Full versions of the select stories from our newspaper are available online to online subscribers. Click the Subscriptions tab for more information. 

You are here

Home ›

Sports Musings for week of April 5

By: 
Andrew Hanlon
  • The Milwaukee Brewers took 2 of 3 from the St. Louis Cardinals this past weekend and took 2 of 3 from the Chicago Cubs the series before that. It’s always nice to beat the Cubs and the Cardinals, but the way Milwaukee is winning right now is, at the very least, promising. Beginning with Freddy Peralta’s (my favorite candidate for breakout player of the year in MLB) start at Wrigley Field last Tuesday and running through Sunday’s win in St. Louis, that turn in the Brewers’ starting rotation put up staggering, all-time level numbers: 28 innings pitched, one earned run, 14 hits and 29 strikeouts. That’s a 0.32 ERA. Across five straight games. That’s insane. During that stretch, Brett Anderson, Sunday’s starter against the Cardinals allowed a run to score - on a groundout – to become the only Milwaukee starter not to throw five scoreless innings. According to MLB.com, the Brewers were two walks, a hit and a run-scoring groundout away from making an entire turn through the rotation without allowing an earned run from a starter. Milwaukee has built this year’s team on pitching and defense, and at least last week, the plan worked to perfection.
  • The beginning of the year was a struggle offensively for Milwaukee, but not the past few games. Heading into this week, the Brewers were in the middle of the pack offensively in the National League, but the end of last week showed some signs of life from the Crew. Lorenzo Cain hit two home runs to win April 7 against the Cubs, putting one over the wall in the eighth inning to give Milwaukee the lead and another in the 10th to give the team the win. The Brewers scored 9 runs each in wins over the Cardinals Saturday and Sunday; right fielder Avisail Garcia had 2 hits, a home run and 5 RBI Saturday while first baseman Keston Hiura broke out of an early-season slump with a home run of his own and 3 RBI. Sunday, catcher Manny Pina was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI, Garcia drove in two more and Travis Shaw added 3 RBI to his season total. 
  • The Cincinnati Reds are 6-3 and in first place in the NL Central. The Brewers are one game back at 5-4, as are the Cardinals. But Milwaukee just beat St. Louis twice, and for good measure, the Cubs are 4-5. It’s super early, but just saying.
  • It was nice to have The Masters back in our lives at the normal time; last year, golf’s biggest tournament was played in November. This year, 29-year-old Hideki Matsuyama became the first male golfer from Japan to win a major tournament, which is pretty cool. He bogeyed the 18th hole and won by just 1 stroke, but he was in control all day Sunday, leading by as many as 6 strokes on the back nine. First baseball and now golf; is it really Spring now?
  • The Milwaukee Bucks were down all five starters Friday night in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets. It was another “bench game” for Milwaukee, and once again, even in a loss, the team’s young depth had a chance to shine. Rookie Jordan Nwora had a game-high and career-high 24 points to lead Milwaukee on 4-of-10 shooting from three and also played the most minutes in the loss. I can see a little bit of early Khris Middleton in Nwora’s game, which is exciting.