Manny Parra was far from perfect, but was also far from as angry as he has been with himself lately.  He threw 5.0 innings, yielding 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks (he struck out 2).  The Milwaukee offense gave him plenty of support, and the bullpen defended the lead nicely, sealing a 5-2 victory.  The Crew will not face Houston again this year, but finished 2008 with a record of 8-7 against Cecil Cooper’s Astros.  In the first inning, facing lefty Wandy Rodriguez, Rickie Weeks walked, J.J. Hardy hit an infield single, and Gabe Kapler (starting again in place of the sore Ryan Braun) doubled in Weeks.  Prince Fielder promptly delivered with the first of his two sac flies in the game to put his club up 2-0.  The Astros battled back against Parra, and when he left the game, it was 3-2 Brewers.  Carlos Villanueva threw 2.0 strong innings of relief, and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run blast, his 19th of the year, to extend the lead in the seventh.  Eric Gagne tight-roped out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the eighth that was not totally his fault in the first place, and Salomon Torres nailed down the ninth for his 24th save of the year.  Parra got his 10th win of 2008 against 6 losses.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (2-4/2R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva (2.0IP/0H/0ER/0BB/3SO)

*Gold Glove Play of the Game: Gabe Kapler gunned down Mark Loretta at home plate in the fifth inning, to preserve the 3-2 lead and Manny Parra’s 10th win.

Alex’s Take:

This was a good win against a very hot Astros ball club.  Not much more can be said about the 5-2 victory.

Dave Bush choked immediately against Los Angeles, always a tough customer for opposing pitchers.  He gave up the lead before recording an out in the first inning, when he surrendered a two-run shot by right-fielder Andre Ethier.  The pitch was low and off-speed, normally a difficult pitch to drive, but Ethier crushed it as well as anyone possibly could have, and the game looked ominous from the onset.  Bush, however, managed to settle down nicely and turn in one of his finest bounce-back performances.  After the first inning, he threw 6.0 scoreless and only gave up three hits and one walk in those final frames (he struck out three).

The Crew scratched across a run against an uncharacteristically shaky Derek Lowe, who did not walk a batter, but was struggling with command of his fastball in all of his 7.0 innings of work.  To lead off the second, Prince Fielder grounded out to first.  But Corey Hart came right back and singled to left.  He made it to third on veteran third-baseman Craig Counsell’s 1,000th career base hit, and scored on a Mike Cameron play that was originally ruled an error on Dodgers’ shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, but was later changed to an RBI infield single.  Whatever it was, it cut the L.A. lead to 2-1.  Milwaukee had leadoff runners in almost every inning after against Lowe, but whether it was a rally-killing double play or just the wrong end of the lineup coming up, they simply never could get the game tied up.

To keep the deficit right where it was, Milwaukee’s outfield shone brilliantly, making amazing play after amazing play.  Here’s the recap.  In the bottom of the second, third-baseman Casey Blake crushed a pitch out to the gap in right field.  Utilizing his lanky frame, Corey Hart charged the ball down at a perfect angle, lunged out for the catch, crashed into the wall, and hung on to save sure extra bases.  Initially, I thought that that would surely be the top defensive play of the night.  Thank goodness Gabe Kapler and Mike Cameron were there to prove me wrong.  The Gold Glove center-fielder made a diving catch on a James Loney sinking line drive for out number 1 in the seventh.  Although it was one of Cameron’s best plays as a Brewer, it was nothing compared to what Kapler did next.  All Star catcher Russell Martin, one of the greatest catchers and hitters alike in the Major Leagues, unloaded on a pitch from Bush and sent it whizzing out to deep left.  The fans exploded as the ball cleared the wall easily, and the stadium was electrified…for about .5 seconds.  The reason: Gabe Kapler, leaping head first into the stands, brought the ball back for the greatest catch of his career, and possibly one of the greatest homerun robs of 2008 throughout all of Major League Baseball.   Pumping his fist emphatically, Dave Bush was inspired to retire his last batter a lot more easily, which he did (he struck out Garciaparra on three pitches).  Then it became offense’s turn.

All of the offensive struggles for Milwaukee changed in the eighth inning, when a familiar face showed up in the right-hand batter’s box.  Ryan Braun was back, and he chipped in immediately against one of the toughest lefties in baseball.  Hong-Chih Kuo has a fastball that tops out in the upper 90s, and is complimented by nasty breaking stuff.  Braun’s bat did not leave its moorings until the fourth pitch of the at bat, in which he took a nice cut on a 2-1 fastball and fouled it away.  On 2-2, he hit another fastball and deposited it in no-man’s land behind first base.  By the time the Dodgers fielded it, he was settling in at second with a pinch-hit, lead-off double.  Ray Durham hit an opposite field fly ball to right that got Braun to third easily.  Then with one out, slumping J.J. Hardy got hold of a slider over the plate, and neither he, his teammates, or any Brewers’ fans would be disappointed.  His clutch homer gave Milwaukee a slim lead.  That set things up for a finish that could have given the most stoic fan stomach ulcers.

