Brewers Beat Marlins 2-0

After four days off for the All-Star Game festivities, the second half of the Major League Baseball season is here.  While it was only four games, both the Brewers and Marlins offenses were sluggish out of the gate. 

It was a pitching dual through the first three innings with both pitchers only surrendering three hits apiece.  The Brewers had an opportunity to score in the bottom of the first inning.  With one out, Jean Segura started the inning with an infield base hit.  Ryan Braun then came to the plate, only to popup to shortstop, Adeiny Hechavarria for the second out of the inning.  Jonathon Lucroy drew a walk, and then the Brewers perfected a double steal, with Segura making it to third and Lucroy taking second.   With two outs in the inning, the Brewers tried to get on top early, but All-Star Carlos Gomez grounded out to third, to end the threat.

The Miami Marlins would come back in the top of the second inning to get two, two out base hits, only to strand the runners on first and second.  Jeff Bianchi of the Brewers did get a base hit to left with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but would remain at first to end the second. 

In the third, the Miami Marlins went a quiet 1-2-3, with Kyle Lohse striking out two batters.  Norichika Aoki did his job for the Brewers by leading off the inning with a base on balls.  The Brewers tried to rally again with two men out, when Lucroy singled to center, but they failed to score after the lead of walk.

For a second consecutive inning, the Marlins went down in order, and it was not until the Brewers came up when we would finally saw some scoring.  Leading off in the bottom of the fourth inning, Juan Francisco broke the zero, zero tie by hitting an opposite field homerun off Justin Turner, his 12^th of the season.  Rickie Weeks then followed with a walk, and would steal second base with one out recorded by Bianchi.  Pitcher, Kyle Lohse then hit a weak foul ball right to the third basemen, Polacido Polanco, for the second out.  Aoki would then walk for a second consecutive at-bat, but Jean Segura grounded out to end the scoring threat. 

Kyle Lohse was cruising threw the first four innings, keeping the Marlins bats relatively quiet.  Lohse would get into some trouble early in the fifth when Hechavarria would single to right, and advance to second on a rare error by Aoki.  After his hit, Lohse would not allow him to score, striking out two and getting pitcher Justin Turner to hit a weak ground ball to shortstop.  The Brewers were finally able to do some damage with two outs in the inning, with Carlos Gomez crushing a ball down the left field line for his 15^th homerun of the season.  This gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead after five.

Logan Morrison hit a two out double in the top of the sixth inning, but the Marlins failed to continue the two out rally.  Rickie Weeks did lead of the bottom of the frame by reaching on a hit by pitch for the Brewers.  The Marlins then made a pithing change by bringing in right-hander Ryan Webb for Justin Turner.  Webb would finish off the inning by pitching a clean sixth, to keep the score at 2-0 Brewers. 

Kyle Lohse’s night was over.  After six strong innings of shut out baseball, John Axford came in out of the bullpen in relief.  It would be a quiet game the rest of the way, with both teams using two more relief pitchers each to get the job done.  Francisco Rodriguez closed it out in the ninth inning to record his 10^th save of the season, giving the Brewers the win, and improving their record to 39-56.  Kyle Lohse would pick up the win with Justin Turner being saddled with the loss.  The final score was the Brewers two and the Marlins zero. 

As Ron Roenicke would say after the game, “We played good baseball tonight, we pitched well, got a couple of base hits, defensively I thought we played a nice job, but whether we get back to .500 or not, we have to really play well there is no doubt about it, we have to play really good baseball…”

The Brewers pitching staff pitched nine strong innings of shut out baseball, and helped the Brewers start off the second half of the season on a positive note.  The usual stars did not lead the offense with Aramis Ramirez on the disabled list and Ryan Braun going zero for three, instead Carlos Gomez and Juan Francisco’s homeruns made the difference in tonight’s game.  Time will tell if the Brewers can get back to .500 ball, but tonight they started off on the right foot, with their excellent pitching and solid offensive performance.   

2013 MLB Predictions: National League East

Every team starts the season tied for first place, and in baseball anything is possible.  For the players and fans there are hopes, and even for some, dreams, that their team will be a top their division at the end of the season. With Opening Day less than a month away, here is how I see the National League East shaping out to be:

1st - Washington Nationals: 

Last season the Nationals were the best team in baseball, and they have gotten even better with their offseason acquisitions.  They have acquired Denard Span from the Twins, and he gives the Nationals an excellent leadoff hitter and center fielder that they have needed for years.

Besides improving their batting lineup and defense, the Nationals have significantly improved their pitching staff.  They added Dan Haren to replace Edwin Jackson and they signed Rafael Soriano to close out the ninth inning.  With many young, talented players and solid veterans, except the Nationals to be one of the top teams in the NL for a second consecutive season.

2nd - Atlanta Braves:

Chipper Jones will no longer be handling the hot corner for the Braves, but even with the lose of Jones and other solid veteran players, the Braves still have one of the more talented teams in the NL.

This offseason the Braves stole the headlines with the acquisitions of B.J. and Justin Upton.  The Upton brothers, along with Jason Heyward, will give the Braves the most athletic outfield in baseball.  The Braves will be able to score a huge amount of runs, but their biggest weakness, will be their starting rotation.

This offseason the Braves took a chance by trading away Tommy Hanson, Randell Delgado, and non-tendering Jair Jurrjens, but if Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Julio Tehran can live up to their potential, the Braves will have a solid starting rotation.  The Braves might not win the NL East, but they will win one of the NL Wild Cards, and make it to the World Series for the first time since 1999.

3rd - Philadelphia Phillies:

The Philadelpia Phillies struggled last season due to injuries and finished a disappointing third in the NL East with 81 wins.  The Phillies continue to get older and this season, might be there last shot at making the playoff for the foreseeable future.  This offseason the Phillies were able to improve their team with multiple transactions.

Michael Young was acquired from the Rangers to play third base, and provided a right handed bat in the Phillies' lineup that is left handed heavy.  John Lannan, Mike Adams, and Delmon Young were all free agent signings that should make a solid impact this season, but the biggest move the Phillies made was acquiring speedy Ben Revere.  This move gives the Phillies a talented center fielder for this season and for the future, as well as a solid top of the order hitter.  Even though the Phillies acquired some talented players, it will not be enough to push them into the playoffs.

4th - New York Mets:

The New York Mets made two significant moves this offseason.  The Mets were able to lock up the face of the franchise, David Wright, to a long term extension, and they traded reigning Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dicky to the Blue Jays for top prospects Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndergarrd.

The Mets did sign multiple veteran pitchers to help their young pitching staff, and their most notable signing was starting pitcher, Shaun Marcum, who is a number four starter at best.  The Mets are obviously looking to the future with many off their talented young prospects, and this season they will have trouble being a competitive team.

5th - Miami Marlins: 

Last season the Marlins were expected to be in the playoff mix after making many huge signings, but they ended up struggling the entire season finishing in last place.  Instead of helping themselves become competitive this season, the Marlins decided to trade their entire team to the Blue Jays.

This offseason the Marlins traded away Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio, and John Buck to the Blue Jays for prospects.  They also shipped Heath Bell to Arizona and Yunel Escobar, who they acquired from the Blue Jays, to Tampa Bay for prospects.  All of these moves were to dump salary and build towards the future, and this season the Marlins will be in the basement of the NL East for a third consecutive season.