Jeff Suppan had just returned from the disabled list and was scuffling immediately.  He allowed two Cardinals’ runs in the first inning, the first off the strength of a monstrous home run by All Star Ryan Ludwick, the second off of a Rick Ankiel two-out RBI single.  Suppan settled down in the second, but allowed St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina to double in Troy Glaus with two out.  Up 3-0, the phenomenal right-handed starter Kyle Lohse briefly flirted with a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but Prince Fielder quickly wiped that out when he singled.  Lohse did not surrender any runs through the first six innings and was looking untouchable, and even though Jeff Suppan had settled in to pitch a very respectable game, all appeared bleak on Monday evening for Milwaukee.  With CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets slated to pitch the series’ final two games, the Brewers were still in a strong position to either split or win the series after a loss in Game 2.  But, oh wait…there WAS no loss in Game 2!

In the top of the seventh inning, things were looking encouraging when J.J. Hardy hit a lead-off double and Ryan Braun hit a tricky grounder to the left side of the mound that St. Louis third-baseman Troy Glaus was forced to hold on to, allowing Hardy to get to third and himself to get a base hit.  Prince Fielder mashed a ground ball to left field, scoring Hardy and putting Milwaukee on the board, but Gabe Kapler chopped into a rally-killing double play (Hall struck out with a runner on third and two gone).  Suppan kept his club in the game with a scoreless seventh frame, and that paved the way for one of the most heroic comebacks in the history of the Brewers/Cardinals rivalry.  Mike Cameron struck out to lead off the eighth, but Jason Kendall singled right after.  Pinch hitter Russell “The Muscle” Branyan showed very little muscle as he lined out softly to shortstop, and with Rickie Weeks (not one of Milwaukee’s greatest clutch performers of 2008) coming to the plate, it looked as though Tony La Russa’s struggling bullpen would escape another demoralizing defeat (they surrendered three Brewers’ runs in the top of the 10th inning in Game 1 of the series to kill an inspiring Cardinals’ comeback).  Apparently, the arrival of Ray Durham served as something of a wakeup call to the younger second baseman.  He smacked a double to the wall in left-center field and the always-hustling Jason Kendall motored around the bases to score.  With Weeks on second, J.J. Hardy, who has been as hot as any hitter in baseball for the past oh…month or so…promptly tied the game at 3 with an RBI single.

Steady left-handed reliever Brian Shouse pitched a perfect eighth, and in the ninth, with two outs, the hero of last night’s game produced an astonishing encore.  When Bill Hall connected with the pitch from Kyle McClellan, there was no doubt in my mind (or Hall’s) that it was going to go a long, long way.  When the ball came down into the sea of Cardinals’ red, the stadium, which had been so alive for the first six innings of the game, fell deathly silent.  There would be no comeback, no celebration for La Russa’s Redbirds in the bottom of the ninth.  Salomon Torres, who had pitched two innings the day before, allowed absolutely nothing, and the Brewers won their fifth straight game on the road (sixth straight overall).  Ned Yost’s upstart club is now in sole possession of second place in the NL Central, in sole possession of the Wild Card Berth, and with the Cubs down 9-2 in the top of the ninth inning, it appears as though Milwaukee, 8.5 games back just over a month ago, will be sitting a mere 1 game behind their bitter rivals.

Offensive MVP: Bill Hall (1-4/1R/1HR/1RBI/0BB/2K)

Pitching MVP: Jeff Suppan (7IP/8H/1HR/3ER/2BB/3SO)

My Take:

Few times in my life have I been at a total loss for words.  This is one of those times.  I have followed the Milwaukee Brewers since I was a young child, and I have seen some good games, some numerically greater comebacks, but never have I been this convinced of an impending defeat.  Kyle Lohse looked almost un-hittable, Jeff Suppan looked mediocre early on, and the Milwaukee offense looked totally listless.  I give Ned Yost props for keeping the bench spirits high, or at least alive throughout what looked like a very ugly game.  No team wins games like these against their rivals on the road unless they have confidence in themselves as a team.  The Brewers clearly have confidence in themselves that hasn’t been seen in Milwaukee in over a quarter century.  I will go out on a limb and make a bold prediction: the Brewers WILL win the series at Busch Stadium!

