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.

The Dave Bush-led Brewers were believed by 100% of TBS analysts to be swept by the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday evening in Milwaukee.  Good thing they’re analysts and not prophets.  The Brewers jumped out to a 1st inning 2-0 lead thanks to some tremendous patience at the plate against the 45-year-old Jamie Moyer.  Mike Cameron and Bill Hall walked to start things off and took 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch.  Ryan Braun struck out, but Prince Fielder drove in Cameron with a sac fly.  With two gone, J.J. Hardy ripped a single into left that gave the Crew another run.  Braun hit a sac fly in the 5th to make it 3-0, but his offense stranded the bases loaded in that frame.

Bush threw 5.1 innings, yielding 5 hits, no walks, struck out 3, and gave up only 1 run.  In the 6th, Jayson Werth hit the ball out to deep right, where Corey Hart tumbled into the wall with the ball in his glove, but lost his grip on it when he came crashing to the ground.  The play turned into a triple, and Bush was pulled in favor of the young lefty Mitch Stetter, who induced an RBI groundout to big Ryan Howard.  Carlos Villanueva then retired Pat Burrell for the final out.  The pitcher was allowed to hit for himself with one out in the 6th, and singled.  Mike Cameron and Bill Hall did likewise, but Ryan Braun struck out and Prince Fielder flew out to shallow left.  Villanueva proceeded to throw a flawless 7th.

Two veterans chipped in in the 7th to provide a little insurance.  J.J. Hardy led things off with a single and made it to second on a beautiful sac bunt by Corey Hart.  Craig Counsell (owner of two World Series rings) then hit a tough chopper on the right side of the mound and dove headfirst onto the first base bag for an infield single.  Another vet, backstop Jason Kendall lined a run-scoring single to left right after.  Eric Gagne worked around a Jayson Werth double for a scoreless 8th (he retired former Brewer outfielder Geoff Jenkins, who finally got his Milwaukee Post Season appearance, for out number 1).

In the 9th, things got very interesting for Salomon Torres, who surrendered singles to the first three men to greet him.  The bases were juiced with nobody out, but Torres threw a sharp slider that Pedro Feliz chopped into a double play.  A run originally scored on the play, but due to the fact that Shane Victorino bowled over the fielding Counsell at second without sliding, interference was ruled, and Ryan Howard had to return to third base.  The next batter, Carlos Ruiz, bounced back to Torres, who flipped the ball to Fielder at first to seal the 4-1 victory.  Not since Game 5 of the 1982 World Series had the Brewers won a Post Season game.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (3-4/1R/1RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (5.1IP/5H/1ER/0BB/3SO/0HR/Win-1st)

Alex’s Take:

This was a much-needed win.  It forced a Game 4 featuring Jeff Suppan squaring off against Phillies’ righty Joe Blanton.  The offense looked very patient at the plate on Saturday, and that is the only hope the Crew has of winning tomorrow and giving Sabathia another shot on Tuesday.  Suppan will have to prove that he is truly an October pitcher as well, and that Doug Melvin was wise to invest so much money in him.

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)

Jeff Suppan had been knocked around again and again in September (with an ERA over 10 in the month), and he was hit hard again on Friday by the Cubs. The difference? He pitched his heart out to keep the game in control, and managed to do just that in 5.0 solid innings. Jim Edmonds, who has dominated Brewer pitching all year, hit an opposite-field solo blast in the 2nd to put Chicago ahead 1-0. It could have easily been 3-0 if not for Mike Cameron. In the 1st, Cubs’ powerful rookie Micah Hoffpauir crushed a two-out pitch from Suppan to the gap in right center. The savvy center fielder read the ball perfectly off the bat, but to catch the ball, it took a spectacular diving play to retire the side and save two sure runs.

