Shaun Marcum on T-Plush: "He's a mess."

ST. LOUIS -- So now I'm funding my NLCS trip with gambling winnings from last night. Bumped into Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo at the craps table, and the 17-game winner won me 50 bucks by rolling a hard 10!


Great interview with Shaun Marcum today. On playing for the Brewers: 


"There’s nothing wrong with Toronto. This is just a great baseball city. Milwaukee and St. Louis treat baseball like Canadians treat hockey. It’s a lot of fun be out there every home game with 40,000 fans supporting you," said Marcum, scheduled to pitch a potential Game 6 on Sunday. 


We talked a lot about the Red Sox, a hot topic these days, and Marcum said there is nothing shocking about Boston starters watching team games from the clubhouse. But the beer?


"Starting pitchers like to go inside, even when I was in Toronto. You can see pitches better when you’re watching it on TV. You can read the swings a lot better watching than you can in the dugout. Whether they’re drinking or not, I don’t know, That’s their choice."


Marcum is under contract for one more year with the Brewers before reaching free agency.

"I’d love to stay in Milwaukee. Whether I go to free agency or not, Milwaukee is where I want to be right now," he said.

And, naturally, we needed a sound bite about Nyjer Morgan.

“Oh, he’s a mess – in a good way. He’s a lot fun," Marcum said. "

"He’s definitely misunderstood. Some people feel like they have to do that to have an edge. He's the kind of guy you definitely want on your team with the way he brings energy."

NLCS Game 3 Primer: plenty of bad blood

ST. LOUIS -- The latest verbal arrow in the Brewers-Cardinals rivalry was fired by Zack Greinke, who basically called Chris Carpenter a phony."I think his presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude. And then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff," Greinke said. "A lot of our guys don't like Carpenter."


Carpenter, who's already gone back and forth with "Tony Plush" on this topic, offered a response to Greinke during Tuesday's NLCS Workout Day at Busch Stadium.  "Why Zack thinks there’s a problem, I’m not sure," Carpenter said.


The most telling moment of the interview session came when Carpenter, a Trinity High of Manchester graduate, wouldn't take the Brewers' bait.


"I know what they're saying. They can do what they want, they can say what they want. I don't care. I'm not concerning myself with that. It's called playing the game the right way. It's called being professional."


Yowzers, this is getting good.


When the New Hampshire native last pitched against the Brewers, Carpenter struck out Nyjer Morgan in the ninth and said some things. This prompted Morgan to chuck his wad of chewing tobacco in the pitcher's direction. Said Morgan, "He felt like he had to say something. But as soon as he said it, he turns his back and runs away."


During postgame, Carpenter tried to avoid the issue but couldn't hold back when asked about the Brewers' agitator:"He was yelling at me at second base. The whole game he's screaming and yelling at me. I don't know if he's trying to get guys out of their game, but I'm not going to allow it to bother me. He's a serious talent. He just plays the game in a different way," Carpenter said. "There's a certain way to compete. There's a certain way not to compete. It's unfortunate because it takes away from how good a player he is."


Get ready to drop the gloves for Game 3. The teams are even fighting over the family seating at Busch Stadium as Amy K. Nelson reports.


--KG

NLCS Game 3: Tony Plush vs. Carpenter

Who could forget the last time Nyjer Morgan faced Chris Carpenter? "Tony Plush" struck out in the ninth inning and incited a bench-clearing mini-brawl after tossing his wad of chew at Carpenter.

The Brewers and Cardinals later exchanged verbal barbs, with Morgan saying Carpenter was swearing at him following the strikeout. The St. Louis ace said Morgan was "yelling and screaming" at him all game. Have a listen from my radio show, "The Life," that can be heard in New Hampshire:

They meet again in Game 3 of the NLCS at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night. I'll be there!