Highlighting and Lowlighting the Brewers' Week

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Not having the Cardinals clinch at Miller Park - HAHA SUCK IT HARD ARIZONA.  Look, I could not complain if St. Louis went down Bernie's slide after being very critical of Arizona's response to the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the NL West crown at Chase Field. It was nice to see the Brewers get at least a game from St. Louis.  One of the biggest things for next season is the Brewers have to be better against the Cardinals in general.

Carlos Gomez - Great week for Gomez in general. He had a masterful Cubs series and then played pretty well against St. Louis. It is pretty clear he was bothered by injuries for the month of August and a little bit of September. Now that he is fully healthy, it appears Gomez is playing better again.  GoGo had a couple home runs this week including a big triple last night against St. Louis in a series he did not play as well as the Chicago one. Hopefully, he finishes strong in the final week.

Aramis Ramirez - You just sort of wonder with Ramirez. He spent most of the year banged up, but Rami looked great this week against Chicago and St. Louis. Ramirez had a couple home runs and also drove in multiple runs including a five RBI game on Friday night. I still believe Ramirez has some left in the tank, but the Brewers need to have someone there to back up Rami if he goes down with multiple injuries next season.  

That was Norichika Aoki's first double since Aug. 9 and just his third since July 22.
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) September 23, 2013

Nori Aoki - He had a great series against St. Louis going 8 for 11 also taking some walks, but this is sort of a telling stat by FOX Sports Wisconsin Andrew Gruman. Aoki is not producing to the levels we saw last season. With the Brewers having a loaded young outfield, Ryan Braun can move to right field. I think he a big enough arm and the Brewers add more power to their already big lineup if Khris Davis is in left field.

Tyler Thornburg - Truly making a case for why he deserves to be the fifth starter when the 2014 season rolls around in March. Thorny looked great again this week once again going six innings, something he has done for all of his starts this season. In the last three starts, Thornburg has only allowed four runs and the only real issue is he still walks a couple guys a game. He is a starter to at least begin the season, folks.  

Sean Halton - Pretty good week for the young Brewers first baseman as he hit a grand slam on Wednesday night pushing the Brewers ahead in the game against the Cubs. He had another homer that week as well. Halton is a fine player, but certainly not the answer at first base. I do not think Halton is a good enough player to be an everyday player although he could be a vital bench player next season.

#Brewers avg 31,248 fans in 2013, outdrawing the playoff-contending Reds, Pirates, Orioles, Indians, Royals and Athletics. Good job, fans!
— Mike Vassallo (@MikeVassallo13) September 23, 2013

Miller Park support - Also add the Tampa Bay Rays who the Brewers outdrew this season. It speaks to the team and the city honestly. Both have done a great job supporting this team through thick and thin. There are still knuckleheads out there (Green Bay has plenty of them too), but this team gets support unlike any time before. They like I will hope there is October baseball next year.

Lowlights
No Jean Segura - This is sort of a bummer. Another Brewer went down with an injury and naturally to troll Wisconsin fans alike, it is a hamstring injury. I doubt we will see much of Segura to finish the season. Honestly, if he is hurt, just let him sit out the rest of the season unless he feels 105 percent. (JUST KIDDING, LOSE EVERY GAME THIS WEEK, TANK! TANK! TANK!)

ESPN's Ryan Braun lovefest - ESPN Sunday Night Baseball decided to remind Brewers fans about Ryan Braun and made some unqualified opinions on the Brewers fans. There is really no need to try to open a wound that is practically closed. There has been so little discussion about Braun since mid-August honestly. Sure, it is worthwhile talking a little bit about it, but taking up almost a whole inning talking about him is not great.  The worst part is I DVR'd the part of it and watch it because I am a complete loser.

Rob Wooten - First real bad game from The Owl on Saturday night. It happens and I am encouraged by all the young relievers for the following season.

Mike Gonzalez - WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE.

Kyle Lohse - It is crazy how bad Lohse has been against the Chicago Cubs this season. In general, Milwaukee has played well against Chicago this season, but this was the only team Lohse seemed to have problems with this year.

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Random Thoughts from Miller Park: Cubs v. Brewers

My buddy Mike texted me on Monday night asking me if I had any interest in going to the Milwaukee Brewers game on Tuesday night. I thought why not?  There is nothing on television on Tuesday night (Yes, I know New Girl is on, but I am not caught up yet, guys) plus watching games with Mike is one of my favorite pastimes.  As I do when I visit Miller Park, we do a random thoughts from the stadium, let's get it.

- First of all, shoutout to the Brewers ticket office for hooking us up with Field Infield Box tickets. Mike and his friends have season tickets and they were turning in their extras for the year for this game. The Brewers gave us better seats to essentially try to fill the bowl as there were not many people coming out to see the Crew against the Chicago Cubs.