Catcher Jason Kendall, who gunned down a potential base-stealer and Hoffpauir trying to stretch a single into a double later on, hit a huge two-out RBI double to knot things firmly at 1-1 in the 2nd. Suppan gave up more hits after Edmond’s homer, but settled down mightily, and even recorded 5 strikeouts along the way; four to some of the best Chicago had to offer (Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Micah Hoffpauir). He did not record his 11th win of the year, for the game was tied going into 6th. Ray Durham started things with a booming double off lefty Sean Marshall that bounced over the wall in left, and Ryan Braun worked his way on with a walk. But Prince Fielder struck out swinging and J.J. Hardy was retired on a harmless pop-out. This set the stage for a game-changing bloop single by Corey Hart that scored Durham and put the Crew ahead for good. In the 7th, reliever Seth McClung, who had just pitched a pair of sparkling innings, was allowed to hit, and he reached on catcher’s interference.  The Cubs’ Chad Gaudin then balked, letting the huge flamethrower get to second.

Mike Cameron then coaxed a single between third and short, putting runners at the corners for Rickie Weeks, who had replaced Durham due to an injury.  Weeks, criticized by many (including myself) all year long, wasted no time in giving Milwaukee another boost in their run for the playoffs.  He lined a three-run home run to left to give his club some more breathing room, and he was even prompted to a curtain call by the deeply appreciative crowd of 44,804 (mostly Brewer fans by the way).  McClung did the rest, finishing things off with a fiery demeanor that made the night even more amazing for Brewer fans, who cheered raucously once they saw the final from Shea Stadium: 6-1 Marlins over the Mets.  Milwaukee is now 1.0 games ahead of New York in the Wild Card chase.

Offensive MVP: Rickie Weeks (1-1/1R/1HR/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Seth McClung (4.0IP/1H/0ER/1BB/6SO/Win-6th)

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)

Dave Bush was shaky on Tuesday night, going 5.0 innings and giving up 3 runs.  After going up 2-0 early on a Ryan Braun triple (he scored on the play off a throwing error in the outfield), the Crew slipped behind 3-2 after an inning in which Bush, normally a pitcher with good command, walked two batters, walked the pitcher, then surrendered some run-scoring singles with two outs.   Milwaukee rallied back to take the lead in the 7th when Mike Cameron lined a two-run double into left with runners on the corners and 1 out.  Disaster struck in the 8th, when recently-consistent reliever Guillermo Mota gave up a booming 2-run home run to the Pirates’ Steve Pearce.  Down by one with a slip in the Wild Card race imminent, Jason Kendall provided one of his biggest hits of the year when he coaxed a two-out, game-tying double right over the right fielder’s head to score J.J. Hardy from second.  After Salomon Torres battled through a scoreless 9th, the Crew came to bat.  Reliever T.J. Beam struck out Mike Cameron and got a pop out from Ray Durham to start things off, but Ryan Braun managed to hit a tricky infield single, setting things up for the big man.  Prince Fielder looked at two pitches, and with a 2-0 count, he crushed a rocket home run to ignite the 30,000+ fans and cued the Brewers to celebrate raucously at home plate.  They won 7-5.

Offensive MVP: Mike Cameron (2-5/1R/22B/2RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Salomon Torres (1IP/1H/0ER/1BB/0SO/Win-7th)

The odds are certainly stacked against the Milwaukee Brewers.  They would have to combine a miraculous winning streak with a full-blown collapse by the New York Mets to have a CHANCE at backing into the post season, but the fact of the matter is they still have a chance.  Seth McClung couldn’t get out of the 4th inning, but reliever Todd Coffey bailed him out of a bases-loaded jam with two key strikeouts.  Prince Fielder hit a solo shot off of Reds’ starter Bronson Arroyo, and also crushed a two-run double in the 4th.  Corey Hart picked up two RBIs off of sac flies, J.J. Hardy knocked in a run, and Ryan Braun collected #99 of the year as the Brewers rolled to an emphatic 8-1 win.  The Mets failed to hold onto a late lead in Atlanta and lost 6-7.  The Crew trails New York by 1.5 games going into tomorrow’s off day.  Milwaukee’s overall road record in ‘08 was 41-40.

