2018-09-24: Brewers (Bullpen) at Cardinals (Flaherty) 7:15 PM CDT [Brewers win, 6-4 -- Lots of drama & a clutch W!]

[Eye Black]

[pre]Brewers Lineup Cardinals Lineup

1. CF Lorenzo Cain ® 1. 1B Matt Carpenter (L)

2. RF Christian Yelich (L) 2. RF José Martinez ®

3. 1B Jesús Aguilar ® 3. SS Paul DeJong ®

4. 2B Travis Shaw (L) 4. LF Marcell Ozuna ®

5. LF Ryan Braun ® 5. 3B Jedd Gyorko ®

6. 3B Mike Moustakas (L) 6. C Yadier Molina ®

7. C Manny Piña ® 7. CF Harrison Bader ®

8. SS Orlando Arcia ® 8. 2B Yairo Muñoz ®

9. P Dan Jennings (L) 9. P Jack Flaherty ®[/pre]

 

Link: Brewers Game Notes

 

 

Note: With a starter (or at least “opener”) yet to be named by the time of this posting, today’s IGT graphic is a tribute to the bullpen.

[YelichPosse]

The Brewers SP photo just made my day. So thank you. Big game tonight. As they are all at this point!

[Outlander]

That Brewers photo kind of scares me with Albers right in the middle.

[fondybrewfan]

Yeah get Barnes and Albers out of there and replace with Burnes and Guerra.

 

Get 2 innings each out of Hader, Burnes, and Guerra and then hopefully get to the finish line with Jeffress, Knebel, Soria.

 

Our best bullpen guys might be shot for the series though, so it would be nice if there was a comfortable win tonight so Counsell could use some other guys instead. Maybe Anderson can still give you 2-3 innings in there somewhere.

 

Flaherty has more or less owned us this year

[adambr2]

How critical is every single game this series? This critical:

 

Get swept - You're basically out of the running for WC1, as you trail St Louis by 1, minus the tiebreaker, with the Cubs likely having nothing left to play for against the Cards. Depending on what the Rockies do, your playoff life may be at risk entirely.

 

Take 1 of 3 - Still up a game on the Cards, but minus the tiebreaker. Need to match them in the last series to secure WC1, with again the Cubs likely having nothing to play for.

 

Take 2 of 3 - Likely out of realistic division contention, but WC1 is secure. Can probably think about resting guys in the last series.

 

Sweep - WC1 at minimum secure. May be in the division race, and have likely put pressure on both the Cubs and Cardinals to play out the last series.

[Pugger]

[pre]Brewers Lineup Pirates Lineup

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

6. 6.

7. 7.

8. 8.

9. 9.[/pre]

 

Link: Brewers Game Notes

 

 

Note: With a starter (or at least “opener”) yet to be named by the time of this posting, today’s IGT graphic is a tribute to the bullpen.

 

How come Corey is the only one not smiling here?

 

It is very interesting CC isn't letting Anderson start!

[MoreTrife]

I guess I missed it, why is it a bullpen game today?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I guess I missed it, why is it a bullpen game today?

 

Plenty of speculation mostly centered on Chase's propensity to give up early gopher balls, but they really haven't said for sure why they are going this route. I'm guessing Counsell sees this as a probable low-scoring game, and wants to play matchup and get an extra bat in the lineup. Both Guerra and Barnes have been terrific against the Cardinals, so it wouldn't surprise me to see either one of them get the nominal "start". Probably one inning for Barnes, and maybe 2 for Guerra if he's rolling, depending on when his spot comes up in the order.

[3and2Fastball]

I will be fascinated to see how Counsell uses the pitchers in this game, as I believe "pitching the bullpen" will be an increasingly frequent strategy for all MLB teams in future seasons... Lots of ways you can do this... It'll be "must see TV" for me

[sveumrules]

I will be fascinated to see how Counsell uses the pitchers in this game, as I believe "pitching the bullpen" will be an increasingly frequent strategy for all MLB teams in future seasons... Lots of ways you can do this... It'll be "must see TV" for me

 

Agreed. Rays used Romo as the opener on May 19. Since then they are 2nd in MLB in both ERA & wOBA allowed.

 

Was just checking out their team pitching stats. Only two guys over 100 IP, though Archer was at 96 before he was dealt.

[pacopete4]

Well I hope as they blow out their pen tonight that they win this game or it could be the start of a long week.

[shanedog19]

The initial out getter for tonight's game is...Dan Jennings.

[YelichPosse]

The initial out getter for tonight's game is...Dan Jennings.

 

This is supposed to be blue I hope...

 

Barf.

[wibadgers23]

There’s a million guys down in that bullpen to choose from and they go with Dan Jennings?

[82brewcrew82]

That's one way to keep from using him in a critical situation late.

[pacopete4]

Jesus, just pitch Anderson.

[shanedog19]

It just feels like Counsell is setting himself up big time for criticism/second-guessing, hope this works out for us.

[tmwiese55]

Because Carpenter is lefty to start the game. I figured since this was announced they'd start with Jennings or Cedeno. And I assumed Jennings because Cedeno is better and more capable of going a full inning later on. Wouldn't shock me if Jennings faced one batter.

 

I don't if whoever posted that was speculating or if that's for sure or not. But that's what i've been thinking the whole time.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

That's one way to keep from using him in a critical situation late.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. Jennings has actually been very good in non-critical spots this year. He should be fine for an inning or two, and it eliminates the urge for Counsell to go to him with 2 runners on in the 7th in a 2-1 game.

[dlk9s]

[fondybrewfan]

I'll admit I will find it hilarious if Jennings starts the game, they already have someone in the bullpen, and he pitches to one batter.

 

This might be a 4 hour game with all of the pitching changes.

[FVBrewerFan]

Mixed feelings. I like taking risks at this time of year, can't be afraid to make changes. At the same time, this seems a bit like trying to be too cute. Thing is, if Flaherty dominates us again it doesn't really matter. Better figure him out, because that's who they'll throw at us in the WC and home/away won't matter if he twirls a shut-out.

[long ball]

Couple thoughts on this bullpen game:

 

-This almost certainly wasn't Counsell's decision. This is certainly coming from the front office and Counsell will do his best to manage the game.

 

-Wouldn't surprise me if Jennings is pulled once he faces Carpenter. The only other lefty who will likely be in the line up for the Cards is Kolten Wong. Solid hitter, but likely batting near the bottom of the order. Cards might move Carpenter down in the line up a little (3rd or 4th) so that Jennings has to face a couple right handed batters.

 

-I'm interested to see if Anderson pitches at all in this game.

 

-This feels like the most difficult game of the series since Flaherty is starting for the Cards. He's dominated the Brewers this season and been very good overall.

 

-I wonder if they're "blueprinting" a way to beat the cards in a theoretical WC game and testing out their theory.

[owbc]

This game is a really good test run for the wildcard game/playoffs. I'm glad we're doing it now, especially in a game that we didn't have very good odds of winning anyway.

[Outlander]

Mixed feelings. I like taking risks at this time of year, can't be afraid to make changes. At the same time, this seems a bit like trying to be too cute. Thing is, if Flaherty dominates us again it doesn't really matter. Better figure him out, because that's who they'll throw at us in the WC and home/away won't matter if he twirls a shut-out.

Right, besides Jesus hitting the one home run against Flaherty in the season finale last year, the Brewers have not been able to do much of anything against him.