Viva Cerveceros

I may have done a horrible thing.

Three weeks ago, I predicted on this site that Trevor Hoffman would record his 600th save in this here month of April. It’s now beyond a mathematical impossibility, and I am here to atone for my pomposity, for it clearly jinxed the Crew.

This, of course, comes after several rather rocky outings for T-Hoff. I thought he could get to 600 in this month following those first two saves against Colorado. There were the back-to-back nightmares against the Cardinals, on Nick Stavinoha’s bit of brillance and a one-two punch from maybe the best three-four combo in baseball. Okay, fine. Stuff happens.

Then the Brewers went down to Chicago, and weren’t in a position to win the first two games. Trevor comes in with a three-run lead in the third game and allows a run. All right, whatever. Doesn’t help his ERA, but it’s a win, and a save.

But then he goes on to not pitch again for nearly an entire week. He gets to pitch in Pittsburgh, at the end of a 20-0 rout, the worst loss in Pirates’ history! He gets mop-up duty again for the sake of getting out there, three days later as the Brewers are losing 12-2 to the Cubs.

Now come the latest blown saves against the Pirates. It’s concerning because they are once again on homers. It’s concerning because the Pirates are decidedly not the defending NL Central Champion Cardinals. The Pirates are the Pirates, who lost 22 games in a row at Miller Park and who the Brewers outscored 52-4 in their first four games this season.

As I look at this, I’m beginning to see evidence why this may not be as concerning as it appears. There’s no way Hoffman can get a routine going when the team is either blowing some poor schmucks out of the water (Pirate pun) or getting it handed to them. Milwaukee is tied for the lead in runs scored by a team in all of MLB at 121. But the team has the fifth worst runs allowed and sixth worst ERA. But those extremes haven’t really lined up together in the same game. The last week leading up to these Pirates debacles has been Loss by 8, Win by 4 (after scoring 10 runs in the first), Win by seven, Win by eight, Win by 20, Loss by seven, Loss by four, Loss by 10, Win by 14.

So basically, it was 12 days and three cities between Trevor’s save opportunities. Not to mention the giant billboard in the outfield advertising that opposing batters have the chance to beat the Greatest Of All-Time, and the new catcher who may be asking for too many fastballs.

Manager Ken Macha said he wasn’t sure who he would bring out if the Brewers found themselves in a save situation on Thursday. I can understand you’d be concerned about Hoffman’s status given the back-to-back blown saves and the cross country flight. But this is Petco Park.

Trevor Hoffman is a humble and gracious man. But if that situation arises and Macha doesn’t stick with him, he should pull the “Do you know who the hell I am?” card. This is Petco Park, where Hoffman made his Hall-of-Fame name for himself for 15 years. Last year, he was perfect against his old team, striking out four in three innings pitched.

But the main reason I’m not concerned is that I’m atoning, right here and now. What I wasn’t saying when I predicted T-Hoff would go on a streak and hit 600 this month, was that I love watching Trevor Hoffman and the memories he’s provided for me. If he never saves another game and is run out of town, I’ll never forget the dread I had when he came out for the Pad’s at Petco, or the fun I had rocking out to “Hell’s Bells” at Miller Park. He’s a winner and he always will be.

Post Script

Here’s another reason I’m not worried. I’m never wearing my g.d. J.J. Hardy jersey T-shirt again. I hung on to the shirt when J’j was traded to the Twins as a workout shirt, and every single day this season I’ve worn it to the gym, the Brewers have lost in disgusting fashion. I told DramaMamma that she could tailor it into a Brewers shirt for one of her little girls, as long as she cut out Hardy’s name and No. 7. I’m going to Minneapolis for P-House’s 21st birthday next weekend, and a Twins game — maybe I could dump the scraps in the Mississippi River.

There were other things that happened yesterday — other records tied or broken — but that about sums it up.

The team that had the ninth-worst club ever in 1952, and has lost 100 or more games in seven different seasons, had never lost 20-0.

No three-game series had ever seen a run differential of 35 runs (the Brewers outscored the Bucs 36-1 from Tuesday to Thursday) since 1993.

Most Brewers players afterward were humble, and well-aware of the fact the Pirates will be in their backyard early next week.

The Yovani Gallardo that took the hill Wednesday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh was the pitcher the Brewers hoped they were getting when he signed a new contract with them earlier this month.

Gallardo retired nine of the first 11 Pirate batters to make an out via the strikeout. His pitch count ballooned early in the first inning, with many pitches being fouled off or counting toward two early walks, but he got out of the frame recording all three outs on strikeouts.

