Tagged: Mota
Brewers (4) vs. Pirates (3) 8/24 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Mike Cameron–Set a career high with 5 hits, including the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Has absolutely been on fire the past three weeks. As an incredibly streaky hitter over the course of his career he has gone on 4-5 week hot streaks, so hopefully he can continue this as long as possible and get back on another hot streak before the year ends. Also stole a base for good measure.
Bill Hall–One day after questioning if he should even be in the lineup anymore, I have to give Hall his props. He collected three hits today but hitters behind him couldn’t pick him up and drive him in.
J.J. Hardy–On J.J. Hardy Bobblehead Day, he came through in the clutch once again with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 12th. He also had two hits earlier in the day. After a couple lengthy cold spells in July and early August, J.J. seems to be on a pretty good hot streak.
CC Sabathia–Pitched well enough to win, although he wasn’t perfect. Gave up 8 hits in 6 innings and had to pitch out of trouble a few times. But he proved his worth in doing so. I feel he should have been left in to hit in the bottom of the 6th and then (hopefully) pitched the 7th and 8th. Even if he would have gotten an out there, the game was tied and the Brewers had three more innings to score. And CC on the mound would have given us the best chance to keep the Pirates from scoring.
Rickie Weeks–Was only 1 for 5 at the plate, but had his walk in the 12th and subsequent stolen base set up the game winning run. I feel Rickie needs to utilize his speed better and should be in the 25-30 stolen base range instead of only 17 on the year.
Guillermo Mota–Really came into a tough spot with the bases loaded and no outs, but somehow Houdinied his way out of it without allowing a run. He’s been surprisingly effective in his last 10 games or so.
Less Filling:
Ryan Braun–Somewhat unfamiliar territory for Braunie, but he was about as bad as could be offensively. He went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts and 2 grounded into double plays before being lifted in a double switch in extra innings. Everyone has days like that and hopefully he bounces back with a vengeance against the Cardinals.
Prince Fielder–Struggled right along with Ryan. Went 0 for 4 with a couple K’s and a grounded into double play. Left multiple runners on base as well.
Brewers offense–Collected 15 hits and 4 walks, yet only managed 4 runs. Outs on the bases, 4 double plays, and way too many men left on base allowed this to happen. Not collecting clutch hits have been a bit of a problem in recent weeks.
Riske/Torres/Villanueva–None of them did their job out of the pen as the Brewers blew two different late inning leads and tried to give it up in the top of the 12th. Its amazing how much Riske throws the ball down the middle of the plate on average fastballs and expects it to work. So far this season it hasn’t too well to the tune of a 4.08 ERA. Not the results the Brewers expected when they gave him that 3 year deal in the off-season, and probably why they placed him on waivers this week (although he wasn’t claimed).
Brewers (2) vs. Reds (8) 7/12 — Tastes Great, Less Fillilng
Tastes Great:
Seth McClung–Bounced back after a couple rough outings to pitch pretty well.
Prince Fielder–His home run provided the only offense for the Brewers all day.
Less Filling:
Eric Gagne–The Brewers were already down 2 when he came in in the 9th inning, so its doubtful they’d be able to score off CoCo anyway, but Gagne proceeded to give up 4 runs (including 2 home runs) to put the game out of reach. After three pretty good outings after coming back, he blew up his ERA over 7 again with this one.
Guillermo Mota–Came in a tough spot and was basically just asked to somehow get that last out, but proceeded to give up a hit to allow two of Gagne’s runs to score.
Brewers (3) vs. Rockies (8) 7/9 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Bill Hall–Had a couple hits, including a home run. Also scored two runs. Hopefully this isn’t just an aberration.
Mike Cameron/Ryan Braun–Couple hits for each.
Ben Sheets–Had some pretty nasty stuff. 11 K’s in only 6 innings. That was the problem though…only 6 innings. The Rockies forced his pitch count up and he couldn’t finish out. That meant the bullpen had to eat up more innings and we saw what resulted.
Less Filling:
Guillermo Mota–The Who’s in Right Field? blog has officially given him a vote of No Confidence. And now we’re hearing that he is likely to be designated for assignment and possibly released. About time.
Brewers offense–Yet another marginal major league starting pitcher (and another former Brewer) made us look like fools. Pretty sad when we trot out Ben Sheets and they trot out Glendon Rusch and the score ends up like it does. Disappointing to say the least. Now we have to win tomorrow just to salvage a series split. Not a good way to capitalize on the momentum of the last week (JJ’s hot streak, All-Star nods, and of course CC’s arrival).
Brewers (5) @ Diamondbacks (6) 7/3 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
JJ Hardy–What a streak!! Another home run and a couple scorched doubles to go along with a single.
