Milwaukee Brewers: 250 Words or Less: 6/16/11

Luckily this was an afternoon game.

For those of you stuck at work, you missed an ugly affair between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs took the game 12-7 and 3 games of the 4-game series. The two teams exchanged runs back and forth early, but the Brewers cooled off and the Cubs just kept going. The Crew can’t get out of town any faster.

Where to start? Zack Greinke was chased in the 6th inning with a final line of 8 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts, and 8 runs allowed, only 6 earned. Backup catcher George Kottaras got his first start since being recalled from AAA-Nashville, and the two of them never were on the same page. Early miscues by Kottaras lead to too many extended innings for the Cubs, and while the Brewers’ offense paced the game early, they ended up chasing the rest of the way. It might be safe to say that we’ll be seeing starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy get some extra work in the next few weeks.

Reliever Daniel Ray Herrera, called up from Nashville yesterday, instantly allowed a 3-run home run to separate the two teams, and it was mop-up after that. The Brewers were on a tear early, with Ryan Braun and Kottaras each getting two-run home runs. Yet they just couldn’t pull away from the Cubs. It was 6-5 after 3 innings, and the Brewers didn’t score again until junk-time in the 9th.

The Brewers will begin a stretch of 15 interleague games with a weekend visit to the red-hot Boston Red Sox. It will be interesting to see how the Crew does on a national stage. Former AL East pitcher Shaun Marcum returns to familiar stomping grounds at Fenway Park tomorrow evening.

 

 

Follow me on Twitter (@MilwaukeeBrian) and don’t forget to watch for the Brewers’ “A Simple Kind of Fan” each Tuesday, from Pocket Doppler’s Brew Town Boozer.

Tags: 250 Words, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Daniel Ray Herrera, George Kottaras, Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers, Ryan Braun, Zack Greinke