Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-Nationals

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
Ryan Braun - Milwaukee might be struggling in the month of July, but Braun has found his stroke at the plate. He added hits in all three games this weekend including a two-run homer on Saturday night amid a blowout. Additionally, at least one of Braun's hits scored a run for the Brewers this weekend. If other parts of Milwaukee can get working with Braunie, it would be a beautiful thing. While his average has not went over .300 yet, Braun still rocking an eight-game hitting streak into their home trip this week.

Khris Davis - A good weekend for the young Brewers left fielder who had another home run against Stephen Strasburg on Friday night and drove in a run on Sunday putting the Brewers temporarily ahead in the game. It might be unknown but Davis currently has a seven-game hitting streak for the Brewers. It is good to see him still being able to handle pitching in July. Davis being a reliable hitter is going to help Milwaukee in a major way.

Ryan Zimmerman - Have we officially put Zimmerman on the known Brewer Killer list? He probably deserves a spot there. He had two hits in each game of the series, drove in two runs on Saturday night and hit a game-tying home run on Sunday. While it is encouraging to see how Milwaukee handled Stephen Strasburg, it is discouraging to see how Milwaukee pitchers cannot figure out Zimmerman. He hurt the Brewers all weekend.

Aramis Ramirez - Clutch is such an arbitrary thing to talk about when it comes to sports. I probably talk about it too much, but it is the one 'old man' thing I still like to think exists in sports so sue me. Ramirez came up with a two-run, two out single putting the Brewers up four runs against one of the league's best pitcher. Rami always seems to come through for this team. He added two more hits in Saturday's blowout.

Marco Estrada - I know he has been a whipping boy for this team, but he saved Milwaukee's bullpen on Saturday night. He pitched nearly six innings and yes did give up three runs yet preserved the pen for a team that doesn't have a day off until July 31st.

Lowlights
Matt Garza - Should we really be mad at Garza for his performance on Saturday night?  I am going to say no. There are a couple factors playing in here.  The first one is Garza didn't pitch since last Thursday. From what I gather he is not one to pitch out of his usual five-day rotation and do it well. The second is all of the hits were bullshit. It wasn't like Garza got hit around like a ragdoll in that inning. He caught some bad luck, and yes, Ron Roenicke should have walked Wilson Ramos to face the pitcher instead Ramos drove in two runs putting the Nationals up 5-0.

Mark Reynolds - I believed in Mark Reynolds to start the season. I wanted him to be 'my guy' and be like 'I told you so!!!' at some point. Hell, I nearly bet my buddy Eric that I would get five dollars every time he hits a homer and give him a dollar every time he strikes out. I am glad I decided against taking that bet. Reynolds has been a shell of himself in the last two months, and Milwaukee is back to looking for a power bat for the next two weeks.

Yovani Gallardo - There are certain things in life where you just don't want to believe it to be true like the Lyla Garrity-Tim Riggins relationship (FNL comparsions are going to be heavy in the coming weeks FYI). Everyone keeps saying how Yo cannot pitch in the fourth through sixth innings. Like everything goes to shit and things change for Gallardo. It happened again on Sunday. Milwaukee had given him a two-run lead only to have it evaporate by the sixth inning. He is a third starter at best, more likely a fourth.

Rob Wooten in the Ninth - I don't really get the move by Roenicke on Sunday afternoon. Tom Gorzelanny hasn't allowed a run since coming back from injury albeit not pitching in the most high-pressure situations. He would have seen one or two lefties and could have handled a second inning if he got through the first one. It stresses the need for middle reliever before the trading deadline.

Charlie.

Brewers-Nationals Preview (7/18-7/20)

Yes, your Brewers previews are back in full force. We have kind have been lacking on it during the month of July and honestly, I get real busy in the coming month so hopefully they will continue, same with highlights/lowlights.  

Friday:     Kyle Lohse (9-4 3.26) vs. Stephen Strasburg (7-6 3.46) 6:05 pm FSNWI
Saturday: Matt Garza (6-6 3.69) vs. Gio Gonzalez (6-5 3.56)         6:05 pm FSNWI
Sunday:   Yovani Gallardo (5-5 3.68) vs. Doug Fister (8-2 2.90)   12:35 pm FSNWI

Five Things to Watch
1.) Return of Jean Segura - Honestly, I throughly believed we wouldn't see Jean Segura in a Brewers uniform until the start of August or even longer than that. I couldn't imagine a person going through something like Segura did with his child dying at only nine months old.  There is no one I am pulling harder for than Segura. Dead serious, if Milwaukee doesn't make the playoffs, but Segura ends up hitting around .275-.280 having a great second half, I am perfectly okay with things. That would be a hell of a bright spot.

