The homestand ends today with bobbleheads and a chance for a sweep.
As always, more after the jump.
Dave Bush (6-11, 4.76), who despite rumor remains on both the 25-man and 40-man roster, toes the rubber for the Crew today. Though his strikeout rate has declined and walk rate increased from previous years, the veteran righthander has been one of the Brewers' better starters in 2010. That fact may say more about the rest of the rotation than Bush himself, but there is no denying his fifteen quality starts. Though critics point out quality starts aren't necessarily good, they are also not bad, and the fact remains Bush has been able to keep the Brewers in many games this year. That said, he has had his fair share of disastrous outings. Unfortunately, the last time he faced the Pirates was one such outing. Bush was tagged for nine runs (four earned) in the first inning and was left on the mound to pitch his way through four frames. Over his last eight games, he has alternated bad starts (five or more runs) with good starts (three or fewer runs). If that trend holds, he is due for a good game today.
Charlie Morton (1-9, 9.35), just called up from AAA, wishes he had the struggles of Dave Bush this year. In ten starts in April and May, Morton lasted just 43 1/3 innings. In a start against the Brewers on April 20, he allowed six runs on six hits without recording an out in the second inning before being pulled. Despite his undeniable struggles, he did have a couple solid starts and in fact three of his May outings were quality starts, including his one win. Still, those few decent outings were not enough to save his job and he was demoted to AAA Indianapolis. He went 4-4 with a 3.82 ERA in fourteen starts for the AAA Indians with a 1.50 ERA in four August starts.
Brewers Lineup:
2B Rickie Weeks
RF Joe Inglett
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
3B Casey McGehee
CF Chris Dickerson
SS Alcides Escobar
C George Kottaras
P Dave Bush
Brewers Bullpen:
John Axford pitched one inning (18 pitches) last night and one inning (16 pitches) Friday.
Zack Braddock pitched one inning (10 pitches) Friday.
Todd Coffey pitched one inning (24 pitches) last night.
Trevor Hoffman pitched one inning (13 pitches) last night.
Kameron Loe pitched one inning (12 pitches) last night and walked two batters (16 pitches) Friday.
Mike McClendon pitched one inning (14 pitches) last night.
Manny Parra pitched three innings (36 pitches) last night.