There's something brewing - A Badenian going America

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


21st July 2008

The Giants are doing rather well without Barry Bonds so far, but if they want to compete for a playoff spot in one of the strongest divisions they must start a winning streak soon. Hopefully for us after this series. Barry Zito spent most of the season in the bullpen, but is now back in the starting rotation. The Giants biggest problem is getting base hits; five or their starters have an average below .250.

Game #97 – Milwaukee [52-44] (C. Capuano 10-3, 3.47 ERA) at San Francisco [46-50] (B. Zito 2-3, 3.67 ERA)

SS A. Escobar- CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B M. Reynolds - RF G. Gross - C. H. Blanco - 2B O. Infante

19 mph out to left meant perfect weather for a homerunderby. Capuano looked like an early winner when Fielder and Gross went deep, but the Giants came closer after a Gomes homer in the fourth. In the sixth it was Braun who added three more with a long shot, but Gomes did the same in the bottom of the inning. Gabe Gross' grand slam in the eighth finally ended the Giants resistance.

Milwaukee at San Francisco: 12-6

W: C. Capuano (11-3), L: B. Zito (2-4)
HR: R. Braun (30), P. Fielder (12), G. Gross 2 (10) / J. Gomes 2 (21), R. Durham (13)
SB: S. Victorino (19) / -
CS: - / -
E: C. Capuano (2)
MoM: G. Gross - 2/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB


Elsewhere:

3B Miguel Cabrera (.320, 30 HR, 69 RBI) hit three homers for the Marlins in a 6-5 victory against the Blizzards.

The Angels 3B Brandon Wood (.259, 20 HR, 62 RBI) hit for the cycle in 7-2 victory over the Royals.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


22nd July 2008

Trade:

Arizona sent 2B Alberto Callaspo (.243, 4 HR, 22 RBI) and minor league starter Esmerling Vasquez (10-2, 2.39 ERA - AA) to Minnesota for starting pitcher Kevin Slowey (3-8, 4.77 ERA) and minor league 1B David Owens (.333, 0 HR, 1 RBI - R)

Tonight we just hope Gallardo will have a good day and give us a chance to increase the gap over Chicago to two games. If we would have known it before - its a day for groundball pitchers, the wind is blowing out to right at 21 mph.

Game #98 – Milwaukee [53-44] (Y. Gallardo 5-6, 4.20 ERA) at San Francisco [46-51] (P. Misch 6-8, 5.34 ERA)

2B C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - 3B R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - LF G. Gross - C. H. Blanco - RF L. Cain - SS A. Escobar

Gallardo had two bad innings what was enough to give the Giants a 7-3 lead. We managed to rally thanks to Braun and Fielder back-to-back homers. In the ninth we came within one run, but Braun grounded out with a runner on 2nd.

Milwaukee at San Francisco: 7-6

W: P. Misch (7-8), L. Y. Gallardo (5-7)
H: V. Chulk (5)
S: B. Wilson (22)
HR: S. Victorino (8), R. Braun (31), P. Fielder (13) / J. Knoedler (2)
SB: G. Gross (3), P. Fielder (18) / A. Richardson (7)
CS: - / R. Durham (4)
E: C. Izturis (9)
MoM: P. Fielder - 2/3, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB, SB


Elsewhere:

The Mariners SS Jose Lopez (.262, 8 HR, 36 RBI) collected 5 hits in 7-5 win over the Devil Rays.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


23rd July 2008

Trade:

The Angels sent C Mike Napoli (.274, 9 HR, 35 RBI) and minor league starter Anthony Ortega (3-0-2, 2.06 ERA - R) to the Rockies for starting pitcher Jason Hirsh (5-9, 4.57 ERA) and minor league starter Josh Quinn (0-5, 4.06 ERA)

Kind of important to win the series finale against the Giants and their stumbling offense. Hopefully Villanueva is going to have a good outing. The Giants will give a rare start to Matt Morris who only started five games this and last season combined.

Game #99 – Milwaukee [53-44] (C. Villanueva 1-2, 4.15 ERA) at San Francisco [47-51] (M. Morris 2-0-2, 4.17 ERA)

SS A. Escobar - 2B C. Izturis - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - RF G. Gross - C J. Estrada - 3B M. Reynolds - CF C. Fermaint

A strange and lame game, which only showed one thing. Why do the Giants use Morris usually as a reliever? He pitched five strong and scoreless innings which gave them a solid basis to win this game. We closed in in the sixth, but due to that bad fielding the San Francisco team ran away again.

