ANAHEIM, Calif. — For the first time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers got a taste of their own medicine … and it went down like castor oil.
Unlike most of the first 18 games, the Crew took the unusual track of jumping out to a lead against the Angels only to see one of their more reliable pitchers surrender that lead.
Trebelhorn has reasons to be concerned with Mark Ciardi as a starter.
Of course, if Mark Ciardi could do his job and pitch more than five innings, then maybe manager Tom Trebelhorn wouldn’t need to summon Crim in the sixth inning.
The Crew had jumped to a 4-1 lead, but Ciardi was smacked around the Big A for 11 hits and four runs in five ugly innings.
“I’m getting concerned,” Trebelhorn told the Milwaukee Sentinel. “He didn’t get too many soft outs. We’ll have to evaluate (his starting status).”
For most of the streak, Treb didn’t need to be concerned with the back of the ‘pen either, but Crim, whose ERA ballooned to 4.08, had a bad night. Many of his pitches were up in the zone and two — one by Brian Downing in the sixth and one by Doug DeCinces — went up and out of the park.
While the loss hurt the Crew’s chance at history, it didn’t hurt them too much in the present. Despite the defeat, the Crew maintained its 3 1/2-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. And with Teddy Higuera on the mound tomorrow in Oakland, here’s hoping the Brewers can snap their second one-game skid of the season.
