If you hadn’t watched last night’s game, and instead, simply read the quotes from manager Ron Roenicke and last night’s starter Shaun Marcum in this Tom Haudricourt blog post, you’d think that Marcum and the Brewers lost a 4-3 game in the late innings or something:
- “He left the ball up to Pujols in the first inning, tried to come in on him,” said Roenicke. “Beside that, he really wasn’t hit that hard.
- “I thought my command today was pretty good, definitely a lot better than it was in Arizona and a lot better than it was in my previous starts. I thought I threw the ball better today. When I got ahead in counts, I didn’t make good pitches with my changeup but for the most part I located all right today.”
Always look on the bright side of life, I suppose.
Yes, the Brewers’ defense let Marcum down and no, he wasn’t totally obliterated by hard-hit balls (apart from Pujols, who crushed everything Marcum threw at him). But he seems kinda gassed and there just isn’t an out pitch there. He’s looked horrible for a month now, and that’s whether he’s getting tattooed or not.
So the question is this: if this series goes six games, does Marcum get a start in Game 6? Right now Roenicke says that he will. That may be because there isn’t a fantastic option beyond Marcum. Chris Narveson could go. He started two games against the Cardinals this year and was pretty effective, but it’s not like he’s some panacea or secret weapon or anything.
My guess is that Marcum gets a Game 6 start if there is one but that it becomes an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation and he gets a quick hook. Because at this point, Ron Roenicke can’t play the “it’s gonna get worse before it gets better” game while waiting for Marcum to return to form.
