George Wright

Caldwell in the Zone as Brewers Win

August 9

Brewers 9, Rangers 1
Brewers now 64-45 (3.5 games up)
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MILWAUKEE — They say that when a hitter is “in the zone” he can’t miss. He can do no wrong. Today, Mike Caldwell showed that a pitcher can be in the zone, too.

Caldwell pitched a six-hit complete game victory for his 10th win of the season and third straight. The win also allowed the Brewers to extend their lead in the AL East to 3.5 games, their largest lead of the season.

But while the Brewers offense pounded out 13 hits, featuring a home run by Jim Gantner and four RBI from Robin Yount, Caldwell was the star. Other than a third inning solo home run by George Wright, Caldwell was virtually flawless, walking two and striking out three.

“If you told me he was a 10-10 pitcher and I didn’t know it, I’d call you a liar,” manager Harvey Kuenn said of his starting pitcher. “He has pitched flat out super baseball.”

It’s Caldwell’s second consecutive complete game, having thrown a shutout the last time out. In fact, he’s allowed only five earned runs in his last four starts, covering 34 innings.

“It’s like a hitter can hit a pitch no matter where it is at,” Caldwell explained. “I throw the ball and just think inside or outside and the ball ends up there.”

Whatever it is, it’s certainly working for Caldwell.

And whatever Jim Gantner did today worked as well. In addition to the home run, he had two other hits giving him three on the game. A week ago, he said he would not shave until he collected three hits in a game. Following today’s win, he was finally able to shave the week old beard. “I’m a man of my words,” a cleanly shaven Gantner said.

Today’s game was anything but a clean shave, thanks to Mike Caldwell’s zone. Game 2 of the series is tomorrow at 7:30 pm.

Rangers Bobble Game to Brewers

July 28

Brewers 3, Rangers 2
Brewers are now 57-40 (1st)
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1982 Topps Rollie Fingers In Action — Rollie Fingers was the talk of the clubhouse after the game.

ARLINGTON, Tex. — This was one of those games that the Brewers may not have deserved to win. But the Rangers certainly deserved to lose.

The good fortune started for the Brewers with two outs in the first inning. Rangers pitcher Frank Tanana induced a Ted Simmons ground ball to third base that should have ended the inning. Instead, Buddy Bell bobbled the ball, Simmons was safe at first and Robin Yount scored.

After Gorman Thomas doubled to put runners at second and third with two outs, Ben Oglivie hit another ground ball that should have ended the inning. This time, rookie first baseman Dave Hostetler bobbled it, Oglivie reached and Simmons scored.

Frank Tanana dominated the Brewers. He pitched a complete game, allowing one earned run on five hits. But his defense committed four errors, largely contributing to the loss.

Of course, the Brewers wouldn’t have won on three runs scored without some solid pitching. Bob McClure allowed only two runs in seven innings and was pulled after his left forearm stiffened up. In the fifth inning, Ranger George Wright hit a liner off of McClure, leading to his early removal.

Rollie Fingers, though, was perfect. The game’s top closer pitched two scoreless innings without allowing a baserunner for his 22nd save.

“Bobby [McClure] pitched well tonight,” said manager Harvey Kuenn after the game. “But the highlight of the night was Rollie’s pitch to Bell. It started out as a forkball, and end up as, well, you know…”

Rollie’s pitch was the talk of the clubhouse. With Buddy Bell at the plate to lead off the inning, Fingers threw a pitch to his first batter. As Harvey said, it was meant to be a forkball. Instead, it sailed well behind Bell’s back and to the Brewers’ dugout. It finally came to a stop in front of Pete Vuckovich.

“That is my ‘I don’t really want to throw this pitch anyway’ pitch,” Fingers said with a sly grin.

The Brewers could laugh about the pitch and their overall subpar play because they won the game to take two of three in the series. Meanwhile, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 9-7 to remain a half game out in the AL East.

Stormin’ Gorman Socks Two

July 27

Brewers 8, Rangers 2
Brewers now 56-40 (1st)
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ARLINGTON, Tex. — Gorman Thomas entered today’s game with five hits in 19 at bats on the road trip and 12 for his last 69. He had one home run dating back to July 15.

Today, Gorman was the hero in an 8-2 Brewers win. In the fourth inning, he pasted a 1-1 pitch off of Rick Honeycutt into the left field bleachers between two fan-made Brewers signs for a three-run homer to give the Crew a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, he slugged another Honeycutt offering just over Lee Mazzilli‘s glove for a two-run homer to make it a 5-1 game. The home run gave him the American League lead with 25.

“It was a fastball over the plate and the wind was blowing out,” Thomas told the Milwaukee Sentinel about his second home run. “Tonight was my night but on this team, tomorrow could belong to someone else.”

The next time Thomas strolled to the plate in the eighth, he was struck by a Dan Boitano fastball up around his elbow. Gorman, clearly fumed, glared at Boitano as he slowly walked to first.

In the eighth, reliever Pete Ladd threw a pitch up and in on Buddy Bell that sent him to the deck, and umpire Rich Garcia warned both benches. Was it retaliation? Ladd says no, though he did say Boitano should have been throwing strikes with the game out of hand at 7-1.

Moose Haas, on the other hand, did throw strikes. He allowed one run on seven hits and no walks through seven innings. He came out of the game after his left forearm stiffened up thanks to a fifth inning liner by George Wright. Haas is not expected to miss any time.

The best news of the night is that the Red Sox lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1, meaning that the Brewers are once again a half game up in the AL East. They look to extend that lead in the rubber match with the Rangers tomorrow.