Casey McGehee shines as Milwaukee Brewers defeat Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 – MLB Update
Casey McGehee hit a three-run homer to bestow a glorious 3-1 victory to Milwaukee Brewers against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park on Wednesday, July 6.
McGehee was definitely excited as he tossed his blue batting helmet in a rare token of happiness. "It definitely felt like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulder," he said. "I guess it was symbolic of that."
The Brewers had lost the previous two games, by 8-6 and 7-3 and were expected to be swept in this series, but they found some exceptional help in McGehee.
Kelly Johnson laid a solid foundation for the Diamondbacks with a homer in the very first inning when Yovani Gallardo came on the pitching mound. The starter gave up a hit and allowed a run that brought the Brewers under tremendous pressure.
Josh Collmenter then proved an ace for the Diamondbacks as inning after inning he rendered the whole Brewers’ hitting line-up literally unable to play.
In the six innings that Collmenter pitched, he only gave up three hits, allowing no run to keep all the innings shut-out and maintaining the Diamondbacks lead intact. The way he pitched, it seemed the Diamondbacks were determined to sweep the serious without
any palpable resistance.
While Gallardo compensated for his one-hit and one-run first inning by pitching a shut-out inning, Joe Paterson, the reliever for the Diamondbacks was in for a big surprise. When he sent the first three hitters packing in the seventh, McGehee came forward
menacingly.
McGehee, having played 85 games in this season with a .225 average, hit a wonderful three-run homer to completely change the map of the game, bringing the Brewers in a leading 3-1 position.
"It's been a long time coming to feel like I came up in a big spot and was able to have some success, and have a big at-bat for us," he said. "I felt like it had been a long time coming. It was kind of a release, I guess."
Demel, who while giving up his first earned run in 19 games, was stunned by McGehee’s performance. "He had a great at-bat," said Demel. "Everything I threw him, he was getting a piece of. I tried to get a two-seam sinker down and over the plate and I got
it up a little bit.”
Once the lead was 3-1, the Brewers’ relievers hardly seemed in any mood to provide any liberty to Arizona’s hitters. LaTroy Hawkins pitched a shut-out eighth and John Axford came up with his effective ninth inning stunner to win the game for Milwaukee by
3-1. The Brewers have gained some much needed confidence with this victory.
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