Bacon's Forever Franchise

[bacon96]

Game 42: @ Chicago Cubs
At a green ivy filled Wrigley Field, we took a quick 2-0 lead thanks to a misplayed ball in right field by Jack North but the Cubs wouldn't stay down for long. They scored their first run in the fourth because Frankie Fernandez wanted to deposit a ball into the bleachers. Then Oscar Rodriguez did the same thing in the sixth with a runner on before adding one more in the eighth. We put up a fight against the Cubbie closer but they were able to hang on to a 4-3 win for Chicago.




Game 43:
Austin Wright did what he could to hold down the Cubs offense but they still found a way resulting in three flukey runs by Chicago. While Cubs starter, Tanner Wood pitched even more like an ace. Wood had twelve strikeouts and only made one mistake when he allowed a meatball across the plate to Derrek Hills who promptly took him deep to center field. Then our offense stayed quiet until Nellie Orvella fed the bleacher creatures with a home run of his own, this one with two runners on base. Then in the eighth, Mark Chiavacci joined the club by socking a three run home run too. 8-3.

Game 44:
The finale in Chicago was a slugfest as on a Wednesday afternoon, the Brewers and Cubs went back and forth in a mock home run derby. All of Jake Fish, Mark Chiavacci, Michael McCoy and Troy Drennan went deep with Fish hitting the bleachers twice and Drennan hitting a dramatic go-ahead three-run home run when we were down to our last out in the ninth inning. We beat Chicago in the battle of the bats, 10-8.

Series Recap:
The wind was blowing out all week in the Windy City as the two teams combined for 36 runs on twelve home runs in this midweek series. We need our starting pitching to buckle down because I know the offense will not continue.

What's Next?
We continue our road trip as we head to Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds are 23-20 and sitting in third place in the NL Central. They currently sit in 7th in the MLB in home runs with 61 and already have two hitters who have hit 10+, Kasey Lumpkin and Jairo Sanchez.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 45: @ Cincinnati Reds
Great American Ballpark showed why it's a hitter's paradise in this game as we pounced on the Reds quickly with four runs on three home runs in the first inning off their starter Quinn Brignac. He would end up only pitching into the fifth as he allowed six total runs before he turned it over to the bullpen who would also allow numerous runs across. On our pitching end, Devon Sampson was good enough, allowing just two Reds to score, but the star of this game was Ricardo Mejia who, in mop-up duty, recorded nine outs out of the bullpen en route to a three inning save. He is not the best pitcher on the squad as his ERA sits at 6.54. Final here 9-3



Game 46:
Derrek Hills came up in the third with two outs and bases juiced then proceeded to bring all the runners home with a deep triple. Hills usually doesn't have the speed for a triple but a bad route from Reds centerfielder, Max Taylor, made this a stand-up three bagger. On the pitching side, B.J. Butler didn't allow a baserunner until Taylor and Jairo Sanchez went back to back in the fifth. Then the gofer ball bit Butler again in the sixth when Evan Brenner launched one into the stands. Butler came back out for the seventh just to give up a fourth run before he was pulled. We couldn't come back to score anymore so the final here is a 4-3 loss.

Game 47:
Nellie Orvella's hot stick in Cincy continued today when he laced an RBI double in the third inning and Michael McCoy's power surge over the month of May continued too! Lastly, Shawn Malone's recent success also continued as he went five scoreless before leaving a couple of inherited runners on in the sixth. Sidney Knight then proceeded to blow the lead and then the Reds would add on late and we would too but it wasn't enough. 10-5 loss again in Cincinnati

Game 48:
We lost a slugfest in the finale at Great American Smallpark. The Reds hit five home runs, including one by Michael Watkins who was making his MLB debut and we were able to slug eight of our own but we were unable to produce enough baserunners to really make those solo home runs matter. In the end, we couldn't come up with a late, clutch hit as Tyrone Hicks was able to shut us down in the ninth, final 13-12.




Series Recap:
In a four game set versus a division rival, we are unable to capitalize on two one-run losses which could have helped us flip the series results. Our bullpen couldn't keep up with the Reds offense, even though our offense frequently could. We just gotta do better next time!

