NewsBrewers shut down by Giants rookie
Suppan gives up five runs in 5 2/3 innings to conclude series
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
06/28/09 6:14 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Sadowski, a 26-year-old right-hander, made his Major League debut for the Giants against the Brewers on Sunday. Join the club, kid. It's a good one to be in. "We lead the league in unknown guys," Milwaukee's Mike Cameron mused Saturday night. Sadowski became the fourth rookie to debut against the Brewers and then celebrate his team's win afterward. Milwaukee managed just four hits over Sadowski's six scoreless innings and limped to a 7-0 loss at sold-out Miller Park. Sadowski (1-0) outpitched 34-year-old veteran Jeff Suppan (5-6), who entered with 381 career Major League starts to Sadowski's zero. Suppan needed a whopping 43 pitches to get through San Francisco's three-run second inning and went on to suffer his second consecutive loss. He walked in one run and surrendered five in all, on nine Giants hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Against Sadowski, that wasn't nearly good enough. "As a pitcher, you try not to be too fine," Suppan said. "Sometimes it does happen." The Brewers were shut out for the second time this season. They still took the series, two games to one, but have lost six of their last nine games and 12 of their last 19. Sadowski became the third pitcher this season to notch his first Major League win against the Brewers in his debut. Detroit's Alfredo Figaro limited the damage to two runs in five innings to beat the Brewers on June 20, and Minnesota's Anthony Swarzak worked seven scoreless innings for a win on May 23. The Brewers did have some success against Atlanta phenom Tommy Hanson on June 7, scoring six earned runs in the right-hander's six innings. But the Braves rallied in the eighth to beat the Brewers that day. "We're hoping that all the debuts are over with," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. Give Sadowski some credit. "I went in there and watched the monitor a little bit, and it looked like he had some movement on his fastball, and a pretty good cutter," Macha said. "We didn't really get many chances." The Brewers put a pair of runners on base with one out in the second inning and again in the fourth, but came up empty each time. Sadowski survived a scare in the bottom of the sixth inning when he was struck by a Ryan Braun comebacker, but remained in the game and preserved his shutout. "It's never easy," Braun said of facing another unknown. "We didn't have a scouting report, so you just go up there the first time through the lineup and get a feel for what they're trying to do, what their pitches do. You never know if a scouting report is going to be accurate or not. "But he threw the ball well. He deserved to win today, that's for sure." The shadows that began creeping across the infield in the middle innings didn't help Brewers hitters, but they didn't seem to bother the Giants. Nate Schierholtz notched four hits including a ninth-inning solo home run off Brewers reliever Chris Smith, and fellow Giants outfielder Randy Winn drove in two runs. Those shadows are becoming a popular topic at Miller Park. Braun was asked about them again Sunday evening and called the daytime conditions "miserable." "If you let it get in your 'dome,' it's going to get in your 'dome,'" Macha said. "They've got shadows out there at Wrigley Field. Yankee Stadium has shadows. Fenway has shadows. The White Sox park has shadows." Winn drove in one of the Giants' three runs in the second inning when he worked an eight-pitch walk with the bases loaded, one of three free passes issued by Suppan in a long inning. Suppan threw eight pitches in the first inning and four in the third, but needed 43 to get through the second. Suppan got into early trouble in the inning. Schierholtz led off with a single and Travis Ishikawa walked before Edgar Renteria's ground-rule double drove home what would prove the decisive run. "There's situations where I'm trying to get a ground-ball double play, and I really should just work on the quality of pitches instead of thinking 'ground-ball double play," Suppan said. "In your mind you're like, 'Man, why can't I get a ground ball? Why am I missing? Why aren't they putting it in play on the pitches I would like for them to put it in play?'" Ishikawa hit an RBI single in the fifth inning and second baseman Matt Downs led off the sixth with his first Major League home run. Suppan retired the next two hitters but then exited after Winn's two-out single. He's not the only Brewers starter to struggle of late. "We're having a hard time getting six innings," said Macha, who was forced to add two new arms to his starting rotation over the last week. "Yesterday, four innings, today [5 2/3 innings]. We have to get these guys out there a little further." Is Suppan similarly concerned? "I think it's a situation where we have some guys who are contact pitchers, and you have to pitch to contact," Suppan said. "You go from there. Every rotation goes through the ups and downs of the season. It's a matter of getting back and making pitches in quick innings and letting the offense do what they need to do."Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
