Bill Batterman is the It has been a tough couple of weeks for the Brewers. Whether on the mound, at the plate, or in the field, the team’s maladroit play has led to an eight-game losing streak that has left Milwaukee floundering for answers. The skid is the franchise’s longest since the devastating twelve-game stretch late in the 2004 season that highlighted that team’s historic second-half collapse. In fact, there have only been eleven losing streaks in franchise history that have lasted longer than the current eight games, a skid matched on six other occasions, most recently in 1991.
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It is hard to believe that only ten days ago the Brewers were sitting pretty at 26-23, riding high after taking the first two contests in a three-game series in Philadelphia. In what now seems like a distant memory, the Crew swatted three home runs under the hot sun at Citizens Bank Park and Derrick Turnbow saved his 15th game of the season. Since then, the team’s high-flying offense has come crashing back to Earth and their beleaguered pitching staff has completely collapsed under the weight of injuries and ineffectiveness. After dropping the finale in Philadelphia, Milwaukee was swept by the lowly Pirates in Pittsburgh and again by the decidedly mediocre Nationals, this time in front of big crowds at Miller Park.
While some (including Journal-Sentinel beat writer Tom Haudricourt, who referred to the losing streak as a “death spiral” in Sunday’s vicious game story) are preparing to write off yet another season, Manager Ned Yost isn’t willing to give in to the temptation to panic.
“It’s a mystery to see how things can go from so good to so bad so quick and it’s also a mystery to see how things can go from so bad to so good so quick. We’ve just had a tough week,” he told John Sahly of MLB.com before Sunday’s game. “The biggest mistake you can make in these streaks is panic and start messing with people’s roles.”
With a lineup that features talented hitters from top to bottom and the imminent return of shortstop J.J. Hardy, the Brewers’ offense is almost certain to bounce back to the form it displayed for most of May. The pitching staff may be a different story, but Rick Helling is in the final stages of his rehabilitation and starters Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka are still expected to return before the end of the season. If Doug Davis and Dave Bush can continue to post quality starts behind acting ace Chris Capuano to take some of the pressure off the team’s woeful bullpen, there’s no reason the Brewers can’t climb back to .500 and make a second-half run.
First thing’s first, however, as the Padres come to Milwaukee fresh-off an MLB-best 19-10 record during May and a series win in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Four games behind the Diamondbacks and a game-and-a-half behind the Dodgers in the surprising National League West, San Diego has gone 15-10 on the road and boasts one of baseball’s top pitching staffs. Thanks in part to their favorable home park, the Friar hurlers have compiled a 3.94 ERA, third-best in the NL, and have limited opposing batters to a .243 batting average and 709 OPS, bested in both categories only by Pedro Martinez and the Mets.
Offensively, San Diego has scored the third-fewest runs in the league and has only two regulars with OPSes above 800, Brian Giles (818 with a league-leading 41 walks) and Mike Piazza (828). The future Hall-of-Famer has split time with uber-productive Josh Bard (1137) and Rob Bowen (1115) behind the plate to form baseball’s best catching tandem. At least some of the Padres’ offensive futility can be attributed to Petco Park, however, as the team sports a league-best 803 OPS on the road versus a league-worst 633 mark at home.
In any case, the Brewers will have their work cut out for them if they hope to get back to their winning ways.