Recap On Tap: Brewers 6, Twins 2

How about that? Winning two games in a row sure is helpful, especially considering we haven’t been playing our best ball as of late. Michael Fiers yet again proved himself MLB worthy by winning his second game of the season and of his career. Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Norichika Aoki came through big per usual. The Brewers are showing signs of life and hopefully this sticks. We can’t afford to drop series like these to teams we “should” beat. Not trying to discredit the Minnesota Twins here, but we know that the Brewers are a much better team than they have played this season. For the Brewers it was another huge road win that we needed.

There really has to be some hope we can take away from this game. This game started off early and fast for the Brew Crew. In the top of the 2nd inning, Norichika Aoki had a huge single that scored Rickie Weeks and Taylor Green. In the top of the 3rd, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs, giving the Brewers a 4-0 lead after three innings of play.

Michael Fiers looked really good today. The only bit of trouble Fiers got into today was in the bottom of the 3rd. Darin Mastroianni doubled to start off the inning. Jamey Carroll grounded out to Fiers, but it advanced Mastroianni to third. Denard Span would line out to Rickie Weeks. With two outs in the inning, Fiers had a legitimate chance to get out of the jam without any damage, but Ben Revere had other thoughts. Revere singled to left center which in turn scored Mastroianni. Josh Willingham would pop up after Revere’s at bat to end the inning, After three innings, it’s 4-1 Brewers.

Ryan Braun would hit his second home run of the day in the top of the 5th, followed by Cody Ransom hitting a solo shot in the top of the 6th. Really, up until Fiers finished the 7th inning, he wouldn’t face anymore trouble and just continue to shut the Twins down. In the top of the 8th, Ron Roenicke decided Fiers who was at 107 pitches, would be replaced by Manny Parra. Parra would give up a walk to Denard Span and an infield single to Ben Revere, which are crucial. With two on and nobody out, the Twins had a real shot to rattle Parra and turn the tide of the game. Josh Willingham hit a single which scored Span and put Revere on second. However, the rally was short lived as Justin Morneau hit into a double play and Ryan Doumit flew out to center. After this inning, Jose Veras would pitch (in a non-save situation) and slam the door on the Twins, giving the Brewers a 6-2 victory.

This is another huge road victory for the Brewers. Michael Fiers did really well today and in my mind, only reaffirmed his role as a starter going forward. The offense came through in a big way to support Fiers. The bullpen, while in its usual shabby self, still got the job done. Tomorrow wraps up this three game series against the Twins. The match-up for tomorrow’s game will feature Milwaukee’s Zack Greinke (7-2, 2.96 ERA) against Minnesota’s Nick Blackburn (3-4, 7.68 ERA). The game is schedule for a 2:10 PM EST / 1:10 PM CST start.

Final Stats:

WP: M. Fiers (2-2, 3.60 ERA): 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB’s, 5 K’s

LP: Liam Hendriks (0-3, 7.83 ERA): 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 5 K’s

Doubles: R. Braun (11), D. Mastroianni (1), R. Doumit (9)

Home Runs: R. Braun 2 (19), A. Ramirez (7), C. Ransom (5)

RBIs: N. Aoki 2 (11), R. Braun 2 (47), A. Ramirez (34), C. Ransom (21), B. Revere (8), J. Willingham (45)

Stolen Bases: Brian Dozier (2)

Errors: J. Carroll 2 (5)

Until next time, go Brew Crew!