Mitch Ross and I did a podcast this week where we talked about a lot of things related to the Brewers. We included some chatter about the West Coast, and how it doesn’t scare us as much as Brewers fans. This will be Milwaukee’s last trip through California for the year. West Coast hasn’t been a struggle for Milwaukee of late, but historically, there have been some issues. Let’s hope that Friday is just a blip on the radar and not a sign of things to come for Milwaukee. They can ill-afford losing another series to one of the bottom dwellers of the National League.

Player of the Game: Mike Yastrzemski – The difference maker in this game. Alex Claudio went with a lefty-lefty matchup, and he gave up a home run to the grandson of legendary Boston Red Sox’s player Carl Yastrzemski. He came in as a pinch-hitter and delivered in a major way. That’s a tough look for Claudio and Milwaukee. That’s the last thing you want especially when you have a reliever in there for the Brewers.

Honorable Mention: Pablo Sandoval – Honestly, Brewers had a weak effort all around today. Mike Moustakas was the only one with two hits. They didn’t have one player really step up, therefore, we land on Kung Fu Panda. Somehow, Sandoval is a good baseball player again. He had three hits last night and completely figured out baseball again. It is truly mindblowing, and something that has to be frustrating if you’re a Red Sox’s fan. Sandoval is hitting .289 with nine homers for the year.

The Thing I liked: Tough with two strikes – In the eighth inning, Brewers tried to battle back. One thing that stood out to me was how they worked the count with two strikes especially with a few guys who have struggled all season. Jesus Aguilar worked the count for a great walk with two outs, same goes for Travis Shaw. Brewers did their best to mount a comeback.

The Thing I didn’t like: No one could deliver a big hit – Brewers went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position last night. They had multiple opportunities to come up in the clutch and could not come through. That was disappointing, to say the least. Brewers had issues with clutch hitting early in the year, and they righted the ship a little bit in the last couple weeks. Let’s hope the trend isn’t starting to shift again.

Next up: Brewers will take on Giants for an afternoon affair in the Bay Area. Madison Bumgarner gets the ball for the Giants. He has been up and down against Milwaukee throughout the years. Last season, he lost in two starts against Milwaukee. Once at Miller Park and once at Oracle. Brewers will try to make it happen again in 2019. Jimmy Nelson goes round two in his comeback. We’ll see if he can do a little better than he did versus Miami.

Charlie.