Regular season 2009 Milwaukee Brewers season

1 regular season

1.1 april
1.2 may
1.3 june
1.4 july
1.5 season standings
1.6 record vs. opponents
1.7 game log
1.8 roster

regular season
april

the brewers opened regular season on road on april 7 loss against san francisco giants; jeff suppan made first opening day start brewers , fourth overall. brewers won home opener 3 days later ninth inning rally on rival chicago cubs. overall, however, team struggled during first few weeks of season, losing 4 consecutive series against giants, cubs, cincinnati reds, , new york mets. brewers pitching staff struggled early, compiling 5.19 era during first 4 series. manny parra, number 3 starter in rotation, particularly struggled , finished month 0–4 record 6.52 era, , suppan went 1–2 5.88 era. team s fortunes improved considerably after 11–4 loss philadelphia phillies on april 21, however, brewers won series against phillies , houston astros before returning home , sweeping pittsburgh pirates close month, rallying 12–10 overall record in april.

ryan braun

leading offense during month of april mike cameron, led team .333 batting average , tied team lead in home runs 5. ryan braun , rickie weeks hit 5 home runs in april. month s best starting pitcher newly acquired braden looper, went 2–0 2.45 era in april. dave bush came within 5 outs of no-hitter in 6–1 win on philadelphia on april 23.

trevor hoffman returned disabled list , made first brewers appearance on april 27 in non-save situation; recorded first save brewers (and 555th overall) following day. backup catcher mike rivera, however, suffered sprained ankle in same game , placed on disabled list; rookie carlos corporán called nashville replace him.

may

the brewers opened may split of four-game series against arizona diamondbacks before sweeping pirates in two-game series in pittsburgh. in sweeping pirates, brewers extended winning streak against pittsburgh 17 games dating may 20, 2008, longest winning streak 1 major league baseball team on since 1970. brewers continued winning ways in following 5 series well, splitting series against reds , cubs, sweeping florida marlins , st. louis cardinals, , winning 2 out of 3 games in houston. in one-month period between april 21 , may 21, brewers did not lose series , went 22–6, best record in baseball on period. team struggled @ start of interleague play, however, brewers swept in last scheduled visit hubert h. humphrey metrodome rival minnesota twins. returning home, brewers won memorial day matinee against cardinals in game both yovani gallardo took no-hit bid sixth inning , cardinals starter chris carpenter had perfect game seventh inning, lost next 2 games, leaving cardinals in sole possession of first place in nl central. brewers finished month of may sweep of cincinnati, giving team 18–10 record month.

injuries , ineffective play several bench players caused brewers make several roster moves during month of may. mike rivera returned disabled list on may 14 carlos corporán returned minors; corporan appeared in 1 game, caught last 2 innings of 15–3 blowout of cincinnati reds on may 6 , singled off of regular cincinnati shortstop paul janish in at-bat. team suffered significant setback on may 18 when starting second baseman rickie weeks suffered injury left wrist, ending 2009 season. time being, craig counsell , casey mcgehee expected replace weeks in lineup; hernán iribarren called nashville following injury, returned nashville after 1 series. brad nelson, went hitless in 21 at-bats, declined demotion minor leagues , became free agent on may 15; top third base prospect mat gamel called replace nelson on roster. on may 21, brewers traded triple-a outfielder tony gwynn, jr. san diego padres in exchange outfielder jody gerut; chris duffy demoted nashville make room on roster gerut. finally, on may 21 team called outfielder frank catalanotto, had been signed minor league contract team earlier in month.

june

the brewers opened june on sour note, dropping 3 out of 4 games florida marlins @ land shark stadium, rebounded in next series , won 2 out of 3 against atlanta braves. following poor outing on june 1 in failed retire of 6 batters faced, jorge julio released; mike burns called take julio s spot in bullpen. in 15 appearances brewers, julio went 1–1 7.79 era in  17 ⁄3 innings. brewers returned miller park on june 9 suffered 1–5 homestand in team swept colorado , lost 2 out of 3 against chicago white sox. after giving 6 runs in  1 ⁄3 innings in second game of white sox series, manny parra demoted triple-a nashville; in 13 appearances through june 13, parra went 3–8 7.52 era. in third game of series, trevor hoffman gave first run of season in tie game; hoffman had pitched  18 ⁄3 innings in 2009 without giving run.

the brewers returned interleague play in cleveland, swept cleveland indians in high-scoring series included six-run rally in eighth inning on june 15, capped prince fielder s first career grand slam, , 11-inning win on june 17 mooted four-run comeback indians in ninth inning, giving hoffman first blown save of season. team s interleague woes returned remaining 2 interleague series, however, brewers swept in detroit , dropped 2 of 3 against twins @ miller park. twins series included first start brewers pitcher not in opening day rotation, mike burns made first career start, replacing injured dave bush. milwaukee s fortunes improved return national league play, team closed out june series wins @ home against san francisco , new york mets. on june 27, seth mcclung made first start of year manny parra s replacement in pitching rotation (due off days, fifth starter had not been needed since parra s june 13 demotion). on june 30, burns collected first career win in game included casey mcgehee s first career grand slam. brewers ended june 12–15 record month, nonetheless held one-game lead on st. louis cardinals division lead.

july

after opening july 1–0 loss mets, brewers traveled wrigley field first time in 2009, losing 3 of 4 games cubs on fourth of july weekend. team fared little better upon returning miller park, dropping series against st. louis cardinals , los angeles dodgers. manny parra returned majors on july 9 , pitched 7 shutout innings, received no-decision after cardinals scored 5 runs off milwaukee bullpen in eighth inning.

three brewers players participated in 2009 mlb all-star game held july 14 in st. louis, missouri. ryan braun received 4,138,599 votes in fan balloting, received national league outfielder, , started second consecutive all-star game. prince fielder made second all-star appearance when selected reserve player national league team manager charlie manuel. fielder invited 2009 home run derby, won 17 home runs in first 2 rounds , 6 home runs in final round, beating nelson cruz of texas rangers. finally, trevor hoffman made seventh all-star appearance replacement injured dodgers closer jonathan broxton.

following all-star break brewers went on road, splitting four-game series against cincinnati reds before losing 2 of 3 against pittsburgh pirates. pirates win on july 20 snapped brewers 17-game winning streak against pittsburgh in game marred disputed beanball thrown @ pirates pitcher jeff karstens, reportedly in retribution incident in april karstens hit ryan braun pitch, caused both benches empty during eighth inning. on july 19, second baseman felipe lópez acquired arizona diamondbacks minor league players cole gillespie , roque mercedes; acquisition of lopez expected fill hole @ second , @ top of lineup left rickie weeks may injury.

milwaukee s july struggles continued @ home, team lost series against atlanta before splitting four-game series against washington nationals, entered series major league-worst 30–68 record. tim dillard called minor leagues replace struggling mike burns, , carlos villanueva made first start of season in july 28 loss nationals. villanueva surprising choice assignment; though had starting experience in 2008, villanueva had struggled out of bullpen in 2009 2–7 record , 6.19 era. following series against nationals, brewers forced make more roster moves jeff suppan placed on disabled list strained left oblique , third baseman bill hall optioned triple-a nashville @ own request work on hitting; hall had struggled .201 batting average in 199 at-bats in 2009. shortly before july 31 trading deadline, former brewer claudio vargas acquired los angeles dodgers in return minor league infielder vinny rottino in attempt shore pitching staff.

season standings

record vs. opponents

game log

source:

roster