An electric crowd of 43,489 was on hand to witness the Brewers rally from down 2-4 thanks to another unbelievable game by Ryan Braun.  Dave Bush was not sharp by any means on Saturday evening, and he only pitched 5.0 innings, gave up 4 earned runs and 9 hits in the process.  He was in line for the loss in the fourth when Astros’ right-fielder Hunter Pence crushed a hanging curveball for a solo home run that gave his club a 3-2 lead.  The Brewers had staked their right-hander a 2-0 advantage thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies by Ryan Braun (one in the first inning that scored Ray Durham and one in the third that brought the second-baseman in again).  After Lance Berkman knocked in Kazuo Matsui in the fifth, Houston had a two run lead that held up until the bottom of the seventh.  Durham walked with one out, Craig Counsell popped out, and Milwaukee’s powerful left-fielder hammered a pitch that cleared the center field wall and gave the sellout crowd a lot to cheer about.

Eric Gagne continued his string of good outings with a scoreless eighth, and he was aided by a sliding catch from Braun to retire the side.  In the Milwaukee half, Corey Hart lead off with a double and Bill Hall immediately brought him in with a looping single to center.  Up 5-4, the Brewers’ catcher Jason Kendall was batting with Hall on third and he grounded to Houston’s third-baseman Ty Wigginton, but Wigginton bobbled the ball and had to settle for the out at first, thus, Hall touched home.  Closer Salomon Torres continued to prove that he is one of the best off-season acquisitions made by G.M. Doug Melvin as he skillfully protected the 6-4 lead and picked up his 20th save in the process.

Offensive MVP: LF Ryan Braun (1-2/1R/1HR/4RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: RP Eric Gagne (1IP/0H/0HR/0ER/0BB/0SO/Win-4th)

My Take:

What a difference two months and seven days makes.  On May 19, 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers stood at 20-24, had just been humiliated by the Boston Red Sox in a three game sweep, were dead last in the NL Central, and were 7.0 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who were appearing to run away with the division.  On July 26, 2008, they are 60-44, have recently returned to Milwaukee after completing a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, and are no games behind the Chicago Cubs.  The way the club has bounced back from such a poor start is as astounding as it is encouraging.  There is a lot of baseball left to be played in 2008, but when you consider the fact that Milwaukee has surged to a first-place tie after being as many as 8.5 games behind this season, I like their chances to make this the greatest year for Brewers’ baseball since 1982.

If the Milwaukee Brewers can play this well on the road, the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs may be a little hesitant to find out what Ryan Braun and his club can accomplish at home.  Thursday’s game was very similar to the first two of the series: the Brewers were down 2-0 early and struggled offensively, stranding 11 more base runners.  And just like Games 1 and 2, there was a dramatic home run late that cut Tony La Russa and his bullpen down to the core.  The only difference?  Ryan Braun, not Bill Hall, was the man who delivered when the Brewers needed it most.

Few position players chipped in in the clutch on Thursday, and Corey Hart had a horrific day.  He went 0-5 and squashed more than one rally.  He did ground into a force out that scored a critical run, but he also grounded into two double plays, committed an error in right field when he let a ball squirt past his glove, allowing Ryan Ludwick to rumble all the way around the bases to score.  Hart is playing like a zombie right now, but Brewers fans need not worry too much; he is most likely just fighting off a cold or some other minor illness.  Jason Kendall walked with bases loaded in a wild fourth inning that included Ben Sheets hitting a two-out, bases loaded looping line drive to center field that was played incredibly by Ryan Ludwick, who made a diving catch to prevent probably two Milwaukee runs from scoring.

Ben Sheets struggled early, but relaxed to pitch seven quality innings, allowing only 2 earned runs and four hits.  He was in line for the loss, but after Eric Gagne pitched a solid eighth inning to hold the deficit at 2-3, the Brewers offense blew away the St. Louis bullpen for the third time in the four game series…well, Ryan Braun blew away the St. Louis bullpen anyway.  After Ray Durham, making his first start for Milwaukee (he went 0-5), struck out, J.J. Hardy kept the game and his torrid hitting alive by reaching first on a single.  Braun took a strike down the middle and with a powerful swing of the bat, he completely ruined closer Ryan Franklin’s day.  The score was 4-3, Busch stadium had been silenced for the fourth straight day, and the Brew Crew had visibly stolen all the momentum away from the dejected Redbirds.

