Highlights-Lowlights: D'Backs-Brewers

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
Carlos Gomez - He had one of his best offensive games of the year on Monday night. He went 2 for 2 with a home run and three runs driven in. He set the tone with a home run to lead off the game, and then drove in a big two-run single to help break open the game a bit. Additionally, he drew two walks where he had to work the count in a major way.  Wednesday showed the versatility of Gomez as he had two hits again, but this time they were both bunts.

Jean Segura's defense - The offensive numbers might not be there for Segura yet, but his defense has come around in a major way. Segura made three highlight reel plays over the three games, and maybe he is more than just a guy that will 'end up at second base in five years' like a lot of the critics believe will happen at some point. Segura might not be a Gold Glove shortstop, but he looks more than average out there.

Rickie Weeks - All the sudden, he has become a halfway decent pinch hitter. Weeks has three hits in his last four games when he came in to pinch hit plus he scored two runs in the process as well. Weeks probably deserves a start on Saturday night when C.C. Sabathia is on the hill.  Hopefully, this is the start of something strong for Weeks so he can become real solid tradebait for the Brewers in the coming month.

Martin Maldonado - He has only played 10 games this season, but Maldy is really contributing on the
offense end. He finished the year only hitting .169 in 2013, and so far, Maldonado bounced back nicely with a .350 average including his first home run of the year on Monday night putting the exclamation point on the Brewers win.  This could be short-lived, but if Maldy can add this sort of offense, I will wonder what his role becomes on the bench.

Lowlights
Brandon Kintzler - All relievers are going to struggle in the full grind of the 162 game season. But when it gets worrisome is when they are giving up big hits with the struggle. Kintzler has now given up two home runs in the last two appearances which is not a good thing at all. And here's the problem with Wei-Chung Wang in the bullpen, you cannot hide Kintzler. At some point, Kintzler  needs to go out there and cannot get work in only blowouts. Hopefully, he will rite the ship soon.

Lyle Overbay's error - This was an absolute killer yesterday. Overbay makes the error allowing the run in that ended up being the difference in a 3-2 game. But let's be honest, the whole Wednesday game was a dumpster fire. Four double plays hit into, a wild pitch that led to the runner being on third, BRONSON ARROYO getting said hit and dominating the Crew. It almost sucked worse than Tuesday.

Marco Estrada - It is weird for Marco because he doesn't give up many hits but he finds a way to give up runs which leads us to the problem... Home runs. Estrada is known for giving up home runs because of the way he pitches which isn't a problem when it is just a solo home run shot. But the problem is Estrada has given up six home runs in three games plus allowing 10 runs in his last three games. Estrada is probably coming down to earth a bit, but he needs to find a way to give up less home runs.

Aramis Ramirez - Obviously, Aramis didn't have a song called "Wake me up when June arrives." He is in a 3-44 slump. I think it is time for Ron Roenicke to do the usual move Rami down in the order for a month to get him right for awhile. I am totally okay with a lineup looking like Gennett-Segura-Gomez-Lucroy-Ramirez-Overbay/Reynolds-Davis-Schafer.  He needs to go back to what worked in the first month of the year. Or his elbow could be really bad which wouldn't be good.

Me - I thought Brian Anderson was back this week but apparently, he is doing the second round as well in the NBA.  Cue the music.



Charlie.

Random Thoughts From Cinco De Mayo at Miller Park

I have done this blog post before where I just note all the different stuff I see at Miller Park and then I write about it. Sometimes we see some real weird stuff, other times, it is pretty normal.  We saw all sorts of things on a beautiful (PSYCH) Monday night. 

- People wore a ton of sombreros on Cinco De Mayo: I mean there were all sorts of offensive stuff at the ballpark on Monday night. People wore sombreros in the first row of the stadium. Nobody really cared that it probably pissed off some Mexicans in the crowd.  If we really wanted to amp it up, might as well bring around the people giving out tequila shots and shaking people's heads with whistles.

- Why weren't they wearing Cerveceros jerseys?:  Look if we are going to do this thing right, bust out the Mexican heritage jerseys. I don't think that's offensive. In fact, I think that's a good idea. I wonder if Matt Garza had a choice.

- Most mailed in Sausage Race of all-time:  CONSPIRACY.  Everyone including Rob Edwards, the Brewers PA guy, was in on the whole thing with the Chorizo being well ahead of the pack with the Italian Sausage hanging behind dogging it. Seriously.  Try a little bit.

- Grown ass men acting like toddlers: Late in the game, a ball boy tried to toss the ball to a girl in the front row and it went straight through her hands. As the ball rolled up the stands, a bunch of probable dads wearing their New Balances or Asics with their dad jeans dived for the ball like they were goddamn teenagers. They did not give the girl back the ball and kept for themselves. She wanted it way more than you idiots.

