Milwaukee Brewers

NEW YORK - The New York Mets traded closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers last night for two players to be named. The deal was announced right after the All-Star Game ended. The Mets also sent cash to Milwaukee. The Brewers are tied with St. Louis for the NL Central lead, helped by closer John Axford's 23 saves. In another deal, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired outfielder Juan Rivera from Toronto for a player to be named or cash.  

The start times for the remainder of the first round were announced tonight and the Phillies and Cardinals will play at 5:07 p.m. on Tuesday in Game 3 and 6:07 p.m. on Wednesday in Game 4, if necessary. The Game 4 start time could move back to 8:07 if that is the only game, should the Brewers-Diamondbacks series end in a sweep. Both games 3 and 4 are scheduled to be in St. Louis. If Game 5 is needed, the Phillies would host an 8:37 start on Friday, if both NLDS go the distance.

MILWAUKEE - Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo readily calls this start the biggest of his career. Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy hoped for any chance to pitch again this season. "It's definitely a whole different atmosphere," Gallardo said. "Anything can happen. " The Arizona Diamondbacks look to complete their biggest rally of the season after being down, two games to none, on Friday when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 5 with a berth in the NL Championship Series at stake.

George West, a former standout at Buena who played a few seasons of professional baseball, has been named the new head baseball coach at his alma mater. A 1994 graduate of Buena, West will replace Charlie Arena, who stepped down following last season. The appointment was approved at Tuesday's school board meeting. Arena had a highly successful tenure, going 100-32 in five seasons. "It's great to be coaching at my old high school," West said. "Buena has always been good to me, from when I was a student to now. " West, 26, is a special-education teacher at the school.

MILWAUKEE - Zack Grienke capped a perfect season at home to help the Milwaukee Brewers clinch home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Carlos Gomez, Corey Hart, and Jonathan Lucroy homered for the Brewers, who set a franchise record with 96 wins and open an NL division series at Miller Park beginning Saturday. If the NL Central champions had tied with NL West winner Arizona in the standings, the Brewers would have started the playoffs on the road.

MILWAUKEE - Prince Fielder hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career, including a two-run shot in the seventh inning that lifted the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Fielder's final homer was the least impressive of the three, barely sailing over the wall in right field after he hit monster shots in the third and fifth innings. But it was the last one that made the biggest difference, breaking a 4-4 tie. With the win, the Brewers crept closer to securing home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

MILWAUKEE - Jonathan Lucroy drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze, and the Milwaukee Brewers showed they could bunt as well as bash, breaking away from the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, Sunday to take a two-games-to-none lead in their NL division series. Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer, and fellow slugger Prince Fielder added an RBI single for Milwaukee. But the brawny Brewers, especially Lucroy, also excel at the little things. Lucroy's safety squeeze keyed a five-run sixth inning and came right after Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler became angry about a balk call.

Today in an age suspicious of baseball executives like George Steinbrenner, Bill Veeck remains everyone's favorite owner. The man who sent a midget up to bat, the first American League executive to integrate baseball, Veeck was baseball's hustler par excellence. In his 1962 book, "Veeck as in Wreck," he says he had a plan to integrate baseball three years before Branch Rickey. He'd purchase the futile 1943 Phillies and stock the team with stars from the Negro Leagues, such as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Monty Irvin.

Ballparks around the nation have been very interested in human waste lately. Early last week came news that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will have a "urinal gaming system" at their park this season. Step up, aim, and see how high you can score. Meanwhile, fans in Milwaukee may be upset because the Brewers are gaming the urinal system. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Friday that the Brewers have decided to prevent fans from bringing portable toilets to the parking lot for their tailgate parties.

MILWAUKEE - The biggest momentum swing for the Milwaukee Brewers involved no swing at all. Jonathan Lucroy - "Mr. Squeeze" to his teammates - drove in the go-ahead run with a bunt and the Brewers broke away from the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, yesterday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five National League Division Series. "It's a free RBI if you execute and I really work hard to get that down," Lucroy said. "A safety squeeze, all you've got to do is get it down to the right area.

