Brewers 16, Twins 4: Cleaning Up

Win: Zack Greinke (5-1)
Loss: Jason Marquis (2-4)

HR: Hart (9), Lucroy 2 (3, 4)

MVP: Corey Hart (.193 WPA (This is why I hate WPA (Jonathan Lucroy is easily the MVP of this game but had .166 WPA)))
LVP: Cesar Izturis (-.034 WPA)

Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph

The Brewers have been having a lot of trouble scoring runs. So, before today's game, Ron Roenicke made some changes to his batting order and lineup. Out were Aramis Ramirez and Rickie Weeks. Jonathan Lucroy moved to the cleanup spot with Taylor Green hitting behind him. Today, the starting infield was Edwin Maysonet, Cesar Izturis, Taylor Green, and Travis Ishikawa.

For a team needing runs, that lineup doesn't exactly instill a lot of confidence.

So the Brewers went out and scored 16 runs, led by the astounding Jonathan Lucroy, who had a record tying day. The Brewers piled it on early, with two runs in the first inning and six in the second inning. The game started out going the Brewers way as Corey Hart led off the first inning with a home run. Jonathan Lucroy followed by hitting his first home run of the day.

The team then batted around in the second inning. After a single and two outs, Zack Greinke extended the inning with a single. Corey Hart then his an RBI single. A Nyjer Morgan walk set up a bases loaded double from Ryan Braun. Taylor Green was then hit by a pitch and Travis Ishikawa singled before Cesar Izturis made the final out.

Milwaukee then took a short rest in the third before putting another two on the board in the fourth inning as Ryan Braun knocked Nyjer Morgan in and scored himself on two sacrifice flies. Zack Greinke would score again in the fifth on a Ryan Braun RBI single.

The seventh inning saw five more runs for Milwaukee. After two singles and a walk, Norichiki Aoki pinch hit for Ryan Braun and singled in a run. With the bases loaded, clean-up hitter Jonathan Lucroy came up. After falling quickly behind to a 0-2 count, Lucroy launched a ball into right center field for the first grand slam of his career.

That grand slam also gave Lucroy seven RBI on the day, tying the Brewers team record. The only other Milwaukee players to drive in that many were Corey Hart, Damian Miller, Richie Sexson, Jose Hernandez, and Ted Kubiak. Overall, Lucroy was 3-5 with two homers, three runs, and the seven RBI.

Corey Hart and Ryan Braun also had three hit days. Hart had a home run, scored three runs, and drove in two. Braun had a double, four runs batted in, and two runs scored. Nyjer Morgan had a hit and two walks and scored each time he reached base.Travis Ishikawa also had a nice day, going 2-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.Carlos Gomez pinch hit and played center field after being taken off the DL earlier today. He had a single and scored a run.

Zack Greinke was 2-3 with two runs scored and pitched another fantastic game. He went 6.2 innings and allowed just one run on five hits. He struck out six hitters while walking two.

Juan Perez went .2 innings and allowed a run on two hits and a walk. He's not off to the best start after taking Vinnie Chulk's roster spot.

There wasn't much to complain about in this game from a Brewers fan's viewpoint. However, it was disappointing to see home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt eject Tim Dillard in the ninth inning of a 16-2 game after he accidentally threw a pitch behind Jamey Carroll. This after three Brewers had already been hit today and there was absolutely no reason for Dillard to hit anyone. A stupid ejection, but thankfully it didn't come during a situation where it would have truly mattered. It did force the Brewers to use Kameron Loe on a day they shouldn't have, however.

Hopefully the Brewers can keep this hot hitting up. It will be interesting to see whether Lucroy will remain in the clean up spot when Aramis Ramirez and Rickie Weeks return to the lineup. Perhaps we'll find out tomorrow as the Brewers begin a three game series with the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 as Madison Bumgarner and Randy Wolf face off.