Pitching on three-days’ rest for the second start in a row, CC Sabathia, possibly the greatest in-season acquisition by a team in Major League history (perhaps not stats-wise, but impact-wise), hurled an absolute gem of a complete game on Sunday.  He struck out 7, walked 1, and only gave up 4 hits and 1 unearned run in 9.0 inspired innings.  He won his 11th game as a Brewer, his first against the Chicago Cubs, and the second-biggest single game in Brewers history.  The biggest would be the final game of 1982, when Milwaukee faced Baltimore for the division title (there was no Wild Card in those days).  That game, no doubt of great magnitude, simply wasn’t as dramatic as this one.  An error by first baseman Prince Fielder set up an RBI ground-out by Ronny Cedeno that gave the Cubbies a 1-0 lead in the 2nd.

Then things got ugly.  The Brewers were completely shut down offensively by the Cubs’ young starter Angel Guzman (2.0 innings), Chad Gaudin (1.0 inning), Neal Cotts (1.0 inning), and Kevin Hart (1.0 inning).  Following Mike Cameron’s lead-off single in the bottom of the 1st, 18 Brewers in a row were mowed down by Cubs’ pitching.  But in the bottom of the 7th, the dream began to come alive.  Ray Durham, batting from his weaker right side, doubled to start things off.  Ryan Braun then advanced the second baseman to third with a groundout.  Prince Fielder was intentionally walked, J.J. Hardy unintentionally walked, and Corey Hart looked totally lost at the plate, swinging and missing at three obvious balls for the second out.  Craig Counsell, the ever-dependable veteran or big games, worked a monumental walk with the bases loaded to bring the tying run home.  Jason Kendall failed to add on.

In the top of the 8th, Sabathia continued his dominance, striking out the first two men to greet him, and then retired Koyie Hill by making a barehanded grab of a bouncer to the mound and throwing to first.  Then, after 26 years of futility, the Milwaukee fans finally experienced something worth going absolutely crazy about.  Mike Cameron hit a one-out single.  Then, Ray Durham flirted with a possible run-scoring extra base hit, but his deep drive to right was run down and caught by Micah Hoffpouir.  Ryan Braun didn’t waste any time in powering his club into the Post Season.  He liked the first pitch from Bob Howry, swung at the first pitch from Bob Howry, and drove the first pitch from Bob Howry deep into the electrified sellout crowd of 45,299 for his 37th home run of 2008, and got RBIs number 105 and 106.

Sabathia returned to the mound, knowing full well that the New York Mets were down 4-2 to the Florida Marlins late in the last game at Shea Stadium, and finished what he started.  Alfonso Soriano flew out to shallow left, Ryan Theriot hit a single, and that brought career Brewer-killer Derrek Lee to the plate.  On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Lee chopped to the awaiting glove of Ray Durham, who relayed to the shortstop J.J. Hardy, who fired back to Fielder at first to win the game 3-1.  The fans went absolutely nuts, but nothing was comparable to their reaction minutes later, when they watched the final frame of the Marlins/Mets game, and watched Ryan Church fly out to deep center to seal Milwaukee’s first trip to the playoffs since the World Series of 1982.  The players enjoyed a well-earned champagne shower to boot.

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

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (9.0IP/4H/0ER/1R/1BB/7SO/0HR/Win-11th)

Give the injured Ben Sheets credit for starting Saturday afternoon’s critical game against the Cubs (likely his last ever in a Brewers’ uniform).  Just don’t look at his final line.  The All Star starter is probably done for 2008, but his shaky start made it all the more hard for the Crew to reach the “Promised Land.”  He gave up a 2-run blast to backup first baseman Daryle Ward in the 1st, and two more on a Mike Fontenot single in the 3rd.  Mark DiFelice, Dave Bush, and Manny Parra pitched 5.2 solid, scoreless innings that set the stage for a Brewers’ rally that just fell short.  In the 8th, down 4-1, the Crew rallied to score 2 runs and load the bases with 1 out for J.J. Hardy, who chopped out into a force play at home plate.  Then Corey Hart, the struggling outfielder who did manage to collect a big hit the night before, could not keep the magic going, as he grounded out harmlessly.  Salomon Torres was pounded by Kosuke Fukudome, the light-hitting Cubs’ outfielder who hit a two-run home run to put the game out of reach.  Kerry Wood closed the door in the ninth.  With a Mets’ 2-0 win, the Brewers found themselves tied for the Wild Card lead with one to play, setting up perhaps the most important game in club history.  A win guarantees at least a one game playoff with the Mets, but a loss could very likely shatter the season.