In 1987, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor lead what is known as “Team Streak” to a 13 game winning streak to start off the season.  It was one of the best seasons in Brewers’ history, but amazingly enough, the American League ball club never swept a road trip as long as 7 games.  Neither did the A.L. Champion 1982 Brewers accomplish the feat.  Salomon Torres sealed that piece of history with his dominant ninth inning of work.  He fanned Troy Glaus; he caught Ryan Ludwick looking; and for good measure, he whiffed Jason LaRue to complete the 4 game sweep, the 7 game sweep of the road trip, and the eighth straight victory for Ned Yost’s Brewers overall.

Offensive MVP: LF Ryan Braun (4-4/1R/1HR/1RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: CP Salomon Torres (1IP/0H/0HR/0ER/0BB/3SO)

My Take:

The Brewers offense looked a little sloppy today, but when you consider the fact that they swept the Cardinals in St. Louis, it really doesn’t matter.  The bullpen looked as solid as ever, and Ben Sheets really did a nice job of keeping his club in the game, which is a good sign considering he has been struggling of late.  The upcoming homestand could be one of the most important of the year, but if Milwaukee plays with as much passion as they showed in St. Louis, look for them to gain some significant ground on the Chicago Cubs or even pass them up for the divisional lead.

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!

They had squandered opportunities to score again and again and again; they missed an opportunity to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9th inning due to some tough-luck ground balls; but the streaking Milwaukee Brewers did not miss the opportunity to quiet the always raucous Busch Stadium crowd in extra innings on Monday night.  In the opener of a very important 4 game series with Tony Larussa’s Redbirds, the Brewers, behind starter Seth McClung, found themselves down 2-0 right away when Troy Glaus hit a booming two-run double over center-fielder Mike Cameron’s head in the first inning.  But the burly right-hander did exactly what good fifth starters should do and settled down and pitched four consecutive scoreless innings to finish give his club a good chance to win.  He finished with only 5IP, struck out 5, and surrendered five hits while walking 2.

In the top of the fifth inning, McClung was put in position for the win when second-baseman Rickie Weeks, perhaps playing a little harder now that the veteran Ray Durham has come to town, sent a first pitch fastball from Cardinal’s starter Joel Pineiro flying into the triple deck (scoring Jason Kendall and Seth McClung).  Ahead 3-2 off the Weeks blast, Ned Yost employed two struggling relievers, Guillermo Mota and Eric Gagne in the sixth and seventh innings respectively.  The move paid huge dividends.  Mota worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless inning and Gagne blew away Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker and retired Aaron Miles on an easy grounder to finish the frame.  In the eighth, David Riske struck out one, walked one, and surrendered no runs or hits.  The Milwaukee offense stranded 11 base-runners in the first 9 innings of the ballgame, and that gave the pesky Cardinals plenty of opportunity to make a game of it.  Salomon Torres gave up a ground-rule double to catcher Yadier Molina to start off the bottom of the ninth and the stadium immediately came alive.  Slugger Ryan Ludwick was called out on strikes, but pinch hitter Jason LaRue dribbled a ground ball past the mound that Weeks couldn’t handle, and runners were on the corners.  Skip Schumaker hit a fly ball to medium left that Ryan Braun caught cleanly, but his impending throw to the plate sailed on him and St. Louis knotted it up at 3-3.  A gutsy decision by Ned Yost to allow Torres to pitch to Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols paid off and the side was retired.

The momentum had clearly shifted towards Tony Larussa’s club, but Brewers’ third baseman Bill Hall rapidly stole it back and then some.  He crushed the third pitch he saw from reliever Ryan Franklin and sent it into the center field stands to give Milwaukee the lead 4-3.  Kendall doubled with one out and Torres was allowed to bat, but he lined out to center-fielder Rick Ankiel.  With a huge insurance run on second and two men gone, Rickie Weeks hit a wicked grounder straight up the middle.  His counterpart, Aaron Miles, made an unbelievable diving stab, but it was all for naught as the usually dependable first baseman Pujols was out of position, and the throw sailed past the bag.  Jason Kendall scrambled around to score, and Weeks managed to reach second.  Hot-hitting shortstop J.J. Hardy promptly drove in Weeks with an RBI single, giving Milwaukee a 6-3 lead.  In the bottom of the 10th, Torres worked around a Troy Glaus one-out double and sealed the huge victory.  He was credited with a blown save and a win.