The offense helped out too, by scoring eight runs on the Pirates for the second night in a row. Ryan Braun continued as the flotilla leader against the Pirates — from his last gasp grand slam late in the 2008 Wild Card race, to Kartstens’ crap in April 2009, which foreshadowed later shenanigans.

This, of course, included Braun’s infamous “We play them about 17 more times. Tell Mr. Selig, we’ll see what happens. It’s going to be interesting.”

Jody Gerut has this to say in the MLB.com wrap on the game:

“We had some internal conversations about having fun again and regaining our identity … We celebrate, maybe, a little more than other teams, but that’s how we play the best. That’s just the way we have to play to be good.”

If there Brewers issue another beatdown on Thursday afternoon on the banks of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela, and celebrate in ribald fashion, we could have the Bucs in Milwaukee early next week a’fixin’ for a’feudin’.

Dave Bush turned in the best pitching performance by Brewer by far last night. But he gets no respect. Just look at that photo — imagine him tugging at his tie like Rodney Dangerfield.

When asked in a radio interview what was motivating him, from his “man on a mission” appearance during spring training, he replied that, well, he had to win a job. He had a non-guaranteed contract and he had to earn a spot on the team.

That’s Dave Bush, who baring last years injury, has pitched up to his capabilities. He’s so underrated. Lest we forget, it was the game that he pitched that the Brewers won their first playoff game in 26 years, before being eliminated.

Bush went on to say that his goal is to get back to pitching the way he was before his 2009 injury. Which was quite well. He’s a man on a mission — he knows exactly where he wants to go.

Baseball observers talk about a team’s starting pitchers according to their rank as a shorthand. When Ken Macha used this last off day to rearrange the rotation and split his lefties, it would appear that Bush ranks fifth out of five starters, assuming Yovani Gallardo starts as No. 1 and proceed in order. But the way things have panned out over three turns through the rotation, the real ace of the staff pitched last night.

The Brewers can”t be too pleased with themselves, after letting a record-setting 10 run first inning get as close as the 11-7 final score.

Craig Counsell hit a grand slam. Let me repeat that. Craig Counsell hit a grand slam.

With that lead, Uecker decided to get a little riffy in the second inning, cracking jokes about going to Phillip’s Seafood for all-you-can-eat fish with the bus driver, and staying up late to watch the end of the 20-inning Mets-Cardinals game.

“I asked the waitress if they carry Usinger’s Famous Sausages. She said ‘Sometimes. Hang on, let me check my purse.’”

But Doug Davis couldn’t get it done again, marking his third poor start of the year. Macha has decided to use days off like today to mix up the rotation and split up his lefties. This has the additional benefit of getting Suppan and Davis back up in front of the home crowd, for Friday and Saturday night games, for the always rowdy Cubs-Brewers series at Miller Park. They better get up for those games.

Viva Cerveceros never bid proper “adios” to Felipe Lopez, who was just fine for the Brewers last year in place of the injured Rickie Weeks.

Now he’s back with the Cardinals, and he was all over the place at Miller Park last week. When the Brewers got Lopez, the switch-hitting second baseman who ultimately hit .310 for them, I was relatively pleased. I remember my late Grandpa asking me very abruptly what I thought of the move, and him saying “Yeah, I’m glad they have him.”

I’m glad they had him, too. Without sounding too Costas-y here, Lopez just seems like a baseball player. And he proved it tonight, by pitching a scoreless 18th inning in a wild, low-scoring instant classic-type game in which the Cardinals lost to the Mets in 20 innings. Check it out on MLB.com. He’s a gamer, eh, folks?

His wife’s name is apparently Jennifer, which means he has his very own J. Lo. Whether that’s a spiral hemp necklace, or a performance inspiring Phiten necklace, I dig his overall style.

I wish him luck with his new team. Just as long as the Cardinals lose as much as possible to the Brewers, and let the Crew stay in the NL Central race by not running away with it. In that case, yes, have fun with it.

The depressing fact on Friday night was that the Brewers lost another game they should have won. It was compounded because it was the second time LaTroy Hawkins lost the lead in the eighth inning by giving up 3+ runs.

But we could rationalize it — whatever is going on with Hawkins, he’ll figure it out. We were in that game. That logic seemed sound when the Brewers were losing 50-50 battles with the Cubs and the Cardinals, and scratching out wins to avoid sweeps.