Jeff Suppan had been knocked around again and again in September (with an ERA over 10 in the month), and he was hit hard again on Friday by the Cubs. The difference? He pitched his heart out to keep the game in control, and managed to do just that in 5.0 solid innings. Jim Edmonds, who has dominated Brewer pitching all year, hit an opposite-field solo blast in the 2nd to put Chicago ahead 1-0. It could have easily been 3-0 if not for Mike Cameron. In the 1st, Cubs’ powerful rookie Micah Hoffpauir crushed a two-out pitch from Suppan to the gap in right center. The savvy center fielder read the ball perfectly off the bat, but to catch the ball, it took a spectacular diving play to retire the side and save two sure runs.

Catcher Jason Kendall, who gunned down a potential base-stealer and Hoffpauir trying to stretch a single into a double later on, hit a huge two-out RBI double to knot things firmly at 1-1 in the 2nd. Suppan gave up more hits after Edmond’s homer, but settled down mightily, and even recorded 5 strikeouts along the way; four to some of the best Chicago had to offer (Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Micah Hoffpauir). He did not record his 11th win of the year, for the game was tied going into 6th. Ray Durham started things with a booming double off lefty Sean Marshall that bounced over the wall in left, and Ryan Braun worked his way on with a walk. But Prince Fielder struck out swinging and J.J. Hardy was retired on a harmless pop-out. This set the stage for a game-changing bloop single by Corey Hart that scored Durham and put the Crew ahead for good. In the 7th, reliever Seth McClung, who had just pitched a pair of sparkling innings, was allowed to hit, and he reached on catcher’s interference.  The Cubs’ Chad Gaudin then balked, letting the huge flamethrower get to second.

Mike Cameron then coaxed a single between third and short, putting runners at the corners for Rickie Weeks, who had replaced Durham due to an injury.  Weeks, criticized by many (including myself) all year long, wasted no time in giving Milwaukee another boost in their run for the playoffs.  He lined a three-run home run to left to give his club some more breathing room, and he was even prompted to a curtain call by the deeply appreciative crowd of 44,804 (mostly Brewer fans by the way).  McClung did the rest, finishing things off with a fiery demeanor that made the night even more amazing for Brewer fans, who cheered raucously once they saw the final from Shea Stadium: 6-1 Marlins over the Mets.  Milwaukee is now 1.0 games ahead of New York in the Wild Card chase.

Offensive MVP: Rickie Weeks (1-1/1R/1HR/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Seth McClung (4.0IP/1H/0ER/1BB/6SO/Win-6th)

Yovani Gallardo had gone 4 months without pitching, as he had gone down to a torn ACL that required what was considered originally to be season-ending knee surgery.  Turns out that 4 months was all the time in the world for the prized young starter.  Operating off a strict pitch count and not even swinging the bat when he came to the plate, the Brewers kept him relatively safe.  Gallardo, in turn, kept the Brewers’ Post Season hopes relatively safe.  Staked to an early 1-0 lead off a Bill Hall RBI double in the 3rd, he went on to mow down 7 Pirates in 4.0 innings, giving up only 1 run off a home run by Steve Pearce in the 4th.  The next batter walked, but Gallardo induced an inning-ending double play by Ronnie Paulino right after.

