Rick Sweet

Brewers Fall in 10

Mariners 3, Brewers 2 (10)
Brewers now 76-53 (1st by 4.5 games)
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1982 Topps Stickers Pete Vuckovich — Vuke allowed two runs through eight innings, but the offense struggled to provide him with run support.

MILWAUKEE — Pete Vuckovich fought out of jams for eight innings. He did all he could to keep his team in the game. The Brewers’ offense and defense didn’t cooperate.

The entire Brewers’ offensive attack came in the bottom of the fourth when Ben Oglivie launched a towering two-run homer into the bullpen in right. The Brewers had three hits in that inning. They had three in the other nine combined.

Even so, this game shouldn’t have ended in 10 innings. Jim Slaton, who had relieved Vuke to begin the ninth, retired the first two batters he faced in the 10th inning. He then walked David Revering, which would seem harmless enough with two outs.

But with John Moses pinch running on first, Rick Sweet laced a base hit to center. The speedy Moses turned around second and challenged the arm of Gorman Thomas by heading for third. Gorman fired… and fired high, over Paul Molitor‘s glove and into the Mariners’ dugout. The eventual winning run scored.

Considering the lack of Brewers offense and the fact that the Mariners had 12 hits and left 11 on base may just mean the Brewers never deserved to be in this game anyway. Four times they stranded either runners at first and third, second and third or the bases loaded without scoring.

So while the focus of this loss may fall on the errant throw by Gorman Thomas, the offense is the real story. But given that the offense is so rarely the reason for a loss this season, we can chalk this one up to “they just didn’t have it that day.”

But the Brewers can’t have many more of these games during the final month of the season since their rivals are suddenly adding pressure. The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles both won, pulling to within 4 1/2 and 5 games of the Brewers, respectively.

Fingers Returns, Locks Down Shaky Save

August 21 Leave a Comment

Brewers 3, Mariners 2
Brewers now 71-50 (1st by 6.0 games)
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1982 Donruss Doc Medich — Doc Medich pitched seven shutout innings for the Brewers.

SEATTLE — For seven innings, Seattle fans witnessed a pitchers’ duel. Doc Medich of the Brewers and Jim Beattie of the Mariners shut out the opposition. Once they were removed, offense suddenly had the advantage.

Beattie left the game prior to the start of the seventh inning, and the Brewers roughed up relievers Bryan Clark and Ron Musselman in the eighth. Milwaukee reached on four consecutive singles, scoring three runs to build what seemed to be an insurmountable lead with Rollie Fingers waiting in the wings.

It was Medich that Brewers fans were worried about. He was far from impressive in his Brewers debut on August 15 against the Blue Jays, walking six in 5 1/3 innings. So when Medich pitched seven shutout innings, limiting the Mariners to three hits and a walk, it felt safe to hand the ball to Fingers, who had been out since August 13 with a sore pitching elbow.

Fingers was fine in the eighth, allowing a harmless two-out single to Joe Simpson. But Al Cowens led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left and Dave Revering hit a two-run homer to make it a one-run game. Fingers would retire Rick Sweet and Dave Henderson to end the game, but not before making Brewers fans sweat.

Maybe Fingers was just rusty. That is the hope. Because if this is a sign that he still isn’t healthy, trouble could be lurking for the Brewers. There simply is no replacement for a healthy Rollie Fingers.

The Brewers go for the sweep tomorrow at 6 pm CT.

Game Notes: The Boston Red Sox fell to the Oakland A’s 12-5, giving the Brewers a six game lead in the AL East. … Rickey Henderson stole his 114th base for the A’s today, putting him four shy of Lou Brock‘s single season record.

Pitching Falters Late, Ladd Holds On

August 20 Leave a Comment

Brewers 6, Mariners 5
Brewers now 70-50 (1st by 5.0 games)
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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 Blow Three Leads, Lose

June 1 1 Comment

Mariners 5, Brewers 4 (11)
Brewers now 22-24 (6th)
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Rollie Fingers isn't happy that Mike Caldwell was called on to close the game.

SEATTLE — Remember how loose the Brewers were in yesterday’s win? Yeah, losing changes things.

Once again, the Brewers blew leads (2-0 in the first, 3-2 in the ninth and 4-3 in the 11th). This time, it was the trifecta.

With a runner on second and two outs in the ninth of a 3-2 game, manager Buck Rodgers went to the bullpen in an attempt to retire lefty Bruce Bochte. Was it Rollie Fingers, the closer? No. Rodgers went with usual-starter Mike Caldwell, who many fans remember had given up a home run to Bochte into the third deck of the King Dome in the 10th inning two years ago.

Bochte hit a single to score Rick Sweet and force extra innings. It was only then that Fingers came on to get the final out. It would be the only batter he would face.

Why? In all likelihood, words were exchanged between innings.

Fingers after the game: “That’s probably the final nail in the coffin,” Fingers said, presumably referring to Rodgers’ fate. “Does he think I can’t get a left-hander out? I’m getting good money to do that.”

Fingers wasn’t done: “That’s my job, to come in save situations. Mike Caldwell is paid to start. I’m paid to relieve.”

Did Rodgers panic, over thinking the move? “I shot my wad in the ninth inning,” he explained. “I was trying to get the game over in the ninth.”

Other players in the clubhouse weren’t shy when talking about the current state of the team. “We’re in serious trouble if we can’t beat these guys,” said Cecil Cooper, “especially when you take the lead three times and can’t hold it. There’s just no answers. What do you do? What do you do now? We’re losing every way we can. Those two games we lost in Anaheim, we were up three runs and we lose. We’ve lost three games on this trip and we should have won every one of them.”

Gantner made a not so subtle hint at the change he expected to be made: “You can’t fire 25 players. Sometimes the manager’s at the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s really too bad. We’re going to have to do something to shake up this club. I’m not saying fire the manager, but something has to be done to shake up this club.”

It was the Brewers’ 14th loss in 20 games, dropping back to two games under .500. For the first time since April 18 when they were 6-9, the Brewers are in sixth place.

Game Notes: The Brewers have played in seven extra innings games and lost six of them … Cecil Cooper went 4-for-5 with two home runs, raising his season total to eight … Robin Yount also hit two homers and now has four on the season. He has 11 career home runs at the King Dome, tying him with Roy Smalley of the Yankees for most by an opposing player … No decision has been made on whether to put Gorman Thomas, who is dealing with a sore shoulder, on the disabled list. He is experiencing some more range of motion, but is still sore … Charlie Moore, out with a jammed thumb, threw and took batting practice prior to the game … Pitcher Moose Haas, who was removed during his last start due to elbow tendinitis, will throw on the side prior to tomorrow’s game to determine if he can start. If not, Jim Slaton will pitch in his place.