What's Next?
We host the New York Yankees as we begin a nine game homestand at Miller Park. The Yanks are second in the AL East and have been carried by BFR legend Vince Cartwright who is both their ace starting pitcher and excellent designated hitter.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 49: v. New York Yankees
Back at home but the story was again the long ball. The Yankees were up two runs late thanks to homers from Colby Relaford and Sergio Oliveros but we would rally in the eighth after dingers from Troy Drennan and Alexander Goodwin, with Goody's being a three-run bomb. In the ninth, our shaky bullpen featured Jordan Hendricks before D.J. Ryan came on to finish off the Bombers. We won this one, 8-6.

Game 50:
In our second matchup hosting the Yankees, B.J. Butler was brilliant. He threw 5.2 innings before departing with the bases loaded and didn't allow a run to score. Derrek Hills did what he neeeded to do to give us the lead by launching a two run homer in the fifth inning and added on two more with a single in the seventh. This game would have ended as a shutout but Ricardo Mejia allowed a two-out solo home run by Chad Looper. Brewers are winners 4-1

Game 51:
Getaway day in Milwaukee resulted in a pitcher's duel today. We bumped up Austin Wright in the rotation since there was an off day built in this week. That decision paid off as him and Ernesto Rodriguez both went at least six before yielding to the bullpen during a tied 2-2 game. However, our bullpen, notably, Kendall Thompson, wasn't able to keep up with the scoreless performance by the Yanks. They win 4-2.

Series Recap:
We played three close games again this series, and took two of three in the process. The Yankees hit a bunch of home runs and we were mostly able to keep up but this stars for this midweek's series was our pitching.

What's Next?
We welcome the Cubs back to the Good Land. Chicago is coming off taking two of three in Pittsburgh and are just 10-9 so far in the month of May but it's been enough for them to hold the lead in the NL Central.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 52: v. Chicago Cubs
Shawn Malone was brilliant against the Cubs. He only had one major mistake before leaving an inherited runner on for the bullpen resulting in three total runs on his ledger. That all didn't matter since the offense made this a laugher. We had four home runs and 13 total runs but all the production was from three bats, Nellie Orvella, Oswaldo Segovia and Mark Chiavacci all collected three or more runs batted in. Final 13-4.

Game 53:
Devon Sampson couldn't match Malone's performance as he made a lot more than just one mistake, most notably, allowing a grand slam to Reggie Kellogg and two home runs from Oscar Rodriguez so Sampson couldn't finish four before allowing SEVEN earned runs in this performance. This all occurred before we tallied our first hit since Tanner Wood was dominant for the Cubbies but this wasn't the same story for their bullpen. We began to make a comeback but the Cubs also added on. We made this one look close but lose 10-8.

Game 54:
The Cubs' extra base hit power continued in game three. They scored three in the first inning thanks to three extra base hits, highlighted by back-to-back triples then scored a fourth run in the second because of a solo homer but we would also take advantage of our chances with the bats. We would put up six runs against the Cub starter, Jamal Tatum, which forced a quick exit for the young right hander. B.J. Butler, on our side was good enough and then the bullpen didn't allow any earned runs as we pull another dub and take the series, 7-6.

Series Recap:
After fifty four games, which is exactly one third into the MLB season, we still trail the Cubs in the NL Central but this series helped us pick up some ground. Chicago seems to be a force thanks to lots of extra base potential from the middle of their lineup which matches up well against our season-long poor starting pitching performances but we prevailed in this three game set.

What's Next?
We host the San Francisco Giants at Miller Park next. The Giants are an established, veteran ballclub with power up and down the lineup and great, but aging starting pitching. They are supposed to be a powerhouse on BFR but actually are sitting in last place in a competitive NL West.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 55: vs. San Francisco Giants
The Giants were hitless until the fifth inning as we were able to cruise yet again to a win against a struggling team. Austin Wright becomes our first pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts this season when he struck out ten hitters and we did everything with the bats as well but Nellie Orvella was the biggest star in this game socking two home runs and driving in five total. Dubs 8-2.




Game 56:
We bumped Shawn Malone up in the rotation to make this start and that decision paid off as he went 6.1 innings scoreless. Malone ended up walking both of the last two batters he faced but Sidney Knight induced a double play to hold our 1-0 lead after Malone left. We added one more in the bottom of that seventh and we needed it since Bryce Black would allow a solo home run to Peter Wynn Jr. to open the scoring for San Fran and we would end up getting that run back anyways. Our closer, D.J. Ryan came on in the ninth and slammed the door shut so we are able to finish off a 4-1 win and clinch a series dub.

