Dennis Eckersley

Pitching Fails, Brewers Lose

Red Sox 9, Brewers 4
Brewers now 94-64 (1st by 3.0 games)
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Jim Slaton wasn't his reliable self in a spot start.

BOSTON — Needing a win and an Orioles loss to clinch the AL East on Thursday, the Brewers didn’t have it as the Red Sox took the series finale. Not the timely hitting, not the pitching. No champagne.

Yet.

Jim Slaton, who has been a reliable all-purpose pitcher for the Brewers all season long, found himself in a constant jam. He yielded three singles in the first, but managed to escape without allowing a run thanks to a well-timed double play. Two more runners were stranded in the second before the Red Sox broke through in the third.

With two down and a runner on first, the sure-handed Robin Yount muffed an easy Carney Lansford grounder that should have ended the inning. Rookie Wade Boggs, looking nothing like a rookie, stroked a double off of the Green Monster to plate Jim Rice and give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.

Things only got uglier for Slaton, who surrendered two more runs before being replaced by Jamie Easterly.

[Note: Do you know how we Brewers fans can all save some time and energy? As soon as we see Jamie Easterly on the mound, we know the game’s over. Grab a beer. If you aren’t of age, refill your sippy cup. He’s made 12 appearances since the start of June, 10 of which ended in a loss. Easterly tends to be the mop-up guy when the Brewers throw in the towel. And if the Crew is still in the game and Easterly is on the mound? We can expect he’ll lose it.]

Once Easterly allowed another of Slaton’s runners to score, it was a 4-0 Boston lead. Pitching was rough, but we can always rely on Harvey’s Wallbangers to keep the Crew in the game, right? Boston pitcher Dennis Eckersley had other ideas. I’m not sure what those ideas were, but they didn’t include our favorite players stepping on home plate.

They “hit” fine, I guess. The Brewers did manage 12 hits on Eckersley. The problem was they didn’t walk once and they were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

On this night, it would not matter. The Brewers bullpen, which has been the team’s Achilles’ heel since all-world closer Rollie Fingers went down, rolled over once again. A combination of Moose Haas, Pete Ladd, Dwight Bernard and Bob McClure surrendered five runs in three innings. Each pitcher allowed at least a run, a sight that has become far too common.

[Note #2: Brewers fans have to ask an important question. Let’s say the Brewers actually do make it to the playoffs. Let’s say Rollie Fingers never makes a miraculous comeback. What makes any of us think that this team can routinely hold leads late in games without Fingers? No late reliever has proven to be reliable in his place. Unless Sutton, Vuckovich and Caldwell can pitch complete games every time out, we’re screwed!]

Sure, the Brewers scored four runs on five consecutive hits (highlighted by two-run homers by Paul Molitor and Cecil Cooper) in the eighth, but by then the game was far out of reach.

“It would have been nice to take it tonight,” third baseman Paul Molitor said. “But it also will be nice to go against [the Orioles] head to head. After the way they took two of three from us last weekend in Milwaukee, it will be a lot more satisfying to go in there and see the whites of their eyes and take it away from them.”

That’s one way to look at it, I guess.

The Brewers had the champagne chilled and ready in the event the Crew won and Orioles lost. It didn’t happen. The champagne will have to make the trip to Baltimore.

“Don’t worry,” said traveling secretary Tommy Ferguson. “We bought good champagne, it won’t go stale.”

No champagne tonight. No resting the starters in Baltimore. Another day of stress for the fans back in Milwaukee.

AL East Update: The Orioles kept the pressure on by overcoming a three-run, eighth inning deficit to the Tigers on Thursday night. They scored three of their comeback runs with two outs. Had the Orioles failed to win, their only chance would have been a four-game sweep of the Brewers for a tie. Now the Brewers must win one game in Baltimore to clinch.

Rollie Fingers Update: Fingers was unable to throw prior to today’s game due to a stiff forearm. Asked if his star reliever would be available for any of the games in Baltimore, manager Harvey Kuenn said simply, “I doubt it.”

Oglivie’s Clutch Homer Gives Brewers Life

September 20 Leave a Comment

Brewers 4, Red Sox 3 (11)
Brewers now 90-60 (1st by 2.0 games)
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1982 Fleer Ben Oglivie — Ben Oglivie's last gasp home run in the ninth gave the Brewers life.

MILWAUKEE — For 8 2/3 innings and 83 pitches, Dennis Eckersley dominated the Milwaukee Brewers. But then, with a 3-2 lead and an 0-2 count…

“With two strikes I had to swing at anything close,” Ben Oglivie said of his ninth inning at bat. “I was looking for hard stuff. He got me out the other three times up that way.”

Oglivie guessed right. Eckersley dealt him a high fastball that Benji smacked into the right field bleachers to tie the game at three.

“This would have to be one of my biggest moments as far as the team… It has to be one of the greatest moments for me.”

Of course, had the Brewers lost in extra innings, Oglivie’s heroics would have been simply a footnote.