The difference is those are the teams we expect to measure up against to challenge for the NL Central. Then 35-year-old Nats pitcher Livan Hernandez pitched the first complete game-shutout of the year, and his first since 2004, holding the Brewers to only four hits. After an another abysmal Saturday — following last Saturday’s blowout on national television — the Brewers will be forced to claw out a win or suffer their first sweep of the season, at the hands of the supposedly lowly Nationals.

This Nationals series was supposed to kick off a stretch of favorable match-ups with the Pirates, Cubs, Pirates and Padres to follow. But the first two games in D.C. have inspired no confidence that the Crew can fatten up their record on lesser opponents before May.

There are no positives to take from this.

Now the Brewers will be fighting to keep from being swept for the first time this year, as Doug Davis takes the mound at 12:35 p.m. Central. And, as we’ve documented, Double-D prefers playing under the lights to the daylight.

Now, listen. I know how you all feel about Jeff Suppan. And trust me, I feel your pain.

Leave Jeffrey alone!

The last game I attended in 2008 — the year I moved to this badger den overlooking Miller Park and threw all-in with this team — was the game that he started, instead of Yovani Gallardo on short rest or Manny Parra, gave up a lead-off homer to J-Roll and later a pivotal homer to Pat Burrell. It was the game the Brewers were eliminated from the 2008 playoffs.

The first game I attended in 2009 was the Sunday Night Baseball game of opening weekend against the Cubs. In which he gave up a lead-off homer to Alfonso Soriano. Like salt in still-fresh wounds.

Not to mention any number of big innings for opposing teams, quality play by the offense and bullpen squandered because they started with a huge deficit. He’s not exactly the Old Milwaukee, but he’s getting up there in age and he’s never had a power arm or electric stuff. I’ve often wondered myself about whether it would be better for our beloved Brewers to just eat his contract, which pays him $12.5 million this year, just to not have him on the hill.

We all know what we’ve got here. Suppan — “Soup” — is the baseball equivalent of the culinary basis for his nickname. This is what is going to be thrown out there every fifth day, from the scraps of the week before. But here’s the thing, if the other ingredients are good, then Soup, “Soup,” even Jeff Suppan can be not so bad at all. Like yesterday, when the  Brewers’ meat and potatoes were good enough to cook up a win against the Cubs.

When listening to the game, I’ll admit I didn’t want him to go out for the fifth inning. Particularly because Gregg Zaun was on second with two outs when Soup came up to bat in the top of the frame.

“You’re letting him hit for himself?! Take him out! It’s tied, 4-4. Even money!”

When Zaun moved to third on a wild pitch, it made the move even more senseless to me. Suppan grounded out to end the inning, but then took down the top of the Cubs order 1-2-3 in the fifth. The Crew got a slim lead in the sixth, and started trotting out the relievers. Hey, it worked out.

This is soup I made from leftover roast chicken from Thanksgiving

So shut up about Suppan, for once. But it’s not our call, and frankly, I’m sick of hearing about it. We’ve all heard it before. As Uecker said in one of his broadcasts from the first series of the year:

“All right, settle down, folks. We’re all in this together.”

It’s not our call to cut Suppan, or to sit him down. Let’s give him a couple of starts before conversation turns to whether that’s what Melvin and Macha should do.

I know he’s on a short leash this year. But when he makes his next start, especially if it’s against the Cubs again next week at Miller Park, let’s show a little class. Please don’t boo — unless he gets yanked before the four inning.

Let’s follow the lead of this column — “Brewers take the win, don’t ask questions” — and just be happy the Crew is getting the hell out of Chicago without a sweep.

Another decent outing by Dave Bush and the offense was squandered in surprise fashion, when LaTroy Hawkins let four runs across in the eighth with two outs.

It’s early, and the season is long, and all that, but the Brewers could really use a win. Even the mot faithful fans will be wary of their chances this afternoon, because just as the Crew’s momentum has turned a few degrees downward, Jeff Suppan returns from the DL for his first start of the year.

To put it kindly, few would be surprised if the team left Chicago tomorrow night in a slightly sorrier state. Regardless of what happens in this last game at Wrigley, it’s back to the top of the order for the weekend in Washington, D.C.

Something about the way Doug Davis answered a question about day games before his start last week didn’t exactly inspire confidence. He was open about saying he’d prefer pitching at night. Tossing and turning, trying to get good night sleep while the opposing lineup is running through your head, then going straight down to the ballpark before coffee and Lucky Charms is not ideal.

Maybe that explains why his first two starts were not the type that would earn him the nickname Old Reliable. The Brewers got the win last Wednesday. This Monday, Davis’ pitching was just a little sloppier than Ryan Dempster. Read more about it here.

And his next scheduled start is another day game, on Sunday against the Nationals.