Jamie Easterly

Vuke Loses Game 1, Cy Young?

October 1

Orioles 8, Brewers 3
Brewers now 94-65 (1st by 2.0 games)
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1982 Topps Brewers Future Stars — For some reason, Chuck Porter made an appearance in a pennant race today.

BALTIMORE — This is it, Brewers fans. We can smell the playoffs. Four games on the slate with the Orioles to close out the season, and all we need is one game. Just one.

With a double header today, how about we take care of business right off the bat? Win that first one, chill out for the final three. It’s not that hard, right?

Eesh.

With Cy Young candidate Pete Vuckovich on the mound, this should have been a golden opportunity to close out the regular season. There were a couple of problems along the way: 1) Vuke was freaking awful, and 2) the Brewers were up against 15-game winner Dennis Martinez.

It all started out smelling like roses. With two down in the second inning of a scoreless game, Charlie Moore smacked a double that scored Ben Oglivie from first.

THAT’S IT! THE BREWERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!

Ehhhhh, nope!

In the bottom of the second, Vuckovich granted four consecutive batters residency to the bases, three on singles and one on a walk. Suddenly, the Brewers were in a 3-1 hole.

Vuke then surrendered single runs in both the third and fourth innings on a solo shot to Ken Singleton and double to Rich Dauer. When he was finally relieved of his duties during the fifth inning by Chuck Porter, Vuke’s final line was far from Cy Young-like: 4 1/3 innings pitched, five runs, four earned runs, nine hits and two walks.

But wait a minute. Did you notice a couple of words that did not belong in the above paragraph? I’ll give you a hint: It starts with “Chuck” and ends with “Porter.” What in the world was Chuck Porter doing in this game? It was his second appearance of the season and fifth of his career. In a pennant race? Really? Is it because Topps labeled him as a “Future Star?”

Maybe Chuck Porter is the new Jamie Easterly: the Grim Reaper of wins. When we see him on the mound, we know that the team has thrown in the towel. I don’t have any other explanation for it. Granted, the rest of the bullpen hasn’t been particularly reliable, but why now? Against the Orioles?

I give the Brewers’ offense some credit, however. Harvey Kuenn may have given up, but the bats weren’t ready to quit. Ted Simmons and Ben Oglivie led off the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back homers to make it a 5-3 game. Seemed like anything could happen.

But of course, the Brewers had Chuck Freaking Porter on the mound, the guy who relieved the leading Cy Young candidate. I don’t care how bad Vuke was, I’d rather have him out there on a bad day than Chuck Porter. Hell, I’d rather see Jamie Easterly or Jerry Aug… I’m sorry, I couldn’t get through that sentence without laughing. No, I wouldn’t rather see those guys. I guess Porter was fine.

Of course, Porter gave those two runs right back in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 7-3 game.

And that was about it. No more runs from the Brewers, and the Orioles managed another run when “all-time great” Lenn Sakata doubled in John Shelby to make it an eventual 8-3 final.

It was one of those games. A game, on paper, you’d expect the Brewers to win. Thankfully, the Brewers didn’t need this one. Now, they just need one of three. And with 17-game winner Mike Caldwell on the mound against the Orioles and Storm Davis in game 2 of today’s double header, you still have to like the Brewers’ odds.

Cy Young Race: One has to wonder if Vuke did some serious damage to his Cy Young hopes today. He may lead the AL in wins with 18, but pitchers such as Baltimore’s Jim Palmer, Toronto’s Dave Stieb, and Kansas City’s Dan Quisenberry all warrant mention. And let’s face it: with a 3.34 ERA and nearly as many walks (102) as strikeouts (105), it hasn’t been a runaway, dominating season for Vuke.

Typically, we may write off Quisenberry since he’s a reliever. But after Rollie Fingers won both the Cy Young and MVP awards last year, we know that he needs to be taken just as seriously as the starters.

So what do you think? Is Pete Vuckovich still the leading Cy Young candidate? Or did he throw away his chances along with today’s game?

Pitching Fails, Brewers Lose

September 30

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.”

Brewers Bang on Fenway Walls

September 28

Brewers 9, Red Sox 3
Brewers now 93-63 (1st by 3.0 games)
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BOSTON — As Rob Peterson noted yesterday in his series preview, this week may be the most important of any for the Milwaukee Brewers franchise. Coming off of two straight losses to the pesky Baltimore Orioles, the division lead has been cut to two games with seven left to play.

Of course, holding on for those seven games will be no picnic. Unless the Orioles are the ants looking to carry away our basket of playoff goodies. The first three will come versus the third place Red Sox and final four against those same Orioles. All on the road.

So it’s clear we’re getting into must-win mode here. At the very least, it’s hold-on-tight-and-close-your-eyes mode. Though Boton’s dead, the Brewers’ bats still needed to come alive to reverse recent misfortunes and build upon their dwindling AL East lead. A 9-3 win tonight at Fenway Park helped some of us open our eyes and watch more comfortably.

No one thought it would be easy. Sending mid-season addition and least accomplished starting pitcher Doc Medich to the mound at Fenway Park didn’t inspire confidence. The top priority coming into this game was to score and score often. Harvey’s boys needed to acquaint themselves regularly with the Fenway walls.

