...

7:06 - Dempster's career stats against Brewers. 15-3, 2.50 ERA. Is it too late to go back on this?

7:09 - Narveson has had pretty good success against the Cubs though so hopefully this pitching even outs. With that said the game will probably be seven to six by the third inning.

7:11 - Narveson's first pitch is hit for a single by Jeff Baker. That didn't take long, hopefully Narveson doesn't have one of his first inning melt-downs that he seems to have from time to time.

7:14 - Aramis Ramirez hits a 2-run homer on the first pitch. The first inning will always be Narveson's downfall.

7:19 - Corey Hart rips an 0-2 pitch for a double at the exact same time I open my first beer. This has to mean something.

7:21 - After two pathetic bunt attempts, Morgan strikesout on a pitch way out of the zone. Probably one of the worst at bats by a Brewer not named Yuniesky Betancourt all season.

7:24 - Braun's bat shatters in spectacular fashion and somehow finds room down the line for a double which scores Hart. 2-1 Cubs.

7:27 - Putting Weeks in the five spot has been one of the better things that Roenicke has done this season. He can produce so much more in this spot as compared to the leadoff spot.

7:28 - I can't stand hearing Cubs fans cheering when the game is at Miller Park. It makes me sick. I hate the Cubs.

7:30 - Casey McGehee hits an opposite field bullet that scores Braun and Fielder scores all the way from first. This of course happens just seconds after Brain Anderson says McGehee has some of his best moments against the Cubs. 3-2 Brewers.

7:38 - After a two-out triple, Narveson gets Dempter to pop up to Weeks to end the inning. Nice bounce back inning by Narveson who, if he follows his usual pattern, will surrender runs in the first and then go the next five or six innings allowing maybe two more baserunners. It will happen, just wait.

7:44 - Nice to see Miller Park pretty full on a Tuesday night. Looks like Milwaukee is getting swept up in Brewer fever! I can't believe I just typed that.

7:47 - To the hot girl that seems to be sitting in the front row of each Brewer's homegame, please give me your phone number. I won't actually call you but I will at least be able to brag to my friends. Lets make this happen.

7:55 - The Brewers are going to have a Craig Counsell bobble head day. I mean I like the guy, but is this really necessary?

7:58 - Narveson continues to baffle these Cubs hitters with his changeup. Its nice to see him continue to go to it and continue to get hitters out with it. Still looking for that perfect inning from Narveson but he has yet to give up any more runs so I am content with it so far. Still 3-2 Brewers after 2 and 1/2.

8:01- Nyjer Morgan strikes out on three pitches again. Is he even here to play today? Both of these at bats have looked half-assed.

8:05 - I have to say that Fielder's beard makes him look even more intimidating. Its not Brian Wilson level but its still pretty impressive. Its a shame it didn't help him avoid grounding into that inning-ending double play just now.

8:07 - I can't believe I'm saying this but I kind of wish that when I was watching MLB.TV they would have commercials. The dead silence is just so strange to me.

8:08- Brewers announcers say if they Brewers hold on to the lead it will be there 23rd come from behind victory of the season. It is currently the top of the 4th inning. To soon guys.

8:10 - CC Sabathia is currently perfect through six innings against the Mariners.

8:11 - Hey! Narveson finally has a clean inning. Three up, three down.

8:13 - MLB.com has a picture of Brian Wilson shaking Barrack Obama's hand while the team visited the white house. It could be one of the better pictures I have seen in my entire life.

8:16 - Betancourt has been hot since the all-star break, right around the same time I said I don't want to see him playing anymore. He must read my blog....On a related note he just got a hit and extends his hit streak to eight games.

8:18 - CC loses the perfect game and no hitter.

8:19 - An error by Bird in center gives runners at second and third with two outs for Narveson.....

8:21- ....who proceeds to ground out. No damage done but at least the pitcher spot is cleared for the next Brewer's at bat.

8:31 - Starlin Castro gets a swinging bunt and the Cubs fans cheer as if he just hit a grand slam. God I hate the Cubs.

