2013 Milwaukee Brewers

2013 Milwaukee Brewers / Franchise: Milwaukee Brewers / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 74-88, Finished 4th in NL Central Division (2013 NL)

Coaches: Garth Iorg, Rick Kranitz, Jerry Narron, Johnny Narron, Ed Sedar, John Shelby and Lee Tunnell

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2013 Milwaukee Brewers started the season slowly after winning in extra innings on Opening Day, 5-4 over the Colorado Rockies on April 1st. They were only 2-8 after 10 games. They then got red hot, going 11-3 over the next two weeks to finish April above .500. A couple of moves were key to the turnaround: first was the decision by manager Ron Roenicke to move closer John Axford out of the role after he struggled in the first two weeks, and switch roles between him and set-up man Jim Henderson. Both pitchers began to pitch lights out after the move. Ace Yovani Gallardo started the year slowly, then was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on April 16th. He was properly chastised, and suddenly began pitching like his old self, winning his next three starts and hitting a pair of homers in the process. The team's 10-4 win over the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates on April 29th epitomized the turn-around: they were facing Wandy Rodriguez, who had been almost unhittable that month, and were trailing 1-0 after the top of the 1st. RF Norichika Aoki then opened the bottom of the inning by drawing a walk and SS Jean Segura followed with a homer; by the time the inning ended, the Brewers were up 5-1. They hit a total of five homers and three triples that night, becoming the first team since the San Francisco Giants on May 13, 1958, to get that particular combination of extra-base hits. Segura and CF Carlos Gomez each hit a triple and a homer, Gallardo, Aoki and 3B Yunieski Betancourt also homered, while C Martin Maldonado got the other triple.

The month of May was absolutely dreadful for the Brewers, however, as their record was 6-22, tumbling them to last place in the NL Central. The low-light was being swept in four consecutive interleague games by the otherwise anemic Minnesota Twins from May 27-30. Milwaukee dropped 14 1/2 games in the standings; the Elias Sports Bureau reported that no team had fallen as far since the 1939 Senators had also fallen from 1/2 a game out to 15 games out in May.

When Wily Peralta pitched a complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds on July 9th, it was the first complete game by a Brewers pitcher since Yovani Gallardo had shut out the Atlanta Braves, back on April 5, 2011. In going 407 games between pitching a complete game, the Brewers set a major league record. Peralta's gem unlocked floodgates of sorts, though, as he added another complete game before the year was over, and Kyle Lohse pitched a couple in September.