Even though the Brewers’ 2015 win total was their lowest in a decade, some of them were bloody good fun. Interestingly, quite a few exciting wins came against the Cardinals, even though the Brewers only beat St. Louis six times. There wasn’t a lot for Brewers fans to cheer about in 2015, and although I’m as anxious as anyone to put the whole sordid affair behind us, it wasn’t all bad. Before we finally discard the 2015 season into the ash heap of history where it rightfully belongs, let’s take a moment to remember the good times. It shouldn’t take long.
10. July 5 at Reds: Seriously, an Eight-Game Winning Streak
During a 162-game season, it’s pretty difficult for a terrible team to never be hot. For one week at the end of June through the start of July, the Brewers managed to cobble together eight straight wins against two of the few teams in the league worse than they were. Speaking of streaks, Adam Lind tied a club record of nine consecutive games with an RBI. Taylor Jungmann threw eight innings of one-run ball to make Brewers fans feel kinda sorta pleased for a little while there.
Video highlight: Lind keeps his streak alive.
[mlbvideo id=”230950383″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]9. June 26 vs. Twins: Lohse Makes History, Lind Reaches Milestone
Based on his horrid performance, 2015 may well have been the final season of Kyle Lohse’s career (although I suppose he might hold on for a little while – Randy Wolf somehow managed to pitch at the major league level the last two years). Lohse only had five victories in 22 starts before being sent to the bullpen in August. Of those victories, one was remarkable – by defeating the Minnesota Twins, Lohse became one of only 14 pitchers to defeat all current MLB franchises. In the same game, Adam Lind collected the 1,000th hit of his career. Not bad for an otherwise run-of-the-mill blowout.
Video highlight: All in a day’s work.
[mlbvideo id=”200901683″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]8. August 9 vs. Cardinals: Davis Powers Comeback Win
When Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to give St. Louis a one-run lead, Brewers fans everywhere thought, “here we go again.” But Khris Davis had an answer in the eighth, hitting his second two-run homer of the day. The fact that he hit it off of former Brewer and huge disappointment Jonathan Broxton was poetic justice.
Video highlight: Finally, a Broxton appearance we were anxious to see.
[mlbvideo id=”351702283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]7. May 20 at Tigers: Back-to-Back-to-Back
At the time the Brewers visited Detroit, they had only won two series all season, both against the Cubs. The Tigers dropped the first two games, and became the only other team Milwaukee had a winning record against at that point of the season. That second victory was notable in that it featured three consecutive homers by Ryan Braun, Adam Lind, and Aramis Ramirez. You can really hear the home crowd lose its mind after Ramirez’ no-doubt blast to left.
Video highlight: Well, naturally…
[mlbvideo id=”122107883″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]6. April 13 at Cardinals: St. Louis’ Home Opener Spoiled
It was an ugly game in which the two teams combined for four errors and four unearned runs. But the Brewers came out on top and sent the biggest crowd in Busch Stadium history home unhappy. For a moment, it seemed possible that the Brewers could bounce back for their awful opening week and maybe win a series against the Cardinals. That didn’t happen, but for one day it felt like it could happen, and that feeling meant a lot at the time.
Video highlight: K-Rod’s first save of 2015.
[mlbvideo id=”72382183″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]5. July 11 at Dodgers: Jungmann Goes the Distance
The Brewers’ only complete game of the season was authored by rookie Taylor Jungmann in Los Angeles. He was supported by five RBIs by Carlos Gomez, including a three-run double that Gomez hilariously thought was an out off the bat. This is when our love affair with Jungmann was at its peak.
Video highlight: Jungmann goes all the way. (Like your mom. *rimshot*)
[mlbvideo id=”254085283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]4. August 19 vs. Marlins: Braun Surpasses Yount
The Marlins scored plenty of runs early, and the Brewers battled back to take a lead in the sixth that they would not surrender. The fact that they extended the lead on Ryan Braun’s club record 252nd homerun was pretty sweet.
Video highlight: No. 252.
[mlbvideo id=”386999783″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]3. May 4 vs. Dodgers: Counsell Wins in Managerial Debut
After the Brewers dug themselves a massive hole in April, Ron Roenicke was dismissed in favor of hometown favorite Craig Counsell. It would have been great if the Crew could reward their new manager with a win in his first game, but that would be a tall order against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. As it happened, the Brewers came through thanks in part to Hector Gomez’ first career homerun and Ryan Braun legging out an infield hit. Would Braun have run that hard for Roenicke? We’ll never know.
Video highlight: Call stands.
[mlbvideo id=”101531283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]2. September 27 at Cardinals: Brewers Rock Cards with Huge Ninth
The Brewers were 0-85 when trailing after eight innings. The Cardinals were 86-0 when leading after eight. Closer Trevor Rosenthal was going for a club record 48th save. The Cardinals were looking to extend their division lead on the Pirates to 3.5 games with one week to go. The Brewers were an opponent without a track record of sustained success against St. Louis. The crowd was expecting Rosenthal to easily protect a two-run lead in the final home game of the regular season. What ended up happening was another example that proved the sports cliché “they don’t play the games on paper.” Although Pittsburgh ultimately didn’t hold up their end, for a few hours Cardinals fans had a reason to gnash their teeth.
Video highlight: A moment Jason Rogers will never forget.
[mlbvideo id=”506041883″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]1. May 31 vs. Diamondbacks: Brewers Win 17-Inning Test of Endurance
Both teams had already taken themselves out of serious contention by the end of May, but still put on an incredible contest. Tyler Wagner was called up from Double-A Biloxi to make a spot start, and performed about as well as you’d expect from a Double-A pitcher facing big league hitting for the first time, giving up five runs in 3.2 innings. The Brewers battled back to take a 6-5 lead, which Jeremy Jeffress surrendered on an eighth inning homer. That score held up for another nine innings, with Matt Garza turning in five scoreless innings of relief in lieu of his scheduled start the next day. Those of us who stuck with the game as the innings piled up couldn’t look away – we would have watched for 30 innings if necessary. But that wasn’t necessary, thanks to Martin Maldonado, who was hitting a paltry .157 at the start of play that day. Not only did Maldonado catch all 17 innings, but he went 4-for-6 and sent the crowd home happy.
Video highlight: At last.
[mlbvideo id=”139836783″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]With the mostly-unpleasant 2015 behind us, let’s look on the bright side – now that our expectations have been…changed, there’s a good chance that the 2016 season can’t possibly disappoint. Here’s to the joy of pleasant surprises!
(Image: azcentral.com)
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