8:34 - Ramirez flies out to the wall for a loud out number three. Narveson escapes with no runs given up. He's looked solid so far tonight but his pitch count is getting up there, currently 73. It would be nice to see the offense give him some extra runs so he has some more breathing room to continue pitching.

8:37 - Beer and baseball go hand-in-hand. Its the way god intended it to be. I'm sure you can find it in the bible somewhere.

8:39- Nyjer Morgan's great night continues. He just flew out to right on the first pitch. So far thats three at bats, seven pitches seen, two strikeouts and a flyout. I love Morgan but he is just not having a good night.

8:40- Dempter catches a ball that would have seriously taken his head off. Brewers do nothing. Still lead 3-2 after five innings of play.

8:42 - After watching the replay of the catch, that ball would have hit Dempster clearly on the side of the head. Could have been a very ugly situation.

8:47 - Narveson struggling with command and Kameron Loe is working in the bullpen. This game could get ugly very very fast.

8:48 - Bases loaded, no outs and Soriano coming up to bat. Time for another beer.

8:48 - Oh great, Loe coming in. Time for two beers possibly a third.

8:53 - Soriano grounds out to third but for some reason McGehee doesn't step on third and instead just throws home. So bases loaded and now one out.

8:54 - Sweet jesus! Double play! Cubs blow bases loaded, no outs opportunity!

8:56 - Texting conversation between my cousin and I, where we both are sure the end of the world is coming after Loe made an appearance without giving up any runs. It could be very well a sign of the apocalypse.

8:58 - I think this game will be a good blueprint for how the bullpen will be managed for the rest of the season. Loe in ground ball situations, Saiton/Hawkins for the 7th, K-rod for the 8th and Axford for the 9th. I like the sound of that.

9:11 - I still can't believe that the PIrates are in first place in the N.L. Central. Nobody saw that one coming, and if you say you did you are lying.

9:13 - It looks like Aramis Ramirez is always trying to hit home runs. He just about fell over after taking a swing that looked like he was trying to hit a home run and blow his shoulder out all with the same swing.

9:16 - Hawkins breaks Ramirez's bat and Prince catches the ball in foul territory. Brewers still up 3-2 after seven.

9:18 - I've resorted to opening Itunes and playing parts of songs to kill the time for commercial breaks. Seriously the dead silence during commercial breaks is driving me insane.

9:20 - A Craig Counsell sighting!

9:24 - I am still patiently awaiting the day where Corey Hart can lay off a slider low and away. Thats back-to-back he just swung and missed at in this at bat and probably the fourth time it has happened this game.

9:27 - K-rod is making his Miller Park debut. Although they didn't show it, I will assume he got a good hand from the Miller Park crowd. I'm just going to go ahead and say he did because I want to believe the Brewers fans were smart enough to applaud the new comer who will help us greatly for this pennant chase.

9:32 - K-rod goes 1-2-3 with two strikeouts and leaves to a standing ovation from the Brewer fans at Miller Park. If there is one way to be instantly liked by a fanbase like the Brewers its to perform when you are called upon. I have a good feeling K-rod will become a quick fan favorite in Milwaukee.

9:35 - It just fully dawned on me that nobody has scored since the first inning and the Brewers haven't really had any other chances to score since the first. This game should end fast before our luck runs out.

9:37 - Its really nice to see Braun play well again. He seems to be fully over that leg injury that was slowing him down these past couple of weeks.

9:45 - Brewers threaten but fail to add any more runs. Time for the Ax man to shut the door.

9:47 - Axford had a voting contest at the beginning of the season to see what song will play when he comes out to close and somehow this didn't win. If your going to be sporting a mustache like that all season how do you not use this song? In my never ending debate on what song would be my closer song I have finally come to a decision, and it has to be the theme from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly." Make it happen Axford!

9:49 - Number of times the TV crew has mentioned that McGehee used to play for the Cubs is up to five. I should have looked to place some bets on this.