- Before the game, we stopped at Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub, formerly Long Wongs, and at least came back impressed with their drink prices. You can get a PBR tallboy for three dollars or a silo for four dollars every day. That's a great deal before a game. You can basically have four beers for the price of one inside the stadium if you have two silos. I did not try their food but I will definitely have to go back.

- The attendance said the Brewers had over 22,000 in the stadium and I can tell you that is a flat-out lie. They had roughly around 17,000-19,000 people attending the game on Tuesday and it brought back memories of watching the team during the 2004-2006 seasons when the bandwagon was nonexistent.

- Ferguson Jenkins, the Cy Young pitcher for the Cubs, was hanging out in the lower bowl signing autographs for the Ferguson Jenkins Foundation. If I had 20 dollars to spend, I would have probably sprung for an autograph. Fergie is a massive human in case anyone was wondering.

- The game itself featured Marco Estrada and Jeff Samardzija taking the mound. Estrada is always due for one bad inning, but he is usually pretty enjoyable to watch pitch. First time seeing The Shark pitch for the Cubs, but I always remember how I felt he would be a Pro Bowl wide receiver when he caught passes from Brady Quinn.

- The Brewers struck blood first in the second with Carlos Gomez hitting in Aramis Ramirez whom had a stand-up triple which is about as rare as a blue moon. Some guy was just bouncing around searching for high fives. I always give high fives after the Brewers get some runs, but I never actively head to over rows to find people to high five, that's overdoing it.

- As mentioned earlier, there were not many people at the game on Tuesday. About halfway through the game, a family of four to six came down to the lower bowl to sit. An Event Service worker kicked everyone out of there as if someone was actually sitting there.  Such a shitty thing to do honestly. I get they did not pay for these tickets, but at the same time, let them enjoy seats that possibly they cannot afford for the whole family. I get they are doing their job, just think it is stupid when there is not remotely close to a sellout.

- Associated Bank gives out faces of players. This time we got Jonathan Lucroy and some fan took the picture off the large stick then put it on his own face. Straight nightmare fuel.

- I contemplated getting kettle corn or a pretzel with cheese. I had been craving a pretzel, but I went with the kettle corn so I could share it with the rest of the group of six who went with us.  Everyone was a big fan of it and I dominated the kettle corn game. I probably ate 40 percent of it and if you wonder why I am husky, exhibit A.

-Estrada struggled in the 7th inning giving up three runs and as I like to call it, he knotted himself a Dave Bush inning.

-Brewers bounced right back with a Carlos Gomez homer right over the left field wall. It went out so fast, he did not even do a #CarlosGomezBatFlip which is sad but the game was tied.  (Actually, reviewing the tape, we got a #CarlosGomezBatDrop

- 3-3 ballgame in the eighth and it is moving so it looks like the game will probably end around 10 pm. I realize it is a school night, but what the hell are people exiting at this point of the game? Are you kidding me? I realize this team is not good, but hell, at least see what is the outcome of the game you paid for.

- They head to the bottom of the ninth still tied up. I really did not want to see extra innings and with Ramirez up, the Brewers had the bats to come up big in this situation.  Rami gets walked and Gomez follows up with a single putting two on with no out.

- Even though Scooter Gennett is red hot, we knew Ron Roenicke could not resist a bunt and that's what he did only to have Justin Grimm, the pitcher, mishandle the ball loading the bases for Sean Halton.

- Roenicke pulled Halton for Logan Schafer and we all knew the squeeze play was coming. Sure enough, this is what happened.

- Final thought is I saw two Aaron Rodgers Brewer jerseys which are the worst possible things on earth and just when I thought it could not get worse, we had a Brett Favre Cubs jersey. ONE PLAYS FOR A WISCONSIN TEAM AND THE OTHER ONE IS IN ILLINOIS. Just unbelievable. I hate everyone.

Probably my last time at Miller Park this year and I ended up finishing 2-3 on the year. Not bad.  See you for Opening Day as I give Ryan Braun a standing ovation.

Charlie.

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Highlights-Lowlights: Reds v. Brewers (9/13-9/15)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Carlos Gomez - Remember how I complained about Gomez's last two months?  He obviously was also tried of hearing about it too. On Friday night, Gomez drove in five runs providing all of the Milwaukee Brewers offense for the night. He also drove in runs on Saturday and Sunday as well, but Gomez's biggest play came in the ninth inning of Sunday's game. He robbed Jay Bruce of a three-run homer or possibly an extra-base hit. Just give this man the Gold Glove.