Game 57:
A great effort by B.J. Butler matched what Giants ace, Tadahito Takatsu, did in this one. They both went six innings and gave up just one two-run home run. Carmelo Ramirez made his MLB debut in this game. He rercorded two hits and his first stolen bases in this game. We turned it over to our bullpen and that's when chaos ensued as the Giants scored four runs in the seventh inning to spoil Butler's good outing. The Giants weren't done as they added three more runs in the ninth, which made it too hard for us to come back. Final 9-2.

Series Recap:
Our pitching did better in this series as we end the home stand 6-3. The struggling Giants struggled until they had their ace on the mound and played a near perfect game in the finale. Our young surprise, Mark Chiavacci, has hit a wall and hit it hard in this series. He went 1-10 with just one run batted in and two strikeouts. He's been our regular DH since being recalled but might get his playing time cut now since Alexander Goodwin has been good with the stick.

What's Next?
We go back to Florida but this time to St. Petersburg to play the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are 28-31 which places them in fourth in a competitive AL East division. They are coming off dropping two of three to the Blue Jays at home. The Rays will give Dewey Nomura and then their ace, P.J. Kid, the ball in the two games of this quick interleague series.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 58: @ Tampa Bay Rays
Some poor defense got us off to a rough start, especially because of a throwing error by catcher, Dylan Bell, in the first inning and a dropped fly ball by the sure handed, Oswaldo Segovia, in the third put us in a quick 2-0 hole. We would prevail in the fifth inning when we scored three which included a deep home run by Jake Fish. We kept the momentum with another home run in the eighth which gave us a two run lead at that point. The bullpen would allow one on an Ed Cole single but D.J. Ryan held on for a 4-3 win in game 1.

Game 59:
No errors in this game but our defense still let Austin Wright down and in a duel of the aces, we had to have everything go our way to keep it close. P.J. Kid was very good for the Rays where he didn't allow a run until the fifth and in that fifth, it was Troy Drennan with a two-run bomb. The pitch count would be what pulls Kid from the game as he was well over 100 just after that fifth. Pete Moss took Wright deep in the sixth and that was the end of the line for our ace. The Rays added on more against our 'pen and we lost 8-3.

Series Recap:
We split our quick two gamer in Tampa. Our defense showed its flaws in both games but ultimately it was not the difference and we unfortunately end the month with a series split after winning the last three series before. Our record for the month was a stellar 17-11.

What's Next?
We open the month of June in the Nation's Capital then travel to Boston. The Nationals are 25-33 which is good enough for 4th place in a mediocre NL East. The Nats ended the month winning a series in Philadelphia, the only NL East team behind them in the standings. Washington has a few power hitters...in fact, their top three home run hitters all have more than our home run leaders. They are T.J. Mercer, Bo Sorenson and Howard Thompkins. Get ready for a power display in this series!

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Here are my team's stats through the month of May.

May 2020 Milwaukee Brewers Stats - Hitting
NAME	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG
Michael McCoy	230	44	86	25	0	11	40	24	52	0	3.3	.374	.430	.626
Troy Drennan	208	46	65	20	0	12	40	28	52	0	2.8	.313	.389	.582
Derrek Hills	162	30	46	7	1	10	37	33	42	0	2.1	.284	.406	.525
Josh Carroll	125	19	34	7	2	5	21	21	40	0	1.7	.272	.383	.480
Nellie Orvella	169	33	50	14	0	9	40	15	42	1	1.2	.296	.351	.538
Kenny Story	114	16	37	4	3	0	12	16	38	0	1.2	.325	.405	.412
Mark Chiavacci	150	27	43	12	1	8	39	22	41	0	1.1	.287	.371	.540
Alexander Goodwin	94	15	28	7	0	8	17	14	34	0	1.0	.298	.394	.628
Jake Fish	176	28	47	15	0	7	28	29	56	0	0.9	.267	.377	.472
Oswaldo Segovia	193	29	58	7	0	6	22	25	37	0	0.8	.301	.384	.430
Dylan Bell	105	15	24	3	0	4	12	17	33	0	0.7	.229	.333	.371
Nick Paxton	83	8	22	3	1	1	10	15	22	0	0.5	.265	.378	.361
Flash Miller	109	17	22	2	0	5	9	17	31	3	0.4	.202	.310	.358
Tommy Darling	47	2	10	2	0	0	1	6	11	0	0.3	.213	.302	.255
Carmelo Ramirez	11	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	3	0.1	.273	.333	.273
Nick Brady	10	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0.0	.100	.286	.100
Pedro Liriano	33	3	4	2	0	0	2	6	12	0	0.0	.121	.256	.182