Still 3-2, Brian Shouse, the reliable lefty specialist, was inserted into the game to take on the lefty Andre Ethier.  Although it is not normal for more than one pitcher to throw the ninth when you have a reliable closer, which the Brewers have in Salomon Torres, but the logic behind it was obvious.  The move instantly backfired, when the athletic outfielder took first base on a walk.  Yost then made the call for Torres, who struggled with his command for the entire inning.  Battling back from being behind the dangerous second-baseman Jeff Kent 3-1, Torres got him on a full count to ground to the always-dependable shortstop Hardy.  Only, he was not dependable on this play.  Looking to turn the double play, he was preparing for the flip to Durham before he brought the ball in, and it trickled past him, igniting the fiery crowd of 52,889.  Now with runners on the corners and nobody out, Torres somehow managed to get the new L.A. left-fielder, Manny Ramirez, to fly out.  Unfortunately, Corey Hart was unable to throw out the speedy Ethier, and the game was tied 3-3.  Things did not look good when Russell Martin hit an infield, two-out single off the glove of a diving Counsell, and looked even worse when Torres lost his command again to pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney (a former Brewer).  Enter Casey Blake.  He had torched the Crew in Friday’s loss, and looked to give his club their third walk-off win in four games.  But the resilient Torres barely retired the man on a tricky pop-out that Ray Durham expertly tracked down to get the game to the 10th.

Against the Dodgers’ closer Jonathan Broxton, Jason Kendall lined out and Ryan Braun struck out on a high 97 MPH fastball.  That put the game in the hands of Durham, who worked a walk.  Then Hardy, looking for vindication, found it.  Durham stole second barely, putting a ton of pressure on Broxton.  Then, off a 2-2 count, Hardy lined a hit to right field.  Durham, running on contact because of the two outs, scored uncontested, though the shortstop was caught in a rundown between first and second.  Up 4-3, onlookers probably expected Torres to reenter the game and lock it down.  He would have, had he not left the game due to an unknown injury or ailment.  As bad as the news was to the Milwaukee club, there was still a ballgame to win.  David Riske struck out the first man to greet him, Pablo Ozuna, but then gave up a hit to center-fielder Matt Kemp.

Then disaster struck…the Dodgers.  In one of the worst base-running blunders I’ve ever seen, Kemp only reached second on a definite double by Andre Ethier.  How did this happen?  The ball sailing towards deep center, and briefly appeared to carry out for a game-winning home run, but Mike Cameron’s unsuccessful leap at the wall produced only a single for Ethier.  Thinking the outfielder was going to pull it in, Kemp paused between first and second, and by the time the ball had been collected by Cameron, he could only touch second.  He would have probably tied the game if he had made a better read.  Luckily, the mistake gave Riske new life, and he got the second out on a nice little hopping catch by Durham at second that speared a Jeff Kent line drive.  Then the future Hall of Famer Manny Ramirez strutted to the plate.  Jason Kendall set up high and away continuously to Manny, a gutsy move to work up to the former Red Sox star, but it paid huge dividends.  Seemingly off balance, Ramirez silenced the crowd as he came up empty on a mighty cut at a high fastball that gave the courageous Riske his third strike and the Brewers the 4-3 victory.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (3-5/1R/1HR/3RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: David Riske (1IP/2H/0ER/0BB/2SO/Save-2nd)

Alex’s Take:

Unbelievable.  Incomprehensible.  Ridiculous.  Thrilling.  Awe-inspiring.  Just a few adjectives that fit Saturday’s 4-3 Brewer win in Los Angeles.  The game seemed destined to end up in another Dodgers walkoff more than once, and early on, seemed destined to end up in another boring Brewers loss.  Gabe Kapler, Mike Cameron, and Corey Hart proved to me that the 2008 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers defense truly is worthy of recognition.  Cameron had baffled me all year with his slew of strikeouts and was not even that impressive out in center, although he played relatively error-free.  But against the Dodgers, he made TWO diving catches in center!  Although Hart’s running grab was impressive, I have never seen a catch greater than the one made in left by Kapler.  As for Braun’s return…he seemed as strong as ever.  As for Hardy’s nearly losing his club the game and battling back to give them the win…WOW!  Though there is a lot of 2008 remaining, I mark this as the one game that proved to me that the Milwaukee Brewers are truly a team deserving of the playoffs.