Offensive MVP: 2B Rickie Weeks (2-5/2R/1HR/3RBI/1BB)

Pitching MVP*: RPs Guillermo Mota/Eric Gagne/David Riske (3IP/0H/0ER/2BB/3SO)

My Take:

This one had the makings of an ugly defeat, but sheer determination by the Brewers gave them their fourth straight road victory.  The pitching was good all throughout the game, save the first inning of work by McClung, and of course, the ninth.  Salomon Torres did not pitch that badly, but ran into a little tough luck on grounders that just rolled past his outstretched glove and were poorly played by Rickie Weeks.  The way the team bounced back to earn a win against a divisional rival on national television is extremely encouraging, and with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets pitching, a series win or split seems very possible.  The Brewers are now tied for 2nd in the NL Central and are only 2 games behind the Chicago Cubs, who lost to Arizona.

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.

Ben Sheets pitched well in the All Star Game, but he has not pitched particularly well in any of his last few regular season starts.  Perhaps an injury exists that he is playing through but not admitting, but whatever the reason, it appears as though CC Sabathia is Milwaukee’s only true ace for the time being.  Sheets scuffled on Saturday afternoon, yielding four runs (two earned) in five shaky innings.  He surrendered a whopping nine hits to the Giants, and was in line for the loss, but the Brewers simply would not give this one away, as they came roaring back to win 8-5.  To give his club a 1-0 lead, Sheets, a light-hitting pitcher hit a double down the left field line to score Jason Kendall. In the bottom of the fourth, things got ugly when San Francisco scored four times.  A Jose Castillo RBI single, an Omar Vizquel RBI single, an run-scoring fielding error by J.J. Hardy, and a Eugenio Velez RBI double gave the G-Men a 4-1 lead, and with talented southpaw Jonathan Sanchez dominating on the mound (eight strikeouts through the first five frames) it appeared as though the Crew would fall.

But the bottom half of Milwaukee’s lineup came alive at a critical time.  With one out, Corey Hart doubled, Bill Hall and Mike Cameron walked, and while catcher Jason Kendall was batting, new pitcher Keiichi Yabu let one get away from him and Giants’ backstop Bengie Molina did the same.  The wild pitch scored Hart easily, but Molina’s toss to his pitcher sailed down the third base line and Bill Hall slid in to make the game very interesting.  Kendall then was plunked, pinch hitter Craig Counsell was retired, and with one of his biggest hits of the year, Rickie Weeks drove in Cameron and Kendall to give Milwaukee the lead 5-4.  In the sixth, left-handed relief pitcher Mitch Stetter yielded a run to knot the game up at 5 apiece.

Prince Fielder didn’t waste much time in atoning for Stetter’s mishap.  He crushed the first pitch from Osiris Matos, and when the ball came down, there were no fans scrambling to grab it…there were sailboats scrambling to grab it.  It touched legendary McCovey Cove and the Boys in Blue secured a lead they never lost.  Corey Hart scored on a Cameron RBI groundout, and Fielder drove in Ryan Braun in the ninth to give the Brewers’ their last piece of insurance.  Carlos Villanueva, David Riske, and Salomon Torres, did not disappoint, as they hurled 3.1 scoreless frames to seal the deal.  Torres earned his career best 16th save of 2008.

My Take:

Offensive outburst aside…way to go Riske!  The comeback, encouraging as it was, did not surprise me as much as David Riske’s dominant eighth inning of work.  He walked one batter, but fanned three to bridge the gap to Salomon Torres in the ninth as well as any Brewer has done so far this year.  Over the course of his career, he has proven to be much stronger in the second half of seasons, and if that trend continues, the Milwaukee bullpen will benefit greatly.  This would mean that if the Brewers fail to acquire Huston Street from Oakland (if the rumors regarding their interest in him are true) they may not have a glaring hole late in ballgames.  One good performance does not mean he has turned the corner fully, but it is a good sign nonetheless.