Milwaukee at San Francisco: 2-5

W: M. Morris (3-0), L: C. Villanueva (1-3)
H: B. Hennessey (4), J. Delgado (12)
S: B. Wilson (23)
HR: - / -
SB: - / B. Molina (2), E. Burriss 2 (26)
CS: S. Victorino (10) / -
E: G. Gross (4), J. Estrada (5) / H. Blalock (13)
MoM: E. Burriss - 3/4, 3 R, 1 RBI, BB, 2 SB


Elsewhere:

3B Scott Rolen (.327, 16 HR, 65 RBI) hit for the cycle while his Cardinals shut the Mets out 7-0.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


24th July 2008

LF Pat Burrell (.261, 28 HR, 70 RBI) signed a new three year contract worth $42,630,000 with Philadelphia.


Trade:

The Colorado Rockies (yeah, its them again) traded starter Juan Morillo (5-4, 4.70 ERA) to the Houston Astros for minor league starting pitcher Kevin Fox (4-1, 1.87 ERA - AA).

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


25th July 2008

We are again tied with the Cubs for first, while the Cardinals are only one game behind. Now we welcome the Braves to Miller Park a team that is quite similiar to us in many aspects. We even share the same record entering this series. Also Brandon Webb's seventh start as a Brewer will be at home. Unbelievable?

Game #100 – Atlanta [53-46] (P. Maholm 1-1, 4.98 ERA) at Milwaukee [53-46] (B. Webb 2-3, 3.90 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - RF G. Gross - 3B M. Reynolds - C H. Blanco - 2B A. Escobar

A game that could have been a play off battle very well instead. We constructed all our four runs without using any power. On the other hand Brandon Webb won the hearts of many Milwaukee fans by pitching a three hitter totaling 130 pitches. By this he became the third Brewer to win ten games this season.

Atlanta at Milwaukee: 0-4

W: B. Webb (10-7), L: P. Maholm (3-8)
HR: - / -
SB: - / -
CS: - / -
E: J. Francoeur (9), B. Lillibridge (8)
MoM: B. Webb - 9.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 10 K


Elsewhere:

The Indians Adam Miller (7-6, 3.48 ERA) pitched a two hitter against the Chicago White Sox.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


26th July 2008

Trades:

The Blue Jays sent CF Ryan Patterson (.255, 13 HR, 36 RBI) to the Giants for starter Patrick Misch (7-8, 5.31 ERA) and minor league LF Freddie Retallack (.290, 1 HR, 30 RBI - A).

Texas sent starter Francisco Cruceta (7-10, 6.03 ERA) to Vancouver in exchange for minor league LFs Mark Springer (.252, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 21 SB - AA) and Jeffrey Harrison (.344, 0 HR, 9 RBI - R)

Game #101 – Atlanta [53-47] (M. Harrison 6-8, 4.45 ERA) at Milwaukee [54-46] (D. Bush 12-5, 2.44 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 3B M. Reynolds - RF G. Gross - C H. Blanco - 2B O. Infante

The Braves took bitter revenge and ravaged David Bush's National League leading ERA. Bush took a one hitter into the fifth, but gave then up eight runs (all earned) to hand him his sixth defeat of the season. Our offense was very lame as well, so that the Georgia team had no problems to tie the series.

Atlanta at Milwaukee: 8-0

W: M. Harrison (7-8), L: D. Bush (12-6)
HR: B. McCann (9), K. Johnson (13)
SB: - / -
CS: B. Lillibridge (16)
E: - / -
MoM: M. Harrison - 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K


Elsewhere:

The New York Yankees where left in shock when they learnt that their starter Chien-Ming Wang (6-8, 4.87 ERA) will miss at least a year with bone chips in his elbow.

The Mets were celebrating a 13-0 victory over the Blizzards. Philip Humber (5-7, 4.15 ERA) limited the expansion team to only five hits.


Roster Move:

We sent OF Charlie Fermaint (.154, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB) back to Nashville. Also during his second stint at Milwaukee he showed that he can't handle Major League pitching (yet). Lorenzo Cain (.167, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 SB) doesn't fare batter at the plate, but is more versatile in the outfield. We added LF/1B Brad Nelson (.287, 8 HR, 43 RBI, 3 SB - AAA) to the active roster. He should give us at least some solid pinch hitting.