Chad Billingsley threw 7.0 three run innings, striking out five, walking two, and only surrendered 5 hits.  The Brewers offense did nothing after Gabe Kapler hit a two-run blast in the first inning and Jason Kendall singled in a run in the second.

Offensive MVP: Dodgers 3B Casey Blake (3-4/1R/12B/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dodgers SP Chad Billingsley (7.0IP/5H/3ER/2BB/5SO/1HR/Win-11th)

Alex’s Take:

It isn’t the greatest sign that the Crew fell flat so quickly to a good team.  Although they have recently beaten up on bad ones, the season will only be a success if they can outplay teams that are on or above their level.

Jake Peavy was a little better than Ben Sheets, and he helped his last-place Padres salvage one win against the road-warrior Milwaukee Brewers.  Sheets pitched 6 strong, and faltered in the 7th, yielding 3 runs.  He was saddled with his 6th loss of 2008 in the process.  The Brewers offense did little against the phenomenal Peavy, but scratched across a run in their half of the 7th when Peavy, attempting a pickoff of Bill Hall at first, threw the ball away, allowing Hall to settle in at second.  He then barely eluded a tag at the plate on a Mike Cameron RBI single.  The Crew made things a little interesting in the ninth against future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, when Cameron hit his 20th homerun of the year, but the resilient veteran settled down to earn career save 550.

Offensive MVP: Padres LF Chase Headley (2-3/1R/12B/0RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Padres SP Jake Peavy (7IP/4H/1ER/3BB/8SO/0HR/Win-9th)

Alex’s Take:

This is just what happens when two aces face off: one team loses.  Today it was the Brewers, so there is really no cause to be alarmed by how bad the offense may have looked.  Peavy is an elite starting pitcher, and he proved it today.

The imposing left hander threw 7.0 one-run innings despite giving up 9 hits, and struck out 8 to clinch his 7th victory as a Milwaukee Brewer.  The offense was led by Prince Fielder and Corey Hart.  Fielder hit a solo homerun to give the Crew an early lead.  Hart later tripled with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to widen the spread.  The Padres hit Sabathia hard, but he was able to escape any real damage time and time again, most notably when he pitched himself into a bases loaded, no out jam, but got out of it without any runs scoring.

Offensive MVP: Corey Hart (3-5/1R/13B/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (7.0IP/9H/1ER/1BB/8SO/Win-7th)

Alex’s Take:

It is very nice to see Milwaukee playing this well on the West Coast, because they have had a lot of trouble doing so the past few seasons.  Early on in the season, August was supposed to be the month where the Brewers struggled mightily due to the heavy road schedule, but somehow, the Crew has exorcised the road demons.  They will definitely play teams a little tougher than the Padres on the road soon, though, and that is where the real test will begin.

Jeff Suppan continued the streak of stellar starting pitching by the Milwaukee Brewers as he tossed 8.0 innings, yielding only 2 earned runs off of two solo homeruns.  He struck out 3 and walked 2.  The Brewers offense relied on the homerun ball themselves, using a solo shot by Mike Cameron (the former Padre) in the third and three-run blast by Prince Fielder in the fourth.  They scored one run in the seventh off of a fielding error by San Diego third-baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff (it was actually Suppan scoring, who had walked earlier in the inning).  Salomon Torres threw a perfect ninth for his 23rd save of 2008.

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

Pitching MVP: Jeff Suppan (8.0IP/4H/2ER/2BB/3SO/2HR/Win-8th)

My Take:

It is good to see the Brewers winning on the West Coast.  Last year, there struggles there were well documented.  Suppan has been every bit as reliable as Doug Melvin hoped when he originally signed him, and is probably pitching as good now as he ever has as a Brewer.  The offense wasn’t great in the clutch today, but they took advantage of the hits they got.  The Crew is now 4.0 games ahead of St. Louis and only 3.0 games out of the divisional lead.  They’ve bounced back nicely from the Cubs’ debacle.

Dave Bush followed in his fellow starting pitchers’ footsteps with a very good start against Washington on Monday afternoon.  He pitched 6.1 innings, giving up a single run on five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.  The offense was boosted by a leadoff homerun by Rickie Weeks, who had yet to homer in Miller Park in 2008, which tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first.  The game remained knotted up until the fourth inning, when Corey Hart blasted a homerun to score Prince Fielder and himself.  Next inning, Fielder doubled in Gabe Kapler with two outs to pull his club ahead 4-1.  In the seventh, the Crew capped off their scoring witha a two-run, two out double by struggling backup infielder Craig Counsell (he hit a looping line drive that was almost brought in by a diving try, but trickled past Willie Harris) to score Kapler and Fielder.  Later on, Bill Hall drew a bases loaded walk to get an RBI the easy way.  Brian Shouse, David Riske, and Seth McClung teamed up to finish the game for Milwaukee.  The 7-1 victory sealed a 4 game sweep of Washington for the Crew.  They also pull to 17 games over .500, the highest such mark since the days of Yount and Molitor.

