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This Date In Red Sox History: September 5 - Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, George Kottaras

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OAKLAND, CA: George Kottaras #14 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by Mike Gallego #3 of the Oakland Athletics after hitting his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning giving the Oakland Athletics a 20-2 lead over the Boston Red Sox at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California.  (Photo by Tony Medina/Getty Images)

Games of Note: Thanks to World War I, or, to be more historically accurate, the Great War, as it was known as the time, the 1918 baseball season was cut short. Because of this, the World Series began on September 5 that year, with the Red Sox playing the Cubs at Comiskey rather than what was then known as Weeghman Park -- the Wrigley name wouldn't come until later. Teams sometimes traded home parks for seating capacity purposes, with the Red Sox using the home of the Boston Braves rather than Fenway in previous World Series appearances.

As for the game itself, Babe Ruth scattered six hits without allowing a run, extending his scoreless streak in the World Series to 22 innings. The Cubs' Hippo Vaughn gives up just one run to Boston, but it's one too many, and the Sox take the first contest.

Skipping ahead a few years to 1921, to a time when Ruth is on the Yankees, we find the Red Sox and Bombers facing off in a Labor Day match-up. The Yankees record five outfield assists -- an American League record -- in the game, with outfielder Bob Meusel recording four of them on his own. Meusel will lead the AL in assists both this season and in the next, but the Red Sox take the game despite his efforts, 8-2.

Transactions: Boston receives the player to be named later in the David Wells trade of 2006, and it's catcher and then-prospect George Kottaras. Kottaras never played in the minors for Boston in 2006, with the season over, but he would stick with the organization from 2007 through 2009, when the Brewers would select him off of waivers that off-season. While Kottaras showed some patience and pop in Pawtucket, it didn't transfer to the majors while with Boston. Over the last two years, Kottaras has been a well above-average backstop, backing up for the Brewers and now the A's, who acquired him before this season's trade deadline.

It was a busy September day for the Red Sox back in 1940, as the club acquired Skeeter Newsome from the Athletics in exchange for Harold Sieling, and also picked up Mike Ryba from the St. Louis Cardinals, sending out Al Brazle in return. Newsome wouldn't put on a Boston uni until 1941, but stayed with the organization through the war years, until the Philadelphia Phillies purchased him after the 1945 campaign. Newsome was a utlity infielder, picking up playing time at second, short, and third, but wasn't much to behold with the bat. Newsome posted a combined 79 OPS+ with the Red Sox, though, to be fair to Newsome, that was far better than his career rate of 62.

Ryba would also join the 1941 Red Sox squad, and stuck with Boston until his career ended in 1946 at the age of 43. Ryba was successful with the Sox, starting 27 games and pitching in 183, posting a 105 ERA+ over 582 innings. Though he only started those 27 contests, Ryba had 10 complete games with the Sox, and finished 98 of the 156 games he relieved.


Fish Cap: Brewers 8, Marlins 4

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MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 04:  Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the Miami Marlins hits a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers at Marlins Park on September 4, 2012 in Miami, Florida.  (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)


Source: FanGraphs



Attendance: 23,403

Hero of the Game: Gorkys Hernandez (.192 WPA)

Goat of the Game: Mike Dunn (-.237 WPA)

Play of the Game: Norichika Aoki doubled to left (Fly). Nyjer Morgan scored (.237 WPA)

Marlins lose the second game of this four game series on Tuesday night. The bullpen gave this one up. The trio of Ryan Webb, Mike Dunn, and Carlos Zambrano failed to keep a one run lead in the top of the seventh. Then in the eighth, Chad Gaudin gives up a three run home run that put the game away for the Brewers. The star for Milwaukee in this one was Aoki who finished two for five with three RBI. Ryan Braun had two hits himself. The Marlins will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound on Wednesday night.

Another Homerun for Giancarlo

Slumping a bit, Stanton goes two for four on this night including a 436 feet home run in the forth inning. As I am sitting there watching the game, I could see the big guy make constant adjustments. And while his slump might have only lasted five games, there is still an outside chance he might be able to pass Ryan Braun for the home run title. We'll see.

Terrific Debut for Ramos

Earlier in the day, A.J. Ramos was called up from Double-A Jacksonville. He has been a dominant reliever for the Suns this year posting a 1.44 ERA in 55 appearances. He also led them in saves. Nevertheless, Ozzie brings him in to pitch the top of the ninth. Check out the part of the order he is facing: Weeks, Braun, Ramirez. Even if the game was out of reach for the Marlins (down four runs), you don't want to harm this young guy's confidence by feeding him to the wolves. Instead, Ramos strikes out the side! Weeks of the looking variety, and both Braun and Ramirez strike out swinging. Masterfully, he mows down three great hitters for the Brewers. Way to validate the club giving you a chance.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug: Brewer News, Links And Notes

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MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 04:  Aramis Ramirez #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers argues with the home plate umpire against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on September 4, 2012 in Miami, Florida.  (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Some things to read while panic sets in.

The Brewers evened up their series in Miami last night with an 8-4 win over the Marlins. We've got the recap, if you missed it.

The Brewer offensive production came from some unlikely sources last night as Norichika Aoki and Jeff Bianchi, who entered the game with a combined eight career home runs, each homered to account for five of the eight Brewer runs, and Aoki drove in another with a double. Here are Aoki and Bianchi's trot times and distances:

Hitter Distance Trot Time
Norichika Aoki 370 feet 23.27 seconds
Jeff Bianchi 377 feet 22.19 seconds

The pair of unlikely homers helped the Brewers overcome a rough outing from Shaun Marcum, who allowed four runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings and tied a Marlins Park record by allowing two home runs in the spacious new facility.