They had squandered opportunities to score again and again and again; they missed an opportunity to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9th inning due to some tough-luck ground balls; but the streaking Milwaukee Brewers did not miss the opportunity to quiet the always raucous Busch Stadium crowd in extra innings on Monday night.  In the opener of a very important 4 game series with Tony Larussa’s Redbirds, the Brewers, behind starter Seth McClung, found themselves down 2-0 right away when Troy Glaus hit a booming two-run double over center-fielder Mike Cameron’s head in the first inning.  But the burly right-hander did exactly what good fifth starters should do and settled down and pitched four consecutive scoreless innings to finish give his club a good chance to win.  He finished with only 5IP, struck out 5, and surrendered five hits while walking 2.

In the top of the fifth inning, McClung was put in position for the win when second-baseman Rickie Weeks, perhaps playing a little harder now that the veteran Ray Durham has come to town, sent a first pitch fastball from Cardinal’s starter Joel Pineiro flying into the triple deck (scoring Jason Kendall and Seth McClung).  Ahead 3-2 off the Weeks blast, Ned Yost employed two struggling relievers, Guillermo Mota and Eric Gagne in the sixth and seventh innings respectively.  The move paid huge dividends.  Mota worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless inning and Gagne blew away Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker and retired Aaron Miles on an easy grounder to finish the frame.  In the eighth, David Riske struck out one, walked one, and surrendered no runs or hits.  The Milwaukee offense stranded 11 base-runners in the first 9 innings of the ballgame, and that gave the pesky Cardinals plenty of opportunity to make a game of it.  Salomon Torres gave up a ground-rule double to catcher Yadier Molina to start off the bottom of the ninth and the stadium immediately came alive.  Slugger Ryan Ludwick was called out on strikes, but pinch hitter Jason LaRue dribbled a ground ball past the mound that Weeks couldn’t handle, and runners were on the corners.  Skip Schumaker hit a fly ball to medium left that Ryan Braun caught cleanly, but his impending throw to the plate sailed on him and St. Louis knotted it up at 3-3.  A gutsy decision by Ned Yost to allow Torres to pitch to Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols paid off and the side was retired.

The momentum had clearly shifted towards Tony Larussa’s club, but Brewers’ third baseman Bill Hall rapidly stole it back and then some.  He crushed the third pitch he saw from reliever Ryan Franklin and sent it into the center field stands to give Milwaukee the lead 4-3.  Kendall doubled with one out and Torres was allowed to bat, but he lined out to center-fielder Rick Ankiel.  With a huge insurance run on second and two men gone, Rickie Weeks hit a wicked grounder straight up the middle.  His counterpart, Aaron Miles, made an unbelievable diving stab, but it was all for naught as the usually dependable first baseman Pujols was out of position, and the throw sailed past the bag.  Jason Kendall scrambled around to score, and Weeks managed to reach second.  Hot-hitting shortstop J.J. Hardy promptly drove in Weeks with an RBI single, giving Milwaukee a 6-3 lead.  In the bottom of the 10th, Torres worked around a Troy Glaus one-out double and sealed the huge victory.  He was credited with a blown save and a win.

Offensive MVP: 2B Rickie Weeks (2-5/2R/1HR/3RBI/1BB)

Pitching MVP*: RPs Guillermo Mota/Eric Gagne/David Riske (3IP/0H/0ER/2BB/3SO)

My Take:

This one had the makings of an ugly defeat, but sheer determination by the Brewers gave them their fourth straight road victory.  The pitching was good all throughout the game, save the first inning of work by McClung, and of course, the ninth.  Salomon Torres did not pitch that badly, but ran into a little tough luck on grounders that just rolled past his outstretched glove and were poorly played by Rickie Weeks.  The way the team bounced back to earn a win against a divisional rival on national television is extremely encouraging, and with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets pitching, a series win or split seems very possible.  The Brewers are now tied for 2nd in the NL Central and are only 2 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who lost to Arizona.

