Hart and Soul, Brewers score 5 runs on the road

Corey Hart has found his swing.  And by doing so, he may have helped the Brew Crew get their groove back.  Last night Corey went 3-for-5 with a towering triple to left-center field.  That hit sparked a little two-run rally, which ended up sealing last night’s 5-2 victory over San Diego.  Since Roenicke moved Hart into the number 2 spot in the batting order, Hart is 4-for-8 with a walk.  I do not even need to say how much of an improvemenet that is over what Gomez has been doing at the plate.

The lineup that Roenicke went with last night was pretty typical, accpet for Kotsay playing CF.  This is usually the part of the article where I rip on Kotsay, but not today friends.  Last night was the first time that I can honestly say, Kotsay helped the team win.   His veteran “know how”, knocked in 2 runs last night.  He was able to do something that no other Brewers has done on the road this season, drive in runs in concsecutive at-bat’s.  Mark ended the night with 3 hits and a gift certificate that reads “Lou Olsen of Reviewing the Brew will not rip on me for a full 24 hours”.

Now, don’t mistake my praise for Kotsay as me lobbying for him to play everyday.  Or, that I suddenly think he is the missing link.  All I am trying to say is, it was nice to see him do his job for a change.  This also gives creedence to my thought, that Carlos Gomez’s glove should not be the end all be all of why he gets to keep the starting job.  Brandon Boggs, Nyjer Morgan, and now Mark Kotsay are all capable of playing CF.  Those three players also bring more of an offensive presence to the table.  Gomez is currently the unsuspecting owner of a ticking clock.  You would not see me make a surprised face if Gomez was gone by the All-Star break.  I am sure there is a team or two out there who think that they can change Gomez into an amazing batter…good luck with that.

Yo Gallardo really locked down the Padres streaking lineup.  While watching the game last night, it seemed like the entire team was in the midst of a 9 game hitting streak.  The only mistake Gallardo made, was a mid-90’s fastball that Ryan Ludwick turned on.  That gave it just enough smoke to make it into the left field bleachers.  At that point, it gave the Padres a 2-1 lead.  Then Yo went out and threw two socreless innings, which gave the team the opportunity to take 3-2 lead  putting him in line for the win.  In only 6 innings of work, Yo struck out 9 batters.  Then the bullpen took care of the rest.  Marco Estrada, LaTroy Hawkins, and John Axford all worked scoreless innings to preserve the second win of this California road trip.

     Can we talk about LaTroy Hawkins for a quick second?  In the past, I have refered to him in less than flattering terms.  When we signed him, I thought it was a reach.  Then he missed almost all of last season with an injury and I was ready for the team to just cut him and move on.  Generally, I clumped him in with the Damian Miller and Jeff Suppan type free agent, who clearly had run out of gas.  I am prepared to eat those criticisms.  Hawkins has made 10 appearances so far this season, and has an ERA of 0.93.  Last night he worked himself into a little trouble, but was able to fight his way out of it.  Please accept my apology LaTroy, you have become very valuable to this team over the past few weeks and I am not sure that we can afford to lose you to injuries again.  If any of you are interested, you can follow Latroy on Twitter. 

     One final piece of business for today, my friend Shawn Anderson over at The Hall of Very Good has been celebrating all week.  Why?  For those of you who are not familiar with Ross Grimsley, I have provided a picrture for you.  He was one of the most prolific pitchers of the late 70’s, although he is more renowned for his mustache and overall personal grooming (or lack there of).  This week mark’s the 40th anniversary of Grimsley’s first big league start.  Shawn is a man who truly loves and admires mustaches, so to celebrate 40 years of mustache love, he has put together an entire week of Grimsley and his sweet ‘stache.  You should really check it out, some really great articles from several different writer’s.  Tomorrow, the Hall of Very Good will unveil “Ross Grimsley Mustache Facts”.  Be sure and get over there to check it all out. 

Tonight the Crew takes another stab at sweeping a 2 game mini-series.  Then tomorrow they are back in the safety of Miller Park for a lengthy homestand that will include; the Rockies, Nationals, and Giants.  How sweet will this 9 game homestand be?  Hopefully it will be really sweet.

     This video is flying around the web, so I thought I would share it with you.  Clearly this is fake, but the production quality really makes you wonder.  Here it is. 

Everyone have a safe and happy Thursday.