Trade:

The Twins (55-46) are switching to "win it now"? They traded minor leaguers 1B's Truman Sanchez (.304, 5 HR, 47 RBI - A) and Carlos Munóz (.363, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 2 SB - A) to Texas in exchange for reliever Eric Gagne (0-1-7, 4.04 ERA). The Rangers (34-67) are now clear favorites to win the title worst MLB team in 2008.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


27th July 2008

Game #102 – Atlanta [54-47] (A. Lerew 4-5, 5.61 ERA) at Milwaukee [54-47] (C. Capuano 11-3, 3.60 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - RF G. Gross - C J. Estrada - 3B M. Gamel - 2B O. Infante

Also Capuano had a rough time tonight and was almost out of the game after giving up five runs in three innings. But I decided to give him a bit more time and he rebounded going seven innings. In contrary to yesterday our offense was hot in this game and gave the Braves a good fight. We entered the ninth with a 6-9 lead, but Otsuka gave up a lead off home run leaving the game to closer Fujita. He gave up a base hit with one out and was somehow lucky when defensive replacement Cain caught what would have been the tying home run off the right field wall.

Atlanta at Milwaukee: 7-9

W: C. Capuano (12-3), L: A. Lerew (4-6)
H: M. Stetter (1), A. Otsuka (9)
S: S. Fujita (13)
HR: C. Jones (18), A. Jones (24), J. Francoeur 2 (27) / G. Gross (11), O. Infante (2)
SB: - / C. Izturis 2 (21)
CS: - / -
E: - / -
MoM: J. Francoeur - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR


Elsewhere:

Houston catcher Eric Munson (.270, 13 HR, 46 RBI) will miss three to four weeks with a damaged meniscus.


American League Player of the Week:
Miguel Tejada (.353, 16 HR, 68 RBI - Baltimore): .545, 2 HR, 6 R, 4 RBI

National League Player of the Week:
Chris Young (.303, 21 HR, 65 RBI - Arizona): .550, 2 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI


Trade:

Tampa Bay traded SS Ben Zobrist (.260, 2 HR, 8 RBI) to Washington for reliever Ryan Wagner (2-3, 6.12 ERA).

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


28th July 2008

Those Pittsburgh Pirates might be last in the NL East and their record might even be 47-55, but against us they are 6-0 so far this season. They traded two proven starters away, they released Gary Sheffield and started rebuilding once again. But nevertheless we rarely won a game against them in the last two seasons. Can we overcome the ghost of Pennsylvania? The trade deadline is approaching quickly and we still didn't find another lefty reliever. Even if Shouse and Stetter are doing well, I'm not sure if they are good enough for the penant?

Game #103 – Milwaukee [55-47] (Y. Gallardo 5-7, 4.53 ERA) at Pittsburgh [47-55] (J. Shortslef 3-1, 3.13 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - 3B R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B M. Reynolds - LF G. Gross - C H. Blanco - RF L. Cain

The curse of PNC Park was finally broken even if Gallardo struggled badly in the first giving up a two run homer to Bay. But everybody worked hard today and Gallardo settled down eventually going 7+ innings. Stetter, Accardo and Fujita didn't allow a baserunner in the remainder of the game.

Milwaukee at Pittsburgh: 4-3

W: Y. Gallardo (6-7), L: J. Shortslef (3-2)
H: M. Stetter (2), J. Accardo (6)
S: S. Fujita (14)
HR: P. Fielder (14) / J. Bay (29)
SB: - / J. Bay (4)
CS: - / -
E: H. Blanco (3) / B. Johnson (3)
MoM: P. Fielder - 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR; 2 DB

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


29th July 2008

Another start for Carlos Villanueva. Kind of strange situation as Stetter and Fujita are tired, even if they only threw a couple of pitches the last two days.

Game #104 – Milwaukee [56-47] (C. Villanueva 1-3, 4.20 ERA) at Pittsburgh [47-56] (B. Lincoln 1-1, 5.79 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - RF G. Gross - C J. Estrada - 3B M. Reynolds - 2B A. Escobar

Lincoln started perfectly, striking out six of the first eight batter he faced. Villanueva had a fine start as well, but LaRoche took him deep in the fourth. Our Venezuelan infielded tied the game in the sixth when Izturis hit a ground rule double. Escobar then forced Fielder home in the seventh to give us a 2-1 lead. We added another run in the eighth making it a 3-1 game. Villanueva continued a great game until he gave up a 1-out double in the ninth. He got a flyout before Shouse gave up a walk, giving the Pirates runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs. Otsuka came on, but gave up an infield hit allowing McLouth to make it 3-2. The next pitch was converted into a Ben Johnson walk off three run homer.

