Brewers vs Pirates 8/22 - 8/24 : Series Wrap-Up

Series 42 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates August 22 - August 24 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI

There's those teams that are as good if not better than you, and there's those teams that you should beat. And then here's the Pirates. Let's not kid ourselves here; the Pirate is by far the coolest mascot and emblem that a team could ever wear. What the hell is cooler than a Pirate? Your silence shows that you cannot come up with an answer. Hell, even the almighty Scwab is stumped right now. That's because there is nothing cooler than a Pirate. So why then do the Pittsburgh Pirates suck so much? They've been scrapping the bottom of the barrel in the NL Central since God knows when, and barring a miracle, they will be heading towards their 16th consecutive losing season. For a while there, the Brewers were in their position, and it seemed like they would never get out of the cellar of the National League Central division. And then came 2005, when they finally earned a non-losing season by finishing at 81-81, with their last series of the year that ended the losing drought against these very same Pirates. In 2006, they took a step backwards due to injuries, and finished at 75 - 87, but they rebounded nicely in 2007 by going 83 - 79 and earning their first winning season since 1992 when the Brewers finished 92-70, but missed the playoffs because at the time there was no Wild Card team in the playoffs. So I can identify with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I can understand how hard it must be to be a fan of these guys. The Brewers made the right move by selling the team to Mark Atanasio, and he sunk some dollars into this franchise, and committed to building a winner through the draft, trades, and free agency. Hopefully the Pirates can regain the notoriety that they once had as one of baseball's oldest and best franchises, but until them, I just hope that we beat the living piss out of team that is by far inferior to ours. No offense Pittsburgh, but Milwaukee is better than you are at this given point in time. Deal with it. Nothing but love, but you've already won a World Series; I want to see my team win one too. So I want nothing more than for my team to beat yours as many times as possible on the way to the top. With that having been said, let's get on with the wrap-up.

Game 1 (Monday) - Dave Bush (8-9, 4.24 ERA) vs Zach Duke (4-12, 5.29 ERA)

Dave Bush continued his 2nd half amazing run by once again going 7 innings and allowing 3 runs or less. I believe that it is called a quality start, which is often used to measure the effectiveness of a pitcher. I guess I can see the logic behind it, because if a starter goes 7 and allows 3 runs or less, it only gives the bullpen 2 innings in which to screw it. If your setup man and closer can hold the lead, then your offense only has to score no more than 4 runs. It's simple math. Hell, even a complete moron like me can figure it out. This one had all the makings of a close game, as it was 4-3 Milwaukee going into the bottom half of the 7th inning. And then the Brewers turned up the heat against Pittsburgh. Leading the way was Mike Cameron, who after a slow start, is getting his batting average back up to a respectable number (.248). While that doesn't seem like a lot, he is only a career .251 hitter. As long as he plays spectacular defense and hits for power (22 HR and 56 RBI) I'll take it. This went from a nail-biter to a laugher in one quick inning, as the Brewers almost batted around (Lance Nix, as a pinch hitter led off the inning, and was in the on deck circle when Kendall grounded into an inning ending double play) and 6 runs crossed the plate. If not for that double play, we could have poured it on some more. But hey, no need to embarrass these guys any more, we'll save some more for tomorrow. Final score Brewers 10, Pirates 4.

Brewers record : 74 - 54, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card

Game 2 (Tuesday) - Jeff Suppan (9-7, 4.58 ERA) vs Tom Gorzelanny (6-8, 6.82 ERA)

Suppan matched Dave Bush's performance almost to a T, although I really don't understand what that means. I checked online but gave up when the first site gave me a biography and photo gallery of iconic actor Mr. T. Oh, and I stopped looking because once you find a comprehensive Mr. T website, there's really no use looking around on the internet for more information. You've stumbled upon a virtual treasure trove of badass pictures, gaudy jewelry, and lovable catch phrases like "I pity the fool" and "I ain't got no time for the jibba jabber fool!". But I'll save the Mr. T stuff for later, because this is a Brewers wrap-up, not a Mr. T. wrap-up. Suppan has been putting together a really nice August, and it has gone relatively unnoticed thanks to the masterpieces that CC has been painting since he joined the Brewers. Hell, even Mother Theresa or Benjamin Franklin's accomplishments pale in comparison to what CC has put together in 7 short weeks. But enough about CC (I'll save that for tomorrow) it's Soup's time to bask in the glory. But like always (except when he was named the National League Championship Series MVP in 2006) Soup is overshadowed by someone else because he's not a very flashy player. Ryan Braun hit his 32nd home run of the year, and contributed 3 of the 6 RBIs in the game today. The Brewers built up a 6-0 lead by the 5th inning, but Pittsburgh scratched a couple of runs late to at least make it look like it was a ball game. And just like they've done all season long, Pittsburgh lost today. There are teams that I hate (the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox) but I love teams like the Pirates because they let us beat them. Hooray! Final score Brewers 6, Pirates 3.

