Jeff Suppan was atrocious on Sunday afternoon, giving up 8 earned runs on 11 hits in 6 innings of work.  He also walked one and struck out 3.  The Brewers were up 4-1 thanks to a Prince Fielder sac fly in the first, a Mike Rivera double in the second, and a two-run shot by Ryan Braun in the third.  But Suppan was hit and hit hard in the fifth, surrendering seven runs that were capped off by a three-run shot by Geoff Blum, his second of the day.  Milwaukee tallied one in the sixth off a J.J. Hardy single that scored Russell Branyan from second, but reliever Seth McClung gave up 3 earned runs off of 5 hits and 3 walks in only 2.0 innings pitched to crush any hope of a Brewer comeback.  Astros starter Randy Wolfe struggled, giving up 3 earned runs in 4.1 innings of work, but Chris Sampson relieved him and handcuffed the Brewers for the next few frames, giving up only 1 earned run.  In the ninth, Rickie Weeks tripled and scored on a ground-out by Hardy.

Offensive MVP: Astros 3B Geoff Blum (2-4/2R/2H/2HR/4RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Astros RP Chris Sampson (2.2IP/2H/1ER/0BB/2SO/0HR)

My Take:

So long first place.  This was one of the tougher losses of 2008, but it is simply part of the ebb and flow of a 162 game season.  It would have been nice for the Brewers to have a little momentum going into their 4 game series with Chicago, but that’s just not the way it turned out.  Suppan is often up and down throughout a year, so he could easily bounce back next time.  The upcoming four games will say a lot about whether the Brewers are truly a contender or just a pretender, but even the outcome of that series should be taken with a grain of salt.