2012-08-11 Brewers (Estrada) at Astros (Keuchel), 6:05 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 6-5, 10 innings; Astros' first extra-inning W in 2012]

[AZBrewCrew]

Well bases loaded no one out all but assures the game ends in a couple minutes or less.

[The stache]

All the Astros have to do is bloop it to center. Noodle arm won't come within 10 feet of home plate.

[MNBrew]

This isn't going to end well.

[TURBO]

Bases loaded, nobody out, time for Veras........Oh wait, he was already used.

 

Why do we watch this crap night after night?

[The stache]

That shot of nothing in the bullpen but a bag of balls is an apt metaphor for something.

 

Funny, if you'd asked me, I;d have said there weren't any balls in the bullpen.

[TURBO]

maddening.

[The stache]

Fire Roenicke. I've had it with him.

[markedman5]

Astros with no walk off wins all year and then do it to the Brewers 2 days in a row.

 

Just when you think this team has sunk as low as it can go they manage to drain a little more out of the pool.......

[MNBrew]

Who the heck do you think could manage this snakebit team any better? Even the great managers lose over 60 games virtually every year.

 

It's really Roenicke's fault that Estrada sucked tonight, the hitters were human windmills and couldn't hit in the clutch for crap when it really mattered, and the only good option in the 9th got used to hold a lead and then fared lousy in his 2nd inning?

 

Why is McClendon treated like Typhoid Mary out there? He can't possibly pitch any worse than K-Rod -- and almost by default has to be at least a little better. Any mojo & momentum he might've had going in AAA before his callup surely has probably dissipated by now. I'm not suggesting McClendon's the answer. But we can at least safely say this: It's not possible to be part of the problem when you don't ever get into games.

[logan82]

Gah, come on Ryan. You were ahead 3-0, and struck out.

 

Not saying Braun is, but it seems like some of these guys are just going through the motions

We hear that any time the Brewers are doing badly.

[brewmann04]

So let's get this straight last night RR does not go with Henderson who had 2 straight saves. Now tonight he uses Henderson for two straight innings in a long time. Seems like RR has no clue how to use the bullpen.

[MNBrew]

Henderson was lost that 2nd inning, but who was left? K-Rod, Axford, & McClendon. What did you want Roenicke to do? I'm not sure what else might've worked any better, but at least Henderson had been getting more outs than giving up runs. K-Rod & Axford, well, no thanks, and McClendon must have the plague or something.

[MNBrew]

What I don't see is why they don't just DFA/release K-Rod & bring up another functional arm from Nashville. Roenicke needs some more options that don't have a >50% chance of blowing up on him.

 

If we give up a run late, it's the pitching that looks like the culprit. But it's the hitters who had plenty of chances to do something with guys on base and hardly could do anything After Aoki's 2-run 2B in the 5th, could they put an extra-base hit together with a single to score a run? In that bandbox of a ballpark, they've hit no HRs in 2 games . . . And tonight, heck, they swung at everything and missed most of the time. . . . Whatever Gomez was doing well before, he's not doing it now. Hart w/ 0 hits, 5 Ks, & 2 GIDPs in 2 games. Braun's gotten a couple hits the past 2 nights but hardly looks on track & locked in.

[dlk9s]

This team has quit

I haven't seen the last couple games, but unless something changed in the last few days, I beg to differ. Despite the disappointing season, I have really appreciated how hard the guys have played. A team that quits doesn't come back to tie games in the 9th.

[TooLiveBrew]

What I don't see is why they don't just DFA/release K-Rod & bring up another functional arm from Nashville. Roenicke needs some more options that don't have a >50% chance of blowing up on him.

Imo it's pretty clearly that Melvin & Roenicke feel they owe something to K-Rod for his performance last season. RR has said as much, and Doug always seems to be patient with players to a fault (and to be fair, it can also be a strength of his as a GM).

[The stache]

14 strikeouts against a team that is 40 games below .500, and was 3-24 since the break. The rest of the MLB teams facing the Astros are taking them out to the wood shed, yet we lose to them on back to back nights. Either it's the manager making boneheaded decisions, or it's the players not putting their best foot forward.

 

Or the Astros could have suddenly put it together. I'm guessing it's one of the first two options.

[The stache]

Who the heck do you think could manage this snakebit team any better? Even the great managers lose over 60 games virtually every year.

 

It's really Roenicke's fault that Estrada sucked tonight, the hitters were human windmills and couldn't hit in the clutch for crap when it really mattered, and the only good option in the 9th got used to hold a lead and then fared lousy in his 2nd inning?

 

The Brewers scored 5 runs tonight. Had 11 hits. The offense did enough tonight to beat a AAA team.

 

How many times has Henderson pitched two innings this year? He did his job in the 9th.

 

Roenicke is a big part of the problem. You're either not watching the games, or you're ignoring the dumb decisions he makes pretty much every single game.

 

Game 1 of the series, 1 out with a man on third in the 4th. Roenicke chooses to bunt--again--with Segura in what, his 4th major league game? Fifth? Segura pops up, and they double the guy off third. Inning over. There was zero reason to bunt there. Zero. yet Roenicke does it all the time. The Astros announcer said "you lose the element of surprise if you bunt all the time". A fly ball scores the run. A base hit scores the run. A ground out probably scores the run. If not, you have another chance to score the guy. That could have helped, since we lost by one run.