Other notes from the field:

The series continues tonight with Wily Peralta's first major league start, as he takes on Nathan Eovaldi at 6:10. Adam Rosenbloom has the MLB.com preview.

Peralta's performance tonight may help shape the plans for the starting rotation for the rest of September. Adam McCalvy reports that the organization is considering moving to a six-man rotation down the stretch to get more opportunities for pitchers while also keeping their inning count down.

Kameron Loe faced a single batter in last night's game and retired him on two pitches. Robert J. Baumann of NotGraphs' Leaderboards of Laziness* show that Loe is among the MLB leaders in fewest pitchers thrown per batter faced. Carlos Gomez and new former Brewer Cesar Izturis are also among the leaders in least pitches seen per plate appearance, and Rickie Weeks has one of baseball's lowest swing percentages.

* - Tongue-in-cheek, people.

It hasn't drawn a lot of attention lately but the Brewers have an interesting decision pending this winter regarding shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who has a team option on his contract for 2013. Gonzalez has been out since April with a torn ACL but joined the team yesterday and played catch on the field. If the organization decides to start Jean Segura in AAA in 2013 then Gonzalez could be an interesting veteran option.

In the minors:

  • Brewerfan.net has a look at the minor leaguers who will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter unless they're added to the 40 man roster. Notables include pitchers Hiram Burgos and Nick Bucci and outfielders Khris and Kentrail Davis.
  • While most of the Brewer affiliates have wrapped up their season Helena plays on for another week and beat Billings 11-5 last night. You can read more about that in today's Minor League Notes.
  • The season also continues for Wisconsin, who opens their three game playoff series in Burlington tonight. They'll be home tomorrow night and Friday (if necessary).
  • The Brewers' player development contract with AAA Nashville expires following this season and Nashville City Paper is reporting the organization wants to see progress on a new ballpark before renewing the deal. The reality is that the Brewers probably don't have many options even if they do decide to leave.
  • Congratulations are due out today to Brevard County third baseman Mike Walker, who was named Florida State League player of the week, Nashville pitcher Hiram Burgos, the Pacific Coast League's pitcher of the week, and Manatees pitcher Taylor Jungmann, the Brewer minor league pitcher of the month for August.
  • Seedlings to Stars has a look at the Brewers that will take part in the Arizona Fall League.

If you haven't yet, please take a moment today to vote in our BCB Tracking Poll. It will remain open through the day today and results will be posted tomorrow.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, I've got options for you today in the past and future:

Finally, congratulations are due out to Saberilliterate, yesterday's winner in our SB Nation Pick 6 contest. Today's games start at 11:35, so you're running out of time to get your picks in.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Placed pitcher Javy Guerra on the DL with an oblique strain.
Giants: Designated pitcher Eric Hacker for assignment.
Mariners: Designated outfielder Johermyn Chavez for assignment.
Padres: Designated pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and catcher Eddy Rodriguez for assignment.
Red Sox: Acquired catcher Guillermo Quiroz from the Mariners for cash.

I've already mentioned The Book Blog's Fans Scouting Report once in this space, but I wanted to bring it up again because there's still time to vote and help evaluate the Brewer defense. As of this writing 28 fans have voted on the Brewers. We can do better. Go do it now.

Every September we spend some time discussing Doug Melvin's complaints about expanded rosters, but this year something may actually be done about them: Scott Miller of CBS says MLB is discussing changing the rules.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 31st anniversary of Jim Slaton taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning in 1981. Today is also 1991 Brewer Candy Maldonado's 52nd birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 41 career HBP are the third most ever for a player born on September 5.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my pants are dirty again.

Drink up.

Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ryan Braun And The "856" Coincidence

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My day-to-day work here on the site frequently leads me off to Baseball Reference in search of a stat. B-Ref is phenomenal and almost always has what I'm looking for, plus some fascinating things I might never have otherwise noticed.

Here's my favorite thing I've found today, on the Brewer leaderboard for career games played:

Rank Player Games
1 Robin Yount 2856
2 Paul Molitor 1856
...
16 Ryan Braun 856

This is, of course, relevant to nothing. I just thought the symmetry was fascinating.

By appearing in 127 games this season Braun has passed Dave Nilsson (837), Bill Hall (831), Mark Loretta (796), Sixto Lezcano (785), George Scott (782), Jeromy Burnitz (782) and Jose Valentin (762) on the all time list and moved from 24th to 16th.

Braun won't climb any higher up the list this season: The next player in front of him is the still-active Rickie Weeks (891), and the next one after that is Greg Vaughn at 903.

Tonight's Matchup: Brewes (Peralta) at Marlins (Eovaldi)

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Wily Peralta works on his unimpressed Maroney face  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're looking for something to do while waiting for tonight's game, Kyle will be making his weekly appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM/AM 1570 The Score in Appleton at 4:25. - KL

Welcome to the real, official Wily Peralta Era with the Brewers. Sure, he pitched one inning in the majors already, but the next five weeks or so when Peralta takes over Mark Rogers' spot in the rotation will essentially decide Peralta's future with Milwaukee.

His numbers at AAA Nashville weren't great - he was7-11 with a 4.66 ERA over 28 starts. Last year in Nashville he averaged 11.61 K/9 and that's down to 8.78 this season. His BB/9 is up to 4.79 from 3.19 last season. Control has been an issue for him all season, though the end of the season was kinder to him than the beginning was (but not much).