-Friday's Smoking Lounge is where dreams go to die - I went with two friends to the game who are both smokers. They wanted to have a cigarette during the game so I joined them because my phone was slowly dying. We had people there rocking jorts, many overweight and the best was an older man, maybe a grandpa, dragging his kid or his granddad into the 40 degree cold to have a cigarette while the smoker only wore a t-shirt. All of it was pretty great.

- I bring the offense - Always nice when you go to the game where the Brewers find some offense. They only scored 10 runs in four games and scored eight runs in one game. Granted, Arizona's pitching is putrid. Carlos Gomez had an MVP game with a home run, big two-run hit to opposite field and two walks. Jean Segura found his stroke for at least a game. Martin Maldonado have been playing real well offensively for this team as well.

- Glad I didn't see Matt Garza freakout - He still gave up three runs. It wasn't an ideal start for Garza, but he got settled in pretty nicely after struggling in the first couple innings. I hope we can get one good Garza start in the near future. He will be fine folks.

- Crossing fingers at batters: There was a woman in front of me whom crossed her fingers at the batters asking them to deliver a hit like some divine intervention. It was nutty man. Equally nutty was the lady next to her whom had her Hank t-shirt and her Hank stuff animal.

- Rock Bottom - While we were gone, some kid puked in the middle of our section. If you are puking at a game on a Monday in some great seats, you need to rethink everything you are doing with your life.

- Take advantage of StubHub: We got these seats for 40 dollars. StubHub is your friend, not your enemy.

Brewers-Pirates Brawl Brings Suspensions & Protection

As expected, Major League Baseball delivered the hammer on the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh
Pirates brawl on Tuesday afternoon levying suspensions to Martin Maldonado, Carlos Gomez, Travis Snider and Russell Martin. All four were also fined for the scuffle. Gomez and the two Pirate players are appealing their suspensions while Maldonado began his on Tuesday night. As you can see Pittsburgh's starting pitcher Gerrit Cole avoided any sort of suspension or fine, is that okay?  Many believe it is as Cole just trash talked Gomez, but are we certain this is not setting a precedent for the rest of the season?

There are always two sides to every story. It could be a relationship issue where you are friends with both the boyfriend and girlfriend of the relationship, the story always sounds different depending on what aisle you're on. It could be a fight between friends, neighbor dispute or anything else meaning Gomez and Cole saw how this played out very differently. We all know the background of the situation. The Brewers outfielder poised for a triple and Cole took exception leading him to say something. But let's watch the video, shall we? 

Cole clearly says something that has to do with 'Fuck' where it is guided at Gomez or what he did is unknown, but it is pretty clear that's the word he says as even the home Pirates broadcast apologizes for the language used by Cole.  Gomez yells some things at Cole being restrained by an umpire in almost a fake tough guy move where he is using the umpire as a shield for why he doesn't bury Cole. It becomes more than just a shouting matchup when Snider makes his way to Gomez and then all hell breaks loose leading to the reason why the four players got suspended.  Many Brewers fans were surprised to hear the news Cole did not receive even a fine from the league, but do you really want to suspend a guy for running his mouth? 

Many people believed what Cole did was trash talk. Just like we see in all sorts of professional sports. Cole attempted to get Gomez fired up and possibly see if it could lead to him being thrown out of the baseball game. He did just that.  Remember Cole came nowhere near the actual fight was happening. He hung out by the pitching mound and minded his business like he did nothing wrong. Many are saying if you are going to suspend trash talkers, there will be more outrage than people praising Major League Baseball actions. But there is a difference between trash talking and throwing a can of gasoline on a fire. 

Cole incited the fight. Not to go to extremes, but if one incites a riot, but doesn't really riot, they still get arrested. There is no question about it. None of this happens if Cole keeps his mouth shut out there. This would be an entire different story if Gomez and the third baseman starting jawing right from the get go. It happened to be the pitcher who threw the meatball hovering over Gomez and saying something with the word 'fuck' in it. Cole can act like he is the goodie two-shoes in the whole ordeal, but in reality, none of this shit happens without him. Although to his defense, he realized this was a smarter technique than hitting Gomez in his next at-bat because Cole knew a suspension for him would be highly unlikely.   

Well any pitchers moving forward use the 'Gerrit Cole defense' when batters show them up and it does not end up being a home run. Could they run over to second base say something, get the player pissed and lead to others fighting their battles?  It's probable. I don't know how often it will happen, but at the same time, the idea pitchers have the free reign to run their mouth and be expressive just like Gomez was when he that baseball is a pure double standard. Cole probably should not have been suspended, but the fact, he gets off clean speaks volume of what Major League Baseball is willing to allow on the mound. It will be interesting trend to monitor in the coming months. 

Brewers-Pirates get together in mid-May. Hopefully, we will see Gomez and Cole again meet at the mound. We will definitely see the other players in action against each other, and I have a weird feeling the fireworks are not over with these two teams. 

Charlie.