This one looked great in the first inning, and much less good in the third.  Ben Sheets had gone a mere 2 innings when he exited with right forearm tightness, and this put tremendous pressure on the oft-criticized Milwaukee bullpen as well as new manager, Dale Sveum, to hold on for the last 7 innings against the deadly Chicago lineup.  They did.  In perhaps their greatest collective performance of 2008, seven relievers combined to throw 7 one-run, 5 hit (all singles) innings and seal a huge 6-2 victory on Wednesday night at Wrigley.  Prince Fielder ripped a double down the right field line off Jason Marquis in the first to unload the bases and put his club up 3-0.  Sheets yielded a home-run to Cubs’ third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and went down with an injury he probably received while taking a swing in the top of the third.  Enter Mark DiFelice, who hurled 2 scoreless.  Then new acquisition Todd Coffey for the 5th, Carlos Villanueva for 2/3 of the 6th, and Mitch Stetter to retire Jim Edmonds for the final out of that inning.  J.J. Hardy hit an RBI double in the 7th, and Corey Hart lined a single to left that scored a pair of Brewers and put his club up a commanding 6-1.  Even Eric Gagne pitched in, throwing a flawless 7th inning.  Guillermo Mota did give up a single and a walk, but got through the 8th unscathed.  In the 9th, Salomon Torres struggled, but should have gotten out of it without a run scoring, but Prince Fielder, who had otherwise had a spectacular night, failed to field a low throw from Ray Durham that would have completed a game-ending double play.  A run scored on the play, but Torres came right back to retire pinch-hitter Daryle Ward to wrap it up.

Offensive MVP: Prince Fielder (3-4/1R/22B/3RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Mark DiFelice (Win-1st), Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva, Mitch Stetter, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres (7IP/5H/1ER/3BB/6SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

The offense seems to be clicking again, Prince Fielder is crushing nearly everything he sees, and the bullpen turned in a great (not just good, but great) performance!  This happened against the Chicago Cubs of all teams!  Dale Sveum, though I don’t know if it was something he said or just his calm demeanor, really managed his pen well tonight, in a game that the Cubs could’ve easily charged back against the Achilles’ heel of this 2008 Milwaukee team.  The key to this series is obviously the rubber match tomorrow, and a tough match up it is.  Dave Bush will be pitted against Rich Harden, a spectacular pitcher who dominated the Crew the last time he faced them.  The offense will probably need 5 runs or more to win tomorrow’s critical game, but the good news is, it seems like they are capable of doing it now.

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.

Ben Sheets gave up 5 runs in 6.0 innings.  J.J. Hardy hit a solo shot in the third and Prince Fielder hit a two-run shot in the 6th, breaking his homerless streak.  The Crew couldn’t come up with anything else against Ryan Madson, Scot Eyre, Chad Durbin, or Brad Lidge, though, and they dropped yet another pathetic game on Thursday.  Their Wild Card lead has slipped to a mere 3.0 games over Philly, who look to pass them in a matter of days.

Offensive MVP: Phillies 1B Ryan Howard (2-3/2R/12B/1HR/3RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Phillies RP Ryan Madson (2IP/2H/0ER/0BB/2SO)

Alex’s Take:

This one wasn’t surprising.  The Phillies are assuredly superior to Milwaukee in every phase of the game, and they simply pounded on the Crew’s so-called ace.  Reliance on the homerun is simply killing Milwaukee’s postseason hopes this year, and it looks as though a complete overhaul of the bullpen, offense, and coaching staff is needed to give Brew City another chance in 2009.  With Cole Hamels coming up, and the bottom of the Brewers’ rotation scheduled to face the Phillies rampaging bats, the playoff hopes of 2008 could, and probably will, become a distant memory in a matter of days.