Brewers record : 75 - 55, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card

Game 3 (Sunday) - CC Sabathia (14-8, 2.95 ERA) vs Paul Maholm (8-7, 3.62 ERA)

CC Sabathia was due to have a bad outing. After all, there's no way that he could have stayed perfect all year. But a bad outing for CC is only going 6 innings while giving up 1 run instead of a complete game shut-out. But he can't be perfect every day. He did leave the game with the Brewers clinging to a 2-1 lead, but David Riske (I still think that it is too early to consider him a bust, he can still turn it around just like Guillermo Mota has done) blew it in the 7th and CC had to settle for a no decision. Mike Cameron (big time hero as of late) put the Brewers ahead with his 4th hit of the day which also happened to be a solo homerun. Torres came on for the save, but apparently if CC cannot be perfect today, then no one can. He allowed a run and this game went to extra innings. I was working this game, and although I got off at the end of the 7th inning, I stuck around to watch all of the extra innings, except for the one that counted the most. Tonight was the live in person draft for my Fantasy Football league with my family and close friends, and it is one of the high points of my year. My brother Tim was on his way down to the Eastside, so he offered to pick me up as long as I could leave right then. So with Guillermo Mota on the mound and the Pirates threatening to score, I packed it in and headed out the door. Like a true Goonie, I never say die, and although I desperately wanted to stay to see how this game shook out, a free ride is a free ride. For those of you who have cars and take that shit for granted - you probably don't understand how valuable a free ride to/from work is for me. It can take me anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 hours to get to work at Miller Park from the Eastside, depending on the traffic. It sucks balls, but I don't have enough money to buy a car. So I took the free ride home. Of course then Mota got out of the jam, then in the bottom of the 12th inning, Weeks walks, steals 2nd, then comes home on Hardy's single to win the game. Would've been sweet to see this one, but if I had to do it again, I'd probably still take the free ride. There's about 81 home games a year, but free rides come once every blue moon. You can't put a price on free man. But someone was allowed to be perfect today, as Mike Cameron went 5-for-5 with 2 RBIs to raise his batting average up to .257. That's awesome. Now if only Weeks and Hall could take lessons, then Mr. Hammond, I think we'd be back in business. Although today was exciting, hold on to your butts because it's only going to get crazier as we enter September. Good show today. Oh, and the Fantasy Football draft was a blast, although I am not very satisfied with the way that I drafted my team. That's $25 bucks out the window that could have been better spent on strippers and booze. Final score Brewers 4, Pirates 3.

Brewers record : 76 - 55, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card

Another 3 game series and another 3 game sweep of the Pirates. I bet those scalawags hate playing us. They'll get their chance to make us walk the plank when we board their vessel and try to pillage and plunder their booty next weekend (August 29 - 31) at PNC Park. If they don't beat us there (wink wink) then we can dutifully proclaim that we are indeed a better team than these Pirates. I don't need a win/loss column or a stat filled Excel spreadsheet to tell me that, but things like this always look good on paper. And this sweep caps off a 5-1 homestand, and with every win we creep closer towards that 90 win marker, which I hope is enough to get us into the playoffs for the 1st time since 1982. I think it would be bullshit if we won 90 + games and didn't make the playoffs, but stranger things have happened before. So kiss your lucky rabbit's foot, knock on wood, cross your fingers and do all that other ridiculous superstitious shit in an attempt to bring the playoff drought to an end. You'll thank yourself when you get to see your Milwaukee Brewers playing October baseball. You'll be glad that you did, because it will take the focus off of the Green Bay Packers and how much Aaron Rodgers sucks. I hope that I will be wrong about that one, but I want nothing more than to be right about the Brewers making the playoffs in 2008.

Next up - August 26 (Tuesday) - August 27 (Wednesday) Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

- pookon -

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