Milwaukee at Pittsburgh: 3-5

W: F. Osoria (1-0), L: A. Otsuka (2-4)
H: B. Shouse (6)
BS: A. Otsuka (2)
HR: - / LaRoche (18), B. Johnson (10)
SB: C. Izturis (22) - /
CS: - / -
E: - / -
MoM: C. Villanueva - 8.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K


Elsewhere:

The Cubs will miss starter Zach Duke (3-1, 4.54 ERA) for up to five weeks with a strained rotator cuff muscle.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


30th July 2008

Roster Move:

We sent reliever Akinori Otsuka (2-4-1, 6.27 ERA as a Brewer) to Nashville. Jose Capellan (2-3-4, 2.00 ERA - AAA) will get another shot in the big leagues. I made this move to give Otsuka a month in the minors to find his shape again. If he doesn't, his time as a Brewer is over anyway.

As Brandon Webb is still tired Freddy Garcia will get a chance to shine. His form was not really good recently, but he's a guy who surprised me earlier in the season

Game #105 – Milwaukee [56-48] (F. Garcia 3-4, 5.00 ERA) at Pittsburgh [48-56] (T. Gorzelanny 7-9, 4.33 ERA)

SS A. Escobar - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder -3B M. Reynolds - RF G. Gross - C H. Blanco - 2B O. Infante

The series finale was a very wild game. Garcia seemed a bit rusty but carried a lead into the sixth inning. Jose Capellan loaded the bases in the seventh, but good old Elmer Dessens rescued us. It looked like Cesar Izturis first homer of the season - a three run shot - would win it for us. But the bottom of the ninth looked like a reply of yesterday game. But thankfully Fujita is not Otsuka and our closer collected his 15th save in 16 chances.

Milwaukee at Pittsburgh: 9-7

W: F. Garcia (4-4), L: F. Osoria (1-1)
H: E. Dessens (2), J. Accardo (7)
S: S. Fujita (15)
HR: C. Izturis (1) / -
SB: A. Escobar (11) / A. McCutchen (16)
CS: - / -
E: - / N. Walker (11)
MoM: A. Escobar - 3/6, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche


31st July 2008

July ends with a key series against the Cardinals who are only one game behind us. Webb is back at 100 % and will hopefully give us another strong outing at Miller Park.

Game #106 –St. Louis [56-49] (C. Narveson 6-8, 4.94 ERA) at Milwaukee [57-48] (B. Webb 3-3, 3.26 ERA)

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder -3B M. Reynolds - 2B A. Escobar - C H. Blanco - RF L. Cain

Webb had a horrible start and should have been taken out of the game after two innings (5 runs on 7 hits), but as long reliever Garcia started yesterday I couldn't throw in another reliever after only two innings. He eventually stayed five innings, but the game seemed lost. The rest of the game wasn't any better. Not the slightest chance to get a rally going and in addition we had to fire in the whole bullpen to get this game in the box. Actually I thought the Cardinals are done for the season when Albert Pujols went down. But in contrast to us, they still have four guys with 60+ RBIs in their lineup. Maybe it was a mistake we didn't trade for bullpen help before the trading deadline?

St. Louis at Milwaukee: 10-3

W: C. Narveson (7-8), L: B. Webb (10-8)
HR: W. Betemit (21) / -
SB: - / -
CS: B. Anderson (2) / -
E: B. Falkenborg (1) / -
MoM: C. Duncan - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI


Elsewhere:

The Blue Jays are expected to miss catcher Phil Avlas (.253, 5 HR, 13 RBI) until opening day as he suffered a torn calf muscle.

SS Jose Reyes (.320, 14 HR, 49 RBI) went 5 from 6 for the Mets in a 11-7 victory over the Phillies.

Andy Pettitte (4-4-1, 4.00 ERA) won his 200th career game. Before getting the W he blew a save.

[Loeffle]

July 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

July 2008 - Review

American League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Boston Red Sox	66	40	.623	-
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	64	42	.604	2.0
Washington Nationals	55	51	.519	11.0
New York (A) Yankees	54	52	.509	12.0
Baltimore Orioles	50	56	.472	16.0
Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Minnesota Twins	58	48	.547	-
Chicago (A) White Sox	54	52	.509	4.0
Cleveland Indians	53	53	.500	5.0
Detroit Tigers	51	55	.481	7.0
Toronto Blue Jays	44	62	.415	14.0
Kansas City Royals	39	67	.368	19.0
Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Los Angeles (A) Angels	72	34	.679	-
Oakland Athletics	58	48	.547	14.0
Seattle Mariners	48	58	.453	24.0
Vancouver Marmots	46	60	.434	26.0
Texas Rangers	36	70	.340	36.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York (N) Mets	60	46	.566	-
Atlanta Braves	55	51	.519	5.0
Florida Marlins	53	53	.500	7.0
Philadelphia Phillies	50	56	.472	10.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	49	57	.462	11.0
Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	57	49	.538	-
St. Louis Cardinals	57	49	.538	-
Chicago (N) Cubs	56	50	.528	1.0
Houston Astros	53	53	.500	4.0
Buffalo Blizzards	44	62	.415	13.0
Cincinnati Reds	44	62	.415	13.0
Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Arizona Diamondbacks	58	48	.547	-
Los Angeles (N) Dodgers	58	48	.547	-
San Diego Padres	57	49	.538	1.0
San Francisco Giants	52	54	.491	6.0
Colorado Rockies	45	61	.425	13.0