Thankfully, that is exactly what happened. Paul Molitor singled to lead off the game and stepped on the plate moments later after Robin Yount hit a 1-1 pitch from Chuck Rainey onto the light standard overlooking the big screen above the Green Monster.

“Hell, he’s been doing this all year,” Gorman Thomas said of Yount’s performance, “why would he stop now?

“He’s having a great hear. More power to him. I hope he stays as hot as he is the rest of the year. It’s just another feather in his war bonnet. He only has about 150,000 as it is.”

Indeed, Yount is having an MVP-type season. But with two down and two on, Roy Howell — a name rarely mentioned when speaking of this record-breaking offense — came through with a clutch RBI single to give Medich a 3-0 lead before he stepped on the mound.

Given the lead, all Brewers fans asked of Medich was to keep the offense in the game. Pitch six innings and hand the ball over with a chance to earn a victory. It wasn’t pretty (three earned runs on five hits and five walks in six innings), but Doc did what was asked of him.

“I didn’t have good stuff,” Medich told the Boston Globe. “I had to struggle for six innings, but when you get those runs…”

Of course, when fans complain about the inconsistent and often unreliable Brewers pitching, in most cases they are referring to the gaping hole left by the ailing Rollie Fingers. Once considered a seven inning game if the Brewers handed the ball and lead to Fingers, relievers have provided little, well, relief since his absence. A bullpen consisting of Moose Haas, Jim Slaton, Dwight Bernard, Jamie Easterly, Jerry Augustine and Pete Ladd has failed far more often than is acceptable.

The painful realization is that with Fingers, first place in the AL East would be long sewn up by now. Thankfully for the Brewers and their loyal fans, the offense handed Moose Haas a 9-3 lead in the seventh inning.

The Brewers bats were too much for Boston’s pitching on this night. It was an offensive onslaught focused on three innings: Three runs in the first, two in the fourth and four in the sixth. But it was the way they scored that was most impressive.

Sure, they hit their home runs, scoring two on Yount’s first inning homer and three when Simmons hit one out in the sixth. But they also scored two in the fourth when they popped four singles, forcing manager Ralph Houk to remove Rainey and go to his bullpen far earlier than he preferred.

In all, the Brewers offense smacked 17 hits, and the pitching was plenty good enough to win. Haas pitched three scoreless innings in relief, allowing only two hits to the suddenly punchless Red Sox and Fingers was not missed on this night. It was his first save of the season and the second of his career.

Just as important for Brewers fans was the news out of Detroit. A paltry crowd of 7,755 watched their fourth place Tigers come from behind to score the final four runs and beat the Orioles 9-6.

Now the worst case scenario is going into the final four games in Baltimore with a one game lead. Should we still be worried?

“We can’t look at going into Baltimore with a one game lead,” Yount responded, “or things like that. We really have to play them one at a time. They’re all big games. We have to win tomorrow as much as we did tonight.

“But I’ll take a win when Baltimore loses every day of the week.”

With six games to go, the Brewers’ lead in the division is now three games. We can breathe a little more easily. But would it be asking too much to have a five game lead before the Crew gets to Baltimore?

Maybe. Probably.

Player of the Game: Time and time again this season, whenever the Brewers need a win, Robin Yount has stepped forward. Tonight, “The Kid” hit a first inning, two-run home run that set the tone for a team losing confidence. Yount had three hits in all, driving in three and scoring two.

Now with 27 home runs, a .331 batting average, 111 RBI and a league leading 202 hits, 45 doubles and .573 slugging percentage, the question must be asked: does Robin Yount have any reasonable competition for the league’s MVP award?

Don’t worry, we’ll answer the question, too. No. Robin should, and will, be M-V-P.

Brewers Hold Tigers for Big Win

September 15

Brewers 5, Tigers 3
Brewers now 86-60 (1st by 1.5 games)
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1982 Topps Roy Howell — Roy Howell was the unlikely offensive hero for the Brewers.

DETROIT — The Brewers beat the Tigers 5-3 with Pete Vuckovich on the mound for his 17th win. Must’ve been an easy win, right?

“People are going to look at that score and figure it was an easy win,” manager Harvey Kuenn said after the game. “But it wasn’t.”

Well, alright then. Harvey set me straight.

Really, even though Vuke never seems to lose, no start of his is particularly easy. Today’s game was a shining example. The Tigers had 13 hits and three walks but left 14 on base, going 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The biggest bullet was dodged in the bottom of the eighth. With the Brewers hanging on to a 5-3 lead, Vuckovich allowed a one-out single to
Alan Trammell. Jamie Easterly then got the call from the pen and allowed a single to Lou Whitaker. With two on and one down, Dwight Bernard was the third pitcher in three batters and walked Glenn Wilson to load the bases.

After Howard Johnson popped to third, the dangerous Lance Parrish came to the plate. It was Parrish who hit the game winning home run in the 10th inning two nights ago.

“I figured he’d try to jerk it just like the other night,” Bernard said, “and that’s exactly what he did. But it was a curve on the outside corner and he hit it off the end of his bat.”

