Richie Zisk

Mariners in Giving Mood, Brewers Sweep

August 22

Brewers 8, Mariners 5
Brewers now 72-50 (1st by 6.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Moose Haas recovered after allowing a grand slam in the first inning.

SEATTLE — Sometimes, you don’t have to be the team that wins the game. Just as long as you aren’t the team that loses it.

The Brewers didn’t play their best baseball today. They really didn’t deserve to win. But the Seattle Mariners simply gave them too many second chances. Eventually, the Brewers won by default.

The Mariners took a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an improbable rally. With no one on base and two outs, Al Cowens singled and Moose Haas walked both Richie Zisk and Dave Revering. Dave Henderson then launched a grand slam to put the Brewers into a huge hole.

Then the Brewers duplicated the start of the Mariners’ rally in the top of the second, again with two outs and no one on. Ed Romero, filling in for an injured Ben Oglivie, singled to center. Ned Yost walked. Jim Gantner then hit a routine grounder to Todd Cruz at short that should have ended the inning. Second baseman Paul Serna, though, was late covering the bag and everyone was safe. Paul Molitor reached on an infield single, scoring one. Todd Cruz then made a throwing error that scored two more runs. And Cecil Cooper singled in two more.

What do we have? Five Brewers runs, and although one of the runs was technically earned, none of them should have scored. Suddenly, the Brewers had a 5-4 lead that they didn’t really deserve.

Well, they did deserve it… Because the Mariners certainly didn’t deserve to lead. It’s complicated…

After that six outs of insanity, the bats went quiet for both teams until the bottom of the eighth. Once again, the Mariners struck with a long ball with two outs. This time, it was Al Cowens with a solo shot to tie the game at five.

But of course, this was not a game the Mariners were meant to win. Ned Yost led off the top of the ninth inning with a single to left. After Gantner bunted Yost over, Floyd Bannister was removed in favor of shut-down closer Bill Caudill. Let’s set the scene…

Caudill, known as “The Inspector,” entered the field to the playing of the Pink Panther theme song. Caudill was 10-4 with a 1.85 ERA. He has been close to automatic.

After a first pitch strike to Paul Molitor, the Kingdome organist giddily played The Inspector’s theme music again. Then on the next pitch, Molitor ripped a single to left that scored Yost, taking second on the throw, and giving the Brewers a 6-5 lead.

“I was looking for a fastball,” Molitor explained. “I came up against him in a similar situation in Milwaukee and he struck me out on fastballs, so that was all I was looking for and I got one.”

Molitor then stole third and scored when Robin Yount laced a single off of Caudill’s glove to make it 7-5. Yount then stole second, the team’s fourth swipe of the night, and scored off of Gorman Thomas‘ single off of the left field wall.

The Brewers scored eight runs in all, but only three of them should have scored. But sometimes, you can win by simply not being the worst team on the field that day. That was the case on this night.

The Brewers swept the Mariners and next play the Angels tomorrow in Anaheim. The Red Sox beat the A’s 4-2 to keep pace six games back of the Brewers.

Game Notes: The Brewers are in search of a right fielder and a left handed reliever. They did pursue outfielder Ellis Valentine of the Mets, but nothing materialized. … Frank DiPino has been dominating the Pacific Coast League and is expected to be called up when rosters are expanded to pitch the second game of a double header with Cleveland on September 2nd.

Pitching Falters Late, Ladd Holds On

August 20

Brewers 6, Mariners 5
Brewers now 70-50 (1st by 5.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

1982 Topps Rollie Fingers In Action — The Brewers are struggling without Rollie Fingers, who is not In Action.

SEATTLE — The Brewers have blown a couple of leads of late as they struggle to figure out how to cope without All-Star closer Rollie Fingers. Today, it nearly happened again.

The last time these two teams met in Seattle, the Brewers were reeling. Milwaukee had fallen to seven games out of first place and manager Buck Rodgers was replaced with Harvey Kuenn. So much has changed since then.

Of course, one of those changes is the health of Fingers. Starting pitcher Mike Caldwell and the Brewers were cruising through seven innings. The Brew Crew led 6-2 through seven and a half innings, and Caldwell had allowed only five hits. Then he ran out of gas.

The Mariners scored one in the eighth when Julio Cruz doubled, stole third and scored on a Dave Elder sacrifice fly. No big deal, the Mariners just did a good job of manufacturing a run.

Then Caldwell took the hill for the ninth. Richie Zisk doubled to center. Al Cowens doubled to right, scoring Zisk. Gary Gray singled to left, and suddenly it was 6-4 Brewers with no one out and the tie run on first base.

Without Rollie Fingers available, the Brewers turned to rookie Pete Ladd. Luckily for the Brewers, Big Foot did just fine. He struck out Dave Revering looking, and Rick Sweet then hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-5 game. With the tie run still on first, Manny Castillo flied to left and the Brewers breathed a sigh of relief.

Offensively, “Harvey’s Wallbangers” decided to go with a game of small ball. They collected 11 hits, but not one was for extra bases. The Brewers stole two bases and bunted twice, including a Paul Molitor safety squeeze to score a run in the sixth. Most importantly, hitting was timely as the Crew scored four of their six runs with two outs.

It was pleasant to see the offense score without the long ball, and the Brewers gained a game on the Red Sox, who fell 4-3 to the A’s. But the blinking question mark right now is over the bullpen. If Rollie Fingers is out for a significant amount of time, or can’t come back at 100%, can this team survive down the stretch?

So far, so good. But having won only two of their last six games, wins aren’t nearly as automatic under Kuenn as they once were.

Game Notes: Jamie Easterly, scheduled to throw a simulated game tomorrow, will not according to Kuenn.