May 2020 Milwaukee Brewers Stats - Pitching
NAME	GP	GS	W	L	SV	QS	HLD	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	ERA
Austin Wright	14	14	6	5		8		84.1	97	53	18	26	42	1.46	5.66
B.J. Butler	12	12	6	2		6		68.2	66	33	14	13	40	1.15	4.33
Jacob Quantrill	12	12	4	3		12		65.1	93	49	13	20	33	1.73	6.75
Shawn Malone	11	11	5	5		5		62.2	75	31	8	22	24	1.55	4.45
Devon Sampson	10	10	3	5		3		55.0	70	43	14	21	32	1.65	7.04
Tony Labandeira	22		0	0	0		2	26.0	33	21	6	5	21	1.46	7.27
Kendall Thompson	25		4	2	0		8	25.1	30	17	5	6	23	1.42	6.04
Bryce Black	23		2	2	0		10	21.1	19	7	2	5	16	1.13	2.95
Will Bell	22		0	1	0		8	20.0	17	7	2	4	15	1.05	3.15
Sidney Knight	25		2	1	0		5	19.0	22	11	3	10	14	1.68	5.21
Broderick Blankenship	12		0	0	0		0	18.1	20	9	2	8	9	1.53	4.42
D.J. Ryan	19		0	1	17		0	18.0	9	4	1	6	17	0.83	2.00
Ricardo Mejia	14		0	0	1		0	15.1	29	12	4	2	8	2.02	7.04
Jordan Hendricks	15		0	0	0		2	13.2	20	10	3	2	12	1.61	6.59
Austin Trout	9		0	0	0		3	11.2	14	7	2	3	8	1.46	5.40

Next up are our hitting league leaders:

MLB League Leaders - Updated: Jun 1, 2020
WAR		WAR	Hits		H
	1. Paul Keys	4.4		1. Michael McCoy	86
	2. Carlos Fuentes - LAA	3.7		2. Jimmy Schmitz - StL	79
	3. Clayton Anderson - MIN	3.6		3. Michael Mayfield - OAK	78
	4. Jimmy Schmitz - StL	3.5		4. Bryce Lewis - CHC	77
	5. Michael McCoy - MIL	3.3		5. Orlando Blanco - StL	77
Home Runs		HR	Runs Batted In		RBI
	1. Clayton Anderson	22		1. Michael Mayfield	54
	2. Paul Keys - CLE	20		2. Dylan Clark - HOU	52
	3. Michael Mayfield - OAK	18		3. Paul Keys - CLE	52
	4. Frankie Fernandez - CHC	18		4. Frankie Fernandez - CHC	50
	5. THREE PLAYERS TIED WITH	17		5. Clayton Anderson - MIN	49
Stolen Bases		SB	Walks		BB
	1. Homer Webster	26		1. Bobby Lockett	44
	2. Gordon Landry - WSH	23		2. Vance Baird - MIN	43
	3. Bryce Lewis - CHC	17		3. Carlos Fuentes - LAA	42
	4. Miguel Ramirez - COL	16		4. Michael Mayfield - OAK	41
	5. Roberto Velez - TEX	15		5. THREE PLAYERS TIED WITH	40
Batting Average		AVG	Runs		R
	1. Michael McCoy	.374		1. Orlando Blanco	47
	2. Enzo Hamilton - OAK	.370		2. Giancarlo Florival - HOU	46
	3. Dylan Clark - HOU	.366		3. Troy Drennan - MIL	46
	4. Jimmy Schmitz - StL	.354		4. Michael Mayfield - OAK	45
	5. Danny Deardorf - MIN	.341		5. Michael McCoy - MIL	44