9:57 - Strikes him out!! Axord gets the save! It wasn't a clean one but its his 25th consecutive save, which ties a franchise record. Brewers win 3-2 and improve to 55-49 and will remain a half game out of first because the Cardinals won tonight and the Pirates are still tied but a win is a win and hopefully this is the start of a winning streak.

Well there you have it. Hopefully that was enjoyable to read. I did my best to add in interesting comments but it was hard, seeing as the only runs scored where in the first inning. Like I said earlier, hopefully this is the start of a nice winning streak for the Brewers who could use this homestand to take first and possibly create some space between them and the Cardinals and Pirates. Seriously, it is so strange to say, "create space between them and the Pirates," I may never get over it.

First half thoughts

So we are officially half-way through the season and the Brewers are tied for first place in the NL Central, have three starters in the All-Star game, (well technically only two because of Braun's injury, but he did get voted in) and two players in the homerun derby. I thought I would take this time to reflect back on the first half of the season and give my predictions of where this team will go in the second half of the season.

Overall this team has played very well. Minus a few players who constantly seem to underperform, the team has been solid all around. The rocky start the Brewers faced turned into a fantastic month of May which included back to back sweeps of the Rockies and Nationals. That hot streak of baseball continued until early June until the Brewers reached interleague play which they struggled with but they came out of interleague and won four ouf of the last seven including two walk-off winners against the Reds and former Brewer, Francisco Cordero. So I'm going to go ahead and give different aspects of the teams grades, much like I did earlier in the season and go a little more in-depth with the grades. So here they are, you grades for the first half of the Brewers 2011 season.

Starting Pitching - B

I wanted to go more in-depth in this grading post than I did in my one earlier in the season so I decided to split up the pitching staff. Overall the starters have been good but not great. At times they do just enough to get the job done and thats all I can really ask for but there are times where we should be seeing more from them, especially Zack Greinke. Zack has been good in his starts but he isn't the ace we had hoped we would get when we traded for him. He gives up a lot of hits and runs but is able to keep his team in the game and he continues to rack up a ton of strikeouts. Still it would be nice to see him go seven scoreless innings one of these starts. Gallardo has become much more consistent but he still has those starts where he has absolutely nothing going for him. Marcum has been the most consistent but he has dealt with a hip injury that has prevented him from having very successful starts his last couple times out, but he should be back on track after the break. Wolf is a bend but don't break pitcher and I would say he is 50/50 in that sense. He is hot some starts, then garbage some others and the same can be said for Narveson. But overall they are getting the job done, I would just hope for some more consistency from them as a whole but other than that not much to complain about so far into the season.

Bullpen - C

This was always the Brewers biggest weakness this season and it continues to be the only real flaw so far this season. Axford and Hawkins are the only ones that seem to be able to get outs consistently. Axford has really come on after his rough start to the season and its great to see. The rest of the bullpen is another story. Loe and Estrada continue to give me headaches every time they go out. Braddock can't seem to get lefties out at a consistant pace, which is the main reason he is on the team. Saito just came off the DL so he gets a pass but overall the bullpen has been very disappointing. The addition of K-rod (just announced tonight) should help greatly, meaning we should have the 8th and 9th locked down and Hawkins could have the 7th, meaning we should have the end of each game on lockdown. But as for the first half, the bullpen was very disappointing.

Infield - B

This one was very hard to judge. Fielder and Weeks are great, heck they made the all-star team, but the other side of the infield is bad. McGehee is really struggling this year and although he is doing better as of late he is still slacking on the offensive side of the ball, and then there is Betancourt. I can not continue to sit and watch Brewers games with this guy on the field. When he was announced in the trade we were told he could hit but couldn't play defense. Well so far this year he can't hit and plays ok defense. While he has made some good plays this year he is pretty much useless when it comes to hitting. I am about to tear my hair out if I have to watch another one of his infamous, one pitch pop-up at bats. He never seems to come up with a clutch hit or even work the count! He continues to get out on weak ground balls and pop ups early in the count. Its driving me up the wall watching him do this game after game. As much as those two struggle, Weeks and Fielder are carrying the team. Fielder is having a MVP season and Weeks continues to impress me even more as the year goes on. McGehee should get back on track and Weeks and Fielder show no signs of slowing down so the infield should improve on offense. Defensively they have been fine but there is always room for improvement in that department, and that goes for the whole team.