Brewers Win in Kuenn Debut

June 3

Brewers 5, Mariners 2
Brewers now 24-24 (5th)
Box Score | Season Schedule

It didn't take long for Harvey Kuenn's new managerial style to pay off.

SEATTLE — There’s no way to know if switching managers after 47 games will make a difference over the long haul for the Milwaukee Brewers. We don’t have a time machine. But today, in Harvey Kuenn‘s managerial debut, it did.

It’s possible that whether Kuenn or Buck Rodgers managed this team today, the offense would have performed the same. The Brewers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI groundout by Ben Oglivie. They increased the lead to two when Marshall Edwards scored on a Little League home run, a triple that led to a run due to a Mariners error. Cecil Cooper made it 3-1 with an RBI single in the sixth, and after the Mariners pulled to within one Cooper added a two-run homer in the eighth.

That’s what you’ll see in the box score. You’ll also see that the Brewers didn’t commit an error in this game, a rarity under Rodgers. But what you won’t see — or might miss — is what happened to Mike Caldwell in the sixth. Or, more precisely, what didn’t happen to him.

Richie Zisk opened the frame with a double to left and Al Cowens followed with a single up the middle to put runners on first and third with no one out in a 3-1 game. Former manager Buck Rodgers was notorious for taking out pitchers early when they got into trouble, often prematurely. He earned the nickname “Captain Hook” as a result.

Harvey Kuenn stuck with Caldwell. He induced a Gary Gray double play ball that scored Zisk, and Todd Cruz flied out to right to end the inning. Piece of cake.

Caldwell pitched the rest of the game, throwing three hitless innings and retiring nine of 10 batters. He retired 11 of 12 since the two consecutive hits in the sixth.

It was Caldwell’s third complete game of the season and the first time he’s pitched into the ninth since May 8. Yesterday, Rodgers referred to two “cancers” on the team, and many believe one of those players is Caldwell. You cannot underestimate the emotional lift a change in leadership can have on a player like Caldwell.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a new season right now,” said Caldwell. “I’m going to be busting my tail and hoping I can add to what I think is a new team spirit.”

Is today’s game a sign that Harvey will go longer with the starters?

“I would say yes,” he said. “I would say they have to have confidence they can get somebody out in a tough situation. To me, if they’re throwing the ball as well in the eighth inning as when they started, there’s no reason they can’t get the guy out. To me it doesn’t make any difference than if you don’t get the guy out in the second in a tough situation. What difference does it make in the eighth? They wouldn’t be in that situation if they didn’t get them out in the second.”

Follow that? It could be brilliant or it could be gibberish. But today, it worked.

Kuenn continued: “I think Mike was throwing the ball exceptionally well. I think he was throwing as well in the eighth and ninth as he was early in the ball game.”

That’s tough to argue. Through yesterday, the Brewers were a team in disarray, lacking leadership and overflowing with discontent. They were a tight, excitable bunch that lacked execution and accountability. But they were talented.

Today, we saw a new team. We saw a confident team. We saw a team that was loose and able to execute. We saw a complete team.

Will it only last a day? Only time will tell. But this was a good start.

Game Notes: Gorman Thomas‘ shoulder is getting better, and he hit a couple of homers during batting practice. No decision yet on whether he’ll be put on the disabled list … Moose Haas’ elbow tendinitis is well enough to pitch in the June 4 series opener against the A’s … Pitching coach Cal McLish, who has been dealing with health problems, will rejoin the team next week.

Brewers Win, Delay Change

June 1

Brewers 2, Mariners 1
Brewers now 23-24 (5th)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Ted Simmons connected on his sixth home run of the season in the second.

SEATTLE – Maybe things are turning around? Or….

It’s tough to get your hopes up these days. It seems that every time you acknowledge a good game, a game that could be a positive turning point, the Brewers follow it up with three games across the other side of the tracks.

So what do we make of this win? Cautious optimism.

Pete Vuckovich was… encouragingly good. He allowed only a run in 7 2/3 innings on four hits and three walks, striking out six. It was his second win since his return from the mysterious and controversial ankle injury.

Rollie Fingers was… the Rollie Fingers we expect. Fingers has been good this season, but not the automatic save we were spoiled with last season. He came into a high leverage situation in the eighth with two outs, a runner on first and the first run of the inning in. Richie Zisk lifted a deep fly ball to the wall in left. On some days and in some parks, that may have been a two-run homer to give the Mariners the lead. Today, it wasn’t.

The defense was… okay. In fact, the defense almost gave this game away. We’re used to seeing numbers other than “0” in the “E” column of Brewers box scores, and the Brewers waited until the ninth inning to fulfill their erroneous duty. Al Cowens hit a grounder to short to lead off the ninth and Robin Yount promptly booted it. Fingers then threw a wild pictch to put Cowens in scoring position with no one out. Luckily, Fingers got out of it.

You can’t help but attribute a decent chunk of this win to luck. The Brewers scored just enough to beat a bad offensive team 2-1. I don’t know if this should fall in the “encouraged” or “optimistic” categories. It should probably fall in the “yeah, that’s what they’re supposed to do” category.

Maybe it’s a positive sign. Maybe they’re turning the corner. Or, they may just be delaying the inevitable. In some ways, I wish they’d just lose a game like this so that they could make some major changes, rather than barely winning and sticking with what they’ve got.

According to Harry Dalton, change isn’t imminent: “No matter how hard it is, the general manager’s job is to remain patient. I still firmly believe that this team has outstanding talent. I just don’t think we’re a very good team at this time.”

Game Notes: Robin Yount’s ninth inning error was his first in the final three innings of a game since 1980 … It was Fingers’ 11th save of the season … Vuckovich won his fifth consecutive game … Only two Mariners reached as far as third base … Ted Simmons hit a solo home run in the second, giving the Brewers eight home runs in their last three games and fifth in their last two.