8/26/08 Brewers (Sheets) at Cardinals (Wellemeyer): 7:15 PM CDT

[wibadgers23]

Ben Sheets (11-7, 3.16 ERA, 38 BB/140 SO)

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/0402/mlb_u_sheets_412.jpg

Previous Starts:

DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	TBF	#Pit	Dec.	Rel.	ERA
8/19	HOU	L 2-5	6.0	5	5	5	1	1	7	7	7	24	96	L(11-7)	--	3.16
8/14	@SD	L 2-3	6.2	5	3	3	0	2	4	8	9	28	110	L(11-6)	--	3.00
8/9	WAS	W 6-0	9.0	5	0	0	0	0	6	12	10	32	114	W(11-5)	--	2.95
8/3	@ATL	L 0-5	6.0	6	3	2	0	3	4	7	6	25	97	L(10-5)	--	3.14
7/29	CHC	L 1-7	5.1	11	6	6	0	1	4	6	8	28	100	L(10-4)	--	3.14
7/24	@STL	W 4-3	7.0	4	3	2	0	2	4	4	12	27	96	--	--	2.87
7/19	@SF	W 8-5	5.0	9	4	2	0	1	3	11	3	25	84	--	--	2.88
7/9	COL	L 3-8	6.0	5	3	3	1	2	11	3	5	24	110	L(10-3)	--	2.85
7/4	PIT	W 9-1	5.2	8	1	1	0	3	6	6	7	28	120	W(10-2)	--	2.77

Versus

 

Todd Wellemeyer (11-4, 3.79 ERA, 48 BB/100 SO)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080809/capt.3ad5f4138ed74162b51b1fd062f9852b.cardinals_cubs_baseball_cxc105.jpg

Previous Starts:

DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	TBF	#Pit	Dec.	Rel.	ERA
8/20	PIT	W 11-2	5.0	5	2	2	1	2	5	6	5	22	95	W(11-4)	--	3.79
8/14	@FLA	W 3-0	7.2	3	0	0	0	4	3	8	9	29	112	W(10-4)	--	3.79
8/9	@CHC	W 12-3	6.2	6	3	3	2	1	5	11	8	26	112	W(9-4)	--	4.01
8/3	PHI	L 4-5	6.0	4	1	1	1	1	3	7	5	23	91	--	--	4.01
7/29	@ATL	W 8-3	6.0	8	2	2	0	1	5	8	9	27	98	--	--	4.13
7/24	MIL	L 3-4	5.0	5	2	2	0	5	2	8	3	24	92	--	--	4.19
7/19	SD	W 6-5	6.1	5	5	5	1	3	2	8	9	27	84	W(8-4)	--	4.22
7/12	@PIT	L 11-12	6.1	4	4	4	2	1	2	6	11	25	94	--	--	4.04
7/6	CHC	L 1-7	5.0	9	3	3	0	0	3	4	6	23	76	L(7-4)	--	3.94
7/1	NYM	L 4-7	5.0	12	6	6	0	2	2	14	3	27	98	L(7-3)	--	3.86

N.L. Central Standings:

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent.	West	L10	Strk
Chi. Cubs	81	50	.618	-	49-19	32-31	16-8	36-23	23-10	7-3	W 3
Milwaukee (27)	76	55	.580	5	41-24	35-31	16-12	35-24	18-11	6-4	W 4
St. Louis (23)	73	59	.553	8½	36-30	37-29	20-13	29-28	17-10	7-3	W 1
Houston (17)	66	65	.504	15	34-28	32-37	15-11	27-30	17-13	4-6	L 1
Cincinnati (8)	57	74	.435	24	32-33	25-41	18-17	20-34	10-17	4-6	L 2
Pittsburgh (8)	57	74	.435	24	34-32	23-42	15-17	26-34	10-14	2-8	L 5

Wild Card Race:

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Milwaukee	76	55	.580	-
St. Louis (28)	73	59	.553	3½
Philadelphia (28)	72	59	.550	4
Florida (23)	67	64	.511	9
Houston (22)	66	65	.504	10
L.A. Dodgers (21)	65	66	.496	11
Colorado (16)	62	71	.466	15
San Francisco (14)	58	73	.443	18
Atlanta (13)	57	74	.435	19
Cincinnati (13)	57	74	.435	19
Pittsburgh (13)	57	74	.435	19
San Diego (5)	49	82	.374	27
Washington (2)	46	85	.351	30

[berniebrewer4life]

Yay us!

[Invader3K]

I would love for this to be the game where Sheets proves the doubters (myself included) wrong. Let's see him get win #12!

[mls4]

A fun article from the St Louis Post-Dispatch

 

Link

[RobDeer 45]

Boy, we have to make sure we come to play here for this series. Sheets, lets go!

[hawing]

Dear Brewers:

 

You'd make my crappy work week a little easier to take if you'd play well this series. Could you help me out?

 

Thanks,

 

hawing

[sargennm]

"We're not fans of those guys," one Cardinal said.

 

Ugh, the feeling is mutual. I hope they pound the Cards the next two days. Plus it's my birthday today, so Mr. Sheets I request a birthday win. Thank you.

[Ennder]

According to http://www.sportsclubstat...onal/Central/Brewers.html this game has a 13.6% impact on our playoff odds. +6.8% if we win(up to 84.7%), -6.8% if we lose(down to 71.1%). I'd have to call this a big game!

