Friday night saw Scott Linebrink officially join the Brewers and make his Brewers’ debut, Grant Balfour getting designated for assignment* and traded to the Devil Rays for Seth McClung, followed by the Brewers showing fans that they might, maybe, possibly, be able to win on the road…at least Claudio Vargas can against Mike Maroth and the Redbirds.
Vargas pitched 8 innings, allowed just the 2 runs (both earned), while fanning 8 and only walking 1. Yost opted to get an early look at his new arm, putting Linebrink in for the 9th, apparently optimistic that Manny Parra and/or Chris Capuano would go late into one of the games tomorrow.
The Brewers’ bats came alive in the 3rd inning, plating 5 runs in an inning divided by a 46-minute rain delay…Vargas led-off the inning and made the first out, as well as being the 10th batter in the frame and making the last out. Of the other 8 batters, however, only Ryan Braun didn’t get a hit, and the 5-spot cushion would prove to be sufficient for Vargas.
On the night, the offense compiled 19 hits, including a 3-for-6 night by Corey Hart in the lead-off spot, a 2-for-4 night by J.J., a 3-for-5 night by Billy Hall, a 4-for-5 night by Kevin Mench, and a 2-for-4 night by Johnny Estrada. Ironically, it has been Hart, Hardy, Hall, and Estrada that have been struggling of late for the Brewers.
As of press time, the Cubs have just tied their game against the Reds’ bullpen…why is it that the Reds show up against us, but lay an egg when the Cubs come to town?
The Crew’s first doubleheader of the year is tomorrow; a day/night affair with Manny Parra making his first MLB start in the day game, and Chris Capuano going in the evening.
*Oh, how the once-mighty have fallen. Released this year, so far, include Chan Ho Park, Brady Clark (although the Red Sox did just offer him a minor-league contract), and Tomo Ohka, to name a few. Among those bigger names sent down to the minors include the Indians’ Cliff Lee, the Angels’ Ervin Santana, the Yankees’ Kei Igawa, the Blue Jays’ Gustavo Chacin, the Red Sox’s Joel Pineiro, the Royals’ Scott Elarton, and Anibel Sanchez of the Marlins. Jorge Cantu went down to AAA in April, but has since been able to crack the Devil Rays’ roster (although he’s gone 0-for-17 since June 13th).
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