Jeff Suppan was roughed up for 5 runs in 3.0 innings of work, not exactly living up to his playoff hero billing.  Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a home-run, Pat Burrell hit a 3-run blast in the 3rd, and Jayson Werth hit one of his own right after, giving the Phils an insurmountable 5-0 lead.  The Brewers offense did next to nothing against Joe Blanton, and Prince Fielder’s solo blast in the 7th (Milwaukee’s only round-tripper of the Post Season) and Ryan Braun’s RBI single in the 8th provided the only runs.  Ever the battlers throughout 2008, the Brewers’ hopes finally died on Sunday afternoon at Miller Park before an energetic, but obviously stunned, crowd 43,934.  CC Sabathia made likely his last appearance in a Brewers’ uniform, pinch-hitting in the 3rd inning and striking out.  Burrell hit another off of Guillermo Mota in the 8th, putting any hope of a Milwaukee comeback to rest.  Brad Lidge didn’t earn a save, but shut down the Crew in the 9th, sending his club to the NLCS.

Offensive MVP: Phillies LF Pat Burrell (3-4/2R/2HR/4RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Phillies SP Joe Blanton (6.0IP/5H/1ER/0BB/7SO/1HR/Win-1st)

Alex’s Take:

This was an ugly game, but 2008 was a tremendous step forward for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball club.  Jeff Suppan should shoulder a lot of the blame for the loss, but the offense had been hand-cuffed all series long, and couldn’t come through when they needed to.  The Crew is a very young team, though, so there is a good amount of hope on the horizon, providing the starting pitching, which should be very young, comes through.

Yovani Gallardo threw 4.0 innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against Philadelphia.  That may sound like a poor start, but relatively speaking, the 22 year old was not bad at all.  He gave up 3 runs, but they were all unearned thanks to some horrendous defense by Milwaukee (Bill Hall, Rickie Weeks, and even the usually solid Mike Cameron).  A botched play on what should have been a bunt double play by Cole Hamels turned into everybody reaching.  With two outs, second baseman Chase Utley crushed a pitch into center that was playable for Cameron, but he seemed to misread the ball, and it barely bounced out of his glove, allowing two runs to score.  No error was charged on the play that was ruled a double, but there is no doubt that Cameron would be the first to admit he should have (and can) make that catch.  A run was walked in with the bases loaded later in the inning.

For the remainder of the game, Milwaukee’s bullpen threw extremely well, handcuffing the deadly Phillie lineup for 4.0 innings.  The lefty ace of Philadelphia, Cole Hamels, pitched out of his mind, going 8.0 scoreless, 2 hit, 9 strikeout innings and picking up the win.  Against perfect (41 saves in 41 chances regular season) closer Brad Lidge, the Crew seemed to settle down.  Ryan Braun drove in the first Brewer playoff run (scored by Ray Durham) since 1982 with a booming double, but Corey Hart, still looking as lost at the plate as ever, whiffed with runners at second and third and two out.

Offensive MVP: Phillies 2B Chase Utley (1-4/1R/12B/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Phillies SP Cole Hamels (8.0IP/2H/0ER/0BB/9SO/0HR/Win-1st)

Alex’s Take:

All in all, this game really wasn’t that bad.  The Brewers defensively looked atrocious, and had they not committed those errors, they likely would have won 1-0.  But sadly, their largely playoff-inexperienced team was unable to convert the critical plays at the critical times and it came back to bite them.  The offense looked bad, but really it was just Cole Hamels being extremely good.  Tomorrow’s game is a must-win if the Crew hope to advance, because they have CC Sabathia on the mound against Brett Myers.  Take that game, and the Brewers will find themselves in the friendly confines of Miller Park for two games that, if won, would send them onto the NLCS.  If they lose tomorrow, their hopes of a pennant will all but disappear.

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)

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)

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.

CC Sabathia was far from perfect, and for the first seven innings of Wednesday’s game, so, as usual, were the Brewer bats.  But frame number 8 was the charm, as Milwaukee completed the rally from down 3-1 for a critical victory in front of 30,124 fans at Miller Park.  The Brewers are headed to Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cincinnati for the most brutal, and final, roadtrip of 2008, so had they been swept by the lowly Reds, morale would have been dangerously low.  Thanks to Tony Gwynn Jr. and (more importantly) Mike Cameron, another crushing loss was flipped around into an emphatic 4-3 victory.  Down 1, J.J. Hardy started things off with a single, and Ryan Braun followed with a walk.  Prince Fielder hit a sharp liner to left that fell for a single and loaded the bases for Gwynn, who grounded into a productive double play that tied the game at 3-3.  Then, bucking the recent trend of Milwaukee hitters failing to come up in the clutch, Mike Cameron was as clutch as he could be, lining a 2-strike pitch with 2 outs to score Braun from third.  Salomon Torres would have no more Cincinnati heroics at his expense, and he wiped out the three men to greet him in the ninth with three strikeouts.  Both close-trailing Wild Card teams, Philadelphia and St. Louis, lost, so Milwaukee earned themselves a little more breathing room heading to the City of Brotherly Love.

Offensive MVP: Mike Cameron (1-3/1R/1RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Salomon Torres (1IP/0H/0ER/0BB/3SO/0HR/Save-27th)

Alex’s Take:

This one was not pretty.  Milwaukee scored half of their 4 runs off of errors, but hey, they did come through in the clutch against a good pitcher in David Weathers.  This was a badly needed victory, but only the next seven days will tell whether or not the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers have a legitimate chance at ending Brew City’s 26 year postseason drought.

