News
Braun hoping home run drought is over
Milwaukee (77-78) vs. Philadelphia (89-65), 1:05 p.m. CT
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
09/27/09 12:46 AM ET
MILWAUKEE -- If you think that elusive home run No. 30 wasn't weighing on Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, think again. "You can't help but think about it this time of year," Braun said. "Unless you're in the pennant race, you can't help but realize where you're at individually. I feel like every time I looked at the scoreboard I saw a huge 29 staring back at me." When he steps to the plate for Sunday's Miller Park season finale, Braun will finally see a No. 30. He belted that milestone homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night for a 7-5 Brewers win. Braun had been stuck at 29 for 15 games since his Sept. 11 blast in Arizona, and before Saturday, that was his lone homer in 26 games since Aug. 28. It was one of the worst power droughts of Braun's brief but highlight-heavy career. He nearly hit No. 30 on Tuesday night against the Cubs, but rookie center fielder Tyler Colvin pulled one back over the center-field fence."I've been getting lots of hits, I just haven't been hitting home runs," Braun said, and the numbers back him up. Entering his ninth-inning at-bat on Saturday night, he was hitting .345 (20-for-58) during the homer drought and 19 of the 20 hits were singles.
In the larger, 26-game stretch, he was hitting .307 (31-for-101) with 25 singles. "I've had plenty of pitches to hit and I've been centering some balls up," Braun said. "I just haven't been elevating anything for the most part, all month. It's nice to get it out of the way." Braun now has at least 30 home runs in each of his first three Major League seasons. Before he connected for No. 30, Braun was already the first player in Brewers history with at least 20 homers in each of his first three seasons, and hit the 100th of his career in his 400th game. Only one active player has reached 100 homers faster: Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who needed only 325 games. Still, the power outage that Braun carried into the ninth inning on Saturday night was not unprecedented. He went a career-high 19 games without a home run earlier this season while he was dealing with a bad back, and he also had a 17-game drought this year. Last season, Braun tied for fourth in the National League with 37 home runs despite droughts of 18, 15 and 13 games. Braun has been hesitant to talk about it, but he's been receiving treatment in recent weeks for a sore throwing shoulder. He says that has nothing to do with his singles binge, and his manager agreed. "I don't think there's any relation," Brewers skipper Ken Macha said. "Just watch his batting practice. He hits plenty of balls real far." Maybe he was trying too hard to hit No. 30. "I stopped him in the hall the other day and told him, 'Don't try to make it happen,'" Macha said. "'Just let it happen.'" On Saturday, it finally did. Pitching matchupMIL: RHP Dave Bush (5-8, 6.22 ERA)
Five days after he beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Bush surrendered more earned runs -- five -- than he recorded outs -- four -- in a loss at Miller Park. Bush lasted only 1 1/3 innings in his shortest start of the season and lost for the first time in three starts. He'll face the Phillies for the first time since April 23, when Bush took a no-hitter into the eighth inning only to lose it on a Matt Stairs home run. He still won that day, allowing one run on two hits in a season-high 7 2/3 innings. PHI: RHP Joe Blanton (11-7, 3.82 ERA)
Blanton allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out nine in seven scoreless innings in a 9-3 victory over the Marlins in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Tuesday at Land Shark Stadium. Combined with six shutout innings the previous Thursday against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park, Blanton (11-7) has now thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings. Blanton threw a career-high 18 consecutive scoreless innings from Aug. 16-31, 2005, when he pitched for Oakland. Blanton is 9-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 21 starts since May 21 in Cincinnati, where he allowed five runs in five innings. His ERA ranks 10th in the Majors and seventh in the NL during that span. Tidbits
The Brewers are convinced enough of Manny Parra's health that they are sending rookie righty Josh Butler home on Sunday evening. Butler will fly to Huntsville to pick up his car for the long drive home to San Diego. He'll deposit his belongs there before hitting the road again to Phoenix. He'll report for the Arizona Fall League by Oct. 5. ... General manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash will travel to Phoenix on Monday to see the Brewers' instructional league squad. It will be their first look at many of the team's 2009 First-Year Player Draft picks, including three players -- Kentrail Davis, Scooter Gennett and D'Vontrey Richardson -- who did not sign in time to play for a regular-season affiliate. ... One high-profile '09 Draft pick, right-hander Brooks Hall, is not participating in the fall instructional league because of a non-baseball-related medical issue, Ash said. He couldn't expound on that because of privacy laws. ... Brewers TV play-by-play man Brian Anderson will call the Cardinals-Rockies game for TBS on Sunday. He was replaced on the Crew's telecast this weekend by veteran sideline reporter Craig Coshun. Tickets
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• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Brewers (Chris Narveson, 2-0, 3.82) at Rockies (Jason Marquis, 15-12, 3.98), 7:40 p.m. CT
• Wednesday: Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 7-11, 5.04) at Rockies (Jason Hammel, 9-8, 4.30), 7:40 p.m. CT
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