2004 marked something of a turning point in Milwaukee baseball, as the Brewers found themselves four games over .500 at the All Star break, and although they endured a horrendous second-half collapse that left them in dead last at 67-94, they did manage to sweep a road series.  Three largely successful seasons (without a single three or four game road sweep) later, they found themselves in a position to finish the job versus the struggling San Francisco Giants.  Don’t get me wrong…sweeping a team on the road is a very difficult task regardless of who you are playing, but three years is a long time.  Many Parra and Ryan Braun made sure the Brewers could finally dust off their traveling brooms and brush the Giants away.

Outstanding youngster Tim Lincecum was on the mound and a good crowd of 37,507 was on hand to watch San Francisco fend off the hard charging Milwaukee Brewers (winners of three straight coming into the series finale on Sunday afternoon).  Milwaukee southpaw Manny Parra another brilliant, albeit much less touted, young pitcher tossed 7.2 innings of two-run baseball, striking out a career high 9, and pitching the deepest he ever has into a game in the major leagues.  He earned his ninth win of 2008 against only a pair of defeats, backed by a monstrous performance by left-fielder Ryan Braun.  He slugged a three-run home run in the seventh inning after fouling off four two-strike pitches to give the Brewers a 5-0 lead that knocked Lincecum from the game.  Corey Hart had previously hit a home run in the second to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.  Parra also contributed with his bat, knocking in a run with a bloop single in the second to score Russell Branyan.

San Francisco started to battle back in the bottom of the eighth, as they used a two-run double by Aaron Rowand to cut their deficit to three runs.  Carlos Villanueva was brought in to replace Parra, and the threat was extinguished.  A two-run double by Braun in the ninth gave his club a little more breathing room, but submariner Brian Shouse yielded two more runs to the Giants off a double by Jose Castillo, and manager Ned Yost was forced to bring in his closer for the second day in a row.  Salomon Torres earned his 17th save of the year, and it only took him three pitches to do it (Randy Winn popped out to second baseman Rickie Weeks).  Braun’s torrid hitting brought his home run total of 2008 to 24 and his RBI total to 71.

My Take:

It’s about time!  I am very glad the Brewers broke their streak of seasons without a three game road sweep, especially when I consider the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs both won on Sunday.  Perhaps Ned Yost’s club is starting to gel to the point where they can not only win games, but sweep series on the road, and that would be a tremendously good sign to see every once in a while.  Ryan Braun has done nothing but wow me with his bat ever since he hit the big leagues in May of last season, so I am not all too surprised with his big day at the plate.  Manny Parra, on the other hand, has been a very pleasant surprise to all Brewers’ fans this year, and his strong record of 9-2 shows that this young lefty’s got game.  He, along with Seth McClung, has been a much-needed stabilizer in Milwaukee’s rotation that was seemingly decimated when Yovani Gallardo’s knee went down, and if he can continue to pitch this well, the Cubs and Cardinals may start peeking over their shoulders very nervously.  If you look down the list of the Crew’s starters: Sheets, Sabathia, Suppan, Parra, McClung, Bush, you will notice six (yes there is going to be a six-man rotation implemented when Suppan returns from his injury) men that are wonderfully consistent day in and day out.  It’s not that they go out and dominate every week (though CC has done  almost nothing but so far), but you know what you are going to get 9 times out of 10.  Consistent, good pitching wins pennants, and the Boys in Blue have that and then some.