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!

CC Sabathia did everything, and I mean everything, he possibly could to win Milwaukee their first game in September and he was waiting for his 10th win as a Brewer, when Eric Gagne struck again.  With his club up 2-1 in the eighth, the man who is quickly becoming considered league-wide as the worst reliever in baseball, gave up a booming homerun to Brian Giles, barely a homerun threat at this stage in his career.  The fans tore Gagne apart the entire inning, seemingly after every pitch, and even though he escaped without further damage, the sellout crowd of 41,519 did not let up in their chorus of jeers as he walked dejectedly back to the dugout.   The Crew had numerous opportunities to seal the win, but time and time again, they kept squandering opportunities.  They stranded a whopping 13 baserunners, had a lead runner on in the eighth, ninth, and tenth innings, and simply could not push anyone across.

The struggling Brewers bullpen turned in heroic performances in the final three innings, though, keeping the game right where it was despite overwhelming odds.  San Diego had runners on 2nd and 3rd in the ninth against Salomon Torres, thanks to an error by Prince Fielder, but the savvy veteran tight-roped out of danger when he retired shortstop Luis Rodriguez on a bullet of a ground ball up the middle that J.J. Hardy made a strong play and throw on.  The Padres had runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out in the tenth, but Torres gobbled up a ground ball in front of the mound and fired to third for the force-out.  Then he got Chip Ambres on a flyout and struck out Edgar Gonzales.

David Riske had a much rougher go of it in the eleventh.  He retired batter #1 on a deep fly ball, but walked #2 and surrendered a base hit to Giles that put runners on 1st and 3rd with only 1 out.  Enter Brian Shouse.  He needed throw only one pitch.  Luis Rodriguez chopped the ball to the lefty, who fired it to second for one and Hardy returned the favor, by finding the glove of Prince Fielder to clean up the mess and fire up the quited crowd.  In the bottom of the eleventh, Mike Rivera got a pinch hit, was wiped out at second on a poor sac bunt by Craig Counsell, and then Ray Durham, who had gone 0-4 previously, hammered a base knock to right, getting Counsell to third.  J.J. Hardy sent the remainder of the fans home happy.  He deposited a single to left field on the 6th pitch against Brian Falkenborg, sealing Milwaukee’s 81st win of 2008 and 1st win in the month of September.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (1-6/0R/1RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Brian Shouse (0.2IP/0H/0ER/0BB/0SO/0HR/Win-5th)

Alex’s Take:

This game was ugly, dragged on forever, revealed once again the problem Milwaukee has in Eric Gagne, but felt great in the end.  It was nice to see the Crew persevere in the end and finally wrap up their first victory so far in September.  The Cubs were manhandled by Cincinnati, so Hardy and the Brewers are sitting 4.0 games out of 1st and, following a Phillies win, held onto their 4.0 game lead in the Wild Card.

CC Sabathia had himself his shortest start of 2008 on Sunday, but he was good enough to put his team in a position to win their 76th game.  He hurled 6.0 innings, gave up 1 run on 8 hits, struck out five, and didn’t walk a batter.  He was briefly in line for his 9th win, but the Crew pen coughed up the lead.  Pirates ace Paul Maholm pitched his heart out, giving up a whopping 12 hits in 6.0 innings, but only gave up 2 runs, as the Brewers stranded 8 runners with him on the mound (twice they failed to score with the bases loaded and less than two outs).  But Mike Cameron turned in one of the finest games of his career with five hits, one of which scored Corey Hart from second to tie the game 1-1.  Ned Yost then pinch hit for Sabathia with “Captain Clutch,” Gabe Kapler, who immediately drove in Bill Hall to put his club ahead.  David Riske blew the slim lead in the seventh, however.  With two outs in the eighth, Cameron struck again, crushing a majestic homerun that seemed to seal the victory.  But Salomon Torres was unlike himself, and he blew the save by giving up a tying single to Nate McLouth.  It took three more frames.  Carlos Villanueva pitched himself into a world of trouble in the top of the twelfth, loading the bases with none out.  But Guillermo Mota, in what was undoubtedly his best performance as a Brewer, induced a popout to center, struck out Chris Gomez, and retired Luis Rivas himself, keeping the game tied, and receiving a roaring ovation from the 40,000+ fans.  With one out in the Milwaukee twelfth, Rickie Weeks walked.  With J.J. Hardy batting, he stole second with ease.  Then on his bobblehead day, the beloved shortstop hammered a ball into center for a single, and Weeks flew around third to clinch the series sweep.

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

Pitching MVP: Guillermo Mota (1IP/0H/0ER/0BB/1SO/0HR/Win-4th)

Alex’s Take:

This was a sloppy win, but a fun one nonetheless.  Guillermo Mota may be turning the corner late in the season for Milwaukee, and if he could continue to control that blazing fastball and nasty changeup of his, he could turn into a very capable reliever in close games, where he struggled often earlier on.  Mike Cameron started off the year so slowly, but has been on an absolute tear in August, when his team truly needs him for their playoff push.  He is hitting .360 in 75 August at-bats, with 8 round-trippers and 16 RBIs.  I guess this is what Ned Yost was talking about when he said that Cameron can carry an offense when he’s on.  The good news is, the other Brewers are hitting well enough that Mike doesn’t have to do it all by himself.

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.