This game was a tough one to follow and a tough pill to swallow.  The Brewers offense fought, but the defense committed three errors in a wild 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.  Manny Parra pitched well until the seventh inning, when he was charged with four runs.  The poor frame undid the four run Milwaukee outburst of the sixth, when the Brewers scored off of a two out bloop double by Corey Hart, a two run pinch double by Bill Hall, and a run scoring single by Mike Cameron.

When Cincinnati catcher David Ross drove in first baseman Joey Votto, the lead was trimmed to 5-3.  Pinch hitter Andy Phillips scored prized prospect Jay Bruce on a groundout, and when Jerry Hairston Jr. lined a pitch to the gap in left center, all appeared fine as Mike Cameron was about to make a slick running catch (nothing too special for his Gold Glove career).  Jim Powell, Brewers radio play-by-play announcer, guessed that Cameron lost sight of the ball in the bright lights of Miller park, but whatever the reason, the ball bounced harmlessly off his body and rolled to the wall, allowing Andy Phillips to score easily, tying the game at 5 apiece.

Cincinnati took the lead in the top of the eighth when usually reliable reliever Salomon Torres bounced a pitch that got by backstop Jason Kendall and the Reds’ Jay Bruce scampered home.  Milwaukee threatened in the eighth when Ryan Braun doubled with only one out, but Prince Fielder and Corey Hart grounded out to strand Braun at third.  The ninth showed Mike Cameron reaching second on a stolen base with two outs, but Gabe Kapler struck out on a questionable call to give former Brewer Francisco Cordero the save, and the Reds a 6-5 victory in game 1 of the series.

My Take:

This one was great in innings 1-6, and ugly 7-9.  The last three innings is where the Brewers seem to cough up the most leads and squander the most scoring opportunities.  It seems as though Ned Yost’s ball-club never clicks in all facets of baseball (offense, defense, pitching) in games like these, of course, problems are always magnified when Milwaukee comes up short.   This 6-5 defeat stung mightily considering the Brewers had a three run lead late, but all baseball players are human, thus imperfect, thus make mistakes from time to time.  I’m not sure what to make of this one; it will show a lot of character on Milwaukee’s part if they can bounce back tomorrow.

J.J. Hardy led the Milwaukee Brewers with three rbi as they defeated Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 8-6 on Tuesday night.  Hardy hit a solo home run off Johnson in the second inning and finished the game with three rbi to lead the team.  They were able to knock the Big Unit out of the game after only 3 2/3 innings.

Joe Dillon hit his first home run of the season in the second inning off of Johnson as well.  Dillion finished the game with two rbi as they both came on the home run.  Mike Rivera had a rbi double and a rbi single in the game to record two rbi in the game.  Corey Hart contributed with one rbi in the game as well.

Jeff Suppan pitched five innings while giving up nine hits and five runs to pick up the win.  Suppan didn’t have his best stuff out there on the mound but he was able to get through five innings and improve his record to 5-6.  He should really thank his bullpen and offense for picking up the win for him.

Mitch Stetter, David Riske, Guillermo Mota. and Salomon Torres all pitched one inning of relief for the Brew crew.  Mota was the only reliever to give up any runs as he gave up two hits and one run in the eighth inning.

The Brewers will now try to take the series lead on Wednesday night.  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

Dave Bush took a no hitter into the eighth inning only to have it broken up by a Lyle Overbay triple to start the inning and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Blue Jays 8-7 and swept them in the three game series.  It would have been a lot better game had the Brewers bullpen not allowed the Blue Jays to score six runs in the ninth inning and make it a very close game.

Bush pitched eight innings and gave up two hits and one run.  That was a wonderful performance out of Bush as he picked up his third win of the season.  Somedays you just have everything working for you and that appeared to be the way for Bush.

Tim Dillard tried to finish the game in the ninth inning but gave up three hits including a two run home run to Overbay.  Dillard did record two outs in the inning but turned things over to David Riske who then loaded the bases and gave up a grand slam to Joe Inglett.  With the Blue Jays only one run down, the Brewers brought in Salomon Torres to record the final out of the game and secure the Brewers victory.

Russell Branyan once again went deep for a three run home run to lead the Brewers with two rbi.  Big daddy Prince Fielder was right behind him with two rbi including a inside the park home run.  Yeah you read that right, Fielder had a inside the park home run!  J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall both had one rbi in the game as well for the brew crew.

Great series sweep for the Breweres.  They will now play the Baltimore Orioles this weekend.

Brewers Blog