It may have been off the end of his bat, but Parrish still gave it a ride. The bases loaded blast sent Ben Oglivie to the wall where the ball finally died in his glove for the final out.

The offensive hero of the night was Roy Howell, who had an RBI double in the second to give the Brewers the lead to start and a two-run single in the sixth to give them the lead for good. Both crucial hits were with two outs.

It was another key win as the second place Baltimore Orioles again beat the New York Yankees to remain a game and a half behind the Brewers.

Meanwhile, the Brewers won a potentially important coin flip. In the event of a three-way tie between the Brewers, Red Sox and Orioles, the Brewers would play a game at Boston. The winner would host the Orioles. Since the Red Sox are now 5 1/2 games back, the only tie that is particularly likely is with the Orioles. So this is a big deal.

The Brewers have a day off tomorrow before starting a three game series against the reeling Yankees on September 17 in Milwaukee.

Lead, Season Slipping Away

September 13

Tigers 4, Brewers 3 (11)
Brewers now 84-60 (1st by 2.0 games)
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DETROIT — The news coming in from Tiger Stadium kept getting worse and worse.

After Gorman Thomas hit his 35th home run to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th inning, Pete Ladd took the mound for the bottom half of the inning.

You know Pete Ladd. He’s the rookie filling in for Rollie Fingers who allowed a home run to Jerry Mumphrey in the 10th inning in New York three days ago to lose to the Yankees.

Well… It happened again. But worse.

This time, Ladd had a lead. This time, he walked Larry Herndon to lead off the inning to bring the winning run to the plate. And then he allowed the home run, this time a two-run shot by Lance Parrish.

The Brewers miss Rollie Fingers. It’s painfully obvious. Three of the team’s last four losses could have been prevented with Fingers on the mound.

A diplomatic Harvey Kuenn understands the impact of Fingers: “He could have made a difference. Anytime you have Rollie in the pen and you’re ahead by one run, you certainly have the edge.”

Then Harvey dropped a bomb: “At this point, we really don’t know if we’ll have him or not. We’ll have to move things around if he doesn’t pitch anymore. He have to have someone pick up the slack.”

WHAT??!! First, Fingers was out for a few days. Then a week. Then another week. Now for possibly the season? What have we seen that tells us the Brewers have anyone who can step up and come even close to picking up the slack?

Jim Slaton? He’s a long reliever. Jamie Easterly? Jerry Augustine? Dwight Bernard? Please, please, PLEASE! Not even close.

Then, the trifecta of bad news. The Baltimore Orioles came from behind to beat the Yankees 8-7 and pull to within two games of the Brewers.

Kuenn tried to stay calm: “All I can say is we have to come back and beat them tomorrow. We still have a two game lead.”

Sure. Now. But without Fingers, does anyone think this team can hold off the Orioles for 19 more games?

I don’t.

Sutton, Bullpen Implode in Painful Loss

September 12

Yankees 9, Brewers 8
Brewers now 84-59 (1st by 3.0 games)
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Jamie Easterly was a big reason for today's horrible loss.

BRONX, NY — Yesterday’s 14-2 loss was considered the worst under manager Harvey Kuenn. Well, maybe it’s now the second worst.

This article could and should have been about how the Brewers hit back-to-back-to-back home runs for the third time this season. That was merely a footnote in this disaster.

The Brewers led the Yankees 8-2 midway through the sixth inning. Don Sutton, who had sparkled in his two prior Brewers appearances, was on the mound. There was no way they were giving away this game.

Unfortunately, it seemed the Brewers’ players were thinking the same thing. After scoring their eighth run in the fourth, they went scoreless on only two hits the rest of the way.

But an offense that scores eight runs gets a pass. Things got a little less comfortable when the Yankees scored three in the sixth to make it 8-5. But the eighth and ninth, innings typically reserved for closer Rollie Fingers with a three run lead, were the source of greatest concern.

Jamie Easterly relieved Sutton in the bottom of the seventh and struck out pinch hitter Lou Piniella to end the inning. The dependable Jim Slaton was warmed up and ready to pitch the eighth. But Kuenn stuck with the not-so-dependable Easterly.

“He was throwing pretty good but was a bit erratic,” Kuenn explained.

Fine. But Graig Nettles led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to make it 8-6. With one down, Easterly walked Barry Evans to bring the tie run to the plate.

Time for a bullpen move? Hello? No?

Bobby Ramos then hit his second career home run to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Jim Slaton finally came into the game and proved that he may not have been a superior option. He loaded the bases before giving up the game winning hit to Roy Smalley.

Clearly, the Brewers missed Rollie Fingers today, who is still out with a slight tear in his forearm and is out for an unknown amount of time. This is not the first time a healthy Rollie Fingers could have been the difference and it is unlikely to be the last.

“I don’t think about not having him,” Kuenn assured us. “Though I wish every day he would come in and tell me he was ready. We have other guys who can get the job done. I am sure of it.”

Well, I’m not so sure, Harvey.

The Orioles also lost so the Brewers remain up three games in the AL East. Tomorrow starts a three game series with the Tigers in Detroit.