Weekly Hit Ground Ball: ‘Bierbrauers’ keep on smiling

The smiles showed how much they are enjoying their baseball in Milwaukee this season.

Zack Greinke jogged back to the dugout with a big grin on his face, his delight mirrored by that of his teammates.

In the fifth inning of their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, manager Ron Roenicke decided to sacrifice Jonathan Lucroy over to second base and he called on Greinke to come off the bench and do the job.

Milwaukee traded for Greinke over the off-season in the expectation of acquiring a difference-maker who could get them into the playoffs.  They were looking for the type of contribution they received on Friday night, when the former Cy Young winner struck out nine and gave up only two runs in 7.2 innings as he gained his eleventh win on the season.

His ability to lay down a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt wasn’t factored into those difference-making expectations, but the contributions just keep on coming from Greinke and many other members of the Brew Crew.  He put down a perfect bunt on the first pitch.  The only mistake Greinke made was in wearing the wrong jersey: a ‘Bierbrauer’ version intended to be worn on Sunday as part of a German heritage promotion.

The Brewers have shown themselves to be adept at not letting such minor errors and more pressing problems get in the way of winning with a smile on their faces.

Marco Estrada made a spot start for the Brewers in that Saturday game after Chris Narveson suffered a freak injury, slicing a finger with a pair of scissors whilst tending to his glove.  Estrada didn’t miss a beat, giving up a single hit over five scoreless innings before coming out of the game for Greinke’s pinch-bunt, with the Brewers’ bullpen taking over the rest of the way on the mound.

Narveson was placed on the 15-day Disabled List to recover from his injury, joining several other important players on the sidelines. Milwaukee lost both centrefielder Carlos Gomez and second baseman Rickie Weeks at the end of July; a double blow that could have derailed the team.

However, Nyjer Morgan has been an able deputy in centrefield, making some highlight plays with the glove and bringing the same enthusiasm and energy that Gomez does to the team.  Weeks is one of the best second baseman – indeed one of the top position players when healthy – in the game, so replacing him has been trickier.  Felipe Lopez, brought back to the team prior to the trade deadline, hasn’t hit much while filling Weeks’ fielding position, but other players have stepped up.

On Saturday, the Brewers even received a positive contribution from Yuniesky Betancourt. He was seen as the bitter pill Milwaukee had to swallow as part of the trade to acquire Greinke from the Kansas City Royals and he’s done what was expected of him: provided a bit of a power from the shortstop position and not a lot else.  Against the Pirates, that was all the Brewers needed as he hit a solo shot in the second inning for what proved to be the only run scored by either team.

Heading into their game on Sunday, the Brewers had won fifteen of their previous seventeen games, a sequence that included taking four games from six against their closest rivals in the NL Central: the St. Louis Cardinals.  Now that they finally have a good starting rotation to go alongside the batting core of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Weeks, the smiles in Milwaukee could last long into the offseason.

Seeing-eye singles

Have we reached the end of the Carlos Zambrano soap opera? He might have finally burned his bridges in Chicago after one incident too many.  ESPN Chicago’s Jon Greenberg thinks that the Cubs should pay off the final year on his contract, stating: “Zambrano is owed only $19 million next year. Not exactly chump change, but easily digestible. Owner Tom Ricketts and his siblings can’t be happy about eating another contract after Carlos Silva was waived this spring, but this has to be done”.  I can just about understand what Greenberg means we he writes “only” $19m, but that sum and the mention of the Silva saga do not reflect well on the Cubs’ General Manager Jim Hendry.

The Reds hit seven home runs against the Padres on Saturday. It was fitting that Homer Bailey was credited with the pitching win for Cincinnati.

It wasn’t a great weekend for two AL Cy Young contenders.  CC Sabathia was plundered for five solo home runs on Friday and then Jered Weaver was knocked around on Saturday by the Blue Jays. Advantage: Justin Verlander.

Dan Uggla’s 33-game hitting streak came to an end on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra on Sunday evening.  Although that streak is over, the Braves have got to be delighted with the way he has turned his season around of late. Good job I didn’t get frustrated at his disappointing first half performance and kept him on my fantasy team.