Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers continued to do their worst work during the daylight hours Sunday, watching helplessly as Atlanta pulled away to a 10-2 victory before an increasingly agitated sellout crowd of 43,471 at Miller Park. The lopsided loss dropped the foundering Brewers back to .500 and left them with an 11-22 record in day games, including 12 losses in the last 13. On Sundays, they fell to 4-12.

Short of holding a mirror to the faces of his players to see if they indeed are among the undead, manager Ken Macha was left scratching his head. He even noted that the roof was closed in the latter stages of the game to eliminate the shadows that his hitters have complained about so often. "We have to look for a formula to get everybody invigorated for the game," said Macha, who has tried every combination he can think of regarding having or not having batting practice before day games.

JSOnline

There are a couple of decent match-ups today, but this one stood out as clearly the best. Tommy Gun² vs. Gallardo. Hopefully this is a match-up that will still be a must watch, 10 years from now.

Braves (50-47) @ Brewers (48-48), 7:05pm
  ATL: Tommy Hanson (22, RHP, 5-0, 3.00)
  MIL: Yovani Gallardo (23, RHP, 8-7, 3.28)

Reference.com

Solid deal for the Brewers. I guess this means that McGehee is going back to the minors?

The Diamondbacks traded second baseman Felipe Lopez to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for two minor leaguers. The Diamondbacks will receive High-A right-hander Roque Mercedes and Triple-A outfielder Cole Gillespie.

Mercedes, 22, had a 1.08 ERA in 29 games for Brevard County of the Florida State League with 45 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings. He has a 4.50 ERA in 382 1/3 innings in his minor league career.

Gillespie was hitting .242 with a .332 on-base and .424 slugging for Nashville of the Pacific Coast League. He had 12 doubles, five triples and seven home runs. A third-round pick in 2006 out of Oregon State, Gillespie is a career .281 hitter in parts of four minor league seasons.

azcentral.com blogs

I picked Manny Parra off the waiver wire before his first start back. No reason in particular, other than his history. Sometimes you just go with your gut, ya know?

Having to battle literally from the first pitch, Parra limited the Cincinnati Reds to one run over those six innings Saturday night at Great American Ball Park, and the Milwaukee Brewers went on to a 5-1, rain-interrupted victory. Parra had just one 1-2-3 inning and needed 124 pitches to record 18 outs but kept the Reds under control. His battle started with a 31-pitch first inning in which Cincinnati failed to score despite putting the first two hitters on base. But Parra recorded big outs against the Reds when he needed them, often via strikeout. He allowed five hits and three walks but whiffed six hitters before departing.

"It's the new Manny," said manager Ken Macha. "As impressive as his first outing was, so was this one. He got some strikeouts when he needed them, was aggressive, had a good fastball, threw some 'splits.'?"

Parra, who has had trouble in the past shutting down rallies, didn't cave in the fifth when an error allowed the Reds to score their only run off him. After Adam Rosales led off with his second double, third baseman Casey McGehee threw wildly to first on pitcher Aaron Harang's bunt, allowing a run to score and putting Harang on base.

Parra battles through - JSOnline

Bad bounce hinders Braun

The return to action of right-hander Dave Bush was put on hold, at least temporarily, when he reported having arm fatigue during a minor-league assignment Wednesday night with Class AA Huntsville. Bush was scheduled to rejoin the Brewers' rotation Monday in Pittsburgh but manager Ken Macha said right-hander Mike Burns would take that turn instead.

But Bush was removed after three ineffective innings, in which he allowed six hits and five runs, with two walks and two strikeouts. He threw only 19 of 40 pitches for strikes.

Bush is scheduled to be re-examined Friday in Milwaukee by team physician William Raasch, after which the Brewers hope to have a better gauge on when he might return. If Bush is determined to be out of action for an extended period, it could accelerate the club's search for another starting pitcher.

JSOnline

Ya Think?

Las Vegas doesn't have much confidence in Brandon Inge winning Monday night's Home Run Derby in St. Louis. Inge has 21 home runs, tied for fourth in the American League with Minnesota's Justin Morneau and the Yankees' Mark Teixeira. But Las Vegas odds-makers pit Inge as Monday's underdog. Lasvegassports-odds.com lists Inge as its biggest underdog of the Derby's eight participants, with odds to win at +950, which means a bet of $100 could earn the bettor $950 if Inge were to win. The favorite ..