Ben Sheets pitched well in the All Star Game, but he has not pitched particularly well in any of his last few regular season starts.  Perhaps an injury exists that he is playing through but not admitting, but whatever the reason, it appears as though CC Sabathia is Milwaukee’s only true ace for the time being.  Sheets scuffled on Saturday afternoon, yielding four runs (two earned) in five shaky innings.  He surrendered a whopping nine hits to the Giants, and was in line for the loss, but the Brewers simply would not give this one away, as they came roaring back to win 8-5.  To give his club a 1-0 lead, Sheets, a light-hitting pitcher hit a double down the left field line to score Jason Kendall. In the bottom of the fourth, things got ugly when San Francisco scored four times.  A Jose Castillo RBI single, an Omar Vizquel RBI single, an run-scoring fielding error by J.J. Hardy, and a Eugenio Velez RBI double gave the G-Men a 4-1 lead, and with talented southpaw Jonathan Sanchez dominating on the mound (eight strikeouts through the first five frames) it appeared as though the Crew would fall.

But the bottom half of Milwaukee’s lineup came alive at a critical time.  With one out, Corey Hart doubled, Bill Hall and Mike Cameron walked, and while catcher Jason Kendall was batting, new pitcher Keiichi Yabu let one get away from him and Giants’ backstop Bengie Molina did the same.  The wild pitch scored Hart easily, but Molina’s toss to his pitcher sailed down the third base line and Bill Hall slid in to make the game very interesting.  Kendall then was plunked, pinch hitter Craig Counsell was retired, and with one of his biggest hits of the year, Rickie Weeks drove in Cameron and Kendall to give Milwaukee the lead 5-4.  In the sixth, left-handed relief pitcher Mitch Stetter yielded a run to knot the game up at 5 apiece.

Prince Fielder didn’t waste much time in atoning for Stetter’s mishap.  He crushed the first pitch from Osiris Matos, and when the ball came down, there were no fans scrambling to grab it…there were sailboats scrambling to grab it.  It touched legendary McCovey Cove and the Boys in Blue secured a lead they never lost.  Corey Hart scored on a Cameron RBI groundout, and Fielder drove in Ryan Braun in the ninth to give the Brewers’ their last piece of insurance.  Carlos Villanueva, David Riske, and Salomon Torres, did not disappoint, as they hurled 3.1 scoreless frames to seal the deal.  Torres earned his career best 16th save of 2008.

My Take:

Offensive outburst aside…way to go Riske!  The comeback, encouraging as it was, did not surprise me as much as David Riske’s dominant eighth inning of work.  He walked one batter, but fanned three to bridge the gap to Salomon Torres in the ninth as well as any Brewer has done so far this year.  Over the course of his career, he has proven to be much stronger in the second half of seasons, and if that trend continues, the Milwaukee bullpen will benefit greatly.  This would mean that if the Brewers fail to acquire Huston Street from Oakland (if the rumors regarding their interest in him are true) they may not have a glaring hole late in ballgames.  One good performance does not mean he has turned the corner fully, but it is a good sign nonetheless.

This is just getting ridiculous.  CC Sabathia earned his second straight complete game victory Friday, striking out 10 Giants and yielding only four hits to them.  Milwaukee scored first in the third inning when Sabathia doubled and scored later off a J.J. Hardy groundout.  In the fourth, Russell Branyan doubled to lead off the inning and scored when second basemen Rickie Weeks delivered a clutch single with two outs.  Up 3-0 in the seventh (following a Hardy RBI double), Milwaukee expanded their lead, when Prince Fielder hit an opposite field, three run shot to double his club’s lead.  In the ninth, Mike Cameron hit Milwaukee’s second three run homer to put the game well out of reach.  San Francisco’s only run came off of an Aaron Rowand round-tripper.

My Take:

What a way to start off the “second half” of 2008.  The Chicago Cubs fell to Houston 2-1, putting the Brewers four games back.  Sabathia is proving himself to be a fantastic acquisition to Milwaukee.  He is now 3-0 with 24 strikeouts and 2 complete game victories in three starts.  Talk is now brewing of G.M. Doug Melvin attempting to sign Oakland’s brilliant young relief pitcher Huston Street, and should this move be made, the Brewers would solve the eighth inning dilemma that has plagued them so often this season.