Mike Cameron–Starting to swing the bat better lately. He’s always been a slow starter, and hopefully he’s ready to heat up again.
Parra–Pitched pretty well and obviously should have gotten the win. Once slight complaint though is he managed to get his pitch count up there and had to be pulled after 6 innings. That meant the bullpen needed to be stretched out and we saw what happened.
Gagne, Stetter–Both have had their issues earlier this year, but it was nice to see them both pitch good and hopefully get back on track.
Less Filling:
Mota/Shouse/Torres–I know its kind of something you just gotta chalk up to a once in a million time and move on, but this was a disgusting loss. You have a chance to beat one of the best pitchers in the league, have a winning road trip, and rest your closer. But instead the unthinkable happens. These three combined for face seven hitters and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk, 6 runs, and got NO FRICKIN’ OUTS!!!
Brewers (8) @ Diamondbacks (6) 7/1 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
JJ Hardy–Wow, what a hot streak. Two more homers to go along with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Threw in a stolen base to boot.
Corey Hart–3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI, and 2 steals. Quite an all-around game for quite an all-around player.
The Replacements–Rivera, Kapler, and Dillon combined for 4 hits, 5 RBI’s, and a couple runs scored. Plus some good defense as well.
Defense–Some great plays made including a couple by Bill Hall, the dive and tag the bag play by Rivera, and some nice running catches in the outfield. Suppan was getting hit pretty hard so the guys had to be on their toes for sure.
Less Filling:
Jeff Suppan–Staked to a 6-1 lead early on he allowed the D-Backs to chip away.
Guillermo Mota–Yet another run allowed for our “8th inning guy”. He had a 6.48 ERA in June and didn’t start July on a good foot either.
Brewers (7) vs. Orioles (3) 6/22 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Prince Fielder–Really heating up lately. Two big home runs to late to provide some breathing room.
Corey Hart–His second inning home run was huge as it got some momentum back to the Brewers after Parra gave up a couple runs in the first and nearly gave up more in the second.
Bill Hall–I grudgingly put him here as I really am not encouraged by what he did yesterday. His home run was on a ball away that he got lucky and reached out and hooked. Same thing on his other base hit. If he continues to do that, he’ll end up the same way he has the whole year: hitting .220 with an occassional home run. Plus he got picked off too. The results were there for him but not the execution that you’d like to see.
Salomon Torres–I’ve left him off a number of times when he’s bailed the Brewers out, and its time he got his due. He’s perfect in save opportunities since Gagne went down and all indications are he’ll stay in the closers role even when Gagne comes back. Definetly one of the key players in this first part of the season.
Defense–Tied a club record with 5 double plays turned and also had some nice plays made in the field. Braun had a couple sliding catches and Weeks and Hardy both snagged hotshots in the 8th and made nice throws to keep the Orioles off the board.
Less Filling:
Guillermo Mota–Allowed back to back walks in the 9th that forced Ned to have to bring in Torres. It was the second time Torres had to come in during this homestand in a game there he should have been able to rest easy on.
The rest of the offense not named Hart, Fielder, Hardy, or Hall–They didn’t get a single hit and left some runs on the bases. In their defense there were some pretty hard hit outs, especially by Weeks and Braun.
Brewers (5) vs. Blue Jays (4) 6/18 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Ben Sheets–Another solid outing by the club’s ace, despite him not having great stuff. As I’ve said before, that’s what separates Sheets from the rest of the guys; his ability to get the job done time after time even when he doesn’t have his A-game.
Craig Counsell–3 hits out of the leadoff spot.
Corey Hart, Mike Cameron–Both used their legs to create runs. Hart got a double then advanced to third on a shallow sac fly. He scored on a 10 foot dribbler by Cameron that required excellent speed and baserunning ability. Cameron then stole second and ended up scoring on a sac bunt attempt by Sheets. Cameron also knocked a home run.
Salomon Torres–Had to come in for Mota and get a 1 1/3 inning save. He’s 8 for 8 in save chances since taking over for Gagne.
Russell Branyan–Yet another booming homer.
Less Filling:
Braun, Fielder–Combined to go 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts and 8 men left on base.
Guillermo Mota–He’s cracked a few times in recent weeks and had to be bailed out last night after only getting two outs but giving up 3 hits and a walk.
Brewers (9) @ Astros (6) 6/12 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Brewers Offense–Once again the Crew got the bats going big time, including a three home run second inning that staked them to a nice lead. Fielder, Cameron, and Hart all delivered shots in that inning. The key one was Hart’s homer with two out and two on. Sheets had drawn a walk to extend the inning and give Hart that chance.