Whether Peralta remains in the rotation will not only depend on how he pitches, but on how Tyler Thorburg fairs. The Brewers sort of threw Thornburg to the wolves when they pulled him up from AA Huntsville to make his major league debut. It will be interesting to see if he appears out of the bullpen or if he is the starter-in-waiting to take over if they shut down Mike Fiers or Peralta struggles. Thornburg's big problem is his tendency to be a fly-ball pitcher, so the most heartening statistic from his season is that his GO/AO doubled from AA to AAA.

On the other side, Nathan Eovaldi is 0-2 with a 2.77 ERA and 6 strikeouts in previous outings against the Brewers and has struggled to a 3-4 record in Miami. He was acquired by the Marlins from the Dodgers in the Hanley Ramirez trade.

Despite getting the loss in his last outing, it was the most promising one he'd had with the Marlins. He struggled in the start prior to that, lasting just three innings against his former club. Walks have been an issue for Eovaldi, but he gave up just one in seven innings against the Mets on Saturday.

However, seven of his last ten major league outings have gone 5.1 innings or less

Over at Fish Stripes last week they looked at Eovaldi's effectiveness and found some pretty skewed results:

Eovaldi, Pitch Zone% B/CS* Swing% Whiff%
Fastball 60.9 1.4 49.0 14.3
Slider 46.2 5.3 52.6 22.0

*B/CS represents balls to called strike ratio

The other pitches represented just 14 out of the 235 pitches he has thrown as a Marlins against righties, so the numbers broken down in this fashion would look too skewed to be useful.

And now, to compare, here is Eovaldi's work versus lefties.

Eovaldi, Pitch Zone% B/CS* Swing% Whiff%
Fastball 55.3 2.0 44.3 10.8
Slider 61.4 4.5 50.0 18.2
Curveball 62.2 1.5 40.0 16.7
Changeup 38.5 5.3 38.5 30.0
Cutter 55.0 3.5 55.0 9.1

In fact, let me just go ahead and point you over to Fish Stripes' breakdown of Eovaldi for all the information you could want on him that I am unequipped to provide for you.

Here's tonight's lineup:

Norichika Aoki RF
Rickie Weeks 2B
Ryan Braun LF
Aramis Ramirez 3B
Corey Hart 1B
Martin Maldonado C
Carlos Gomez CF
Jean Segura SS
Wily Peralta P

And in the bullpen:

Manny Parra pitched one inning (20 pitches) yesterday and also pitched on Sunday.
Livan Hernandez pitched 2.2 innings (36 pitches) Monday.
Brandon Kintzler pitched one inning (18 pitches) Monday.
Kameron Loe pitched 0.1 innings (2 pitches) yesterday.
John Axford pitched 0.1 innings (7 pitches) yesterday.
Jose Veras pitched 0.2 innings (22 pitches) yesterday.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (13 pitches) yesterday.
Tyler Thornburg started for Nashville and pitched 3.2 innings Sunday.
Josh Stinson started for Huntsville and pitched four innings Saturday.
Jim Henderson pitched one inning (18 pitches) yesterday.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug: Brewer News, Links and Notes Clawing Their Way Back To Relevance

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MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 11: Brandon Kintzler #53 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates with Jonathan Lucroy after the 5-0 win over the Atlanta Braves during the game at Miller Park on September 11, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

Some things to read while dusting off your guitar.

It took over four months but the Brewers are finally back to even, beating the Braves 5-0 last night to push their record to 71-71. Nicole has the recap, if you missed it.

A lot of the credit for last night's win belongs to Marco Estrada, who pitched 6.2 shutout innings and earned a position as one of Head & Shoulders' Mane Men. He was also The Platoon Advantage's pitcher of the night.

Norichika Aoki only had one hit last night but it was a big one, as his double drove home a run as the Brewers expanded their lead in the seventh. Aoki is now the second Brewer rookie ever to collect 30 doubles in a season, joining Pedro Garcia. J.P. Breen of Disciples of Uecker has a look at Aoki's recent hot streak, while Howie Magner wonders how the Brewers were the only team interested in signing him last offseason.

Meanwhile, can we talk for a second about Aoki's defense? MLB.com has video of his leaping catch to preserve a 1-0 lead last night, and BrewGIFs has a gif of his throw to nail Martin Prado at third base on Monday.

Aramis Ramirez had two hits last night, including a 445 foot home run to the Club Goodwill section in left. For the second straight day a Brewer event elicited a mug-worthy tweet from Rubie Q:

Mark Simon of ESPN has a heatmap showing Ramirez's performance in the second half.

Other notes from the field:

The series wraps up tonight with a sweep on the line as Yovani Gallardo takes on Paul Maholm at 7:10. Teddy Cahill has the MLB.com preview and noted leisured gentleman Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs gave tonight's matchup a four out of ten on his NERD scale. Joe Block notes that Gallardo is the MLB leader in innings pitched without a hit batsman in 2012.

As the Brewers look to beat the Braves again tonight they'll have their good luck charm behind the plate: Mike Vassallo notes that the Crew is 32-21 when Martin Maldonado starts at catcher, which is even more impressive when you consider he spent most of a month as Randy Wolf's personal backstop.

