Milwaukee, WI
Alexander: A Dodgers’ crisis, or just a small sample size?
LOS ANGELES – Too soon to panic, Dodger fans?
It’s probably fair to suggest that the past week, when the Dodgers were 3-4, lost two games off an 8½-game division lead and had their starting pitchers compile a 9.00 ERA in those seven games, represented a short sample size in a long season rather than a troubling trend.
Calm down, folks. Crisis averted. For now.
James Paxton made it through five innings Saturday, reinventing himself as he goes. And some late inning thunder and a managerial move that almost backfired but didn’t – we’ll explain – gave the Dodgers a 5-3 win over Milwaukee, the NL Central leader, and cinched their first series win in over a week.
If you’re seeking a reason why spirits have been so down – or at least up and down – among certain segments of the fan base, here’s a hint: The first 12 questions manager Dave Roberts fielded in his pre-game briefing Saturday involved injury updates. Among the revelations: Max Muncy has stopped swinging the bat in his rehab process, because the oblique injury that has kept him out of the Dodgers’ lineup since May 15 just won’t allow him to do so freely.
“Everything he does, turning and rotating, is good except swinging the bat,” Roberts said.
Given that swinging the bat is what Muncy does best, and is not only his best contribution to a Dodgers lineup but creates a giant chasm when he’s not in it, that’s a problem.
Go down the list. Clayton Kershaw has another simulated game lined up Sunday, as he tries to regain momentum after a slight rehab setback of his own. Joe Kelly is getting hitters out for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes but is probably still at least a couple more outings away from returning. MVP candidate Mookie Betts, recovering from a broken left hand, is doing some baseball-type activities but is still a few weeks away – and he, too, can’t swing a bat yet. (But his appearance in the Dodgers’ TV booth Wednesday night suggested he could have a post-career future in the booth if he wants it).
Meanwhile, relievers Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier are still working out at Camelback Ranch, Michael Grove and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are in various stages of their rehabs … and the list goes on. The upshot: A team that still has a healthy division lead also has plenty of needs as the July 30 trading deadline approaches. Clearly, $1.1 billion doesn’t guarantee health.
Layered over all of this is the realization, within the organization as well as among its fan base, that the only achievement that means anything has to come in October.
So on social media, our current bastion of learned discourse, Dodger fans are chill, nobody’s suggesting any outlandish trades and Roberts isn’t getting hammered for his in-game decisions, right?
Right??
Hey, if you allow it to, following baseball can be a nightly nervous breakdown.
To be sure, Roberts gave the wannabe managers more ammunition Saturday. Nursing a 3-2 lead, he used Daniel Hudson in the sixth, Blake Treinen in the seventh and normal closer Evan Phillips in the eighth, guessing that Phillips could handle the middle of the order in that inning and Alex Vesia could pitch the ninth for the save. Roberts had done so at the start of the last road trip against the woeful White Sox and got away with it.
This time, Christian Yelich sent a 2-2 pitch into the net above the kids’ play area in dead center field off Phillips to tie the game 3-3.
But Roberts ultimately got away with it again. Miguel Vargas pinch-hit for Gavin Lux leading off the bottom of the eighth and hit a paint-scraper that just cleared the left field fence to break the tie. Two hitters later Shohei Ohtani left no doubt with his 28th homer of the year, a 430-foot cannon blast (one estimated foot longer than Yelich’s). And Vesia retired the Brewers in order in the ninth, so what could the critics say?
“It was a right, left, right” situation, Roberts said afterward, given that righties William Contreras and Willy Adames bookended the left-handed Yelich. You could make the counter argument that the dominant hitter in the eighth, Yelich, was left-handed, while right-handed Rhys Hoskins – who had already homered in the fourth Saturday, after hitting a grand slam Friday night – was likely due up in the ninth.
“I feel confident with Alex versus either, but I think that for me, just having the righty on Contreras and Adames, I like that,” Roberts said. “And, you know, (Phillips) had count leverage on Yelich (it was 2-2) and left a sweeper middle, middle. But if I had to do it over again, I’d do the same thing.”
Footnote: Vesia struck out Hoskins on a 2-2 slider to start the ninth.
