FIRE IN THE HOLE

The old saying is true: it is better to get off to a hot start.

Or get burned.

The Associated Press reports that the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ron Roenicke on Sunday night, hours after their 5-3 victory over the Cubs in Chicago.

The Brewers are a major league-worst 7-18 (.281 winning percentage) after a 2-13 (.133 winning percentage) start. Even the slow improvement in winning percentage could not keep Roenicke's job. The team said it will announce a replacement today.

"This has been a difficult start to the season, something that we certainly didn't anticipate," president and general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement. "Over roughly the last 100 games, we have not performed at the level that we should. It's all about wins and losses, and after the first month of play this year we didn't see the progress and improvement we had hoped for.

"We appreciate all that Ron has done for our organization, and he has handled his duties with great professionalism and dedication. The reasons for our disappointing start are many, but we determined that it's in the best interests of the club to make this move."

The victory Sunday gave the Brewers their first consecutive victories of the year and first series win. Before this year, the most games Milwaukee needed for consecutive wins was 18 in 1972, according to STATS.

In four-plus seasons, the 58-year-old Roenicke was 342-331.

The Brewers slow start included a few injuries, including their starting catcher. However, every team has to deal with injuries.

By comparison, league laughing stock Houston Astros are in first place in the highly competitive AL West. The Astros 18-7 start (.720 winning percentage) shows that if the team merely goes .500 for the rest of the season, the Astros will have an 87 win season (.537 winning percentage) and a possible wild card spot.