Quick review for those uninformed: Yovani Gallardo was lost for the year on Friday due to a torn ACL and the Brewers proceeded to blow two leads to the Astros Friday and Saturday night.
Ben Sheets took the mound for the Crew on Sunday in what seemed to be a must win for the team. Sheets struggled again and gave up a season high four runs in only 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and got his control back, not allowing a walk.
The Brewers again got off to an early lead for a third straight game. The offense put up six runs in the first four innings, including two home runs by Mike Cameron. The Brewers’ bats are still silent as the team heads to Miami. Eight scoreless innings and a ton of missed opportunities. It seems like every inning the Brewers have multiple runners on base but come up empty.
Eric Gagne came on in the ninth with a 6-4 lead. Gagne walked three, gave up two hits and had a strike zone squeezed on him by the home plate umpire. Gagne gave up the lead and blew his fifth save of the season. Gagne is now the league leader in that dubious category.
The sky seems to be falling for the Brewers right now. A pitching staff has been decimated by injuries and the youth movement that so many fans called for just isn’t working out. All those people that second guessed me about my take on Bush and Parra are wrong. Parra just isn’t ready to be a Major League pitcher but has to by default now until Jeff Weaver is ready to be called up. Carlos Villanueva also needs to step up his game. I’m as big of a fan of CV as anyone, but he needs to battle on the mound and not just go into full blown meltdown mode.
I don’t know what to say anymore about Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy and Bill Hall. Weeks is still in a funk at the plate and Hardy was out of the lineup yesterday due to a ‘sore shoulder’. Bill Hall still swings at too many bad pitches and worries too much about pulling the ball. I hope Mat Gamel gets his defense straight and can be up with the big team within an season. Are any or all of these players expendable? Could we get a top of the rotation pitcher for one or two of these guys. We have the depth in Minors to try such a move, but is it too soon to pull the trigger?
The Brewers face the Marlins in Miami starting Tuesday night. Jeff Suppan will look to rebound from his Chicago outing and snap the Crew’s three game losing streak.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
