Brewers bumble away chances in opener
Misplays by Cameron, Weeks among key mistakes made vs. Phillies
Matt Rourke / APMilwaukee Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron bobbles a two-run double by Philadelphia's Chase Utley on Wednesday.
updated 6:30 p.m. ET Oct. 1, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - These were the Bumbling Brewers.
A bobbled bunt. A dropped throw. A misplay by center fielder Mike Cameron, just when he needed one of those dazzling catches that earned him three Gold Gloves.
All in the same inning, too, and they doomed the Brewers in a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of their NL playoff series Wednesday.
No Happy Days for Milwaukee, for sure, in the Brewers’ first postseason appearance since 1982.
“It was an unfortunate kind of hiccup right there,” Brewers manager Dale Sveum said.
This was the kind of meek defensive effort that a veteran pitcher would’ve had a hard time escaping. The extra baserunners proved too much for 22-year-old Yovani Gallardo in only his second start since May.
It was scoreless in the third inning when Philadelphia’s Carlos Ruiz hit a leadoff single. Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels followed with a sacrifice bunt that went right at third baseman Bill Hall, who could have easily thrown out Ruiz at second.
Instead, Hall fumbled the slick ball. Worse for the Brewers, second baseman Rickie Weeks dropped a routine throw for an error while covering first.
Gallardo nearly pitched out of the jam, retiring Jimmy Rollins on a flyout and striking out Jayson Werth.
Chase Utley then hit a deep drive and the whipping winds appeared to confuse Cameron. The normally steady center fielder sprinted to his right before veering back, and the ball slipped out of his backhanded stab.
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Cameron tumbled to the wet grass while Ruiz and Hamels dashed home on the two-run double.
“When I landed, it came out,” Cameron said. “That doesn’t normally happen too often.”
Cameron said he felt like he was playing an early-season game in Wrigley Field, where even the most routine balls dart in an unpredictable wind as if they were knuckleballs.
“If I made the play, it’s a great play,” Cameron said. “All the other factors are just part of the game.”
The Phillies made it 3-0 later in the inning when Gallardo walked Shane Victorino with the bases loaded.
All three runs were unearned in a tough postseason debut for Gallardo — only the second pitcher in major league history to start a postseason game without recording a win that year.
“Things like that happen,” Gallardo said. “That’s not an excuse. I’ve got to fight through it.”
With the way Hamels dominated Milwaukee’s lineup, those was all the runs the Phillies needed.
Gallardo walked five and struck out three in four innings. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee just before spring training, then hurt his right knee while trying to hurdle a baserunner against the Cubs.
The Brewers committed 101 errors this season, tied for sixth worst in the NL. Weeks made 15 of them, probably none on a play as easy as this one. Then again, first baseman Prince Fielder (17 errors) gives Milwaukee one of the shakiest right sides of the infield in baseball.
Shortstop J.J. Hardy talked to Hall right after the play. Hall told him he was glad he bobbled the wet ball because he might have wildly thrown it into center field. Hall might have rushed the throw to first to nip Hamels.
“I just dropped the ball,” Weeks said. “It was a low throw, I guess, and I just dropped the ball. It was low, but it was catchable.”
While Cameron wasn’t charged with an error, the former All-Star has made more spectacular catches on tougher angles than this one. The Gold Glover (2001, 2003, and 2006) committed only one error this season, but a bad break on the ball in bad weather turned out to be enough to wreck the Brewers.
“He’s as good a center fielder as I’ve been around,” Sveum said. “If he doesn’t catch it, nobody can catch it.”
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