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

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (6.1IP/5H/1ER/2BB/6SO/Win-7th)

My Take:

Ned Yost commented that this series was a lose-lose situation for Milwaukee.  If they swept, they were supposed to; if they failed to sweep, what’s up with those Brewers?  But thankfully, they swept.  Bottom line: Milwaukee had to prove they could play winning baseball at home again and they did.  Dave Bush looked like an awfully good #5 starter, and the bullpen was strong.  The offense collected quite a few runs with two outs, and the Crew is now 17 games over .500!

Manny Parra bounced back from his string of mediocre starts with a strong outing on Sunday at Miller Park.  He limited the Washington Nationals to 1 earned run on 6 hits in 7 innings.  He struck out 9 and walked none.  The Crew fell behind in the sixth inning, when Parra yielded a run-scoring single to Lastings Milledge with two outs that scored shortstop Christian Guzman and gave Washington a 1-0 lead.  But thanks to a Bill Hall sacrifice fly to score Gabe Kapler in the bottom of the sixth, the game was knotted up right away.

Neither offense made a move until the top of the eighth inning, when the Nats pounded recently-reliable reliever Eric Gagne for 3 runs off of a double and back-to-back homeruns.  Ryan Zimmerman (the Washington third-baseman) fought back from down 0-2 to a 3-2 count, and on the 12th pitch of the battle, he doubled down the left field line.  Austin Kearns, also down 0-2 to Gagne, fought back and hit a booming homerun to put his club ahead.  The next batter, Lastings Milledge, also went deep to swell the Milwaukee deficit to 4-1.  In the bottom of the eighth, Prince Fielder walked with one out (a very unselfish approach considering his hit streak was on the line), Corey Hart struck out looking on a very close call, Bill Hall hit an single that Ryan Zimmerman could do no more with than keep it in the infield, and then Mike Cameron walked to load the bases.  After a pitching change brought the talented Joel Hanrahan into the game, backup catcher Mike Rivera sent a pitch to the left field wall that unloaded the bases and sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

With the game tied, the Brewers could not finish the game in their half of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth innings.  They managed to draw a season-high 13 walks on Sunday, but stranded a whopping 16 baserunners.  Thanks to solid performances from relievers Salomon Torres, who pitched the ninth and tenth innings, Carlos Villanueva, who pitched the eleventh and twelfth, and Guillermo Mota, who threw a scoreless thirteenth, the Crew was afforded a lot of time to get their act together.  Gabe Kapler was facing an 0-7 day at the plate in the thirteenth, but he wasted little time in clinching victory for the Brewers and the largely reduced crowd.  He hit a walk-off homerun to left for the first such homerun of his career and the first walk-off round-tripper by Milwaukee this season.  Thanks to a St. Louis loss, the Brewers climbed to 3.0 games ahead of Tony La Russa’s ballclub.

Offensive MVP: Mike Rivera (2-3/0R/12B/3RBI/3BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Manny Parra (7IP/6H/1ER/0BB/9SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

This one sure took long enough.  The fact that Milwaukee is now up 3-0 in the series against a very beatable opponent shows that perhaps they have turned their home struggles around.  Sweeping the series would be very nice, but it should be considered a successful series regardless of Monday’s outcome.  The Brewers patience at the plate was extremely encouraging, but their nasty habit of stranding runners hurt them all day long.  They could have just as easily lost this game if one of the relievers had slipped up.  But thankfully, no one did except Eric Gagne in the eighth, and it turned out to be a very exciting 67th 2008 win for the Crew.

Ben Sheets had not won a game since CC Sabathia’s arrival to Milwaukee, but he broke out of his mini-slump Saturday evening with a dominant showing against the Washington Nationals.  He hurled 9 shutout innings and struck out 6 en route to his 11th win of 2008.  He even chipped in at the plate with an RBI single to bring in Jason Kendall in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-strike count.  The hitters just kept on hitting…they have been ever since the dugout scrap during the Reds’ series.  Though Ryan Braun gave all Brewers’ fans a great scare by leaving the game due to lower back tightness, his comrades didn’t miss a beat.  Gabe Kapler drove in Ray Durham (who had reached earlier on a leadoff double) in the third to give the Crew a 1-0 advantage.  Corey Hart, who had been robbed of a possible homerun the night before, was retired on a gorgeous grab at the wall by Lastings Milledge that did allow J.J. Hardy to double the lead to 2-0.