Tack-on runs–Tack-on runs have been hard to come by for the Brewers at times, but they were able to add some big ones in this game. Kapler hit a bomb in the 9th to give them even more room. Braunie also had a nice day going 2 for 5 with an RBI, a run, and two steals.
Ben Sheets–Once again proved why he’s the ace. Didn’t have great stuff and was playing in a crackerjack park, but worked through 7 innings and put the Brewers in a solid position to win the game.
Less Filling:
The bullpen–Seems to be really hit or miss lately. Either they’re great and give up no runs, or they get smacked around for multiple runs. Mota allowed two in his inning of work and Torres allowed one in the 9th. Again, good thing we were able to add those tack-on runs throughout the game.
Brewers (4) vs. Dodgers (6) 5/14 — Tastes Great, Less Filling
*Sigh* Yet another frustrating game. A pretty familiar storyline from last year though: Score some runs early in the game, get a quality start from your starter, fail to add tack-on runs, reliever blows it. This time though you add in a dash of poor defense.
Tastes Great:
Manny Parra–Finally a quality start from Manny. Should have gotten the win today without a doubt. Also helped himself at the plate with a couple RBI’s. Just like with Carlos and Bush though, we need this kind of effort and production on a somewhat consistent basis.
Corey Hart–Ho hum, two more hits, another steal.
Less Filling:
Prince Fielder–His defensive lapses and deficiencies will hurt this club. Its not only that he can’t field, but he has a hard time picking the ball, and just doesn’t have a good feel around the base. Add in the fact he’s 5’10” and now he can’t reach many balls either.
Guillermo Mota–Simply didn’t get the job done. I like him fine as a setup type guy, but would never trust him in the closer role. Shoulda saved Torres for the 9th if you ask me.
.200 Club–After threatening to disband with a couple hits in the last game, they go right back to their ways. Rickie got the day off, but Cameron and Hall combined to go 0 for 8 with 6 strikeouts. Hall needs to be pulled from the lineup and quick. Unfortunately Counsell is not a serviceable option as an everyday player. Mat Gamel is raking in AA, but he’s not ready yet. Not sure what to do there. The Dodgers have a number of good third base prospects (Blake DeWitt, Andy LaRoche), but it would probably take a lot to get one of those guys.
Brewers (2) vs. Marlins (3) 4/27 (10 innings) — Tastes Great, Less Filling
I’m back after a brief time off for a wedding over the weekend. A great time was had by all, including myelf. Thank you to Michael R. Hemling for filling in and doing a Tastes Great, Less Filling update for Friday’s game.
Tastes Great:
Not much good to talk about in this game. Only 5 hits in 10 innings. Starter can’t get through the 6th inning. Just crappy game kind of.
The team did show some patience and take 8 walks today. Although as inconsistent as they’ve been lately in that department they’ll probably take 1 in the next game.
4 of the 6 relievers did excellent jobs. Riske, Stetter, Mota, and Gagne combined for 3 2/3 innings, 5 strikeouts, only 3 hits with no walks, and most importantly no runs allowed.
A special Atta boy goes to Mitch Stetter. He’s been money all year and came in in a heckuva pickle in the 7th. Bases loaded and no one out. He gets the first two guys to K and a pop out on the last one. I really like how he works.
Rivera did a heckuva job on the steal of home attempt by Ramirez. Blocked the plate well, made a tough pick of the Prince throw, and hung on to make the tag. Good to see our catchers be able to make positive contributions with the bat and the glove this year.
Less Filling:
Ahhh, where to start. How about the suddenly anemic offense. Only 5 hits today in 10 innings (albeit the 8 walks did help) with 20 men left on base. They scored only 6 runs in the 3 game series with Florida and scored only 24 runs in the 7 game homestand. On the year they’ve scored more than 5 runs only 5 times in 25 games.
That lack of punch offenisvely certainly isn’t helped by the large number of dormant bats from key players (Braun, Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hall, etc.) but it also speaks to the Brewers inability to play small ball or manufacture runs consistently if they aren’t hitting home runs. It’s like they’re set up and Ned coaches them as if they’re an AL team. That approach will not prove consistent as they strikeout too much, walk too little, and just don’t have that big of bats to make it work over the long haul.
Turnbow–yikes. That one game mirage against Philly when he got the save sure feels like a long time ago doesn’t it. He’s gotta be gone soon wouldn’t ya think?
Parra- I know he only gave up two runs today, but he also only was able to make it through 5 1/3 innings again. Now that Bush is getting sent down, it looks like Manny’s gonna stay in the rotation. He needs to be able to manage his pitch count and make it through 6 to 7 innings at least occassionally. Today’s outing is his longest of the year, and that just can’t happen as it taxes the bullpen and leaves your team in a bad spot.
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