 

No other game today is very significant since the Phillies play the Mets.

[bucks2281]

We have a 5 game winning streak in St. Louis.

 

This season has become much brighter since they stopped sucking on the road. Let's at least get a split here.

 

By the way, if anyone else caught it, John Kruk thinks this series is a 3-gamer. Yay ESPN research!

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

The extra day of rest could really help Ben. If he keeps us in the game, I like our chances against that pen.

 

Good at bats, drive up that pitch count and get to their weakness by the 7th...the recipe for success.

[yount19.u]

This series is probably just as important as the last Cubs series. It's time the Crew start to step it up when it counts and that goes double for Mr. Sheets. No more excuses for Ben. If the offense gives him one run, he needs to take advantage and shut these guys down. This will be a huge test to see what he's really made of, and I hope he proves my opinions of him to be wrong.

[datrain711]

I agree that it is time for Ben to earn his keep in a big time game. Wellemeyer has pitched well against us this year, so offense could be scarce. Hopefully the bottom of the order continues to play well.

[dlk9s]

No more excuses for Ben. If the offense gives him one run, he needs to take advantage and shut these guys down.

Hey Ben, you'd better throw a shutout against the second highest scoring team in the NL...or else!

[Ennder]

This series is probably just as important as the last Cubs series. It's time the Crew start to step it up when it counts and that goes double for Mr. Sheets. No more excuses for Ben. If the offense gives him one run, he needs to take advantage and shut these guys down. This will be a huge test to see what he's really made of, and I hope he proves my opinions of him to be wrong.

 

He can't prove anything wrong with one game good or bad. I completely disagree with your opinion on this in the first place but if he goes out and pitches a shutout it doesn't prove anything and neither does going out and giving up 5 runs in 5 IP. Pitchers have good and bad games all the time and it isn't just about 'getting up for big games'.

[Glennron]

Hopefully Wellemeyer walks everyone like his last start against the Brewers. As long as the Brewers split the series they should be pretty confident in their wild card chances going forward.

[LUKE232323]

Just get out with a split. Then the Cards have to finish with 4 more wins than us the last 28 games playing a tougher schedule.

[GormanHarvey]

Just get out with a split. Then the Cards have to finish with 4 more wins than us the last 28 games playing a tougher schedule.

Exactly. Win tonight and we have nothing to worry about tomorrow. We can play all loosey-goosey

[yount19.u]

This series is probably just as important as the last Cubs series. It's time the Crew start to step it up when it counts and that goes double for Mr. Sheets. No more excuses for Ben. If the offense gives him one run, he needs to take advantage and shut these guys down. This will be a huge test to see what he's really made of, and I hope he proves my opinions of him to be wrong.

 

He can't prove anything wrong with one game good or bad. I completely disagree with your opinion on this in the first place but if he goes out and pitches a shutout it doesn't prove anything and neither does going out and giving up 5 runs in 5 IP. Pitchers have good and bad games all the time and it isn't just about 'getting up for big games'.

I agree that one game does not prove once and for all what type of pitcher he is, but a victory will go a long way in showing that he can turn around an overall average showing since the all-star break. If it kicks off some more successful starts like he had earlier in the year, it may also just prove to the Brewers that he is worth the money he'll command in the off-season. The games get no easier from hear on out and the pressure will greatly multiply in the playoffs. How he handles these last starts will prove a lot.

[rluzinski]

You have to love it when your offense could score 1 run and a guy like Yount would still pin the probable loss on Sheets. I guess it makes it easier to have players prove you right when you go into a game with completely unrealistic expectations.

 

I predict that if the offense scores 3 or less runs, Sheets will once again prove that he can't win the big games. Bold of me, huh?

[yount19.u]

You have to love it when your offense could score 1 run and a guy like Yount would still pin the probable loss on Sheets. I guess it makes it easier to have players prove you right when you go into a game with completely unrealistic expectations.

 

I predict that if the offense scores 3 or less runs, Sheets will once again prove that he can't win the big games. Bold of me, huh?

If you'd have read my entire post, you'd see I am actually hoping he proves me wrong. It's ok to take the "I love Ben" shirt off and expect him to step up.

[ajpryor]

All I know is that I am wearing the Sheets Jersey tonight and hopefully tomorrow. This run that CC is on is unheard of for a recent pitcher this late in the season, and it really hurts thoughts about Ben. To compare the two or expect the same results is unfair, we could compare beginning of the seasons and it only proves that players always play to their numbers with very few exceptions. Go Crew!

[RU Rah Rah]

What's up with Benny and the Cards? 5-14 and 4.20 ERA lifetime.

[GormanHarvey]

Here's the lineup:

 

2B Ray Durham

SS J.J. Hardy

LF Ryan Braun

1B Prince Fielder

RF Corey Hart

CF Mike Cameron

3B Craig Counsell

C Jason Kendall

RHP Ben Sheets

 

 

GO CREW! LETS GET THIS 1st ONE SO TOMORROW CAN BE ICING!

[datrain711]

With the professional at-bats and grittyness we have from the 7 hole tonight, we will be tough to beat

It would be nice to get some runs early so we don't have to rely on another late game homer to win it.

Anyone think that Braun might be getting one in the ribs tonight?

[brewcrew00]

I think if he does all hell will break loose.