Grace Under Fire?

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN -- Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, eh?  Amidst a brushfire of rumors and rampant speculation about Donnie’s fate as skipper of the Doyers, the boys in blue came out swinging Wednesday at Miller Park, winning the rubber match 9-2 on a whopping 12 hits.  LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu contained the Beer Makers with 7 1/3 innings of 2-run ball, notching his 5^th win to give fantasy owners a hump-day treat.

Here are a few notes to tide you over 'til Happy Hour:

He has the chops, but will get the playing time?

• No Andre Ethier.  Donnie plugged Andy Van Slyke’s boy into RF this afternoon, telling reporters, “I’m putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive and going to compete the hardest.”  You don’t get paid $85 million through 2017 to sit on the bench playing chess with the sausage crew, unless you’re Andre Ethier.  What’s more, Van Slyke had himself a healthy day at the dish, with 2 base knocks and 2 rib-eyes.  He may need a good pilsner to wash those down… 

The answer at 3B? Better late...

• Tommy Lasorda burned his rigatoni when he read that the Dodgers brass is mulling the promotion of Cuban Crusader Yasiel Puig.  When asked for his take on the matter, Lasorda grunted, “It’s not up to me. If it were up to me, I’d trade him for Mike Schmidt.” Clearly, Lasorda rues the day he gave up making the lion's share of the decisions at Chavez Ravine.
  

The Brewers have been on a slide too...

• When asked who his closer was prior to Tuesday night’s losing effort, Donnie said, “I don’t know. We’ll see… I know who I want to use. But I don’t know if I want to anoint anybody.”  Brandon League made an appearance in Wednesday’s tilt, giving up a hit over one inning to preserve a steep 9-2 lead.  Asked whether he was impressed with the veteran’s effort Wednesday, Milwaukee mascot Bernie the Brewer said “He’s in a League of his own. I was watching from atop the slide during the 7^th inning stretch, and I’ve never seen a pitcher do a keg stand like that, no offense to Beckett.”  Josh Beckett was unavailable for comment.