Meanwhile, maybe Paxton provided a sliver of hope by battling his way through five innings and 83 pitches and leaving with a 3-2 lead.
He acknowledged he’s not the same pitcher he was before Tommy John surgery in 2021, and Saturday he was working with a four-seam fastball that topped out at 93.9 mph and averaged 92.8, a couple of ticks below his 93.3 average for the year. He’s thrown mostly four-seamers and knuckle curves this season, with a few changeups and very few cutters (Saturday he threw two). Three years ago he was throwing the cutter nearly 30 percent of the time according to Baseball Savant; this year, less than four percent.
“I think I’m just evolving as a pitcher,” he said. “You know, my stuff isn’t what it used to be, but I’m pitching differently, pitching to weak contact, and still trying to give us a chance to win.
“I kind of figure it out as I go.”
That’s sort of the way baseball works in general. In this case, they’ll be figuring it out not only on the field and in the dugout but in the executive suite as July 30 approaches.
Meanwhile, after this series the Dodgers head to Philadelphia to play the team with baseball’s best record. So if your daily mood depends on the previous night’s results, you might want to hold on tight for a while.
jalexander@scng.com
The Milwaukee Brewers may have been eliminated from the playoffs this week, but their presence in the postseason still looms large.
Thanks to Pete Alonso’s historic, clutch home run in the ninth inning on Thursday night, the New York Mets emerged victorious in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. That sent the Brewers packing, while the Mets got to punch their ticket to the NLDS.
And if past results are any indication, New York could wind up going much, much further.
As pointed out by MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, every team that has beat the Brewers in the postseason has gone on to – at the very least – win a pennant. Six of the eight teams to do so have finished October as World Series champions.
The Brewers, who played their inaugural season in 1970, made the playoffs for the first time in 1981. They lost to the New York Yankees in the ALDS, setting the Bronx Bombers on the path to their 33rd AL pennant.
The very next year, Milwaukee made it to the World Series themselves, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Following a 25-year postseason drought, the Brewers got knocked out by the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 NLDS. They reached the NLCS in 2011, only to come face-to-face with the Cardinals, who went on to win the Fall Classic as well.
The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Brewers in the NLCS, then lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, but the 2019 Washington Nationals, 2020 Dodgers and 2021 Atlanta Braves all went through Milwaukee on their way to a title. The 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks, although they didn’t win the World Series, also defeated the Brewers en route to an NL pennant.
No pressure, Mets. Every team to beat the Brewers in the postseason has played in the World Series.
81 Yankees lost WS — Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) October 4, 2024
82 Cards won WS
08 Phillies won WS
11 Cards won WS
18 Dodgers lost WS
19 Nationals won WS
20 Dodgers won WS
21 Braves won WS
23 D-backs lost WS
24 Mets ???
The Brewers’ postseason opponents have created a pattern – one team will eliminate them, then lose in the World Series, while the next three teams to eliminate them will win the World Series. Since the D-Backs lost in the World Series in 2023, that means the Mets should win it all in 2024, per this purely coincidental pattern.
In order to do so, New York will have to make it past the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Game 1 of that best-of-five series is scheduled to get underway at 4:08 p.m. ET.
Continue to follow our Fastball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.
You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Authorities arrested three men in connection with a burglary in Menomonee Falls, during which a person inside a home was shot and injured.
The incident occurred shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 at a residence on Weyer Farm Drive. The shooting victim, a relative staying at the home, was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to Menomonee Falls police.
“No one was caught and I didn’t know if they could have somehow gotten in or been hiding out. It freaked me out and it was right over there. Too close for comfort in my eyes,” Judie Helmer, a neighbor, said.
On Oct. 3, search warrants executed in Milwaukee and Racine counties led to the arrest of three suspects from Milwaukee; Zamontae Burch, Dezmen Wilks, and Demetri Duvall-Wilks.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Waukesha County Circuit Court, the men stole a 2002 red Jeep Liberty from Milwaukee just after midnight on Aug 18.
The defendants said they planned to enter vehicles in the area where “rich people leave them unlocked.”
Wilks admitted to police that they broke into about 20 vehicles in Menomonee Falls before they went into the home on Weyer Farm Drive, which the investigation revealed was unlocked.
