Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-D'Backs (6/16-6/19)

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game

Highlights
Aramis Ramirez - It is going a little under the radar but Aramis is starting to turn the corner like he usually does in the summer. In the last seven days, Ramirez is hitting .370 with 10 hits, three doubles and two home runs. He had quite the series in Arizona as well with three hit day on Monday night driving in two runs breaking the 3-3 tie in the eighth. Ramirez added a towering solo home run on Tuesday and sparked the Brewers scoring on Thursday. If Rami gets hot with how this team is already playing, look out National League. It might not be pretty for the rest of them.

Elian Herrera - Got to give Elian some love for the series. He had a good series starting in three out of the four starts. Many people were concerned about Herrera filling in for Carlos Gomez in the first two games, but he did just fine out there. Additionally, Herrera delivered at the plate with two runs driven in plus having a two-hit night on Monday. It really never made sense why the Brewers kept sending him back down to Nashville. He has a pulse at the plate, and he knows how to play multiple positions. Herrera might not be the best option, but he is a quality bench player for this team. Yeah I said it.

Yovani Gallardo - In the last three starts, Gallardo has pitched 21 innings with only giving up two runs. At the beginning of the month, Gallardo's ERA was a little over four and now it is down to 3.34, basically two-thirds of a run in a mere three games. Gallardo had everything working on Thursday as he pitched more to contact than trying to get Diamondbacks strikeouts. If Gallardo pitches this way for Milwaukee, they will be very hard to beat. They do not need to have an actual ace, but if they have pitchers who have ace-like runs for a month, that will pay off in a major way.

Matt Garza - In the last series, Garza made the lowlights, and much of that reason was his horrid defense. But only one run was earned for Garza in that game. He pitched well again on Wednesday giving two earned runs in nearly eight innings of work. It is the first game all season where Garza didn't walk a batter. In fact, he has only one total batter in the last two starts. I don't know whether it was a comfort thing for Garza, or he is finally used to Jonathan Lucroy/Martin Maldonado calling the game. But he has been much improved this month.

Khris Davis - Did you know Khris Davis is from Arizona? I swear I heard that at least 10 times over four games. He had a good series back in his home state with a big three-run homer on Wednesday night providing the only offense for the Brewers. Davis also added two RBIs in Monday's win. He keeps playing his ass for the team. Davis is currently on pace for .261 with 26 home runs this season. Pretty strong first season debut for him. .

Lowlights
Brandon Kintzler - I don't know how upset I want to be at Kintzler. At one point, he has only given up two runs since May 23rd which is pretty damn good given he had a rough start to begin the month of May. But the other part of it is it appears Kintzler struggles when put into tight situations. He blew the game against Cincinnati and Arizona earlier this season in back-to-back outings, nearly lost the game against New York earlier this month and struggled again on Wednesday night. I easily get the most nervous when Kintzler heads to the mound in late-game situations.

Brewers bats against Wade Miley - I don't know what I want to blame on this for the Brewers. They struck out eight times against Miley and couldn't figure out that the home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez was calling the inside corner every damn time. Miley always got a big strikeout when he needed it as he dealt with baserunners all night. Brewers just couldn't figure out the inside pitch which seems to be a bugaboo a little bit for this team.

Crybaby Diamondbacks - All this team does is bitch and moan about everything. We already talked about the whole hitting Ryan Braun thing and why it's stupid, but you should read if you haven't. But seriously, they acted like every strike three was a ball or if a call on the mound didn't go their way, they seemed to be so shocked a call could go against them. Grow up.

Will Smith's 1/3 inning - We need to figure out what happened here. Will Smith, a possible All-Star, basically comes in like he was Ray King or Brian Shouse instead of being the pitcher he has been this season. What made it even more puzzling is Arizona had two left-handers up in the next inning meaning Smith could have easily handled them. The only defense of Smith not pitching an extra inning is the fact he pitched three straight games along with four of the last five.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights- Brewers-Cardinals

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game. 

Highlights
A SERIES WIN AGAINST ST. LOUIS!!! - Cannot stress enough how big this was for the Brewers to take a road series from St. Louis. If the Cardinals were to sweep the Crew or win one game from them, the narrative in the coming months was 'Well Brewers are a good team, but they cannot beat St. Louis.' Now, they are sort of reborn. Brewers have been better at Busch Stadium than you think being the best NL Central team there. This will be a fun rivalry for the rest of the season, and it is more even than we thought before this week started.

Tyler Thornburg - Once again, Thorny played a big role in Milwaukee winning two of the three games this week. He pitched a third of an inning on Monday night where he walked one batter and struck out another then came up massive on Tuesday night.  Thornburg pitched a perfect ninth and 10th inning with four strikeouts bridging the gap and earning the victory as the Brewers scored a run in the eleventh. What more can be said about Thornburg? He looks like an All-Star set-up man right now, and a part of me believes he could be a old school closer in the future.

Khris Davis (Only in Extra Innings) - Let's be honest here, Davis did not have the greatest series. He struck out four times on Monday night only to get the go-ahead triple in the 12th inning. Davis scuffled his feet again on Tuesday night, but then in extras, he doubled to lead off the 11th which he scored on the Lyle Overbay single. This is the third time in April where Davis had a big hit in extras. It almost seems like he focuses more in the extra innings because he knows the importance of his at-bat. If somehow the Brewers staff can figure a way to have Davis play like that all the time, they will be great.

Zach Duke - Where the hell did this come from? We see this in the big leagues from time to time where a journeyman comes out of nowhere and becomes a dominant reliever. People thought Duke would be the second coming Michael Gonzalez, but he has been nothing but. Duke saved Milwaukee on Monday night with two strong innings bridging the gap paving the way for his second victory of the season. He added a couple more strikeouts in their defeat on Wednesday afternoon. Who knows when this dream ends, but I enjoyed it right now.

Carlos Gomez - When all of the other heavy artillery weapons were down, Gomez still had a big series with two more home runs pushing his average up to .293. The homer on Tuesday put the Brewers ahead in the seventh inning coming up big for the team. That's the scary thing about Gomez. He seems to live for the moment, and when he gets an opportunity to be the star of the team, he lives for it.

Yovani handled Busch - He may not have got the decision, but Yovani handled Busch Stadium pretty well for the first time since the crazy rain delay game in 2012. He did give up a couple home runs, and it's okay to be worried about his lack of strikeouts yet at the same time, he weathered the storm. The last couple years would have seen Yovani blow up at something like that instead he persevered.

Lowlights
Wei-Chung Wang - He was sent in as the sacrifical lamb on Wednesday as the Brewers took Garza out of the game as a precaution. Wang struggled allowing four runs with his ERA at 15.00 which is shockingly down from 18.00, the last time he appeared against Pittsburgh.  But he gave up four runs on six hits which isn't good. We will have a discussion later today about the decision for Milwaukee to keep Wang.

Matt Garza's thumb - He sounded frustrated after he left the game with a bruised right thumb in four innings of work. Garza said it will be a one time thing, and he will be pitching Monday. I am not ready to push the panic button on Garza yet, but we are getting a little closer. He is the only key cogs to get off to a slow start. I think it is nothing to worry about, but we can have another discussion in May if it continues with Garza.

Elian Herrera's throw from right - This was one of the biggest DERP plays of the season for the Brewers. This would be common practice for 2013.



Aramis Ramirez's elbow - He is apparently in the lineup tonight which is good, but hopefully, Ramirez isn't affected by it too much. I couldn't understand FSN Wisconsin's Bill Schroder saying 'Hey, whatever it takes to score the run' when Ramirez is in obvious pain.

Charlie.