The unthinkable was happening: the Cincinnati Reds, at 46-49, were ready to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers (52-43) at Miller Park.  Up 2-0 in the third inning, and with new Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia scuffling, it appeared as though the Crew were going to limp into the All Star break coming off a mediocre 5-5 homestand.  But something clicked that Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee, and Sabathia turned in one of the finest performances in his storied career, as the Milwaukee Brewers fended off the Cincinnati Reds in a wild, low-scoring affair.  In the top of the second inning, CC gave up a leadoff single, a double, and plunked center-fielder Corey Patterson to load the bases with nobody out.  Catcher David Ross cashed in on a sacrifice fly to score Edwin Encarnacion and gave the Reds a 1-0 lead.  The next batter, twenty-one year old pitcher Homer Bailey grounded into a huge double play, however, to allow Sabathia to keep the game right where it was.  In the third, Cincinnati tacked onto their lead via an Adam Dunn sac fly, but managed nothing else in the inning or in the game.

In the bottom of the inning with one man out, Sabathia crushed a fastball and sent it flying into the stands in right field to  enthrall the sellout crowd of 42,108.  Milwaukee would not score again until, the sixth, when Prince Fielder was walked by new Reds pitcher Bill Bray, sending J.J. Hardy (who had reached on a fielder’s choice) to third.  In a great clutch performance, Gabe Kapler (filling in for right-fielder Corey Hart, who had the day off) smacked a two-out double to tie the game at 2.  Sabathia yielded no further runs, and danced out of danger in the sixth and eighth innings, stranding a Red in scoring position both times.

Then came the ninth, and in a surprising move, manager Ned Yost elected to keep the wheelin’-n’-dealin’ southpaw in the game.  Running on fumes, and pitch count up to 111, he worked some magic reminiscent of his Cy Young 2007, and struck out the side on 11 pitches.  In the bottom of the ninth, with David Weathers on the mound, Bill Hall singled to start things up, Mike Cameron lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Weathers and thrown badly, allowing the limber center-fielder to reach first.  Jason Kendall was walked intentionally, setting things up for pinch hitter (and one of the team leaders) Craig Counsell. Francisco Cordero, disliked by the majority of the Milwaukee fanbase for leaving this past off season for a slightly bigger contract from the Reds, trotted onto the mound to a shower of boos.  One pitch later, it was a shower of cheers, as Counsell lined a pitch to right field that was caught by Jay Bruce but allowed Bill Hall to touch home for a thrilling 3-2 victory.

My Take:

Rarely have I seen a Brewer pitcher change the game with his bat as well as his arm, but on Sunday afternoon, CC Sabathia managed to keep my faith in the Milwaukee ball club strong and alive, when it looked as though they could have actually been swept by the lowly Cincinnati Reds at home.  This is a fantastic way for the Crew to finish the “first half” of the season (though the mathematical midway point came days and days ago).  Milwaukee’s starting pitching has been phenomenal this year, but few of their hurlers aside from Ben Sheets have been able to earn complete game victories.  Sabathia gave the fading bullpen an extra day of rest thanks to his gritty performance.  He now has a 2-0 record as a Brewer, though the team has actually lost ground on the Chicago Cubs since his arrival.  Look for G.M. Doug Melvin to acquire a proven reliever via trade very soon.

Same song; different verse.  The Milwaukee Brewers bullpen was annihilated Saturday evening as the Brewers fell 8-2 to Cincinnati.  Adam Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion hit back to back home runs off of Eric Gagne in the ninth inning, and despite a good start (6.1 innings, 3ER, 7Ks) by Seth McClung, the Brewers’ offense mustered next to nothing off of rookie sensation Edinson Volquez.  Prince Fielder hit a two run shot in the fourth inning to make a game of it, but the Reds were staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning that they never relinquished when Adam Dunn hit a three run blast, his first of the game.  Volquez struck out ten in seven two run innings and the Reds bullpen shut down the Brewers to prevent any form of comeback.