2.) Brewers Bounce Back - Even though Milwaukee won their last game before the All-Star Break, Milwaukee is losers of eleven of the last 13 games. This isn't an easy task for Milwaukee to start the second half against Washington with their three best pitchers and a team desperately needing wins as well. Washington is playing solid baseball for the month of July therefore it is very possible to expect Milwaukee to lose two of three games even if the Brewers need a couple wins. Both St. Louis and Cincinnati start off hard with Los Angeles at home for the Cards, and Reds heading to New York against the Yankees. Pirates get the lowly Rockies.

3. Ryan Braun's Unnoticed Hot Streak - He's been hurt for a little while missing a few games in July, but he's having a hell of a month. People are kind of unaware of the fact Braun is near the league lead in a lot of different categories including seventh in Slugging Percentage. Braun getting four days off could do absolute wonders for him and his back injury. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a big-time Braun series because he was starting to feel it against St. Louis last weekend. Braun also has some pretty solid numbers at Nationals Park for whatever it's worth.

4. Strasburg's revenge - One of the weirder things of the last month was Milwaukee trotting out a B-squad lineup, and they scored seven runs on Strasburg.  No one really saw it coming. Everyone expected a sweep. Since that start, Strasburg allowed a total of five runs striking out 26 batters in three starts since his time at Miller Park.  He has been pretty prettay good at Nationals Park so we will see what happens tonight against a fully loaded Brewers lineup.

5. Garza's Hot July - Another thing getting sort of hidden under the radar because everyone is pushing the panic button about the Brewers' terrible month.  Garza only gave up two hits against Cincinnati with no runs scored and carried a no-hitter into the sixth against Philadelphia. Sure things when to shit after that, but most of it wasn't Garza's fault. He has been great lately and it should be a fantastic matchup to see Gio Gonzalez go up against him.

Appropriate YouTube Video 


I am providing some calm music to relax everyone and not freak out if the Brewers drop off a cliff again this weekend.

Prediction
I have a terrible feeling they are going to lose two of three because all three pitchers they are facing are really cooking right now.  But I have a little faith and think they will bullshit their way into two wins this weekend.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Nationals-Brewers (6/23-6/25)

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
Marco Estrada - He has been the punching bag of this Milwaukee Brewers team for some time now, but he delivered a big start when the Brewers needed him. They were on the verge of getting swept for the first time this season. They are coming off a 16 inning heartbreaking loss the night before meaning the bullpen is completely taxed. Estrada is facing Stephen Strasburg as well. Estrada only gave up two hits, two runs and only walked two batters. And he went for 6 plus innings. Overall a great start for the Brewers fifth starter and hopefully, a step in the right direction.

Scooter Gennett - Look I was wrong about Scooter. I basically scorched the earth when he got called up to replace Rickie Weeks. I didn't want Scooter to fail, but I was convinced he wouldn't be a better player than Weeks. I couldn't have been more wrong. I want to apologize about how much I bungled the whole thing last summer. He's been great for the team. Gennett has the second-highest batting average since August 2013 in all of Major League Baseball. Scooter hit a grand slam and drove in an added run in the only Brewers win this week.

Yovani Gallardo - It continues to be a great month for Yovani, and my assumption would be he will win Brewers Pitcher of the Month. He again pitched great in a no-decision against Washington on Tuesday night. Gallardo only gave up four hits in six innings. If Gallardo is this way for the most part for the rest of the season, Milwaukee can contend with anyone. Whatever he went through in the month of May, he is over it. Gallardo's ERA is now down to 3.23 and keeps pitching strong for the Brewers.

Ryan Braun - In the sixth inning, Braun stepped to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs. He is having a disastrous June for the greater part, but this is a situation where Braun has to deliver the big moment. He did just that with a two-run single giving the Brewers the lead against the tough Jordan Zimmernmann. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for the Brewers slugger. It seems like we are just waiting on a Braun hot streak

Mike Fiers - Even though he is hanging out in Nashville for a couple days, he did a great job for Milwaukee on Tuesday night despite taking the loss. Fiers went four innings only giving up four hits with two of them coming in the 16th inning. Fiers also struck out four batters and had no issue with the Nationals bats. He made a campaign pitch to be a starter on Tuesday night.

Lowlights
Carlos Gomez's Extra Inning At-Bats - This was easily the most frustrating part of the whole series. Not the 16 innings, not the lack of hitting in the first two games, but Gomez's at-bats in the extra frames. He had a chance to win it twice and jumped over the first pitch both times when the pitchers were a bit shaky in the first place. Gomez is the biggest first-pitch swinger in baseball so it's understood he would swing at the first pitch a great deal of times. It is honestly hard to be mad at him, but he needs to show a little more discipline in late at-bats.

