Dodgers 5, Brewers 4
It was a tough night on Wednesday. The Brewers did have their share of opportunities but came up short. Suppan struggled but managed to keep the Brewers in the game going 7 strong while only giving up 2 earned runs.
Villaneuva's pitches were up and he struggled no doubt. I'm not too worried about it though. Last night was why I thought they would send Carlos down to triple A. There's just something about young starting pitchers who are asked to come out of the bullpen that just doesn't work. We saw it last year with allot of our younger unproven pitchers. You need veterans in the bullpen. Young pitchers put so much pressure on themselves, they forget what got em there. Yost needs to find Carlos a softer spot to pitch in his next game, say with the Brewers having a commanding lead in order for him to regain his confidence.
The defense was solid again (0 errors in the first three games). The younger players pressed a bit offensively. Billy Hall wanted to be the hero and it showed. With Fielder on 2nd and nobody out, If he could have just drove the ball or gave himself up by trying to hit the ball to the right side, there is no question Estrada would have gotten Fielder home via a sac fly at the very least.
Like Yost said in his post-game interview, "They will learn from this". Hopefully, this does not become a re-occuring theme.
We won the series from a team picked by many to win the NL West. I'm happy about that. I don't want to see a let down this weekend.
First and foremost, welcome back guys. It's already a great season because we're watching baseball. Just wanted to throw you a quick overview what I saw in the series.
First, Ben Sheets was as good as they say he was. It's not always about movement of your pitches as much as it is the location, change in speeds and the deception of your delivery. Sheets commanded all of these things after the 3rd inning. I sat almost directly behind home plate and can attest that those pitches did have movement too. Once he got that curveball over a couple of times for strikes, it was over. The rest of the game was essentially perfect. Manufactured runs and 2-out RBIs are an immense plus for a team that never could get it done with 2 outs last year.
The Key already to the whole series though has been Mr. Estrada. What a stud! The guy is knocking the snot out of the ball and calling outstanding games, and somehow through it all is the unsung hero. Give the man props. The second game was all him and Mench doing the little things like giving up your at bat to push the runner over.... Hall needs to work on that one, especially since there wasn't anyone out.
Other than that, our staff looks great. I disagreed with Yost's decision yesterday to put Villanueva in with a 1 run lead in the 8th with a veteran pitcher like Dessens in the bullpen. Villanueva is a long reliever right now. Put him in there when your starter is struggling. he's not ready to keep games in tact or getting a big hold, which is weird because he can start with the best of the staff.
Keep it going guys and Go Crew!
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I still don't understand how Ned Yost can not call for a sac bunt with o outs and the tying run at 2nd base and your hottest hitter coming to the plate. Bill Hall is a good player but still tends to K to much for my liking and I would never confuse him for Albert Pujols so in my eyes no reason the bunt shouldn't happen in that situation. Ned has frustrated me more than this occasion when it comes to this situation. Also I can't believe nobody in the media brought up the fact that they didn't bunt in that situation and call out Ned at the press confernce and no mention by Uke that evening. Also no mention how Bill Hall once again tunes out for a play and gets picked off first when he is the tying run and nobody out that same game. I don't care if it looked like a balk you can't get picked off in that situation. I have always said that Bill Hall is a great player when he is trying to win a job but he makes dumb mistakes and trys to do too much when in a position of comfort. I lost respect for him last year when he dropped his bat after a called stike 3 and walked back to the dugout only to have Ned cover him and get tossed. If I was Ned he would've turned around and went back and picked up that bat and Tony Gwynn would've been my new centerfielder for awhile. Hopefully this is a wake up call for Billy and gets focused again for another 3 weeks before blowing up again.
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