10/1/11 Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Milwaukee Brewers 4

Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
NLDS Game 1

You can count on it, Yovani Gallardo is pretty good at pitching.

The postseason begins as the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks take on the also surprising (but certainly less surprising) Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, where visiting teams tend to fall. Ian Kennedy is a great pitcher, but Gallardo…whoa. Even after a shaky start to his season, he is pitching like Yovani Gallardo when it matters the most: Right here, right now.



Ryan Braun has a great game (3-for-4, 2H, 3 total bases, 2 runs scored, 1 broken bat, 1 flyout), but most fans are used to hearing this. His stunning outfield assist that caught Willie Bloomquist at home with Jonathan Lucroy waiting was very impressive, but I’m still rubbing my eyes at Jerry Hairston, Jr. I hear myself and others saying “well, looks like the real Jerry Hairston, Jr. came to play baseball” and that’s kind of an understatement. His 15 minutes of baseball fame are here, right now. He made two very distinctive defensive plays at 3B, the second of which was a ginormous charge for a 5-3 groundout by Justin Upton.

Gallardo, on the other hand, throws a tidy gem in the process, 8IP, 4H, one R (earned on an 8th inning HR by Brian Roberts), 8K and a BB. And as usual, he looks like he’s about to yawn the entire time.

John Axford earns a save on a 3-up, 3-down inning of work…he pitched for the “closer cycle” with a flyout, a groundout, and a strikeout. And the moustache is looking very outrageous and phenomenal these days.




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4/9/11 Chicago Cubs 0, Milwaukee Brewers 6

Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
Game 2 of 3



After striking out 12 batters in his first outing as a Cub, yet giving up a career-high 12 hits, Matt Garza returns to face Chris Narveson in Milwaukee. Being very much under the Cubs microscope (of course, his performance NOW will dictate when we’ll see another World Series), Garza finds himself consistent with his previous outing, where his Ks equal his hits…only this time around he gets to bring something new home with him: his first decision as a Cub, one that starts with the letter “L”…



Yes, Garza is still very forgiving to opposing teams regarding contact. You’re going to hear the “switching from AL to NL dilemma” come up quite a bit, but in my opinion we should have no fears…I expect Garza to, at a minimum, perform just as inconsistently as Carlos Zambrano does today. Maybe a little bit better. In this game, not only is this true, but the following is also true: Chris Narveson needs an ERA, and the 2-3-4 Brewers hitters LOVE Matt Garza.

Prince Fielder has never hit 3 consecutive doubles in a game before in his life. He did today. He also managed to do this every time Ryan Braun, at least, was on base.

It’s also true that the 1-6 hitters in the Cubs lineup managed to get a hit off of Narveson, but those hits were lost like tears in rain.

My oh my, how Sean Green has developed as a relief pitcher. His side-arm delivery is deadly these days, pitching a very solid inning with goose-eggs across the line (2 groundouts and a flyout).

Jeff Samardzija, by comparison, walked in a run after walking 4 of 6 batters in the 8th. He also allowed Garlos Gomez to steal 2 bases in the same at bat. As usual, when the Cubs melt down…they do it LARGE.

Go CUBS

4/12/10 Milwaukee Brewers 5, Chicago Cubs 9

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Cubs Home Opener (Game 1 of 3)

A wonderful home opener game, complete with the Ricketts family singing the 7th inning stretch.

MIL 5 8 1
CHC 9 13 0

After the Braves and Reds series, I had some uneven expectations for this game but it's all true...offense when we need it, defense when we need it (well, the near-collision of Baker and Nady was nearly ruled an error). Dempster had me very worried as he started to roll on his characteristic 'unraveling inning,' this time in the 5th when the Brewers threatened to catch up. And why on earth would you pitch to Braun with a runner on?!?

Fortunately, the damage done to Doug Davis (whose super-slow from-the-stretch delivery added 20 minutes to the game) was enough to keep the Cubs above the red and our bullpen (even Samardzija!!!) kept the lead clamped down.