Will Smith - Another player on the Brewers where it is hard to be mad at, but Smith didn't do his job on Tuesday night giving up a home run to Anthony Rendon. Is it time to push the panic button on Smith? Probably not because he played at such a high level in the first three months of the season. Smith giving up three runs in his last 10 appearances isn't a big deal... yet.

16 Inning Baseball Games - I realized how much I hated late extra-inning games. I like West Coast trips without question because of the late night atmosphere for a night owl, but my goodness, the 16 inning game on Tuesday night was horribly boring. The game dragged on and no one could get a hit to save their soul. Maybe 16 inning games are more exciting when we have teams going back and forth with runs, but Christ, this was bad.

Scary Nats - Brewers thankfully got a game from Washington, but this is a scary team without question. They have front line pitching with Strasburg, Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez. They will be getting back Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos. Additionally, the Nats have a great bullpen. This is a lethal team moving forward.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 94

Tapping The Keg Podcast is back with a loaded podcast with Charlie and Mitch. We talk about a great deal of things starting off with Summerfest. We talk about the idea of it as well as how it is cooler to be an underage kid there along with highlighting the headliners we would like to see in the next eleven days. It continues with talking about the World Cup with Milwaukee's presence on Sunday along with some talk about U.S. Soccer's chances tomorrow. We talk a little bit about Milwaukee Brewers and why Washington Nationals could be a scary team in the next couple of months. Around the 34 minute mark, we start diving into the NBA Draft covering all topics as to what Cleveland might do, why either Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins is fine with us and much more.

Charlie.

Nationals-Brewers Preview (6/23-6-25)

Brewers previews to get you ready for the series where we have five things to watch, pitching matchups and prediction. We add a YouTube video in the mix, it could be really anything.   

Pitching Matchups 

Monday:     Gio Gonzalez (3-4 4.85) vs. Matt Garza (4-4 4.02) 7:00 pm ESPN2/FSNWI 

Tuesday: Jordan Zimmermann (5-4 2.95) vs. Yovani Gallardo (5-4 3.34) 7:10 pm FSNWI   

Wednesday: Stephen Strasburg (6-5 3.24) vs. Marco Estrada (6-4 5.22) 1:10 pm MLB Network 

Five Things To Watch 

1.) Happy to be home - Milwaukee has spent 15 of the last 18 on the road. They did pretty well winning eleven of those 15 games including the current four game winning streak the Brewers are on as they head back to Miller Park for the week. The only series they have lost in that time span was the one at home versus Cincinnati. Hopefully, Washington doesn't pose too much of a problem. They won their last two games, and the Nationals beat Milwaukee two out of three last season at Miller Park.

2.) Aramis Ramirez month to continue? - It is the hot topic of the Brewers offense right now. Aramis Ramirez exploded on the West Coast and hopes to keep it going against Washington. He will be facing three tough pitchers with only have real success and experience against Jordan Zimmerman. Ramirez is flourishing hitting behind Carlos Gomez and his hitting streak right now because it always seems like Rami has a duck or two on the pond to drive in consistently. Ramirez being healthy and playing at this level is so important to the Brewers being a deep postseason contender.  

3.)  Jordan Zimmermann returns to Wisconsin -  One of Wisconsin's own returns to the home state which I am sure the folks at FS Wisconsin will talk a great deal about in the coming days. Zimmerman is one of the better pitchers in baseball for the month of June. In four starts, he has only allowed three total runs with scoreless outings in two of them. The last two times through he has seen barely any run support as Washington has only given him one run in the last two outings. Against Milwaukee, he has been virtually unhittable with a sub-one ERA at Miller Park in the last three years. Brewers will have a tall task Tuesday night.  

4.) Time to strike - St. Louis is five and a half games back of Milwaukee currently. Both Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha are on the Disabled List with shoulder issues. St. Louis is embarking on a three-team West Coast trip where they will be playing Los Angeles and San Francisco. Milwaukee needs to make a dent here in the division. I am not saying this race will be over by any means as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are hanging around too, but Milwaukee can definitely tack on some games to their lead before the All-Star Break. 

5.) Possible playoff preview - Who knows how the cookie will crumble but these two teams could meet in the playoffs. They see each other again right after the All-Star Break in Washington for three games so a tone can be set. I don't know if winning four of six will really make that much of an impact come October, but it is still nice to know you can beat a team you might see in the playoffs.  

Appropriate YouTube Video


In honor of playing our nation's capital, let's get a little American in this blog post. Also I am emotionally hungover from Sunday's World Cup and need a bounce back.

Prediction 
Honestly, I want to say Milwaukee can get two out of three, but with two great Washington pitchers, I don't really feel comfortable saying they can grab two here. Brewers will have to manage with a one win this week.

Charlie.