While inside, the relative, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room, woke up and started screaming.
The complaint revealed Burch admitted to police that he shot at the person, but that he “wasn’t trying to kill him, he just wanted him to stop screaming.”
With people now in custody, neighbors are hopeful that life will go back to normal in their subdivision.
“The neighbors all get along, we have block parties, the kids are still out, this isn’t making us scared. The police have done an amazing job,” Kimberly Leidel, a neighbor, said.
Burch is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed burglary as a party to a crime with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent.
Wilks and Duvall-Wilks each face charges of armed burglary as a party to a crime and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent.
All three men have a cash bond set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
The investigation is ongoing.
Talk to us:
Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com/tips.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip
MPS bilingual teacher making a difference
FOX6 is putting the spotlight on a bilingual teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools – during Hispanic Heritage Month.
MILWAUKEE – We are putting the spotlight on a bilingual teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools – during Hispanic Heritage Month.
It is another day in Alondra Garcia’s classroom at Allen-Field Elementary School in Milwaukee. The space is filled with vibrant colors, butterflies and enthusiastic second-graders eager to learn.
“She likes to celebrate everything that I like to celebrate,” said Jolaniz Acosta, a student.
“(English: She reads to us and I can understand it,)” said Damian Gomez, age 7.
Garcia said she designs lesson plans to keep this diverse class of students engaged.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
“My goal as an educator is to make sure I empower them,” Garcia said.
And it hits home. Ms. Garcia is a first generation bilingual teacher – and she said she sees herself in every single one of her students.
“I always remembered in the back of my head that little girl who wanted to learn to do something to be someone in the future,” Garcia said.
Like many of her students’ stories, Garcia’s family left their home in Mexico to make a home in Milwaukee.
“My goal as an educator is to make sure they’re able to find their voice and that they’re able to use their voice as a power, as something that’s going to get them far in life,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s job does not end inside the classroom. In fact, it keeps on going in the community – as an activist fighting for immigrant rights and other issues affecting Latinos in Wisconsin.
“Status does limit you, sadly, and I was a former DACA recipient for 12 years. Just recently, I obtained the U-Visa status. So that, eventually, will lead me toward permanent residency. I’m grateful my whole family qualified for that,” Garcia said.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android
Garcia said she inherited her drive from her father, Gilberto Garcia Calderon, who said he is proud to see his daughter’s efforts to serve and help others.
“(English: Seeing her work and involvement just tells me she’s on the right path,)” Garcia Calderon said.
It is a purpose Garcia said she hopes will pave the way – and inspire the next generation.
You can view more stories about Hispanic Heritage Month on FOX6Now.com.
Union movie review & film summary (2024) | Roger Ebert
Yaheetech TV Stand for TV up to 65 Inch, 55 Inch Media Console Table with 3-Tier Storage Shelves for Living Room, Entertainment Center with Metal Frame, Taupe Wood
Arcadium Lithium Jumps After Report of Potential Rio Tinto Deal
Is this the end for football’s entire transfer system or not? (Or something else entirely?)
What to know about college football’s new helmet communication rules
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Speaker Johnson rips ‘lack of leadership’ in Biden admin's Helene response: 'alarmed and disappointed'
Israel hits Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes
The historic Biltmore Estate, an Asheville icon, works to recover from Helene damage
Video: Where Trump and Harris Stand on the Economy
Trump says Israel should hit Iran’s nuclear facilities, slamming Biden’s response
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25439572/VRG_TEC_Textless.jpg "Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year")
Technology3 days agoCharter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year
-
World2 days agoUkrainian stronghold Vuhledar falls to Russian offensive after two years of bombardment
-
World2 days agoWikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in order to be freed
-
Technology2 days agoBeware of fraudsters posing as government officials trying to steal your cash
-
Politics1 week agoSecret Service agent accused of sexually assaulting Harris campaign staffer: report
-
World1 week agoPutin outlines new rules for Russian use of vast nuclear arsenal
-
Sports17 hours agoFreddie Freeman says his ankle sprain is worst injury he's ever tried to play through
-
Virginia4 days agoStatus for Daniels and Green still uncertain for this week against Virginia Tech; Reuben done for season