Jeff Suppan wasn’t great, but his bullpen was, at least until it mattered most.  Suppan went 5.1 innings and gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, including 2 homeruns.  Prince Fielder drove Rickie Weeks in from second in the first, but Milwaukee found itself playing from behind late.  Then in the seventh, Bill Hall walked and Jason Kendall was hit by a pitch to set the stage for pinch hitter Ray Durham.  He blasted a three-run, game-tying homer to right field to wake up the crowd, but sadly, the hit did not wake up his teammates’ bats.  They went on to strand scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity in the ninth and tenth innings.  They even got solid relief pitching, but it didn’t matter.  The Reds won 5-4 on an RBI single by Brandon Phillips, and Milwaukee lost their 7th game of this absolutely pitiful homestand.  They are now 2-7 on it.

Offensive MVP: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips (1-5/1R/1RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Reds CP Francisco Cordero (1IP/0H/0ER/0BB/1SO/0HR/Save-29th)

Alex’s Take:

I believed before the game that a loss tonight would almost definitely break the Brewers’ morale and send them spiraling into weeks of more bad baseball that would knock them out of the playoff hunt.  The game I saw tonight, though the outcome stung mightily, did not look like a team that was ready to fold.  Ned Yost really didn’t make a bad decision at all in managing his bullpen, though putting in Eric Gagne might’ve been a little questionable.  Seth McClung blowing the game, well, Yost didn’t have a lot of experienced guys to pitch in a pressure situation, and unfortunately, the big righty couldn’t keep the game tied.  As for the offense, things still look pretty bleak in the middle of the order, but hopefully Durham’s emphatic homerun will spark something, though it didn’t Tuesday.  It’s strange to me, because I thought for sure I would totally give up on 2008 with a loss that eventually did happen, but the Phillies and Cubs both lost, CC Sabathia is pitching tomorrow in a game the Brewers desperately need to win, and who better to have on the mound in a game you desperately need?  The thing is, they are up 3.0 games in the Wild Card with 17 games remaining.  A ten game monster road trip is right around the corner, and these are the cold, hard facts.  The Crew must simply SURVIVE the trip, go 5-5 (4-6 with wins against the right teams could cut it) that would most likely keep their heads above water with a home stand against not-so-great team after the trip.  The Crew have been downright awful at home lately, yes, but a 5-5 road trip would probably inspire the team to powering into the post season.  I’m as harsh a critic of the Crew as anyone, but I STILL HAVE HOPE!