pebadger

Yeah, can't have guys having harmless, not-showing-anyone-up fun playing baseball. Having fun - not classy.

I really wish they would have untuckedem.

There. Now the calls are even. ;-)

As my wife is my witness, I called that ball getting past Berkman right off the bat. Just had a feeling.

Not trying to pile on, but jeez, he really can't get the ball out of the infield anymore. It's almost like when the owner knows it's time to put down the dog but just can't bring himself to it.This post contains the seeds of CC's new nickname.

They werew cheating in getting that call. Bo Ryan is paying the umps.

When you're classy you don't have to explain.

I want some tack-ons next inning just to see if Greinke might loosen up and try to beat the team's season slow-speed pitch record.

Yeah, Yuni had a pretty good AB despite striking out, simply due to the curveball.

We need a homer here. Then Carpenter (or whoever) plunks Prince. Game on.

Super Bizarro World. Braun has been the worst hitter for the Brewers tonight.

The greatest inning of the year. Seriously.

Even Windmill Eddie Sedar is getting into the "do the opposite" act. It's like a Seinfeld episode.

The aggressiveness of Casey taking 3rd isn't surprising so much as him having the speed to get there.

We're now in bizarro world with Casey taking 3rd on that.

I'm probably not even showing up for work tomorrow now.

Man, I've never seen Corey chase that pitch before.

Greinke's game WHIP after this inning: 2+ or less than 2?

Grammar on message boards. Not always great, either.

I don't think it was the most immediate need but I think adding KRod may have been the most efficient immediate solution to multiple problems confronting the team. If you don't think 1 move is going to cure the Brewers inability to score runs when the big guys aren't hitting, and if you understand that no one move is going to make any significant difference in terms of team defense, then picking up K-Rod does a lot. The Brewers have lost a lot of games late. Now where the "blame" goes for those losses is subject to debate, but if you think you can shorten games by two innings on the back end, and you think that you will consistenly get 6+ inning starts from the rotation, you have suddenly minimized the other problems this team faces. Indirect minimization of those defects through the addition of a really good player is likely a much better strategy for the Brewers than trying to address the big problems head-on. First, they simply don't have the resources to address all the problems directly. Second, even with the resources at hand the Brewers weren't going to find a SS or 3B who is as good at his job as KRod is at his. Not to mention the fact that had DM spent his bankroll he wouldn't hve had much available in the way of upgrading depth, or addressing emergencies (such as the Weeks injury). Now you can quibble with DM's apparent philosophy and views with respect to vets vs rookies, and that. ;-) But if you look at what he's done in this light, I think what he did makes a lot of sense. They will get more help in September. They have not turned the club upside down or disrupted the cluhouse. They're stil in good shape in terms of the postseason.. Their hopes for success in the postseason pretty much rely on the starters and the stars anyway. This is a different discussion from the longer range questions about organization building. Certainly they are related, but at this point going forward to the end of the season that's really all water under the bridge. Provided they didn't give away anything meaningful in acquiring K-Rod the equation for next season seems to be pretty much unchanged.

If any team 6.5 back and trailing 3 teams has a shot, it would be the Reds on the basis of schedule. I don't think it will happen. Not because they won't win a bunch, but because I don't think they can avoid the one cold stretch that is all it will take to torpedo them. Just for giggles let's give them a 9-3 record (heavy in wins against Pittsburgh) in their games against the Central contenders. And then suppose, in the best case scenario for the Reds, that all the other Central teams play as close to .500 ball against each other as possible. That puts the records at: Mil 74-63 StL 69-64 Pit 64-67 Cin 62-58 Now suppose Cinci plays just over .600 ball against everyone else. That puts the Reds at 88 wins. If the Brewers go 14-11 they tie for the division under this scenario. With 9 of those 25 games against the Cubs and Astros and only 4 games against contenders from other divisions (and those 4 are a home series against the Phils). In other words, even in a best case scenario for the Reds in terms of their opponents canceling each other out, the Reds still need to play at a pace better than any team in the NL other than the Phillies have all season, just to give themselves a hope that the Brewers fall down against their own favorable schedule.

That's cherry picking of stats in a big way. The Pirates lost 5 of 6, but 3 of those 5 were in extra innings. One loss ended with one of the worst game-ending umpiring decisions in memory. While facing 2 of the top 3 pitching staffs in the NL over those 6 games, the Pirates scored 23 runs. The Brewers scored only 24 in the same span against the two worst teams in the NL. The winning streak is nice and all, but Milwaukee hasn't won anything yet and no matter what happened on the road trip I'm pretty sure the Pirates aren't shaking in their boots at the prospect of playing the Brewers.

The Brewers have fewer than 10 starts by guys other than Betancourt so far this season. I think it's a pretty safe bet that, barring injury, Harston gets fewer than 10 starts at SS. It's probbly a good bet the Hairston + everyone not named Betancourt gets fewer than 10 starts at SS. Yuni is the everyday SS. If a move was going to be made, it would have been made. Don't have to like it, but I think it's pretty clear that that's how it is. Fans are usually a lot less forgiving than players, especially because we can nurse our grievances without ever having to confront the subject of those grievenaces. Yuni has limitations as a player. His teammates know that. So long as he is a good teammate, controls the things he can control given his limitations, and is seen to be working hard to improve, his teammates will probably be OK with him. It does no good in this situation, at this point in the season, to undermine a decision that has been made.

A Bf.net tradition. The schedule for the month as follows: Cards (3) - @Astros (3) - @Cards (3) Pirates (3) Dodgers (4) @Mets (3) @Pirates (4) - Cubs (3) - Cards (2) [-]: day off =============== I'll go with 15-13. Edit: I have a feeling the doubleheader at Pittsburgh will be a pivotal day in the month and probably the season. Something will happen that day that will be remembered for a long time. Just a hunch.

Remaining Central Division schedules moving into August (including the July 31 night matchup between the Cards and Cubs): MIL (-): 53 games remain. 37 divisional games (28 (13 rd) vs contenders) 28/25 Home/Road STL(-2): 55 games remain. 35 divisional games (25 (12 rd) vs contenders) 32/23 Home Road PIT (-4.5): 56 games remain. 38 divisional games (25 (10 rd) vs contenders) 29/27 Home/Road CIN (-6.5): 54 games remain. 28 divisional games (12 (9 rd) vs contenders) 24/30 Home/Road Games vs PHI/ATL/SF/AZ: Mil (4 total, 0 Road) Pit (7, 7R) StL (7, 4R) Cin (4, 0R) The Brewers survived the West Coast road trip in very good shape and now have a positive home/road split. Despite playing better on the road after the break I think all Brewer fans are still pretty happy about that fact. Only 9 games left versus the 'Stros and Cubs (henceforth "the dregs"). Heavy lifting outside the division all but over, though the four-game home set with the Phils could still be a big deal. Hope when I'm there on Sunday, 9/11, that I don't see the lineup we saw today. The Cards have a big home split advantage, to the extent it matters. After tonight they also have only 9 games left with the dregs. Pittsburg has 13 games left with the dregs, but still lots of heavy road lifting to do outside the division. They do have a 2-1 advantage in home/road games against their division rivals for the division. Cinci is just barely hanging on to the fringe of the division race. If not for handling the Giants in the just completed series they'd be on life support. Their best hope at this point is hammering on the dregs and making hay against other marginal teams. Of their remaining 54 games the Reds only play 16 against teams that are still in a playoff race. They'll hve to win a lot of road games from here out if they are to get back into the race, but given the opponents it might yet be doable.