My Take:

Who’s ready for the All Star Break?  The Brewers played a decent game until the eighth and ninth innings, when they yielded five runs to the Reds.  Eric Gagne had been pitching well since his return from the disabled list, but he seemed to revert back to his old ways today.  The offense was bested by an extremely good pitcher, so there is really no cause for serious alarm there.  As for the bullpen, it WILL (quote me on this) cost the Brewers October IF it continues to perform this poorly.  Perhaps Milwaukee’s club is simply tiring and needs to recuperate during the upcoming vacation, and if that’s the case, this Brewers fan will welcome the Midsummer Classic with open arms.

This game was a tough one to follow and a tough pill to swallow.  The Brewers offense fought, but the defense committed three errors in a wild 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.  Manny Parra pitched well until the seventh inning, when he was charged with four runs.  The poor frame undid the four run Milwaukee outburst of the sixth, when the Brewers scored off of a two out bloop double by Corey Hart, a two run pinch double by Bill Hall, and a run scoring single by Mike Cameron.

When Cincinnati catcher David Ross drove in first baseman Joey Votto, the lead was trimmed to 5-3.  Pinch hitter Andy Phillips scored prized prospect Jay Bruce on a groundout, and when Jerry Hairston Jr. lined a pitch to the gap in left center, all appeared fine as Mike Cameron was about to make a slick running catch (nothing too special for his Gold Glove career).  Jim Powell, Brewers radio play-by-play announcer, guessed that Cameron lost sight of the ball in the bright lights of Miller park, but whatever the reason, the ball bounced harmlessly off his body and rolled to the wall, allowing Andy Phillips to score easily, tying the game at 5 apiece.

Cincinnati took the lead in the top of the eighth when usually reliable reliever Salomon Torres bounced a pitch that got by backstop Jason Kendall and the Reds’ Jay Bruce scampered home.  Milwaukee threatened in the eighth when Ryan Braun doubled with only one out, but Prince Fielder and Corey Hart grounded out to strand Braun at third.  The ninth showed Mike Cameron reaching second on a stolen base with two outs, but Gabe Kapler struck out on a questionable call to give former Brewer Francisco Cordero the save, and the Reds a 6-5 victory in game 1 of the series.

My Take:

This one was great in innings 1-6, and ugly 7-9.  The last three innings is where the Brewers seem to cough up the most leads and squander the most scoring opportunities.  It seems as though Ned Yost’s ball-club never clicks in all facets of baseball (offense, defense, pitching) in games like these, of course, problems are always magnified when Milwaukee comes up short.   This 6-5 defeat stung mightily considering the Brewers had a three run lead late, but all baseball players are human, thus imperfect, thus make mistakes from time to time.  I’m not sure what to make of this one; it will show a lot of character on Milwaukee’s part if they can bounce back tomorrow.

    A day after Milwaukee’s long-proclaimed ace pitcher was unable to neutralize the injury-ridden, yet still dangerous Rockies lineup, a most unlikely candidate managed to outperform both C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets.  Dave Bush, pitching perhaps the greatest game in his major league career, completely baffled the Colorado offense Thursday afternoon.  He yielded one unearned run, struck out a mind-boggling thirteen, walked none, and surrendered only three hits in eight superb innings.