LANCE LYNN overcame early control woes and St. Louis used a three-run seventh inning to beat the visiting New York Mets last night, 6-3. Lynn (6-1) allowed three runs on three hits and four walks the first two innings. He only gave up one hit and one walk in his last five innings. Rick Ankiel, signed by the Mets earlier in the day and playing against the team that revived his career as a position player, just missed a diving catch on Ty Wigginton's pinch-hit bloop double to shallow center off Scott Rice (1-3)

Ballparks around the nation have been very interested in human waste lately. Early last week came news that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will have a "urinal gaming system" at their park this season. Step up, aim, and see how high you can score. Meanwhile, fans in Milwaukee may be upset because the Brewers are gaming the urinal system. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Friday that the Brewers have decided to prevent fans from bringing portable toilets to the parking lot for their tailgate parties.

New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia, is relieved to be making his first start since June 24 against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. He says being on the disabled list for the first time since 2006, when he was with Cleveland, was a little "embarrassing. " Not because he was out with a groin strain, or because the Yanks went 11-6 without him and extended their lead in the AL East. The big lefthander, who has pitched at least 230 innings in each of his three seasons with New York, just didn't feel like a real ballplayer when hurt.

MILWAUKEE - Nyjer Morgan did it again for the Milwaukee Brewers, delivering an RBI single in the 10th inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, Friday in the decisive Game 5 of their National League division series. Morgan hit a one-out grounder up the middle, and Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz tried in vain to stop it with his leg. Carlos Gomez scored from second, sailing across home plate as a wild throw went high, and Morgan was mobbed by jubilant teammates near the mound.

MILWAUKEE - Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo readily calls this start the biggest of his career. Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy hoped for any chance to pitch again this season. "It's definitely a whole different atmosphere," Gallardo said. "Anything can happen. " The Arizona Diamondbacks look to complete their biggest rally of the season after being down, two games to none, on Friday when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 5 with a berth in the NL Championship Series at stake.

PHOENIX - A pair of rookies made sure the Milwaukee Brewers never stood much of a chance Tuesday night. Now the comeback-king Arizona Diamondbacks have one. Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam off Shaun Marcum following an intentional walk and fellow rookie Josh Collmenter dominated Milwaukee again, helping the Diamondbacks beat the Brewers, 8-1, Tuesday to prevent a three-game National League division series sweep. "It was pretty cool," Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder said of the success by Arizona's kids.

PHOENIX - Whether the Milwaukee Brewers have a commanding lead in a playoff series or are on the brink of blowing one, you won't be able to tell by their clubhouse demeanor. And courtesy of last night's 10-6 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of their NLDS best-of-five series, the Brewers' 2-0 lead has evaporated and forced a deciding Game 5 tomorrow in Milwaukee. "Our mentality as an offense is it's never over," said Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young, who hit two home runs in the win. Arizona got just three innings of work from starting pitcher Joe Saunders, but it didn't matter because the D-backs are serving up grand slams faster than a Denny's restaurant.

MILWAUKEE - The biggest momentum swing for the Milwaukee Brewers involved no swing at all. Jonathan Lucroy - "Mr. Squeeze" to his teammates - drove in the go-ahead run with a bunt and the Brewers broke away from the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, yesterday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five National League Division Series. "It's a free RBI if you execute and I really work hard to get that down," Lucroy said. "A safety squeeze, all you've got to do is get it down to the right area.

MILWAUKEE - Jonathan Lucroy drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze, and the Milwaukee Brewers showed they could bunt as well as bash, breaking away from the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4, Sunday to take a two-games-to-none lead in their NL division series. Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer, and fellow slugger Prince Fielder added an RBI single for Milwaukee. But the brawny Brewers, especially Lucroy, also excel at the little things. Lucroy's safety squeeze keyed a five-run sixth inning and came right after Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler became angry about a balk call.

MILWAUKEE - Yovani Gallardo could barely see the return tosses from catcher Jonathan Lucroy, losing them in the bright light filtering through the windows at Miller Park. Imagine how the Diamondbacks felt. Gallardo emerged from the shadows, outpitching Arizona ace Ian Kennedy as the Milwaukee Brewers kept winning at home with a 4-1 victory in their NL division series opener on Saturday. "It was tough for me seeing the ball coming back, just having the sun there in the background.