Jeff Suppan was brilliant on Friday evening, pitching 7 shutout innings, only giving up 5 hits and 3 walks (1 strikeout).  Stymied by the Chicago Cubs’ tremendous pitching staff for the past three and a half days, the Milwaukee offense needed a breakout day and got one.  In the top of the first, Rickie Weeks lead things off with a single, J.J. Hardy worked a walk, and Ryan Braun hit a booming RBI double off of starter Chuck James.  Corey Hart chipped in with a sacrifice fly with one out to extend the lead to 2-0.  In the second inning, Jason Kendall hit a one-out single and was tripled in by Weeks after a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Suppan.  The Brew Crew truly broke things open in the third, when Prince Fielder hit a colossal home run and Mike Cameron followed suit three batters later to give Milwaukee a 6-0 lead.

Neither team pushed across runs until the eighth, when Bill Hall hit a double over center-fielder Mark Kotsay’s head and was later driven in by Gabe Kapler.  When J.J. Hardy hit a seemingly innocent grounder to Braves’ third-baseman Omar Infante, but he threw it badly and both Kendall and Kapler were able to score.  Milwaukee relievers Brian Shouse and Guillermo Mota combined to pitch two perfect innings and seal the 9-0 verdict.

Offensive MVP: Rickie Weeks (2-4/1R/13B/1RBI/1BB/2K)

Pitching MVP: Jeff Suppan (7IP/5H/0ER/3BB/1SO/0HR)

My Take:

The Atlanta Braves are a very beleaguered team right now.  They recently traded away Mark Teixeira and put Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and Tim Hudson on the D.L.  The Brewers won a game easily that they should have won easily, and although that may not seem like too much to write home about, they have often struggled beating below average teams in 2008.  This victory was needed badly by the Brewers, and will hopefully turn things around after that disastrous homestand.  The success with runners in scoring position has continued for the second straight day, and Jeff Suppan pitched as well as he ever has in a Brewers uniform.

News from Green Bay is that the situation regarding Brett Favre and his stand-off of sorts with the Packers Organization has not really progressed.  Packers’ president Mark Murphy traveled to Mississippi and spoke with the future Hall of Famer, and stated that a large amount of money has been offered to Favre to stay retired, but the man simply wants to play.  He also wants to play with the Packers, but due to the fact that Coach Mike McCarthy has already moved the team on, the team does not really want Favre back as a starter.  He still plans to attend training camp.

Oh yeah…the Brewers lost 7-2 to the Cubs today too.  Manny Parra did fairly well on the mound and very well at the plate with a double and a triple, but it didn’t really matter.  Milwaukee kept on stranding runners in scoring position and flailing like little leaguers at bad pitches.  Ryan Dempster was every bit as dominant as he should have been against a lately-anemic offense, pitching 7 innings only giving up one earned run off a wild pitch.  Parra gave up 5 earned runs in 5.1 innings, and although Carlos Villanueva and David Riske teamed up to pitch 2.2 scoreless frames, Brian Shouse continued his recent struggles and gave up a pair of runs to simply give the Cubs more bragging rights in the lopsided series.  Fielder hit a meaningless homer in the ninth.

Offensive MVP: Cubs SS Ryan Theriot (3-3/1R/0HR/3RBI/2BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Cubs SP Ryan Dempster (7.0IP/1ER/5H/1BB/9SO/0HR)

My Take:

Things are looking very bad right now for the Brewers.  They are making the same mistakes day in and day out with no sign of improvement.  They will be very, very lucky to get out of this series with a win.

Carlos Zambrano was clearly the better pitcher and the Chicago Cubs were clearly the superior team, and they proved why they have the best record in the National League on Tuesday.  They dismantled the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 behind a dominating start by Carlos Zambrano and an embarrassing performance by Ben Sheets, who gave up 6 runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings.  The Milwaukee offense did little worth writing down.  Chicago scored 5 in the sixth off of seven straight hits and an Alfonso Soriano sac fly.  The Brewers bullpen did fairly well, as Carlos Villanueva pitched 1.2 shutout innings, Guillermo Mota pitched 1.2 innings and gave up a single run, and Brian Shouse finished off the Cubs’ ninth.  Chicago’s Jeff Samardzija pitched the ninth and gave up 1 run off an RBI double by Mike Cameron.

Offensive MVP:  Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez (4-5/2R/0HR/1RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Cubs SP Carlos Zambrano (8IP/5H/0ER/2BB/9SO/0HR)

My Take:

So much for the Sabathia/Sheets one-two punch.  Surprisingly enough, I am not all too shocked, disgusted, or angered by this loss.  It will put the Brewers at 60-47, shave their Wild Card lead even further down, and shove them to 3.0 games out of first.  The Cubs are the better team right now.  There.  I said it.  Today and yesterday’s games should most certainly prove it.  Can Milwaukee resurrect the series with wins tomorrow and Thursday?  Yes.  Are they hard-pressed to do so?  It will be nearly impossible, as Miller Park is offering next to no home-field advantage at all, with what seems to be at least 45% Chicago fans present.  If they play as lackluster as they did tonight, I would not be the least bit surprised if they go to Atlanta coming off a 4 game sweep.

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!

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.

Around 27,000 tickets were sold for Tuesday night’s game as of last weekend. 42,533 were sold by Tuesday night. The reason: the fans wanted to welcome reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee…and what a welcome he received. Three standing ovations BEFORE he threw to Rockie’s leadoff hitter Willy Taveras, managed to electrify Miller Park and, according to the hefty southpaw, overexcited him just a bit. His game was solid, but not flawless. He walked and surrendered hits to as many Rockies as he fanned (five), but managed to wriggle out of trouble in the first, third, fourth, and sixth innings.

