Apr 12 2009
Brewers drop finale to Cubs
Well, at least they made it interesting at the end.
The Brewers lost the series finale to the Cubs 8-5 on Sunday night, and certainly didn’t look good doing it. Four Milwaukee pitchers combined to walk 10 batters in the game, led by starter Jeff Suppan, with 6.
Yes, folks, 6 walks.
The game didn’t start off well, Alfonso Soriano did his impression of yesterday’s Alfonso Soriano, taking the first pitch of the game from Suppan and promptly hitting it for a homerun off the ivy wall in center.
That was only the beginning of Suppan’s problems. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings, giving up 5 ER. Quite frankly, it was another hideous performance for Suppan, who got the loss in the season opener in San Francisco.
The play of the game definitely goes to Reed Johnson for robbing Prince Fielder of a grand slam in the 5th. The Brewers loaded the bases against Cubs starter Ryan Dempster after Rickie Weeks and Craig Counsell singled, followed by a Ryan Braun hit by pitch. Fielder took the offering from Dempster to right field, a towering fly that Johnson reached over the wall and caught.
Johnson was only in the game because the walking injury known as Milton Bradley seemed to pull a groin or a quad while running the bases earlier in the game. I can guarantee that Bradley does not rob that Fielder homerun, and the game would’ve been tied at 6.
The Brewers made it interesting in the 9th against closer Kevin Gregg. Weeks hit a solo homerun with two outs to pull the Brewers within three at 8-5, and Counsell followed him with a double to center that Kosuke Fukudome completely misplayed. That’s all she wrote for the Brewers, and Gregg got Fielder to strike out to end the game.
Gregg, anointed the team’s closer during Spring Training, hasn’t had a clean outing yet this season, while Carlos Marmol has pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Once can only wonder how much longer Cubs manager Lou Piniella will stick with Gregg. Marmol is the far superior pitcher and actually got the save last night. If the Cubs want to be an elite team, they need to make Marmol their permanent closer.
And that brings me to Suppan, who isn’t a superior anything on the mound. Well, maybe a superior disappointment. He’s been atrocious in both starts this year, prompting Brewers fans to call for him to be kicked out of an already weak rotation.
I’ll give him another start or two to work things out, but he’s got to be on a short leash. His $10+ million contract makes him impossible to trade right now or later on in the season, so the Brewers will either have to live with him or throw Seth McClung into the rotation like last season.
With the loss, the Brewers fall to 2-4. They’ll welcome the Cincinatti Reds into town for a three game set starting Monday night, where the pitching matchup will be a doozy.
The Brewers will throw stud Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 2.70) against the Reds’ Edinson Volquez (0-1, 8.31). Game time at Miller Park is 7:05p.m.
