Notes: Players meeting opened lines of communication for Brewers, Craig Counsell says

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the best thing to come out of the team’s players-only meeting late Thursday night was communication.

“To me, it’s just guys communicating with each other; it’s guys connecting with each other,” Counsell said Friday. “It’s just getting together. I trust them completely to do that.

“I like when they get together; I like when they’re talking to each other as a group. I think it creates accountability for themselves. It connects themselves to each other. Guys hear different thoughts in one place. It can be productive.”

Led by veterans Matt Garza and Ryan Braun, the players held a closed-door clubhouse meeting after a dismal 7-2 loss to Minnesota that allowed the Twins to complete a four-game sweep. It was the team’s fifth consecutive loss and 17th in 26 games since the all-star break.

The theme of the meeting was to start having fun again and not get down on yourself. There also was talk of increasing the energy level, which naturally sags during prolonged skids.

Counsell said good can come out of such meetings but noted that all involved realized you have to get the job done on the field.

“The answers are in the batter’s box or on the pitching mound,” Counsell said. "That’s where the answer is. Otherwise, we’d bring in motivational speakers every single day.

“This gets cured on the field. That’s why these guys are major-league baseball players. First and foremost, this is competition. Major-league baseball players understand that.

“But I do think those things serve as connectors, as communication, as accountability. Those are all good things to have. It’s very important. It’s a time to check in and say we’re feeling the same things. Sometimes, just hearing it is good to know.”

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Counsell, who participated in many such meetings during his 15-year playing career, was asked if they actually work.

“The question is not ‘does that work?’” he said. “The question is ‘does that connect guys?’ Is it open communication and accountability? That’s what you’re looking to achieve. That’s always a good thing; that’s positive.”

The late show: Scoring runs has been a real chore for the Brewers since the all-star break, as evidenced by their meager total of 81 runs in 26 games (3.12 average) entering play Friday night.

Beyond that, scoring runs late in games has been a real issue, even before the post-break skid.

Of those 81 runs, the Brewers scored just 21 (26%) after the fifth inning. In the sweep by the Twins, the Brewers scored no runs after the fifth inning.

“I don’t think there’s a good explanation for it,” Counsell said. “It’s just a point of emphasis that we need to try to do a better job. There are different formulas to winning games. We’ve had a lot of success this year scoring on starters, and scoring early in games.

“My point is we’ve had some opportunities, especially in this past week, where we got the starter out of the game and we haven’t been able to put anything together. You feel like it’s a big success when you get that starter out of the game, that you’ve done a really good job.

“We just haven’t been able to get anything going in those situations. There’s an argument that it’s tougher on hitters (to face different relievers). But when you’re getting multiple cracks at some of these guys, it’s a big chunk of the game. That’s a big opportunity, and you’ve got to take advantage of that.”

Because they have struggled so badly to score late in games – they’ve been outscored, 118-64, after the seventh inning – the Brewers have not fared well in comeback situations.

They have won just once all season when trailing after seven innings – the Mother’s Day comeback against the New York Mets when the Brewers scored five times in the eighth to win, 11-9.