Outfield - A

The only aspect of this team that continues to not only pass, but exceed my expectations is the outfield. They play defense well, anchored by speedy center fielders Gomez and Nyjer Morgan. They hit the ball great with Braun and Hart and even our bench outfielders like Kotsay continue to produce. There isn't much I can say about the outfield. Braun is doing well, minus his injury this last week, Hart is continuing his offensive pace he set last year and Nyjer Morgan has been one of the better pick ups the Brewers have made in the past couple seasons. The guy continues to get clutch hits, do all the little things right, and play great defense. This is clearly the best part of the team when it comes to each aspect of the game and it should continue in the second half of the season.

Overall grade - B+

This team did a good job of keeping around while everybody was hurt and now that everyone is healthy they are making their run for the division. Although they struggled through interleague play the Brewers have held their ground and continue to sit on top of the division or very close to it. The second half of the season should see the Brewers making their move to not only take the lead but hold it and eventually make the playoffs as the National League Central Champions. This team shows signs of greatness throughout the season and if they can find some consistent play from their best players, they could easily win six games in a row without breaking a sweat. It should be a very fun second half to the season and will hopefully contain great things for the team and us as fans.

Damn Yankees and my never ending man-crush on CC Sabathia

As I watched the Brewers flail at another CC Sabathia changeup I had flash backs to the 2008 season and thought to myself, "man wouldn't it be great to still have CC?" After his magnificent run with the team for that half a season in 2008 I wanted him in a Brewers uniform for life. But everybody knew he was a goner. The Yankees had missed the playoffs the previous year and they didn't want it to happen again so they did what they do best, they spent money and offered CC a contract the Brewers couldn't even dream of giving a single player.

So as I was watching the game, the crew of FSN kept cutting to highlights of the 2008 season. CC's almost no-hitter and the final game of the season. Seeing those replays still gives me chills. It was the best moment of my life when it comes to being a Brewer fan and I will never forget that summer. That season in itself deserves its own blog post but it was hard not to think about it while watching CC pitch again.

Now I'm not one to hate on the Yankees just because they spend a lot of money and they constantly win because of it. But for some reason I was getting infuriated watching the games. It didn't help that the Brewers were not playing well all series and a sweep was the worst thing that could have happened, because at the same time the Cardinals were sweeping the Orioles and the Brewers three game lead in the division was gone in the blink of an eye. The thing that was killing me the most was that the Yankees were doing all the little things right. They get a guy on base, he steals, the next hitter gets him to third, and then the next guy drives him in, and then of course hits pile up and Nick Swisher hits a three-run homerun, Nick Swisher hit a fucking homerun, of course he did, only his 10th on the year.

I started to look for reasons to hate the Yankees, stupid A-rod, even though he did close to nothing this series, stupid Teixeira, who hit his 300th career homerun, that dumb stadium that little leaguers could seemingly hit homeruns out of. Anything I could think of became reasons for me to hate the Yankees in that moment. And then CC came back out on the mound.

Suddenly the hate I was feeling towards the Yankees was gone. Weeks pops up, Gomez grounds out and then Braun gets a hit, extending his hitting streak to 20 games. This hit knocks CC out of the game with a high pitch count. No runs and 13 strikeouts over seven and two-thirds innings. As CC walked back to the dugout amongst a standing ovation from the Yankee fans I realized something. I could never hate CC, never in my life. Even though he is wearing pinstripes and probably will be for the rest of his career, nothing he does will make me hate him, not after what he did for the Brewers, the city of Milwaukee and me. He may be a Yankee but I will always remember him like this.