Then came the bullpen: seven pitchers, six innings, zero runs allowed in one of its finest performances of the year.  Offensively, the Crew was not so impressive for the rest of the first 9 innings.  They actually only stranded 5 runners on Thursday, but they simply couldn’t execute small ball, and it forced extras.  In the top of the 10th, the Buckos threatened big time against Todd Coffey.  With one out, he surrendered a single to Jason Michaels, who then reached second on a fielder’s choice.  Enter Pittsburgh’s All Star center fielder Nate McLouth and lefty Mitch Stetter for the biggest out of his career thus far.  From a 3-1 count, Stetter got McLouth to whiff at that sweeping slider of his, and froze him on another one, recording the punch-out and bringing things to the bottom 10th.

That’s when things got interesting.  Rickie Weeks started things off against Jesse Chavez with a single, and was moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from the catcher Jason Kendall.  Pinch-hitter Ray Durham, who has torn things up at Miller Park this year, was intentionally walked, putting two runners on with only 1 out.  Alas, Mike Cameron failed to end it as he went down swinging.  Craig Counsell then strode to the plate, crazy stance and all, and worked arguably the biggest walk by a Brewer in 2008 (it only took 5 pitches).  This put the game, and with the Mets winning their game on a Carlos Beltran walk-off single moments earlier, possibly the season in the hands of sore and struggling left fielder Ryan Braun.  He needed merely a bloop single or a walk, but the end result turned out to be far more legendary.  On a 2-2 count, he finally got some of his prodigious power into a swing, and the ball went a long, long way.  Braun collected the 1st and only grand slam by Milwaukee all season, as well as the first walk-off shot of his major league career.  If the Brewers manage to reach the playoffs, it will probably be considered the defining moment of 2008, and one of the biggest home runs in Brewer history.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Braun (1-5/1R/1HR/4RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse, Salomon Torres, Todd Coffey, Mitch Stetter(Win-3rd) (6.0IP/6H/0ER/1BB/3SO/0HR)

The Milwaukee Brewers managed a mere two hits on Wednesday evening, but manufactured four runs.  Of course, that was all CC Sabathia needed.  Pitching on 3-days rest for the 2nd straight game, the beast of a lefty hurled a magnificent, gutsy, and “whatever other good adjective you can think to add” game.  His line: 7.0 innings pitched, 1 earned run, 4 hits, and 11 strikeouts.  He picked up his 10th Brewer win, but he will have a chance to go after number 11 on Sunday, should the Wild Card race still be going on.   Prince Fielder drove in Mike Cameron in the 4th to tie the game 1-1, but it took a bases loaded walk from Rickie Weeks, who was down 1-2 before taking a couple tough pitches from Paul Maholm, to put the Crew in front.  Jason Kendall followed suit, walking in 5 pitches to expand the lead.  A sac fly from Corey Hart made it 4-1 in the 6th.  Eric Gange worked a scoreless 8th, and Salomon Torres finished things off for his 28th save.  He did give up a solo home run to Adam LaRoche.  Oh yeah, and the Mets lost in extras, meaning the Brewers are tied for the Wild Card lead!

Offensive MVP: Prince Fielder (1-3/2R/1RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (7.0IP/4H/1ER/2BB/11SO/0HR/Win-10th)

Dave Bush was shaky on Tuesday night, going 5.0 innings and giving up 3 runs.  After going up 2-0 early on a Ryan Braun triple (he scored on the play off a throwing error in the outfield), the Crew slipped behind 3-2 after an inning in which Bush, normally a pitcher with good command, walked two batters, walked the pitcher, then surrendered some run-scoring singles with two outs.   Milwaukee rallied back to take the lead in the 7th when Mike Cameron lined a two-run double into left with runners on the corners and 1 out.  Disaster struck in the 8th, when recently-consistent reliever Guillermo Mota gave up a booming 2-run home run to the Pirates’ Steve Pearce.  Down by one with a slip in the Wild Card race imminent, Jason Kendall provided one of his biggest hits of the year when he coaxed a two-out, game-tying double right over the right fielder’s head to score J.J. Hardy from second.  After Salomon Torres battled through a scoreless 9th, the Crew came to bat.  Reliever T.J. Beam struck out Mike Cameron and got a pop out from Ray Durham to start things off, but Ryan Braun managed to hit a tricky infield single, setting things up for the big man.  Prince Fielder looked at two pitches, and with a 2-0 count, he crushed a rocket home run to ignite the 30,000+ fans and cued the Brewers to celebrate raucously at home plate.  They won 7-5.