Yesterday's win pushed the Brewers one step closer to the near impossible: A returned-from-the-dead playoff appearance. Nate Petrashek pointed out that Coolstandings had the Brewer playoff chances below one tenth of a percent on August 25, but they're now back up to 4%. Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com is calling a Brewer playoff run "unlikely, but not impossible." Meanwhile, Joe Block posted a link to this set of postseason tiebreaker rules. David Pinto of Baseball Musings has the Brewers as one of five NL teams in his massive tie scenario.

I think this Adam McCalvy tweet says everything you need to know about the Brewers' recent change in relevance:

A Brewer playoff run probably becomes slightly more unlikely if Corey Hart needs to miss extended time. Hart was unavailable again last night with his foot injury and is being fitted for a special shoe to help ease the pain, which he described as "a ten." @Mass_Haas notes that Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz recently missed a month with a similar injury.

A month ago, before this Brewer team got hot, we all couldn't wait for 2013. The Brewers' recent play has lessened the urgency a bit, but I'll still be curious to see it when MLB unveils the 2013 schedule at noon today. Elsewhere in looks ahead, the Brewers have started selling tickets to this winter's "Brewers On Deck" event.

Brewers On Deck and the 2013 season may also be the next times we see Tyler Thornburg, as he's been called up for a week now but still hasn't appeared in a game. Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs has Thornburg among this season's Pacific Coast League leaders in his SCOUT stat.

In the minors:

Finally, congratulations are due out this morning to Badger Boy In Vail, yesterday's winner in our SB Nation Pick 6 contest. Here's the full leaderboard:

Rank Player Points
1 Badger Boy in Vail 95.3
2 kruejoe 59.5
3 5toolz 59.5
4 Foul Tip 53.2
5 Saberilliterate 52.6
6 Kid19 51.6
7 icecreamman 42.4
8 coachseibel 42.1
9 gobrew23 36.0
10 sjlee 33.4

Today's first game starts at 3:05, so there's still some time to get your picks in.

Around baseball:

Astros: Assistant GM David Gottfried will not return to the team next season.
Orioles: Designated pitcher Kevin Gregg and infielder Ryan Adams for assignment.

The Brewers could be one of dozens of teams looking to make a splash in free agency this winter with several question marks in their starting rotation, but Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk notes that we probably shouldn't expect too much from the market this winter, saying "there's a lot more money to be spent than quality players to spend it on."

Here's today's most interesting statistical note: The bottom four teams in the majors in strikeouts this season are the Royals, Twins, Indians and Phillies, and they're a combined 61 games under .500.

Today in former Brewers: Derek Jeter leads all of baseball with 192 hits this season, and has a chance to pass Paul Molitor for the most hits ever by a player age 38 or older. Molitor had 225 hits as a 39-year-old Twin in 1996.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks 1992 AL Rookie of the Year Pat Listach's 45th birthday. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also the 47th anniversary of Warren Spahn's 363rd and final major league win. Today also would have been Milwaukee native Fred Luderus' 127th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 45 career HBP are the most ever for a player born on September 12.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find my tag partner.

Drink up.

Brewers Release 2013 Schedule

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Miller Park opens for the 2013 season on April 1.

As of noon today the 2013 schedule became official, and you can see it here.

The Brewers will open the 2013 season on Monday, April 1 with a 1:10 matinee against the Rockies at Miller Park, their first of five home series (compared to four road series) in April. They'll open divisional play on their first road trip, playing three at Wrigley against the Cubs on April 8-10 and in St. Louis against the Cardinals on April 12-14.

MLB's new "interleague all the time" schedule format won't change anything for the Brewers until May. They host the Rangers for a two game set on May 7-8, play the Twins at home on May 27-28 and at Target Field on May 29-30, host the A's on June 3-5, travel to Houston on June 18-20, visit Seattle August 9-11 and host the Angels August 30-September 1.

The Crew's longest road trip of 2013 is a ten gamer that will take them to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St. Louis in May. They go to the west coast in April (Padres and Dodgers) and August (Giants, Mariners, Rangers).

The Brewers go 20 days without an off day from May 24 to June 12, June 25 to July 14 and September 10-29, their longest stretches of the season. Their only off days in July are the All Star break. They have four off days in April, three in May, three in June, four in August and two in September.

Here are the Brewer home/road splits by month:

Month Home Games Home Opponents Road Games Road Opponents
April 14 Rockies, Diamondbacks, Giants, Cubs, Pirates 12 Cubs, Cardinals, Padres, Dodgers
May 15 Pirates, Cardinals, Rangers, Dodgers, Pirates, Twins 13 Reds, Pirates, Cardinals, Twins, Phillies
June 13 Athletics, Phillies, Braves, Cubs 14 Phillies, Marlins, Reds, Astros, Pirates
July 13 Mets, Reds, Marlins, Padres 14 Nationals, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Cubs
August 12 Nationals, Reds, Cardinals, Angels 15 Giants, Mariners, Rangers, Reds, Pirates
September 14 Angels, Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Cardinals 13 Cubs, Cardinals, Braves, Mets

Angels 2013 Schedule

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Who here will be here next year?

The Angels 2013 schedule has been released!

This is not an April Fool's Joke: The Cincinnati Reds host us for an interleague Opening Day game on April 2. April also features our first-ever non-interleague games with new division rival the Houston Astros. In fact this is the first schedule I can recall in a long time where we play games with every division opponent in April.

Angels-april-2013_medium

In May, 2013 the Angels have sixteen home games, with the added feature of playing two away games at Dodger Stadium before hosting the Dodgers for two in a four-game away/home interleague series.

