Brewers Slide Continues

As if things could get any worse after losing two out of three to the Pirates at home, the Brewers got shut out nine to nothing in the first of a four-game series. Doug Davis was moving along fine until the meltdown in the fifth inning. The Padres had seven straight singles and all hell broke loose.

If the Brewers can't get something going with their current starting rotation, how long until general manager Doug Melvin makes a move? There are free agents such as Jarred Washburn that could help out right away. The offense also has to be more consistent. They scored seventeen runs on Monday and could barely score eight runs over the next three games. This team is in big trouble right now and it won't be too long until the St. Louis Cardinals run away with the division.

How long does Jeff Suppan last? Suppan is useless right now and is only used in blow-outs. Why not just eat the salary and cut him? This team needs some major changes and fast.

Hoffman's Leash Just Got Shorter After Fourth Blown Save

Trevor Hoffman has 594 career saves and is a shoe-in for Cooperstown, but after his fourth blown save yesterday how long will his leash on the closing job be? Ken Macha has already said if there was a save opportunity tonight that Hoffman would likely get the night off. Hoffman has never blown away anybody with his fastball yet he still continues to rely on it over the change-up. My guess is LaTroy Hawkins gets the next save opportunity and obviously Hoffman will get another chance to redeem himself, but things could get messy if he blows another save in the near future.

The Brewers had plenty of opportunities to win the game yesterday, but had Hoffman not blown his second straight game, they would have won the series anyway. How can any Brewer fan be optimistic right now after losing a series to the Pirates? Their starting pitching actually improved over the last three games, but Hoffman cost them the series. We shall see what happens in San Diego, but things will not get any easier since the Padres are sitting in first place in the NL West.

Hoffman Blows It Again

The Brewers were up 3-2 last night going into the ninth inning. You would think with a future Hall of Fame closer that this would be an easy win against the awful Pittsburgh Pirates right? Wrong. Hoffman gave up a grand slam to the struggling Ryan Doumit and all hell broke loose. Hoffman gave up five runs and the first grand slam of his career. You wouldn't think that the Brewers would ever take away the closing job from Hoffman, but with a 13.50 ERA they may have to.

Has Hoffman really lost it? It's a fair question and one would think that if Hoffman blows the next save that they may have no choice, but to give the gig to Carlos Villanueva. Villanueva has been the only reliever that has yet to give up a run. He has the best stuff in the bullpen, including Hoffman. Will Villanueva finish the year as the closer? We shall see.

The only positive notes from last night were that Prince Fielder hit his second homer of the year and Randy Wolf pitched a gem. If the Brewers lose this series to the Pirates at home they may need to find a kid off the street to pitch for this team.

Suppan Demoted, the Crew Welcome Buccos

It didn't take long for the Brewers' bats to get going after a rough weekend against the Cubs. The Brewers favorite punching bag has come to town, the Pittsburgh Pirates. After scoring a combined four runs against the Cubs over the weekend, the Crew broke out with 17 runs yesterday. Everybody remembers when they shut them out 20-0 last Thursday and yesterday came close to that performance. It's a shame though that they still have trouble scoring against legitimate pitching staffs.

Casey McGehee hit a grand slam, Prince Fielder had three hits, Alcides Escobar homered and Greg Zaun went 4-4. It was an incredible offensive surge and if Zaun can get it going this will consistently be one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball. More big news came yesterday when it was announced Jeff Suppan was demoted to the bullpen. He's their most expensive starter yet he's now in the bullpen. Why not just eat the salary and cut him? He's of no good use in the bullpen right now and makes no sense to hold on to him. His ERA is 8.71 and there's no way Ken Macha will trust him in a big situation.

The Brewers feast on the Pirates should continue tonight as they face Brian Burres and his 9.31 ERA.

Brewers Hot Bats Are Enough Behind Gallardo's Gem

Yovani Gallardo had his best pitching performance of the year as he struck out 10 in five innings and didn't give up a run. Gallardo threw 103 pitches, but luckily the Brewers bats and their bullpen were enough for his first victory of the year. This was only the second time all year the Brewers pitching staff hasn't given up four runs or more in a game so this outing was spectacular.

Ryan Braun (3-4) and Rickie Weeks (1-4) each continued their torrid start to the season as both players homered and drove in a combined three runs. Alcides Escobar also continued his improvement at the plate with two triples and raised his average to .295. As long as the pitching keeps mowing down batters, they should continue to play well as they finish their series with the Pirates today and play the struggling Chicago Cubs this weekend at home.

How long until Ken Macha realizes Carlos Gomez is not a two-hitter? Escobar's OBP is .354 and Gomez's OBP is .263. Why Gomez is hitting in the two hole is beyond me and hopefully Macha realizes this before Gomez starts hitting .200. If Macha wants to utilize Gomez's speed then why is he hitting second? How many times is he really going to steal batting before Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder? Gomez needs to move down in the order if he's going to be playing this much.

Bush Gives Pitching a Sigh of Relief

Unlike Doug Davis on Sunday, Dave Bush was able to hold down an early Brewers lead and never looked back. Bush provided the Brewers with their best pitching performance of the year. His numbers weren't pretty (7 IP 3 hs 4 BBs 2 Ks 0 ER), but he got the job done. Bush can always be an innings-eater and as long as he is healthy he will be one of the more reliable options in the rotation.

Bush gave the Brewers bullpen a much needed night off and their dominance of the Pittsburgh Pirates continued. The Brewers offense go off to a scorching start yesterday with seven runs in the first three innings. Rickie Weeks continues to improve at the plate with a fantastic line of: 2/3 1 run 2 RBIs 1 walk. If Weeks continues to get on base, he will have his first true break-out season as long as he stays healthy. He's always had the potential, but is finally starting to put it together this year.

Ryan Braun continued his hot start with a two-run double, one run and two walks. As long as the offense stays hot and the starting pitching can hold down the fort, they shouldn't have much trouble the rest of the series with the Pirates and the upcoming home stand with the struggling Chicago Cubs. Let's see if they can continue the two-game winning streak.

Brewers pitching needs to step up

The Milwaukee Brewers have the second worst team ERA (6.06) in the majors, second only to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. If the Brewers want to contend this year, that is going to have to change. They brought in veteran pitching coach Rick Peterson in order to improve on last year's disaster, but so far the results have not improved. Their biggest weakness right now appears to be their bullpen. Future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman has a 12.60 ERA and Latroy Hawkins, who they brought in to be the set-up guy in the off-season, has an awful ERA of 11.81.

Doug Davis has also had major issues. His ERA is 11.25 and has 13 strikeouts to six walks. Even Yovani Gallardo has struggled to start the year, with an ERA of 5.50 and Randy Wolf, who they signed in the off-season, has an ERA of 4.91. If the Brewers want to go anywhere this year, they are going to have to improve on their pitching staff.

The Brewers now go on a three-game road trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates and if they can't pitch better against the Pirates, when is it going to improve? It starts tonight with Dave Bush taking on Charlie Morton. Bush hasn't pitched bad with a 3.86 ERA, but certainly needs a quality start to give the bullpen a rest and to give the starting staff something to build on. Let's see if the Brew Crew can get things going.