Offensive MVP: Mike Cameron (2-5/1R/22B/2RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Salomon Torres (1IP/1H/0ER/1BB/0SO/Win-7th)

The odds are certainly stacked against the Milwaukee Brewers.  They would have to combine a miraculous winning streak with a full-blown collapse by the New York Mets to have a CHANCE at backing into the post season, but the fact of the matter is they still have a chance.  Seth McClung couldn’t get out of the 4th inning, but reliever Todd Coffey bailed him out of a bases-loaded jam with two key strikeouts.  Prince Fielder hit a solo shot off of Reds’ starter Bronson Arroyo, and also crushed a two-run double in the 4th.  Corey Hart picked up two RBIs off of sac flies, J.J. Hardy knocked in a run, and Ryan Braun collected #99 of the year as the Brewers rolled to an emphatic 8-1 win.  The Mets failed to hold onto a late lead in Atlanta and lost 6-7.  The Crew trails New York by 1.5 games going into tomorrow’s off day.  Milwaukee’s overall road record in ‘08 was 41-40.

This one looked great in the first inning, and much less good in the third.  Ben Sheets had gone a mere 2 innings when he exited with right forearm tightness, and this put tremendous pressure on the oft-criticized Milwaukee bullpen as well as new manager, Dale Sveum, to hold on for the last 7 innings against the deadly Chicago lineup.  They did.  In perhaps their greatest collective performance of 2008, seven relievers combined to throw 7 one-run, 5 hit (all singles) innings and seal a huge 6-2 victory on Wednesday night at Wrigley.  Prince Fielder ripped a double down the right field line off Jason Marquis in the first to unload the bases and put his club up 3-0.  Sheets yielded a home-run to Cubs’ third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and went down with an injury he probably received while taking a swing in the top of the third.  Enter Mark DiFelice, who hurled 2 scoreless.  Then new acquisition Todd Coffey for the 5th, Carlos Villanueva for 2/3 of the 6th, and Mitch Stetter to retire Jim Edmonds for the final out of that inning.  J.J. Hardy hit an RBI double in the 7th, and Corey Hart lined a single to left that scored a pair of Brewers and put his club up a commanding 6-1.  Even Eric Gagne pitched in, throwing a flawless 7th inning.  Guillermo Mota did give up a single and a walk, but got through the 8th unscathed.  In the 9th, Salomon Torres struggled, but should have gotten out of it without a run scoring, but Prince Fielder, who had otherwise had a spectacular night, failed to field a low throw from Ray Durham that would have completed a game-ending double play.  A run scored on the play, but Torres came right back to retire pinch-hitter Daryle Ward to wrap it up.

Offensive MVP: Prince Fielder (3-4/1R/22B/3RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Mark DiFelice (Win-1st), Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva, Mitch Stetter, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres (7IP/5H/1ER/3BB/6SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

The offense seems to be clicking again, Prince Fielder is crushing nearly everything he sees, and the bullpen turned in a great (not just good, but great) performance!  This happened against the Chicago Cubs of all teams!  Dale Sveum, though I don’t know if it was something he said or just his calm demeanor, really managed his pen well tonight, in a game that the Cubs could’ve easily charged back against the Achilles’ heel of this 2008 Milwaukee team.  The key to this series is obviously the rubber match tomorrow, and a tough match up it is.  Dave Bush will be pitted against Rich Harden, a spectacular pitcher who dominated the Crew the last time he faced them.  The offense will probably need 5 runs or more to win tomorrow’s critical game, but the good news is, it seems like they are capable of doing it now.