Kyle Lohse - Like Gomez, he scuffled a bit in the last couple of weeks and Lohse found a way to shutdown the Reds Friday night with a complete game. Lohse retired 23 straight batters before giving up a hit in the ninth inning. He looked stellar against the Reds mixing in all of his pitches and Cincinnati had no answer for him. It cannot be stated enough how good of a year Lohse is having this season.

Sean Halton - Second straight time appearing in the Highlights section but it is deserving as Halton capped off a four run comeback by the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Halton hit a home run off Zach Duke (Yes that Zach Duke) in walk-off fashion. I said it last week and I will repeat myself here, there is absolutely no reason why Yuni B or Juan Francisco at this point.

Jean Segura - Good weekend for Mean Jean. He had not been struggling, but let's just say, he was sort of stagnant not making the plays he had during the year. Segura had a massive two-run triple during the Brewers comeback on Sunday.   He had two stolen bases and two runs on Friday making sure Gomez had ducks on the pond.

Lowlights
Michael Blazek - Not a great appearance for the young Brewer on Saturday afternoon.  The Brewers had cut the lead down to 4-3 in the fourth inning and Blazek came into the game in the 6th. As many have done before him, Blazek surrendered a two-run home run to Joey Votto to push the lead back out to three. That is a killer.

Aramis Ramirez's injury - It has been a rough year for Rami. He has battled through all sorts of injuries and banged up his wrist again on Friday.  It is fair to say this is a concern at this point with Ramirez's age and still having another year left on his contract.

Johnny Hellweg -  He did not handle the Reds very well on Saturday afternoon. Hellweg struggled in the first two innings of the game with giving up two runs in both innings. After that, he settled in nicely. There are still kinks to work out with Hellweg. I do not know if he is ready to be a big league starter yet, only time will tell with that one.

Michael Gonzalez - Yup, still here.

Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights: Cardinals v. Brewers (8/19-8/21)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Aramis Ramirez - Big week for Rami with two home runs against the Cardinals with a two-run shot on Monday and three-run shot on Wednesday to pull the Brewers back within four runs. When Ramirez gets hot, he is damn near unstoppable to pitch to. The waiver wire is rolling around in the coming week and I wonder if Rami will be claimed.

Sean Halton - Nice week for Halton who went back down to Triple A on Wednesday afternoon. He had three RBIs in a win on Tuesday and he had another one Wednesday. Like Khris Davis, Halton seemed to be seeing the ball better the second time around in the major leagues. Good to see from the young first baseman.

Wednesday's Bullpen - Yes the Brewers started off in a seven run hole but the bullpen led by Donovan Hand and John Axford held the Cardinals at seven for most of the game allowing the Brewers to slowly creep back in the game. Also thanks Mike Gonzalez for giving up a run, pal!  You're the best!

Logan Schafer - He played well this week against the Cardinals with multiple runs batted in and a home run. I do not know if the Brewers really have that much value in their new outfielders but they might be able to trade one or two next season because there will be no need for all of them.

Lowlights
Juan Francisco - Really rough series for Francisco where he struck out multiple times with runners in scoring positions. Bad look for Fat Juan this week and the natives are restless with him. I realize he is struggling, but have a little patience with this guy. I truly think he could develop into something special in the coming years, but my assumption is he will not be on this team in 2014.

Tom Gorzelanny - First bad start for T-Gorz. He was probably due for something like seven runs in two innings. Hopefully, T-Gorz is not hitting the regression train here, but it should not surprise Brewers fans if it happens in the coming weeks.

Brandon Kintzler - Like T-Gorz, he had his first bad appearance since July 4th.  Kintzler pitching great, but he was due for blowup.  He ended up giving up multiple runs allowing the Cardinals to win the game on Monday night. With all his shoulder issues, I am kind of concerned about how much Ron Roenicke is trotting him out there.

Yadier's dominance - Seriously, he is the number one Brewer killer with Troy Tulowitzki as the vice president. Glad Yadi came back from injury to play against the Brewers though!

Charlie.

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Tapping The Keg Podcast: Episode 50.

It is always nice when we can talk about local sports for almost our entire podcast, a lot of good topics to Charlie and Mitch start with PPR, our newest Packer segment sweeping the nation talking about the dreadful preseason game, Randall Cobb's injury and more.  We spend a little time on the Wisconsin Badgers quarterback battle between Joel Stave and Curt Phillips. Our next topic was supposed to be if Aramis Ramirez would be traded but we take baseball in all directions.
get into.

We discuss Larry Sanders potential extension and it ends up a comparison with Sanders/Brandon Jennnings, real interesting. Mitch and Charlie take aim at Adam's fantasy ratings and let me also repeat it takes some balls to do rankings, good job Adam. We finish talk about the Kendrick Lamar verse because well of course.

Charlie.

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