batman

Two badly hit bouncers plate two runs... argh. Very poor luck there for Bottalico and the Brewers. He made some pretty good pitches. ~Bill

Umm... Neifi? Jason Dubois is on the bench, and he can hit. Neifi can't. Brilliant tactical move, Dusty. ~Bill

New Rule: J.J. Hardy must become immortal and play every inning of every game at shortstop. Billy Hall must not. New Rule: Tommy Phelps isn't an ace reliever. Use Bottalico or Wise or Adams or even Turnbow before you use Phelps in a close game. New Rule: The Brewers need to acquire a left-handed hitter that isn't terrible and add him to their bench. ~Bill

Tommy Phelps is the new Wes Helms... Nedley seems to love this guy. He sure is pitching a lot for a last minute roster addition / 12th man in the bullpen. EDIT: Also, kudos to the Vampire for a pretty good debut outing. It wasn't particularly pretty, but he did the job. ~Bill

I'm not sure if anyone has had Tommy John surgery three times yet but Chad Fox is a prime candidate. You have to give him credit, though, or perhaps not, because he continues to throw the same slider that has already destroyed both his original UCL and the replacement. Here's an old JS article about his injury history and his comebacks: www.jsonline.com/sports/b...043001.asp ~Bill

It turns out that Zambrano was having problems with cramps today... the injury in the first was a cramp in his forearm/elbow. That sound you hear is a huge sigh of relief from the North Side of Chicago. I still can't believe they allowed him to stay in the game. Perhaps its possible/easy to tell the difference between a cramp and a strain/sprain immediately after it happens, but it seems pretty risky to allow a pitcher who felt something in his elbow to keep throwing. It will be interesting to see if he gets back to throwing breaking balls during his next start. Anyway, it looks like a false alarm. ~Bill

Turnbow looked pretty good. His fastball is a lot heavier than I remember it... very Kolb-esque, actually. Good to see. ~Bill

Another visit to the mound by the trainer. I wonder if his arm would literally have to fall off in order for the Cubs to remove him. This is one game out of 162. If you win this one but lose Zambrano, you're in trouble. He's only throwing 90-92 now. Grr. ~Bill

It sure takes all the fun out of watching Burnitz go yard when he does it against the Brewers. ~Bill

This is really a remarkable performance. He's basically throwing one pitch and that's all, and he's dominating the Brewers. Mariano Rivera does that (except against the Red Sox http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ), but he's one of very few. Zambrano is a special talent. All the more reason not to take chances with his health. ~Bill

Zambrano is definitely looking more like himself now. His arm motion is still a little off (he isn't flexing his elbow as much as usual and his arc is a little longer) and he's not throwing breaking balls, but he's hopping around again and chomping on his gum while talking to himself. Crazy, but normal. Every time he throws a slider, he ends up way over on the first base side of the mound, though. He's not 100%. ~Bill

He's starting to look more like himself this inning. I hope for his sake that he's fine. ~Bill

If Zambrano has an elbow injury, it would manifest itself in a loss of command, an inability to throw pain-free breaking pitches, and/or an alteration of his mechanics. I'm seeing all three of those things to one degree or another. He's also acting much differently than he usually does... no staring, no stalking around the mound, and no bouncing around like a meth fiend at a trampoline party. He is still showing his usual velocity, which would seem to indicate that the injury isn't that severe, but pitchers have been able to pitch through serious elbow injuries in the past (the best example off the top of my head is Scott Williamson, who pitched last season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and several bone chips in his throwing elbow - his doctor commented after the surgery that his elbow looked like a grenade went off inside it). If I had to guess, I would think Zambrano has "tweaked" either his UCL or the flexor tendon in his forearm/elbow. That could mean either a strain (a slight tear) or a full-on tear, although I doubt he'd be able to pitch through that (not unheard of, but unlikely). He could have torn some scar tissue, too, but I don't think Zambrano has had arm surgery recently (if ever). I'm not a doctor, obviously, but I can't think of anything else that he could have done on that pitch in the first. I hope they give him an MRI after the game and keep a close eye on him... they've already made a ridiculously poor decision, so best not to compound it even further just because his velocity remains normal. ~Bill

There's another slider, and he winced again. Z's hurt. ~Bill

The Brewers should just wait for a fastball in their happy zone. That's all Carlos is throwing, and most of his pitches are balls. You'll either walk or get a good hack at a heater. What's up with all this chasing balls out of the zone? ~Bill

That was a pretty nice hit, actually. Not exactly a powerful swing, but I'm not sure if it was any different than his normal hack. Big Ben doesn't look bad but the Cubs are getting to him pretty well. Still doesn't have his best curve, though. EDIT: Mediocre is the right word, I think, Peavey. He's just not the same without command of the curve. Still good, but not his usual dominant self. ~Bill

Where is Keith Ginter when you need him? Haha, that's classic. I might make that my signature. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif ~Bill

Darn. I was kinda hoping that Sheets wouldn't walk anyone all year. He's the awesomest. ~Bill

After that last pitch, he cradled his elbow to his side and winced in pain. He's usually hopping up and down like a maniac. If the Cubs don't know he's hurt, they are incompetent. If they are ignoring the obvious, they are criminally negligent. I honestly can't believe this is happening. I make fun of Dusty all the time but I could never have predicted that he'd allow this to happen. Maybe Zambrano is fine or the injury is minor, but the fact that he remains on the mound could/will make whatever it is much worse. Horrible, horrible, horrible. ~Bill

His fastball doesn't have it's usual break anymore, either. All straight, and he can't seem to control it. This is malpractice. ~Bill

There's his first breaking ball, and it appeared that his arm almost fell off. It didn't break, and he fell off the mound toward first like he was in pain. Unbelievable. ~Bill

He still hasn't thrown a breaking ball. How in the world can a Major League organization allow a prized young pitcher to remain in a game after injuring his elbow to the point where he can't throw a breaking pitch? I'm flabergasted. ~Bill

Still no breaking balls. ~Bill

Good start for Big Ben. I know it's Saturday, but it's not like the typical BF user has a life, is it? We need to pick up the pace or this game thread is going to be embarrassingly short. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Poor Cubs fans: www.northsidebaseball.com...hp?t=19774 And NSB is smoking fast... gotta love that. Those guys must pay a fortune for bandwidth. ~Bill