Unlike many of his starts in Cleveland, Sabathia was provided ample run support, beginning with Ryan Braun’s three-run tape-measure shot to left field, scoring Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy. In the top of the fourth, Rockies’ speedster Willy Taveras coaxed a double down the left field line with only one out, threatening the Crew’s three run lead. Sabathia promptly retired Tulowitzki’s replacement, Clint Barmes on a first pitch flyout to right field. With a pair of Rockies out, the left hander managed to get the deadly Matt Holliday to ground out to third on a jam-job slider to squash the rally. Milwaukee tacked on an insurance run in their half of the third on a Prince Fielder RBI fielder’s choice, giving the Crew a 4-0 lead.

Colorado made a strong bid to ruin the party in the next frame, as they loaded the bases with no outs. Sabathia immediately induced a double play groundout…Hardy to Weeks to Fielder, which scored a run but kept the lead well intact. Omar Quintanilla was then retired to finish the frame. After an uneventful fifth, the Rockies loaded the bags again, but this time, cashed in in a big way. Backstop Yorvit Torrealba smashed a two run double to the right field corner, which would have tied the game had outfielder Ryan Spilbourghs not strained his oblique while rounding the bases. So with zero outs and two runners in scoring position, Sabathia speared a looping line drive off the bat of Jayson Nix and flipped it to third to double off Scott Podsednik at third (Spilbourghs had since been removed from the game). After walking the next batter, he whiffed pinch hitter Brad Hawpe, sealing his eventual victory.

The Brewers’ offense put the game out of reach in the seventh. The bases were loaded and two were out when Corey Hart, continuing to make a strong case for the All Star game, walked in a run. Third baseman Bill Hall singled to left and although Rickie Weeks scored easily, Prince Fielder would have been meat at the plate had Hart not distracted the Colorado infield by getting himself caught up in a rundown between second and third. With the score 7-3 Relievers David Riske, Eric Gagne, and Brian Shouse made the final three frames largely uneventful, and sealed what I hope will be the first of many National League victories for Sabathia.

Brewers Blog

For the second night in a row the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Atlanta Braves by the score of 4-3.  The Brewers are playing great baseball and right now it seems like they are getting every break and taking advantage of other teams mistakes.  Exactly like a good team should do.

Dave Bush was awesome as he pitched first seven innings of the game.  Bush only allowed four hits and one run while picking up the win and improving to 4-7 on the season.  The bullpen has been getting a lot of rest so far this week as Ben Sheets and Bush both went late in to the game.  That is exactly how you want your starting pitchers to pitch!

Brian Shouse tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth inning before he turned things over to Salomon Torres who almost blew the game.  Torres served up a two run home run to Mark Teixeira which brough the score to 4-3.  Luckily for the Brewers, Torres was able to finish out the game and pick up the save.

At the plate for the Brewers they recorded four runs on seven hits.  Ryan Braun got a rbi single in the first inning and then J.J. Hardy scored on a rbi groundout by Corey Hart.  In the second inning Hardy came up to the plate and hit a rbi double to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.  On to the fourth inning when Rickie Weeks hit a rbi sac fly that scored Jason Kendall for the Brewers fourth and final run of the game.  That was enough production out of the offense to pick up the win.

The Brewers will go for the sweet on Wednesday.  The way they are playing, I think they will get the job done!

Brewers Blog

The Milwaukee Brewers hit three home runs including two in the eighth inning as they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1.  The Diamondbacks are really struggling right now and the Brewers took full advantage of that.  It was the Brewers fifth straight win as well.

The Brewers offense roughed up Randy Johnson for four four runs and one home run.  They then smoked two home runs off of Diamondbacks relief pitcher Max Scherzer in the eighth inning.

J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Braun all went deep for the Brewers.  Hardy and Braun both had two rbi while Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Joe Dillon finished the game with one rbi.

Seth McClung earned the win after throwing six innings.  he gave up six hits but only the one run in the game.  Great job by McClung as he improved to 3-2 on the season.

Tim Dillard and Brian Shouse pitched the final three innings without giving up a run.

Brewers Blog

Well that was a hell of a comeback for the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago on Thursday afternoon.  Ryan Bruan hit a two run double in the ninth inning to provide the tieing and game winning runs for the Brewers.  A hit batter, two doubles, and a infield single provided the three runs in the ninth inning for the Brewers.

Braun finished the game with three RBI.  Jason Kendall had one RBI as well.  Really the Brewers sucked it up and coudln’t get much going against Carlos Zambrano in the game.  They were lucky that Wood pitched so poorly.

Brian Shouse picked up the win the Eric Gagne picked up thee save.  Gagne has been throwing the ball a little better lately, hopefully he got all the kinks out and will be lights out from here on out.

Brewers Blog

The Milwaukee Brewers lost at home by a score of 4-3 in the match up with the St. Louis Cardinals putting the Brewers at 11-8 for the year.  The Brewers went into the 9th inning tied 3-3 but to only give up a run to the Cardinals in the top half of the inning and end up losing.

Carlos Villanueva opened up the night for the Brewers throwing for seven innings and allowing three hits, two runs, and four walks.  Brian Shouse, Guillermo Mota, and Derrick Turnbow would be brought in to pitch the last three innings with Turnbow losing his first game of the season.

Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun, and Corey Hart each picked up a RBI in Monday’s game.

The Brewers will take on the Cardinals one more time again tonight at home and then will move on to Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Brewers Blog