For once, CC Sabathia cost the Brewers a game.  He gave up 4 runs in 7 so-so innings, and although Prince Fielder seems to have returned, he hit two home-runs, and the Milwaukee offense rallied against Chicago closer Kerry Wood, the Crew dropped yet another important September game.  Now, after leading for months, they are finally trailing Philadelphia by 1.0 game in the Wild Card race.  Ray Durham hit an RBI double in the ninth, and with runners on the corners and two gone, Fielder got another chance, battled, but fell to Wood’s wicked curveball.  Thus it was that Milwaukee fell 5-4 to the Cubs.  Carlos Villanueva gave up 1 run in the eighth that eventually cost the team the game, but Sabathia should shoulder a good portion of the blame for two of the nine hits he surrendered.  One was a two-run double by Aramis Ramirez, and the other was a solo shot by Alfonso Soriano in the seventh.  Take those hits away and the Crew probably wins the game, but hindsight is 20-20 as they say.

Offensive MVP: Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez (3-4/1R/22B/2RBI/0BB/OK)

Pitching MVP: Cubs SP Ryan Dempster (6.0IP/7H/2ER/1BB/9SO/1HR/Win-16th)

Alex’s Take:

This loss could not have come at a worse time, but it really wasn’t that bad.  The Brewers fought extremely hard, their offense is on the brink of waking up again, and I guess it was inevitable that CC Sabathia was going to lose a game sooner or later.  I like the changes Dale Sveum has made to the lineup, except leading Mike Cameron off, who went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and grounded into a rally-killing double play.  Every Brewer hitter made some good swings, but the Chicago defense made all the plays they had to, and they deserve credit for that.  The Brewers are now trailing in the Wild Card race, but they do not appear to be folding by any means.  The way I look at it, Sveum has a 12 game (now 11) season and his team is now 0-1 with a hard-fought loss.  There is plenty of time for the Crew to vault back into the W.C. lead, but the offense MUST break out against the Cubs, or the team has to at least win these next two games to put them in a much more manageable position.  If they only take 1 of the remaining 2, it may not be the end of the world, but it depends on what the Phillies do, and they are playing out of their minds right now.

In an unbelievable move, G.M. Doug Melvin fired Manager Ned Yost on Monday the 15th.  The Brewers had let a 5.5 Wild Card lead vanish in a disgusting start to September, and Yost was not allowed to manage two late season collapses in a row.  Never in memory has a team fired their manager this late in a season, and it will be interesting to see how the players react.  Many of them are shocked, but those who are glad to see the laid-back Yost go are hiding it for now.  Dale Sveum, a former Brewer player, and a fan-favorite during the 1987 season, in which he hit a memorable home-run on Easter Sunday to keep their 13 game winning streak alive, has been named interim manager.  Robin Yount has come back to fill the bench-coach void left by Ted Simmons, who was also let go.

Alex’s Take:

Wow.  I have never been a huge supporter of Ned Yost.  I can not say that I am sad to see him go, because his laid-back, “we’ll get ‘em next time,” approach to the game was really hindering the Brewers.

Some other questionable things that he did in 2008:

Constantly use burned-out reliever Eric Gagne late in close games

Start Rickie Weeks, probably the worst second baseman in baseball defensively, and certainly not great offensively either,

Start Bill Hall, an undeniable strikeout machine who has shown nothing of his solid 2005 or 2006 seasons, use Weeks (hitting under .230 most of the year) as the leadoff hitter,

Refusing to use small ball in almost any situation

Failing to pull the plug on pitchers at the proper times.

I will admit, the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers do not have many small ball-compatible players, save Craig Counsell and Jason Kendall, but there were far too many times in which a Brewer would obviously be trying to hit a home-run instead of simply advancing runners in critical situations with no outs, and would end up grounding into a double play or striking out.  Yost should take a good portion of the heat for failing to get his players prepared for big games or failing to take big series seriously, but it was not really all him.  The players fundamentally have been awful all year, and Yost did in fact bring winning baseball back to Wisconsin.  He deserves HUGE credit for that, but it is unlikely he was capable of taking them to the next plateau: the postseason.  As for Sveum, I know little about him other than he was not the greatest 3rd base coach in the league and that he was a popular Brewer back in his day.