Now we'll look at pitching league leaders:

MLB League Leaders - Updated: Jun 1, 2020
WAR		WAR	Innings Pitched		IP
	1. Kole Robertson	2.7		1. P.J. Kid	89.0
	2. Vince Cartwright - NYY	2.5		2. Josh Reed - BOS	88.2
	3. Will Palmer - TOR	2.4		2. Emilio Rosales - SEA	88.2
	4. Edwin Rodriguez - CHC	2.3		4. Tadahito Takatsu - SF	87.0
	5. Miguel Ortega - TOR	2.2		5. Gary Kearns - LAA	86.0
Wins		W	Saves		SV
	1. Alex Sadler	9		1. Dan Murray	22
	1. Buck Shauver - NYY	9		2. Train Lucas - SD	20
	1. Edwin Rodriguez - CHC	9		2. Lane Wright - CWS	20
	4. NINE PITCHERS TIED WITH	7		4. THREE PITCHERS TIED WITH	18
Strikeouts		K	Earned Run Average		ERA
	1. Kyle Moss	102		1. Tadahito Takatsu	1.97
	2. Vince Cartwright - NYY	101		2. Edwin Rodriguez - CHC	2.21
	3. Kole Robertson - SD	98		3. Trevor Stevens - TOR	2.31
	4. Chip Wolf - MIN	95		4. Francisco Perez - BOS	2.33
	5. TWO PITCHERS TIED WITH	94		5. P.J. Kid - TB	2.33

A look at the standings is in order:

MLB Standings - Updated: Jun 1, 2020
AL EAST	W	L	GB
Red Sox	28	23	-
Yankees	31	29	6.5
Blue Jays	30	30	7.5
Rays	29	32	9.0
Orioles	26	34	11.5
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Twins	37	23	-
White Sox	34	26	3.0
Indians	32	28	5.0
Tigers	24	35	12.5
Royals	23	37	14.0
AL WEST	W	L	GB
Angels	32	26	-
Mariners	33	28	0.5
Rangers	29	30	3.5
A's	29	32	4.5
Astros	28	32	5.0
NL EAST	W	L	GB
Mets	33	26	-
Marlins	30	30	3.5
Braves	27	33	6.5
Nationals	25	33	7.5
Phillies	24	34	8.5
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Cubs	35	25	-
Brewers	32	27	2.5
Reds	32	27	2.5
Cardinals	25	35	10.0
Pirates	22	37	12.5
NL WEST	W	L	GB
Rockies	36	22	-
Dodgers	33	25	3.0
Padres	30	30	7.0
Diamondbacks	28	31	8.5
Giants	26	33	10.5

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 60: @ Washington Nationals
We gave Devon Sampson an extended break in the rotation before this game and he didn't adjust well to the extra rest. Sampson allowed six runs including a Grand Slam in the first inning in Washington. While Marvin Mays was dominant for the Nats. Ricardo Mejia held down the fort in the bullpen and we added a couple on an Alexander Goodwin home run but we drop game one in the Captial, 9-4.

Game 61:
A pair of two run home runs helped us flip the script against Washington in game two. Both Jake Fish and Derrek Hills hit dingers as those four runs were enough to hold up a great start by Shawn Malone. Malone went 6 and a third while his only mistake was deposited into the seats resulting in both of his runs allowed. We tacked on a couple more and that made it easy for us to put in Ben Roseboro for his first Brewers appearance. The Brewers are winners here, 7-3.

Game 62:
Some small ball in the fourth is how we score three runs. All RBI singles to take the lead. Then we added more in the seventh from a Troy Drennan two-run home run to take the team lead in homers. We even had enough of a cushion that we again put in Ben Roseboro in his second appearance. He threw a scoreless ninth which included a walk. W 6-1.

Series Recap:
We won two out of three versus Washington on their turf to take the season series 4-2. The Nats' bats were good but we were just better and Ben Roseboro did great to limit how often we had to use our higher leverage arms.

What's Next?
We head to New England to play the AL East leading, Boston Red Sox. The BoSox are 39-25 and boast some really powerful bats up and down their lineup like perennial All Star Rondell McKnight and switch-hitting veteran Clinton Lake.

Baseball is Better!