May 18th, 2012 at 9:00 AM
By Stephen RispaljeWith the Brewers struggling to find a consistent arm in Triple A Nashville, they signed Claudio Vargas to a minor league contract. It is unclear the details of the contract, but according to the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee they signed him to a contract. The beliefs were he had retired but that was not the case. His agent called the Brewers to gauge an interest.
According to general manager Doug Melvin this is not a major league interest, but a minor league interest. They were not pleased with their pitching in Nashville so they signed him to work in the bullpen, or possibly start later in the season.
But do not expect to see him in a Brewers uniform any time soon. He will likely be strictly a minor league pitcher.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 17th, 2012 at 10:57 PM
By Stephen RispaljeThe Brewers have been having trouble all season driving in runs. On Wednesday that problem showed its ugly head again. Despite a decent outing by pitcher Shaun Marcum, the offense provided no runs of support tonight. And it was a night of missed opportunities. All that led to a stunning sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros.
The game started with a chance in the first. Ryan Braun singled and stole second base but he was stranded. The Brewers had a golden opportunity in the third inning, the bases were loaded after a walk to Shaun Marcum, a double by Norichika Aoki and an infield single from Rickie Weeks. But Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez both were retired to squander that opportunity. Meanwhile the Astros were being dominated by Shaun Marcum.
But the fourth inning was the trouble for Shaun Marcum. Carlos Lee singled to right field. Jed Lowrie homered to right field to give the Astros a 2-0 lead. They didn't need more, but Houston added two more runs for good measure. Brian Bogusevic singled and advanced to second on a groundout . Chris Snyder singled to score Bogusevic. Snyder moved to second on an error by Norichika Aoki. After striking out J.A Happ, Jordan Schafer singled to drive home Snyder. So after four innings Houston held a 4-0 lead. Milwaukee wouldn't score at all.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 16th, 2012 at 10:49 PM
By Stephen RispaljeAfter turning in one of their best all around games on Tuesday night in New York, Milwaukee returned to form on Wednesday in Houston. The offense went cold again, and their streak of seven consecutive starts came to a screeching stop as Randy Wolf continued to struggle with consistency, unless being bad counts as consistent. Those factors combined with a costly error led to a tough to swallow loss to the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
The scoring got started in the second inning. Randy Wolf allowed hits to the first three hitters of the inning. Carlos Lee started with a single, Jed Lowrie followed with a double into the left center field gap allowing Lee to come around from first base. Justin Maxwell singled to center allowing Jed Lowrie to score. Wolf would settle down enough to end the threat at two runs. Houston would add three more in their half of the third inning. Wolf allowed a single to the pitcher to start the threat. He retired the next batter before allowing the next three hitters to reach base. Jose Altuve singled, J.D Martinez walked, and Carlos Lee singled again scoring Bud Norris, who started the inning with a single. And Jed Lowrie followed by reaching base on an error by Corey Hart. So after three innings the Astros held a commanding 5-0 lead.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 15th, 2012 at 9:06 PM
By Chris KaminskiThe Milwaukee Brewers were in danger of falling six games under .500 and six games back in the Central Division standings as they closed a short two game set in New York against the Mets. The offense followed a flat performance on Monday where the offense didn't score but one run in the ninth inning with a eight run attack. That support was more than enough for Brewers starter Zack Greinke who threw seven strong shutout innings in the Brewers 8-0 win over the Mets.
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Zack Greinke delivers a pitch to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of Game 5 in the NLCS at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on October 14, 2011. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
The Brewers started their scoring in the top of the second as Aramis Ramirez led off with a walk off Mets starter Dillon Gee. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy followed with a double into the left field corner to put runners at second and third. Travis Ishikawa plated Ramirez with a ground out to second and shortstop Cesar Izturis knocked Lucroy in with a single up the middle. Greinke is now given a two run lead to work with and he coasted through the first three innings as he retired 9 of the first 10 hitters he has faced.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 14th, 2012 at 9:38 PM
By Stephen RispaljeThe Brewers have been raveged with injuries so far this season. They have struggled to adequately fill the spots. But tonight here are a few updates on the team.
First off Carlos Gomez is eligible to return on Sunday. He will go to Appleton to rehab with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Gomez has been on the disabled list with a strained hamstring suffered on May 4 in San Francisco. His return will mean someone needs to be sent back to Triple A. With the way Taylor Green is playing right now it is unlikely he will be sent back to Triple A. But stay tuned as we will have news regarding that decision as soon as it comes.
Alex Gonzalez who suffered a torn ACL on May 5, will have surgery on Thursday. The procedure will likely end his first season in Milwaukee. They had been waiting for the swelling in the knee to subside. So now that the swelling has gone down he will have his surgery. With the injury, he will not have the opportunity to vest a 4 million dollar option for 2013.Gonzalez would have needed 525 plate appearances to vest his own option. Milwaukee could elect to keep him if they wanted. So it will remain to be seen what happens there. But with the lack of suitable option in the farm system it would be smart to exercise his option.
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