Angels-may-2013_medium

June sees the visiting Cubs and Yankees enriching season ticket scalpers as well as three interleague games against the Pirates...

Angels-june-2013_medium

In July, the All-Star break is a week late and we have two road games at Wrigley Field and host the Cardinals interleague games including the 4th of July!

Angels-july-2013_medium

In August the four-game road trip to play the Yankees in the Bronx will be a hot and humid challenge and a road interleague series against the Brewers takes us back to Miller Park where we played the Indians in 2008 after they were snowed out.

Angels-august-2013_medium

We play Tampa Bay and Toronto but you cannot argue finishing the season with the final sixteen games against division opponents as well as 20 of the final 23 game of the year against the West.

Angels-september-2013_medium

October is To Be Determined of course...

Poll
2013 Interleague Opponent Visiting Anaheim You Are Most Excited About:

  330 votes | Results


The New York Mets 2013 Schedule Has Been Released

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Photo

The 2012 season isn't yet in the books, but already some Mets fans are looking ahead to 2013. If you fit that description, today's release of the 2013 schedule with be worth a few minutes of your time. The full schedule is available on the Mets official website, and we'll highlight some key dates for you here.

The Mets will open their season on April 1, at home against the San Diego Padres. They'll finish the season at home as well, closing 2013 with a 4-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. It will mark the first season since 2010 in which the Mets have both opened and closed their season at home.

The Mets will play 17 interleague games next season*. Interleague opponents will include Minnesota away, the Royals at home, Cleveland away, and both the White Sox and Yankees home and away. The Mets first interlegue series will be a trip to Minnesota April 12-14, and their last series will be the Indians September 6-8. The Yankees are always a hot ticket, and they will visit Citi Field May 27 and May 28. The Mets will head across town to the Bronx on May 29 and May 30. The two New York clubs will meet only four times next season unless they meet again for a best of seven to close out 2013.

*They actually play 20, I missed the Tigers coming to town in late August when I first looked over the schedule. No DH for that one, that could be pretty fun...

The Mets will play each of their divisional opponents 19 times apiece next season. You can find the sortable Mets schedule for next season here, it will be a bit easier for you to check out our divisional foes using that. The Mets won't play the Houston Astros next season, as the Astros are moving to the AL West and will not face the Mets in interleague play.

There's one other key date on the Citi Field schedule, and that would be the 2013 All-Star game. The Mets will be hosting the Midsummer Classic on July 16.

Tonight's Matchup: Brewers (Gallardo) vs Braves (Maholm)

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MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 11: Rickie Weeks #23 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates with Ryan Braun #8 after hitiing a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st inning against the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park on September 11, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Tonight we'll also be monitoring Game 1 of the Midwest League Championship Series as Wisconsin takes on Fort Wayne. Look for the Timber Rattlers Notebook over in the FanPosts starting around 6. - KL

The Brewers have a chance tonight to win their ninth consecutive home game and complete a series sweep of the Braves.

They'll go for it with Yovani Gallardo (3.76 ERA, 3.89 FIP) on the mound, and it's hard to imagine a better candidate. Gallardo needs 26 more strikeouts this season to set a new career high, and has roughly four more starts to get there. He picked up six K's against the Cardinals in Friday, when he allowed two runs on six hits over six innings.

Even when Gallardo doesn't pitch well, the Brewers are pretty good in his starts. They haven't lost a game with him on the mound since July 26, nine starts ago. His eight consecutive starts in a Brewer win are tied for the seventh longest streak in franchise history:

Pitcher Season Starts
Mike Caldwell 1979 11
Jeff D'Amico 2000 10
Steve Woodard 1999 10
Cal Eldred 1992 10
Bob McClure 1983 9
Pete Vuckovich 1981 9
Yovani Gallardo and 5 others 8

Gallardo has faced the Braves six times in his career, but this is the first time in 2012. Six current Braves have faced him ten times or more:

Player PA AVG OBP SLG OPS
Michael Bourn 30 .407 .448 .444 .893
Martin Prado 16 .200 .250 .267 .517
Dan Uggla 16 .267 .313 .267 .579
Chipper Jones 15 .273 .400 .545 .945
Brian McCann 15 .154 .267 .308 .574
Lyle Overbay 12 .200 .333 .200 .533

Tonight he'll face familiar foe Paul Maholm (3.67 ERA, 4.13 FIP) for the first time since his trade deadline move from the Cubs to the Braves. This is Maholm's eighth start for Atlanta, and he's posted a 3.48 ERA while striking out 38 batters over 44 innings since joining the Braves. He pitched 5.1 shutout innings against the Mets in a 3-0 win on Friday.

If you haven't seen Maholm before, get ready to see a lot of sliders. FanGraphs says he's throwing the pitch over 30% of the time in 2012, while using his fastball just 42% of the time. He'll also throw a changeup and curve pretty consistently.

