Brewers 2, White Sox 1
Brewers now 9-7 (3rd)
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For the second game in a row, the Brewers’ offense managed only four hits. Today, those four hits were just enough to win.
Mike Caldwell picked up where he left off. Coming off of a complete game shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays on April 22, Caldwell allowed only a run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings of work today. Though the one fifth inning run he allowed would prevent him from earning the win, he and Rollie Fingers kept the lid on Chicago’s offense long enough to allow the Brewers’ lineup to score one more run.
Remember when we were worried about Rollie after three lackluster appearances to start the season? Those were silly days. Fingers was never threatened on the mound, pitching 2 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only a hit and striking out three. Fingers, whose ERA has plummeted to 2.45, hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last four appearances. He’s surrendered only three hits in that span, covering 7 2/3 innings. Yes, Fingers is dominant again.
Luckily, the Brewers’ offense was efficient enough to reward the pitchers for such an effort. Ben Oglivie, whose bat has been silent for quite some time, struck first with a solo homer in the fourth off of Britt Burns. Small ball would eventually win the game in the seventh. Gorman Thomas led off the inning with a walk, and Don Money sacrificed him to second. With one down, Jim Gantner connected on his second hit to knock in the winning run.
The offense won’t always score handfuls of runs. It’s nice to know that, on a day like today, the pitching can be good enough to win when the offense struggles.
Game Notes: Rebounding from a two-error game, Jim Gantner had two of the Brewers’ four hits and drove in the winning run in the seventh … Ben Oglivie was 0-for-19 since his last home run before hitting a critical homer off of Britt Burns in the fourth … Larry Hisle wasn’t able to see a doctor about his eye twitch problem because he couldn’t get an appointment until May 5 … Mark Brouhard, who came into season as the starting right fielder, has played in only five games due to Charlie Moore’s strong play.