Robin Yount started the 11th by beating out an infield single. Cecil Cooper then singled to right to put runners at first and second with no outs. Third base coach Harry Warner then gave Ted Simmons the bunt sign. It would be Simmons’ first sacrifice bunt of the season.

“It was a hell of a bunt,” Warner said. “Boggs was playing behind Coop at first. The whole team thought he was going to hit.”

After Simmons’ surprise sacrifice bunt, the Red Sox intentionally walked Ben Oglivie to load the bases and set up a double play opportunity with Gorman Thomas at the plate.

“He’s got the best sinker in the league,” Thomas said of Red Sox reliever Bob Stanley. “Last thing I wanted to do was hit it on the ground.”

Thomas was able to hit a fly ball to left to score Yount with the winning run.

It was a classic Pete Vuckovich game. He regularly got himself into and out of trouble. The Red Sox stranded nine runners, but were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and grounded into an astounding five double plays. Vuckovich pitched all 11 innings for his 18th win in 22 decisions.

“Anytime you win one it’s a big one,” Thomas said. “But because there are only so many left (12 games), they seem so much bigger.”

Every win does seem big right now, particularly with Baltimore winning seemingly every night. They won yet again, taking the Tigers 3-1 to remain two games back of the Crew.

Game Notes: Charlie Moore extended his hitting streak to 12 games and Cecil Cooper to 14 games. … Paul Molitor, who hit .429 with three homers, two triples, nine RBI, 25 total bases and 11 runs scored, was named AL Player of the Week.

NL Dominates AL Again

July 13 Leave a Comment

National League 4, American League 1
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MONTREAL — Considering the Brewers were represented in this year’s All-Star Game by four players (Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie and Rollie Fingers), you’d think that at least one of them would provide us with some juicy memories.

Nope.

Instead, it was yet another relatively easy win for the National League, knocking off the American League for the 11th straight time and 19th of the last 20. It’s not even fair.

I could put you to sleep with details of Brewers exploits. Yount went 0-for-3 with a walk, but struck out to end the AL’s first inning rally with runners on first and third. Cecil Cooper recorded his first All-Star hit in that same first inning, but it was a soft chopper for an infield single. Ben Oglivie had one at bat and flied out to right. Rollie Fingers pitched a scoreless eighth, but allowed two hits.

Snore. At least this game didn’t matter.

After the AL took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Reggie Jackson that scored Rickey Henderson, the NL struck back with a two-out, two-run home run by All-Star Game MVP Dave Concepcion over the left field fence off of Dennis Eckersley.

“It was a slider up and in and I don’t think it broke,” said Concepcion. “I was able to hit it really good.”

Indeed. While the two runs were all the NL would need, they scored another on a sac fly… in the….

…snore…

I’m sorry. This is just getting to be such a tired story. Nineteen times in the last 20 games? Eleven in a row? Give me a freaking break. I’m tired of hearing about it. I’m tired of writing about it. It’s painful to watch.

“All of this stuff about the National League being better will probably come up again next year,” said Yount. “Hopefully, I’m here to listen to it.”

Hopefully.

Brewers Cooled off by Eck

July 4 Leave a Comment

Red Sox 4, Brewers 1
Brewers now 44-33 (2nd)
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Mike Caldwell was good, but not good enough to be Dennis Eckersley.

MILWAUKEE — There can’t be many complaints about the Brewers these days, but if you’re looking for a reason to be negative you can focus on the team’s inability to complete a sweep. For the fourth straight series, the Brewers went into the final game with the ability to shut out the opposition. Each time, they lost.

Of course, the time before that they shut out the Tigers in four games. But again. This is just for you Debbie Downers out there who don’t like success.

Today’s game, though, was certainly out of character for this team. After hitting 35 homers in the previous 15 games during a record-setting stretch, Red Sox starter Dennis Eckersley baffled Brewers hitters all day. He held the Brew Crew to only one run on six hits, needing only 97 pitches to do it in a complete game.

This is the first time the Brewers had been limited to a run since May 22, 10 games before the managerial change. Prior to today, Harvey’s Wallbangers had averaged 8.7 runs during their last nine games. They had averaged 6.9 runs per game spanning a stretch of 23 games starting June 10.

But Dennis Eckersley isn’t scared of the Brewers. Now 9-6 overall this season, he is 11-4 in his career against Milwaukee.

The thing is, Mike Caldwell nearly did well enough to win this game. Three of the four runs scored on him came on rallies that started with the bases empty and two outs. Unfortunately, he couldn’t shut the door.

Sure, the Brewers didn’t take first place for themselves today. But they are now 17-8 against division rivals New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, three teams that were duking it out for first place when June started, while the Brewers watched from below.

This team is still on the rise. The Red Sox should consider themselves lucky that they left town with a win.

Next up is a two game series with the White Sox in Chicago starting tomorrow.

Game Notes: Prior to the game was the annual Father-Son/Daughter game at County Stadium. The kids won 34-0 to extend their winning streak to 13 games. … Today’s attendance of 35,947 was the largest 4th of July home crowd in Brewers history.