Maholm faced the Brewers twice as a Cub earlier this season and got roughed up, allowing a combined ten runs on 12 hits over just eight innings. Five current Brewers have faced him ten times or more:

Player PA AVG OBP SLG OPS
Corey Hart 56 .333 .411 .646 1.057
Rickie Weeks 55 .182 .345 .205 .550
Ryan Braun 45 .351 .422 .514 .936
Aramis Ramirez 44 .244 .295 .439 .734
Carlos Gomez 18 .412 .444 .706 1.150

Here's tonight's lineup:

Norichika Aoki RF
Rickie Weeks 2B
Ryan Braun LF
Aramis Ramirez 3B
Jonathan Lucroy C
Travis Ishikawa 1B
Carlos Gomez CF
Jeff Bianchi SS
Yovani Gallardo P

And in the bullpen:

Jim Henderson pitched .1 innings (4 pitches) last night, and also pitched on Monday.
Brandon Kinzler pitched one inning (18 pitches) last night.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (11 pitches) last night.
Jose Veras pitched one inning (20 pitches) Monday.
John Axford pitched one inning (11 pitches) Monday.
Manny Parra and Kameron Loe last pitched on Sunday.
Livan Hernandez last pitched on Saturday.
Josh Stinson last pitched on Thursday.
Tyler Thornburg is trapped inside the bullpen suitcase and last pitched on Sunday, September 2.

Brewers Sweep Braves, Back Above .500 With 8-2 Win

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MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 12: Yovani Gallardo #49 of the Milwaukee Brewers arrives at second base with a double in the bottom of the 5th inning scoring Travis Ishikawa against the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park on September 12, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

WP: Yovani Gallardo (15-8)
LP: Paul Maholm (12-10)

HR: Rickie Weeks (19), Jason Heyward (26)

MVP: Rickie Weeks (+.310)
LVP: Ryan Braun (-.035)

Win Expectancy Graph, Star of the Game Voting, and Box Score

Before I start the recap tonight, I just want to take a minute and reflect on what the Brewers have done lately.

- They have not only won their last three home series; they swept all three of them.
- They have also swept five of their last six home series.
- Since losing a series at home to Washington, the Brewers are 17-2 at home. They are also 22-7 at home since the All-Star break and 33-15 at home since the start of June.
- Gallardo has not lost a decision since July 26 against the Nationals (7 Wins, 2 No Decisions), and the Brewers have not lost any of those games.
- The Brewers are above .500 for the first time since April 12, when they were 4-3.

So, let's start off the recap by answering the question that you all are desperately looking for an answer for. What did the Brewers give Chipper Jones as a gift for his final appearance at Miller Park? The answer: a grill with tools and a year's supply of sausage. I hope Chipper has a big freezer at home. The Brewers fans treated him well, giving him a standing ovation during his final at-bat at Miller Park.

Let's not forget that the Brewers played a game tonight. It didn't start out well, as the Braves got a 2-0 lead early. They got on the board right away in the top of the first thanks to a Jason Heyward home run, and extended it to 2-0 when Dan Uggla grounded into a double play, allowing Chipper Jones to score from third.

However, the big inning was the Brewers friend again today. Jeff Bianchi reached on an error and Yovani Gallardo bunted him over. Norichika Aoki followed him with a single, then Rickie Weeks hit a three-run home run to give the Brewers the lead at 3-2. The Brewers would not stop there, as Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez got on base after that. Jonathan Lucroy had an RBI single to make it 4-2, then Logan Schafer (who came on after Carlos Gomez got injured) walked to load the bases. Travis Ishikawa scored them all with an RBI double, and then scored himself thanks to an RBI double from Yovani Gallardo. After the inning was done, thirteen batters had come to the play and the Brewers were up 8-2. That was where the score would stay.

Yovani Gallardo had some trouble early but, once again, gave the Brewers what they needed. He allowed two runs over seven innings, allowing four hits and three walks but striking out six. Jose Veras pitched a clean eighth inning, and Kameron Loe allowed a couple of baserunners but pitched a scoreless inning as well. Meanwhile, Paul Maholm's struggles against the Brewers continued. He had allowed ten runs in eight innings against the Brewers this year, and allowed another eight runs in 4.1 innings tonight (that's a 13.14 ERA).

It's hard to believe, but the Brewers are only three games back in race for the second Wild Card. Today, the Cardinals lost to the Padres 3-2, and the Pirates lost to the Reds 2-1. The Phillies did defeat the Marlins 3-1 to remain tied with the Brewers, and the Dodgers are currently leading against the Diamondbacks 2-1.

The Brewers get an off day tomorrow before starting a series against the Mets on Friday. Jon Niese faces off against Mike Fiers to start the series.. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

Maholm Shelled Again, Braves Swept By Brewers With 8-2 Loss

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For the second time in his last three starts, Paul Maholm was on the receiving end of an ugly drubbing. The Milwaukee Brewers scored all eight of their runs in the fifth inning, handing the Braves an 8-2 loss to complete a three-game sweep.

The game actually started out well for Atlanta. Jason Heyward crushed a 3-0 fastball from Yovani Gallardo down the right field line for his 26th home run of the year. Heyward made his presence felt again in the bottom of the third, making a leaping catch in front of the right field wall to rob Ryan Braun of what might have been a two-run homer.

Chipper Jones drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and came around to score Atlanta's second run when Dan Uggla hit into a double play, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead. Chipper, though, would be a contributor to yet another nightmare inning.

Leading off the fifth, Milwaukee's Jeff Bianchi hit a ground ball toward Chipper, but the ball was bobbled long enough for Bianchi to reach safely. After a sacrifice, Norichika Aoki reached base on an infield single with one out before Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer to right to give Milwaukee the lead, but that was just the beginning of the mess. Three straight hits led to another run and after a walk loaded the bases, Travis Ishikawa lined a bases-clearing double to right. Maholm was finally relieved after giving up six hits, but Cristhian Martinez gave up a run-scoring double to Gallardo. 13 Brewers stepped to the plate in the inning; seven in a row reached base.

Heyward's homer was the first of two hits in the first inning, but Atlanta managed only three hits the rest of the way.