• St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols, is a +200.
• Philadelphia's Ryan Howard is second at +240,
• Milwaukee's Prince Fielder at +325,
• San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez at +465,
• Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena at +550,
• Texas' Nelson Cruz at +750,
• Minnesota's Joe Mauer at +800 and Inge.

detnews.com

The kid is stupid fast, but can he hit at this level? Thats the question. If yes, can he hit enough to be viable for fantasy ball? I have my doubts.

Alcides Escobar isn't sure when, or if, he'll get a chance to play shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers. Assuming that call comes one day, he plans to be ready.

With J.J. Hardy manning the shortstop position for the Brewers, Escobar's future with the club is uncertain at this point. But general manager Doug Melvin labeled the 22-year-old fielding whiz an "untouchable" in trade talks, meaning he must be a part of future plans. "You can go years without having a shortstop prospect like him," Melvin said. "They don't come around that often."

Already major-league ready on defense, Escobar has focused on becoming a better offensive player this season at Class AAA Nashville. After a very slow start at the plate, he caught fire, posting a .322 batting average over his last 52 games. In 87 games with the Sounds, the right-handed-hitting Escobar is batting .296 with 23 doubles, five triples, three homers, 28 runs batted in and 30 stolen bases in 37 attempts. He leads the team with 102 hits and 61 runs scored.

JSOnline

HAHA!

Brewers infielder Bill Hall emerged from a closed-door meeting with his bosses on Saturday and insisted that he hasn't given up on turning around his dismal 2009 season. "I still consider myself the best third baseman in the league," Hall said.

Hall, who enters the first-half finale hitting .198, would not say much about his Saturday afternoon sit-down with general manager Doug Melvin, assistant GM Gord Ash and Macha. Asked what they talked about, Macha was also mum. Hall was clear on two points: He has not asked to be moved out of Milwaukee, and the Brewers have not asked him to go to the Minor Leagues. Because he has more than five years of service time, Hall owns the right to refuse such an assignment.

Hall's decline is in its third season. He was the Brewers' club MVP in 2006, when he filled-in for an injured J.J. Hardy at shortstop and batted .270 while leading the Brewers with 35 home runs. That season earned Hall a four-year, $24 million contract that bought out his arbitration years and one season off free agency.

Brew Beat

I picked up Dave Bush off the waiver wire in a couple leagues, as he was dropped when he hit the dl. Bush can be an asset to wins, k's and whip, when he is rolling .. check your wire, you could do worse.

Dave Bush's Minor League rehabilitation assignment was off to a rousing start on Friday, when the Brewers right-hander pounded the strike zone throughout a successful 4 2/3 inning stint for Class A Wisconsin.

Working for Milwaukee's Midwest League affiliate about 100 miles north of Miller Park, Bush scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run in his return to action from a right triceps injury. He struck out five West Michigan Whitecaps and threw 43 of his 53 pitches -- 81 percent -- for strikes.

Brew Beat

I picked him up in one league where he was dropped, but i was too afraid to start him.

Parra lost his aggressiveness, lost command of his fastball and lost his confidence. Along the way, it's a wonder he didn't also lose his mind. The "new and improved" Parra pitched with a better tempo, pounded the strike zone and showed why the Brewers were excited about him in the first place in his first game back Thursday against St. Louis.

"It was a different look for Manny," Macha said. "He worked fast, exuded confidence, located his fastball. "He had a great outing. Just terrific."

During his time with Nashville, Parra had both his mechanics and brain put up on the rack for repairs with Sounds pitching coach Chris Bosio. Parra sharpened his stuff, especially his split-finger fastball, but perhaps more important, sharpened his focus. "It really came down to being confident and trusting the fact that I can throw the ball over the plate and put them in counts where they have to swing the bat," Parra said. "Before, I was trying to make perfect pitches and stuff like that. Today, I just trusted it and went with it. I didn't set any expectations for an outcome. I just wanted to go out there and execute the things we worked on.

JSOnline