Coffey Helps Brewers Salvage Series

I think anyone that is a Brewers fan is going to bed a little happier tonight knowing what we have in Todd Coffey right now. The Brewers free agent pick-up last September wasn't able to take the field in the playoffs last season, but he could be a key part to helping us get there this year. I suppose that may be a little premature to say, but Coffey is a machine, and he was the reason the Brewers won at least one game from the Mets this weekend.

Coffey came in the ballgame on Sunday in the 7th inning, facing Carlos Delgado with the bases loaded and one out. Not a desirable situation. But Coffey got him to ground back to him, then made a bobbling catch, and got the old 1-2-3 double play to keep the Brewers in the lead, 3-2. He then game out to pitch the 8th inning, laid down a nice bunt in the 9th, and earned the save from there. Coffey was credited with a save the old fashioned way, and definitely earns the Player of the Game in their 4-2 win over New York.

Keeping Coffey in the game for the save was a no-brainer, and Macha made the right call. There aren't too many guys in the bullpen we can trust right now, and Carlos Villanueva has already let two games slip away in the closer's role. I don't see Coffey pitching at all on Monday, unless he's more of a beast than I originally thought. Either way, I'm assuming he'll take over the closer role until Hoffman comes back (probably on Sunday).

Coffey's huge performance over-shadowed a nice body of work from Jeff Suppan on Sunday, who rebounded so well I almost feel bad for writing negatively about him. I'm not saying Suppan is completely fixed, but I'll take a 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 K performance out of him any day.

With the bat, Mike Cameron hit his fourth home run of the season, while Weeks was 3 for 5. 

The name's Baby Fark McGee-zax, see?

We missed the other two game recaps against the Mets this weekend, partly because we were busy, partly because those losses really sucked and we were not in the mood to write words about them (by now, you know that weekends at The Bucky Channel can be hit-or-miss). 

Friday's game saw a decent performance from Dave Bush that was wasted by the bullpen, specifically Mitch Stetter and Seth McClung. Not surprisingly, the lone stud that night on the hill was Todd Coffey, who got us out of a jam in the 7th and pitched well in the 8th. He could be deserving, but I'm giving Player of the Game to Ryan Braun for a big 3-run shot in the 6th inning, one that put the Crew in the lead at the time. 

The main story of this game though was that the Mets had help from former Brewer Gary Sheffield, who hit his 500th home run as a pinch hitter off Mitch Stetter. 

"The Brewers brought out the hate in me. I was a crazy man... I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me me and error I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'OK, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose."

The Brewers also lost by one run on Saturday, by the most heart-breaking score in baseball, 1-0. Carlos Villanueva gave up that one in the 7th, spoiling a nice performance from Yovani Gallardo (6 IP, 0 ER, 7 K). You can't put too much of the onus on Carlos though, considering how anemic the Brewers offense was. Gallardo gets the Player of the Game for his efforts.

I want you to listen to me, friend, and I want you to listen to me good. I am going to come at you. And I am going to come at you hard. I am going to steal all of your clients. And then I am going to kill them in front of you. 

So Coffey, Braun, and Gallardo get POTG's as the Brewers are now 4-8 on the season. Still a lot of work to do, but at least there are signs of life. Next up it's a three game trip in Philly, starting Tuesday.