Brewers 8, Braves 2: Tonight's Turning Points

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We're only going to do the top five, because the points after the top five drop off incredibly fast.

1) Rickie Weeks' Three Run Home Run in the Fifth Inning: +.322 WPA

This was by far the biggest play in the game. With Jeff Bianchi and Norichika Aoki on base, he sent a home run out to right center to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

2) Jason Heyward's Solo Home Run in the First Inning: +.104 WPA

The Braves got an early lead thanks to this solo home run in the first inning, giving them a 1-0 lead.

3) Jonathan Lucroy's RBI Single in the Fifth Inning: +.094 WPA

After the home run from Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez got on base and were on first and second when Jonathan Lucroy came to the plate. He hit a single to score Braun and give the Brewers a 4-2 lead.

4) Freddie Freeman Singles in the Fourth Inning: +.091 WPA

Chipper Jones walked to start the inning, then Freddie Freeman singled to put runners on first and third. At this point, the game was 1-0 and the Braves were threatening a big inning to blow the game open themselves.

4) Travis Ishikawa's Bases-Clearing RBI Double in the Fifth Inning: +.091 WPA

The Brewers had a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning and the bases loaded when Travis Ishikawa came up to bat. His bases-clearing double blew the game wide open for the Brewers as they turned a 4-2 lead into a 7-2 blowout.

Here's the win expectancy graph:


Source: FanGraphs

Stat of the Night: The Quality Start Record

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Sept 12, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA;   Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo (49) stands at 2nd base after hitting a double to drive in a run in the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park.  Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

While Yovani Gallardo may not be as flashy as some of the other pitchers out there, he will usually keep the Brewers in the game. Tonight's start was his 24th quality start of the season. He's only three quality starts away from the Brewers record for quality starts in a season. Here is a list of the season leaders:

Player Season Quality Starts
Marty Pattin 1971 26
Teddy Higuera 1986 26
Mike Caldwell 1978 25
Chris Capuano 2006 25
Teddy Higuera 1988 24
Doug Davis 2004 24
Ben Sheets 2004 24
Yovani Gallardo 2012 24

With 3-4 starts left this season (depending on if Ron Roenicke decides to manipulate the pitching schedule), he will have a chance to either tie or break the record this year. With the Brewers in a hot playoff race for the second wild card spot, they will need every quality start they can get to make this happen.

Today In Brewer History: Happy Anniversary, Teddy Higuera

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September transactions aren't usually all that notable: a waiver claim here, a release there. But on this day in 1983 the Brewers made a move that certainly counts as the exception to that rule.

29 years ago today the Brewers purchased the contract of 25-year-old pitcher Teddy Higuera from Ciudad Juarez of the Mexican League. A year later Higuera dominated AA, and in 1985 he pitched in the majors for the first time and finished second to Ozzie Guillen in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

All told, Higuera pitched in 213 games over nine seasons with the Brewers with a 3.61 ERA and won 94 games, the third highest total in franchise history.

(h/t to Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times)

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:


Prognostikeggers 2012 - Week 23: Brewers @ Nationals

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Good morning everyone. You'll notice that the post for today is a bit short. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling well this morning and am not feeling well enough to get the scoring together. Hopefully this won't cause a problem for you. Here's the new entry forms, and I'll have a full week of scoring for you on Tuesday. Thanks for understanding.

(Click here to view the rules for Prognostikeggers, and click here to view the official rules for the prize giveaway for Pick 6 and Prognostikeggers. All participants are subject to the official rules.)

Extra Prediction for the Series: Predict the number of pitches thrown by both teams in the game. If you are within 20 pitches of the actual total, you will get 1 point. If you are within 10 pitches, you will get 2 points. If you predict the exact number of pitches, you will get 4 points.

Entry Forms

September 21 - Shaun Marcum vs. Edwin Jackson
Click here to enter your predictions
Predictions lock at 6:05 PM CDT
Click here to view all predictions

September 22 - Wily Peralta vs. Gio Gonzalez
Click here to enter your predictions
Predictions lock at 12:05 PM CDT
Click here to view all predictions

September 23 - Yovani Gallardo vs. Chien-Ming Wang
Click here to enter your predictions
Predictions lock at 12:35 PM CDT
Click here to view all predictions

September 24 - Marco Estrada vs. Jordan Zimmermann
Click here to enter your predictions
Predictions lock at 12:05 PM CDT
Click here to view all predictions

Minor League Prospect Report: Hiram Burgos, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

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Minor League Prospect Report: Hiram Burgos, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

One of the best pitchers in the minor leagues in 2012 was Hiram Burgos of the Milwaukee Brewers system. Pitching at three levels (High-A Brevard County, Double-A Huntsville, Triple-A Nashville), Burgos went 10-4, 1.95 ERA with a 153/49 K/BB ratio in 171 innings, allowing only 128 hits. You don't see him on many prospect lists, so let's change that and see what the Brewers have here.

Born in Puerto Rico, Hiram Burgos was a consistently successful pitcher for three years at Bethune-Cookman College. He had a poor freshman season in '06, but emerged as the staff ace and rotation anchor with a fine sophomore season in '07, an outstanding '08 (1.57 ERA), and a solid '09. The Brewers drafted him in the sixth round that spring, a budget-oriented pick with a bonus of just $15,000. It looks like they got good value.

