By: Melissa S. Wollering
Milwaukee Brewers Manager Ken Macha told reporters prior to the start of the season that they could expect to see more small ball, more manufactured runs. So throughout the Brewers’ first five losses this season, fans were a little baffled as they watched the Crew try to punch more out of the park to win games, largely without success.
Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee did serve up two homers on a silver platter Thursday, but what truly contributed to the win was Joe Inglett working a walk and Rickie Weeks driving him in. In the home opener series against Colorado, hits and sacrifices produced RBI’s, which in turn, produced wins (2 out of 3).
I’d be silly to say home runs aren’t going to continue to be a huge part of the Milwaukee Brewers’ scoring philosophy. The bats of Fielder, Braun, McGehee, Weeks and even Hart sing all the way over the wall and that’s the way they like it.
But when the middle of the order is slumping on any given gameday and the opposing team’s offense seems to be scoring with ease, a little small ball is going to undoubtedly go a long way. Thursday’s 2-3-4 hitters (Jim Edmonds, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder) went 8-for-13 but we’re not always going to have that luxury.
“Small ball — gotta love it,” Joe Inglett told reporters Thursday. “That’s what I do, and it’s nice when you can actually see that win a game sometimes.”
In Game 3 of the opening homestand, Carlos Gomez received a standing ovation for his sacrifice in the bottom of the fifth. He bunted Weeks to third, making way for Braun and Fielder who were next in the lineup to take a crack at bringing him home.
Now the “get one run” approach versus the “take the lead approach” can still be argued. But you can’t ignore the fact productive outs, bunts and stolen bases strung together build a better foundation from which the Milwaukee Brewers can win in close situations. Isn’t small ball better than the all-or-nothing approach to the game?
And lastly, it’s all about the timing. Small ball is not the elixir of life when you have power hitters on your team. But reverting to small ball at certain points during the game, most often towards the end of a game, is a smart thing to do. Moving runners closer to scoring position or keeping rallies alive rather than swinging for the rafters sounds good to me. Assuming you don’t leave a significant number of men on base. Because assuming makes an *ss out of you and me.