Reviewing the Brew » Philadelphia Phillies

Series Six Pack: Brewers vs. Phillies

Colin Bennett — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:17:07 +0000

Tonight, a struggling Brewers team (1-5 in their last two series) take on a Phillies team that is fighting to tread a water in a division that, for the better part of a decade, was theirs to lose. Staff writer Ethan Seidel caught up with me for a short, but entertaining series of questions surrounding [...]

Series Six Pack: Brewers vs. Phillies - Reviewing the Brew - Reviewing the Brew - A Milwaukee Brewers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Brew Crew Online: Episode 14

Benjamin Orr — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:55:34 +0000

Can it get any worse? Well, let’s hope not! Episode 14 has a lot to talk about the Milwaukee Brewers’ struggles and if there’s any hope of turning it around. Colin is back this week and helps add to the conversation for 42 minutes. As the Brewers’ go on, so do we and here’s what [...]

Brew Crew Online: Episode 14 - Reviewing the Brew - Reviewing the Brew - A Milwaukee Brewers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

K-Rod apologizes after disastrous performance

Brad White — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:46:57 +0000

This is something you don’t see every day.

After closer Francisco Rodriguez’s terrible outing last night in Philadelphia, he issued an apology via his Twitter account, @El_kid_rod57. Here’s what he said (split into two tweets):

First tweet: “I so sorry guys I do want to apologize for the performance the I did today from the bottom of my heart I will get better bcuz”

Second tweet: “You guys deserve better then that am sorry”

If you didn’t already know, English is not K-Rod’s primary language. He also posted the tweet in Spanish.

Anyway, this is sort of a classy move, I suppose. Not that it puts him off the hook for what truly was a very hard inning to watch, but it’s good to see he at least cares.

If you didn’t see the end of last night’s game, though, let me attempt to paint the picture. K-Rod started off the inning fine, striking out former Brewer Laynce Nix on a nasty curveball down and in. After that, however, he completely lost it. He proceeded to walk Jimmy Rollins, then give up a single to Juan Pierre. K-Rod also walked Chase Utley to load the bases. At first, I thought these were just more of his “20 minutes of terror” antics, but when he gave up a two-run single to Ryan Howard, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. K-Rod still had a one-run lead at that point, but not for long, as he went on to give up the game-tying single to Carlos Ruiz. He then walked Hunter Pence, and the last few pitches of that at-bat weren’t even close. K-Rod was flying and falling all over the place with his delivery and follow-through- towards the plate, towards first base, back at the mound- everywhere. Anyway, then the inevitable happened: he gave up a walk-off sacrifice fly to Ty Wigginton.

K-Rod’s final line? 0.2 innings, three hits, four earned runs, three walks, and one strikeout. It marked the second straight appearance that he walked three batters.

But the circumstances surrounding this game made the blown save that much worse. First off, K-Rod was given a three-run lead to work with going into the ninth, and managed to blow it before recording two outs. Second, the Brewers had just been swept in Cincinnati and were looking for a great win over Roy Halladay and the Phillies. Also, the bullpen blew yet ANOTHER lead for Randy Wolf; he’s got to be on the verge of breaking some sort of record for the most blown saves by his relievers behind him after exiting the game. Lastly, K-Rod’s ERA ballooned to 4.47, and his trade value has easily plummeted.

Even after that rant, though, it was good that he apologized. Again, not saying that it by any means lets him off the hook; nothing- including apologies- can fix the way this awful season has gone.

But now we need to hope that K-Rod won’t go down the road of John Axford and continue blowing more critical games. The Brewers are already basically out of contention, but this season doesn’t need to be any more painful than it already is.

Series Six Pack with John Stolnis from That Ball’s Outta Here

Benjamin Orr — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:00:26 +0000

So, here we sit. The Milwaukee Brewers (44-50) are farther back then they would like to be and with their backs up against the wall, they must sweep a series. The Philadelphia Phillies (42-54) on the other hand will not sit idly by and let the Brewers do so. Both the Brewers and Phillies are on backwards paths from last year and are trying to salvage what they can from their seasons. The teams’ struggles have been all too apparent, and with both teams losing their previous series before this one, they are both hungry for wins. The Brewers will try to rally behind Randy Wolf, Zack Greinke and Marco Estrada, all who will make starts in this series. The Phillies on the other hand have struggling pitching, especially in two pitchers who are absolutely dominant otherwise, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Even Vance Worley hasn’t looked as sharp as he did in 2011. Offensively, both teams look to turn it around, but it’s an uphill battle.

For this preview, I asked John Stolnis, a staff writer at That Ball’s Outta Here, a few questions regarding the city of brotherly love. That Ball’s Outta Here is FanSided’s Philadelphia Phillies blog so be sure to check them out! Here’s what John had to say about his team: (more…)

Taking a look at the Brewers’ July

Benjamin Orr — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:07:07 +0000

The one thing that the Milwaukee Brewers (42-46) can count on from here on out are tough games. July poses no time for the Brewers to hit any more slumps or be on the losing end of sweeps. Tonight, the Brewers begin the last series in this current home stand against the St. Louis Cardinals (46-43). Friday will start our six game road trip and that begins in the Great American Ball Park against the first place Cincinnati Reds (50-38). After that, the Brewers find themselves against the Philadelphia Phillies (39-51), a team who is also struggling, but may be turning it around with guys coming back from injury. Near the end of this month, the Brewers will be at home to host one of baseball’s hottest and surprising teams in the Washington Nationals (51-35). To end out the month, the Brewers will play the Houston Astros (33-56) in Milwaukee. July is a month that will make or break the season because even with that extra wild card spot, if we can’t beat some of the tougher competition, how can we except to go farther than where we already are? (more…)

Brewers Playoffs: Keys to Success

Colin Bennett — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 21:53:10 +0000

The National League Playoffs begin on Saturday, and as I’m sure you’re all aware, the Milwaukee Brewers will be involved. We here at Reviewing the Brew are peeing our pants with excitement. Ok, not all of us are, probably just me.

It’s good to be excited, of course, as the team will continue to need a ton of support even in a record setting season like this one. But as the good journalist that I pretend to be, I had to take a good hard look at the Brewers’ prospects in the postseason and try to identify any/all of the things that would help make sure Milwaukee’s seasons ends with a World Series Championship. As always, my advice is given to the team gratis.

(more…)

Am I The Only One Not Worried About Axford?

Colin Bennett — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:15:53 +0000

The Milwaukee Brewers outlasted the Phillies in Citizen Bank Park tonight, but it proved to be another shaky night for one Mr. John Axford. When looking for something other than outs and runs to write about, I generally cruise through my various social networking sites to get the “Man on the Street” view of the team. Right now the name of that street would be something like “Replace Axford Ave.”

How can you be mad at that mustache?

Is this reactionary thinking or do we really have a closing problem?

(more…)