 

Roenicke also mismanages the bullpen. Henderson had closed out two games. So what does he do last night (with Henderson warm, and a 2 run lead?) He puts Axford out there, and Ax promptly blows it again. Ax has been off all year. What makes Roenicke think he's going to pitch any better in this situation? Henderson should have been in, and it would have likely been a win.

 

He brought Henderson in for the 9th facing the bottom 3 in the 'stros order. That would be the time to bring somebody else in. If another pen guy can't get the Astros' #7 and 8 hitters, and the pitcher out, they don't belong in the majors. Then bring in Henderson in the 10th.

 

Roenicke sticks with people too long. He can't make the tough decisions. That was evident in the post game presser last night, when he alluded to "Axford and Rodriguez deserving another shot because they did so much last year". Really? This is 2012. Those guys aren't performing anywhere near the level they did in 2011. If you keep getting burned by them, why do you keep going back to them? Get Melvin to bring somebody else up. DFA K Rod. Send Axford down. But don't tell me that he has no other options.

[dlk9s]

It happens. Teams have bad games/stretches. Below average teams like the Brewers have less margin for error. Sure, other teams have been beating the Astros, but keep in mind one of those teams was the Brewers just a couple weeks ago. It's not like this team is any different than a few days ago when we were smiling about them sweeping the Reds. They've had a couple bad losses and it's not like they got whipped in either of them.

 

Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, this season sucks. But there's nothing crazy going on. The Brewers relievers were bad in Game 1 and the hitters were bad in Game 2. Guess I just don't read too much into anything or get too upset about it. Our team isn't good. They lost to a bad team twice.

[dlk9s]

I do agree that RR calls for bunts too much.

 

As far as other things like going with K-Rod and Ax in Game 1 instead of Henderson, I really don't care. The season is for crap at this point. He wanted to see if they could get back in the groove. Whatever. He could've put Henderson in to see how he keeps doing in the closer role. Whatever. It doesn't matter at this point.

[The stache]

It's not just a bad team. The Astros of 2012 are an historically bad team. They are on a pace to lose almost 110 of 162 games. And they have been worse since the break. 3-24. A .111 winning percentage (at least before we came to town)/

 

Yes, the offense whiffed a lot tonight. But they scored 5 runs. That should have been enough against this putrid squad. The Astros hadn't won a home series since the end of May. They hadn't had a walk off win all season. We have given them two-in back to back nights. They hadn't won an extra innings game all season. They did tonight.

 

Just saying "the Brewers are having a bad stretch" is really diminishing how bad they are. And Roenicke's constant brain farts are a huge part of that problem. He doesn't understand how to manage a game. He takes too many stupid chances. He responds too slowly when making pitching changes. He sticks with players that are underperforming too long, and does not give players being called up (that are playing well at Nashville) ANY consistent playing time to establish themselves before they are sent back down.

[The stache]

As far as other things like going with K-Rod and Ax in Game 1 instead of Henderson, I really don't care. The season is for crap at this point. He wanted to see if they could get back in the groove. Whatever. He could've put Henderson in to see how he keeps doing in the closer role. Whatever. It doesn't matter at this point.

 

So we should just go out there playing at less than 100% because we're out of the race? That sets a great precedent. "I know you guys are earning millions, but it's ok to give a lesser effort because we're out of it. Never mind that Brewer fans are paying good money to come out and watch you. We don't need to try and win anymore."

[dlk9s]

As far as other things like going with K-Rod and Ax in Game 1 instead of Henderson, I really don't care. The season is for crap at this point. He wanted to see if they could get back in the groove. Whatever. He could've put Henderson in to see how he keeps doing in the closer role. Whatever. It doesn't matter at this point.

 

So we should just go out there playing at less than 100% because we're out of the race? That sets a great precedent. "I know you guys are earning millions, but it's ok to give a lesser effort because we're out of it. Never mind that Brewer fans are paying good money to come out and watch you. We don't need to try and win anymore."

 

No. In fact, I even said that I appreciate how hard the guys are still trying. It's just that I'm not going to get my jimmies rustled about what strategy the manager employs as this point (as long as there is some sense behind it - I'm not talking about starting Braun on the mound or something) because none of it really matters anymore. If Ax succeeds back in the closer's role, great, good for him. I like the guy. If Henderson does, great, good for him. He's come a long way.

 

I want the players to play hard and they have been. As long as the manager doesn't manage like he's on a hallucinogenic cocktail, I'm cool.

[dlk9s]

Just saying "the Brewers are having a bad stretch" is really diminishing how bad they are.

 

No. I said they were pretty bad. But a two-game losing streak, even to the worst team in MLB and even in heartbreaking fashion, isn't going to make me do this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/DiY9w.gif

 

It says nothing more about our team than we already knew. We're not too good.

[xisxisxis]

Imo it's pretty clearly that Melvin & Roenicke feel they owe something to K-Rod for his performance last season.

 

Seriously? It's called a salary. And what do they owe him for mouthing off about closing near the end of the year? It was pretty clear last off-season nobody wanted to touch him partly because of his attitude, yet we make the mistake of offering arby, and somehow the brewers owe him something. If either of them think we owe him something they should hit the pavement and look for a new job.

[endaround]

Not that hard to find that Henderson pitched 48 innings in 35 games in AAA. Also not hard to find that Henderson has serious command issues.