Burgos scuffled initially, posting a 5.62 ERA and allowing 75 hits in 58 innings for Helena in the Pioneer League, although his K/BB was good at 53/14. He split 2010 with a repeat performance at Helena (2.37 ERA, 48/5 K/BB in 38 innings) and Low-A Wisconsin, where he threw strikes but did not dominate. In '11 he made 22 starts for High-A Brevard County and did not distinguish himself, posting a 4.89 ERA with an 80/39 K/BB and 142 hits in 120 innings.

He wasn't on the radar as anything more than an organization arm entering '12. Returning to Brevard County, he posted an 0.87 ERA with a 41/6 K/BB in 41 innings and allowed just 21 hits. Promoted to Double-A Huntsville, he had few problems against better competition and posted a 1.94 ERA with a 77/28 K/BB with 68 hits allowed in 83 innings. Even bumping up to Triple-A Nashville and the Pacific Coast League only slowed him down slightly, resulting in a 2.91 ERA with a 35/15 K/BB and 39 hits in 46 innings. It's been an outstanding campaign.

Burgos is a 6-1, 210 pound right-hander, born August 4, 1987 in Cayey, Puerto Rico. As you may surmise, he doesn't have exceptional velocity, working at 88-91 MPH. The fastball plays up, however, due to the contrast with his wide array of secondary pitches. He has a very good curveball, but also uses a changeup, cutter, and traditional slider. His pitching patterns aren't predictable and he does a good job keeping hitters off-balance. You can see his delivery about 18 seconds into that highlight video.

Scouts tend to be suspicious about pitchers like this, and with good reason: the tricks that work in A-ball don't always work in the high minors or majors. But sometimes they do, and Burgos has made a lot of progress this year, developing his command from "good" to "excellent." The Brewers aren't afraid to give guys like this a shot if they deserve it, and Burgos performed well enough this season to be in the roster picture for '13, as four/five starter or a relief asset. Keep an eye on him.

Playoff Optimism Is Back In This Week's Tracking Poll

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This week's poll was open from Monday at noon through Tuesday, and received 295 responses. Here are some notable results:

  • 78% of voters now think the Brewers can make the playoffs, compared to 30% a week ago.
  • 82% of voters think Ryan Braun should be the NL MVP, but the same number think he won't be.
  • 61% of voters think Wily Peralta should get an opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation next spring, but just 37% think he's already won one.
  • Winning cures all ills: Ron Roenicke's approval rating is up 16% this week, to 80. Rick Kranitz's is up 28%.

Follow the jump for the full results.

What should the Brewers do with Wily Peralta in 2013?
Response Votes %
Start him in the rotation. 108 37%
Bring him to spring training to compete for a spot in the rotation. 181 61%
Keep him in the bullpen. 0 0%
Have him start the year in AAA. 4 1%
Undecided 2 1%

Do you think Ryan Braun SHOULD win the NL MVP Award?

Response Votes %
Yes 242 82%
No 22 7%
Undecided 30 10%

Do you think Ryan Braun WILL win the NL MVP Award?

Response Votes %
Yes 20 7%
No 242 82%
Undecided 33 11%

Do you approve of the job Doug Melvin is doing as General Manager of the Brewers?

Response Votes % Prev Diff
Yes 278 94% 90% +4%
No 9 3% 6% -3%
Undecided 8 3% 4% -1%

Do you approve of the job Ron Roenicke is doing as Manager of the Brewers?

Response Votes % Prev Diff
Yes 237 80% 64% +16%
No 35 12% 22% -10%
Undecided 23 8% 13% -5%

Do you approve of the job Rick Kranitz is doing as Pitching Coach of the Brewers?

Response Votes % Prev Diff
Yes 199 67% 39% +28%
No 39 13% 36% -23%
Undecided 57 19% 25% -6%

Do you approve of the job Johnny Narron is doing as Hitting Coach of the Brewers?

Response Votes % Prev Diff
Yes 226 77% 65% +12%
No 22 7% 15% -8%
Undecided 47 16% 20% -4%

Do you think this Brewer team can still make the playoffs?

Response Votes % Prev Diff
Yes 230 78% 30% +48%
No 46 16% 64% -48%
Undecided 19 6% 6% n/c

Brewers Acquire Yorvit Torrealba from Toronto

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Sep 5, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays catcher Yorvit Torrealba (8) bats against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays beat the Orioles 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

Breaking news for the Brewers. Tom Haudricourt just tweeted the following.

acquire C Yorvit Torrealba from Toronto for cash considerations. Will join club Saturday.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) September 21, 2012

Torrealba is batting .233/.297/.339 in 59 games between Texas and Toronto in 2012 with 4 HR and 14 RBI. He was released by Texas on August 8th and signed with Toronto August 14th.

We will update this post with more details as we get them.

Edit: Haudricourt has some quotes from Roenicke on the move. It's all about having a third catcher to give him flexibility if he wants to use Lucroy or Maldonado as a pinch hitter. It's not related to Hart's injury.

You can see the quotes from RR behind the JSOnline paywall here.

Yorvit Torrealba Traded To Milwaukee Brewers

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Yorvit Torrealba   (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

I put this up as a fan shot, but that had Yorvit Torrealba traded for cash, the official announcement from the Blue Jays says 'a player to be named later or cash'.

In 10 games as a Blue Jay Yorvit hit .214 average with one home run and two RBI. In 12 seasons he has a .258 average with 56 home runs and 323 RBI.

I'm sure the PTBNL won't turn out to be anyone terribly exciting. Nice for Yorvit to go to a team in the race for the final few games of the season.

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