Milwaukee Brewers Stats after July 2008:

Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Prince Fielder 1B	106	412	68	119	20	1	14	61	183	57	77	18	4	.289	.377	.444	.821
Ryan Braun LF	104	406	85	141	26	3	31	95	266	45	76	15	1	.347	.411	.655	1.067
Shane Victorino CF	103	357	61	90	17	1	8	45	133	42	54	19	10	.252	.333	.373	.705
Cesar Izturis SS	93	354	59	125	15	1	1	31	145	30	35	22	7	.353	.402	.410	.811
Gabe Gross RF	104	298	46	80	12	1	11	48	127	62	62	3	0	.268	.391	.426	.817
Johnny Estrada C	94	260	32	84	13	1	7	44	120	19	34	0	0	.323	.368	.462	.830
Billy Hall 3B	54	178	22	42	9	1	3	24	62	12	41	6	1	.236	.280	.348	.628
Henry Blanco C	69	158	11	34	10	3	3	21	59	13	30	0	0	.215	.269	.373	.642
Omar Infante 2B	54	153	23	38	12	0	2	20	56	13	21	1	0	.248	.310	.366	.676
Alcides Escobar SS	66	147	28	41	11	4	0	15	60	14	30	11	5	.279	.340	.408	.748
Rickie Weeks 2B	40	146	32	44	10	3	5	25	75	25	26	8	1	.301	.412	.514	.926
Mat Gamel 3B	85	125	12	28	8	0	0	15	36	16	26	0	1	.224	.306	.288	.594
Mark Reynolds 3B	35	125	13	28	6	0	3	23	43	10	43	0	0	.224	.281	.344	.625
Justin Upton CF	22	87	18	30	7	2	2	14	47	10	17	4	2	.345	.418	.540	.959
Tony Gwynn Jr. LF	41	63	8	17	1	0	0	6	18	7	9	4	1	.270	.338	.286	.624
Chris Capuano SP	22	62	13	17	8	0	2	7	31	7	13	0	0	.274	.348	.500	.848
Franklin Gutierrez RF	36	58	6	13	2	0	1	6	18	10	17	1	0	.224	.348	.310	.658
David Bush SP	22	51	4	9	2	0	1	4	14	5	12	0	0	.176	.250	.275	.525
Yovani Gallardo SP	19	42	4	9	0	0	0	1	9	0	18	0	0	.214	.214	.214	.429
Luis Rivas 2B	30	37	2	2	2	0	0	2	4	4	8	0	1	.054	.143	.108	.251
Lorenzo Cain RF	29	30	5	6	1	0	0	1	7	4	7	3	0	.200	.294	.233	.527
Ben Sheets SP	12	30	4	8	4	0	2	7	18	1	8	0	0	.267	.281	.600	.881
Manny Parra SP	14	29	1	4	2	0	0	1	6	1	5	0	0	.138	.167	.207	.374
Charlie Fermaint CF	30	26	2	4	0	1	0	2	6	5	4	1	0	.154	.290	.231	.521
Brandon Webb SP	9	22	2	3	1	0	1	3	7	1	5	0	0	.136	.174	.318	.492
Carlos Villanueva SP	9	17	2	3	1	0	0	1	4	2	1	0	0	.176	.263	.235	.498
Freddy Garcia SP	17	16	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	1	5	0	0	.125	.176	.125	.301

Name	W	L	SV	ERA	G	GS	IP	HA	R	ER	HR	BB	K	WHIP	OAVG	BABIP
Soichi Fujita CL	1	2	15	2.13	34	0	25.1	22	7	6	1	6	21	1.11	.247	.313
David Bush SP	12	6	0	2.81	20	20	150.1	123	52	47	16	34	103	1.04	.221	.244
Manny Parra SP	6	2	0	2.84	14	14	82.1	74	34	26	1	27	66	1.23	.236	.297