Inauspicious was the start of the Milwaukee fourth, but the recently acquired Ray Durham brought the crowd to its feet with a rocket to right field that carried out for his first homerun as a Brewer.  Hardy followed him up with his second homer in as many nights, and the score was then 4-0.  When Corey Hart hit a booming shot to dead center in the fifth inning, onlookers were probably worried for a second that the Nationals would steal yet another extra-base hit from the lanky outfielder, but this time, Hart was not to be denied.  The third Milwaukee round-tripper of the game put them up 5-0, which was more than enough run support for Sheets.  Coupled with a Cubs’ loss earlier in the day, the 6-0 victory places Ned Yost’s club 4.0 out of 1st place in the Central.  They are also 2.0 games ahead of St. Louis for the Wild Card lead.

Offensive MVP: Ray Durham (2-4/2R/12B/1HR/1RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Ben Sheets (9IP/5H/0ER/0BB/6SO/0HR/Win-11th)

*Gold Glove Play of the Game: Corey Hart was robbed of another extra-base hit thanks to a crashing catch at the wall by Nationals’ center-fielder Lastings Milledge.

Alex’s Take:

Take this icepack, Washington, because you just felt the 1-2 punch of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.  When both of these starters are on, there are few, if any teams in the Major Leagues that can stand up to the might of the hard-throwing lefty and righty.  It was puzzling that Sheets had been struggling since Sabathia arrived.  I would have thought that the southpaw would have taken some pressure off of the Milwaukee incumbent ace, but it was not really the case.  Whatever troubles Big Ben had been having, they seemed to have been put on hold tonight.  The Brewers offense once again turned in a big day at the office, and though they stranded 8 runners, they did collect two two-out RBIs and managed to bring in half of their 6 runs without the long ball.  The Nationals are not a very good baseball team, however, and have had their share of injuries (the saddest of them being Dmitri Young’s ongoing battle with diabetes), but these two wins are a good sign considering how badly Milwaukee had been at home of late.

CC Sabathia won his 6th game as a Milwaukee Brewer on Friday evening.  A twelfth consecutive sellout crowd at Miller Park (43,209) was captivated throughout the entire game thanks to strikeouts aplenty, two Brewers’ homeruns, and ultimately, a nice bounce-back win at home for the Brewers (losers of 6 out of 7 on their last homestand).  Milwaukee scored in the first when Rickie Weeks reached first via a walk, got to second on a wild pitch from Nationals rookie Collin Balester, reached third by barely evading a tag from third-baseman Ryan Zimmerman (who had to throw to first to retire a hustling Braun on a play that probably should have been a double play), and scored on a Prince Fielder bullet up the middle for a single.  Mike Cameron his 18th homerun in the second inning (a solo shot that put Milwaukee up 2-0).

The third proved to be a wild half-inning for the Crew’s offense, and they took advantage of an error by Balester, who was trying to pick off J.J. Hardy at second and threw it into the outfield grass, allowing Hardy to reach third and Ryan Braun to reach second.  Balester struck again two pitches later, as he bounced a curveball that catcher Jesus Flores probably should have corralled, and it ricocheted away while Hardy pranced home.  Corey Hart promptly hit the next pitch to deep center and Braun scored the fourth run of the game after tagging up from third.  The scoring was capped off by a Hardy homerun to right center field in the seventh.  The game was never in doubt thanks to CC Sabathia, who twirled another incredible game in a Brewers uniform.  He collected his fourth complete game victory as an N.L. pitcher and now leads the league in C.G.s.  He also fanned struck out 9 and walked 1.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (2-4/2R/1HR/1RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (9IP/5H/0ER/1BB/9SO/0HR/Win-6th)

*Gold Glove Play of the Game:  Corey Hart was robbed of a homerun (or at least extra bases) in the sixth inning thanks to a leaping catch by Washington left-fielder Willy Harris

My Take:

This was a good win that Milwaukee sorely needed.  They had been struggling at home of late, but played much better in all facets of the game than they had on the previous homestand.  Defensively, they did make two errors in the ninth inning, but one of them was on a difficult double play that J.J. Hardy was trying to turn.  It’s getting to the point where I expect Sabathia to throw a great game every time he steps on the mound, and though he’s most likely going to have another down game sooner or later, it appears as though Doug Melvin definitely got his money’s worth on that pickup.