Trailing after the first frame 1-0, Milwaukee’s offense awoke from its slumber and tied the game in the third on a Ryan Braun single which scored lead-off hitter Rickie Weeks.  The fourth inning could have been the Crew’s greatest single performance in a game this whole season.  In a nutshell, they scored six runs, five with two outs off a Gabe Kapler double, a Weeks double, and a Prince Fielder triple.  In the seventh, right fielder Corey Hart (recently elected to the All Star Game) padded the lead with a solo home run to deep left and Gabe Kapler (continuing to prove himself as one of the team’s best off-season acquisitions and bench players) doubled in Bill Hall to put the Brewers up 9-1.  In the eighth, J.J. Hardy came through yet again, sending a pitch over the left field fence, scoring Joe Dillon, and capping Milwaukee’s scoring outburst.  At the end of the day, manager Ned Yost found his club sitting in sole possession of second place in the N.L. Central and a mere four games behind the Chicago Cubs.

Alex’s Take:

Good, better, and great.  That describes how I feel about the Brewer’s four game series against the Colorado Rockies, the Brewers’ offense’s performance on Thursday afternoon, and the pitching of Dave Bush.  There has been talk of setting up a six-man pitching rotation once Jeff Suppan returns from his injury.  Dave Bush, who has been stellar at Miller Park this season (3-2 record, 2.87 ERA before today’s brilliant performance) and Seth McClung, who has been strong away from Wisconsin (1-1 record, 3.28 ERA in 11 appearances) may share the final spot in Ned Yost’s rotation.  Bush and McClung struggle away and at home respectively, thus, the move makes sense.  What to be wary about is the fact that starting pitchers are often very, very, very habitual, and setting up the less-than-conventional rotation might cause them meltdowns.  It is a risky move, but if it plays out well, it could really benefit the Brewers’ already strong starting pitching.  The offense has been quite streaky this year, sometimes displaying dominance like today, or they play more flatly, like yesterday, so I am taking this 11 run day with a grain of salt.  A great fact remains, though: they don’t have to score 11 runs a game to win when their starting pitching is this good.

 Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Ben Sheets remarked that he was going to show C.C. Sabathia who the Brewers’ real ace is.  Just kidding.  But Sheets did display brilliance early on, striking out the side in the first two innings and finishing with eleven.   Third baseman Bill Hall crushed a Glendon Rusch changeup and sent it well over the left field wall to give the Brewers an early 1-0 lead, but the offense provided Sheets no further run support, and once Big Ben surrendered a two-run blast by Garret Atkins, the game was not looking great, with the Brewers down by two. 

Enter Mitch Stetter, give the Rockies another run off a two out hit by former Brewer Scott Podsednik, (his second such hit of the game) and the score is 4-1 Colorado.  Bill Hall then doubled and scored on a looping hit to center field by Mike Cameron, cutting the lead to 4-2.  Cameron, ever the savvy base runner, stole second, advanced to third on a Jason Kendall groundout, and trotted home on a clutch pinch hit by Russell Branyan. 

The Rockies were not satisfied with the one run lead, though, and Garret Atkins hit another round tripper off of struggling reliever Guillermo Mota.  Catcher Chris Ianetta followed with a triple, allowing to swell the Colorado lead to three again.  Adding insult to injury, young first baseman Joe Koshansky hit a two out, two run homerun to center field, blowing the game wide open.  The Brewers offense was lethargic after the eighth inning outburst, and Milwaukee dropped a listless loss to the banged up Colorado Rockies.  Their 2008 record against the Rox is now an unimpressive 2-4.

Alex’s Take:

The Brewers continued a disturbing trend of being shut down offensively by less than great pitchers, not to take anything away from Glendon Rusch, who pitched his heart out Wednesday night, but his E.R.A. coming into the game was over 7.  Not to mention the Achilles’ Heel of the Milwaukee baseball club: the bullpen.  Guillermo Mota has tremendous stuff, a fastball that occasionally gets up to 97 MPH and a nasty changeup, but nothing, absolutely nothing he throws is fooling the hitters he is facing right now.  He should be given a much lesser role in the pen and Eric Gagne, who has been throwing very effectively since returning from the disabled list, should be promoted to the eighth inning role.  Mota’s potential is quite high, but the amount of games he is costing Milwaukee should be a warning flag to Ned Yost that this reliever is either way past his prime or should at least be taken out of this high pressure job.

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