And Then, We Caught Those Damn Cubs!

After tonight's come from behind 6-4 win over the Houston Astros and the Cubs 3-2 loss to the Marlins in extra innings. It is now a dead heat tie for the lead in the NL Central Division. Both teams are 60-44. Thank you Ryan Braun! Hey Chicago, tell me how my ass taste?! Monday it is so on.

"Going For It" Working Well Thus Far

Carsten Charles Sabathia. A name that will forever be remembered in Brewers history. Even if he is only a Brewer for 3 months. When the Brewers traded for Sabathia GM Doug Melvin proclaimed: "Were going for it". Well so far Sabathia has been worth the price of Matt LaPorta and showed that going for it was the right choice. Four starts into his Brewers tenure he is 4-0 with 3 complete games (in a row) not to mention the Brewers have now taken the lead in the Wild Card and only trail the division leading Cubs by 1 game. That my friends is just sick. Some starting pitchers have a hell of a time pitching 1 complete game in an entire season. CC has gone three straight starts going all 9 innings. And he is doing it throwing all of his pitches very well; fastball, slider, change and cut fastball. All four of those pitches have been straight up nasty. His total season stats between Clevaland and Milwaukee now stand at: 10-8, 3.30 ERA, 154 K's (best in MLB), 42 BB and a WHIP of 1.15. Some people after last nights complete game shutout of the Cardinals have said if Sabathia continues close to this kind of success the rest of the season he could win the NL Cy Young in a half a season. Can you imagine if he would do that after winning the AL Cy Young last year? Back to back Cy Young's in different leagues? I don't expect CC to toss complete games every time out but if he can win just about everyone of his starts and continue to rack up the K's and keep that ERA low he has a chance against other NL contenders such as Webb, Lincecum, Volquez and his own teammate Sheets. Bottom line his CC has been a pleasure to watch and even though it seems likely he will not be back next season because he will get a HUGE free agent contract from some major market team, myself and all Brewers fans are just enjoying the ride with CC that we hope ends playing baseball in October. Heck I might even go get a CC jersey t-shirt just to remember this great time (they have been flying off shelves everywhere in Wisconsin).

Do You Hear That Noise Cubs(Fans)?

That would be the footsteps of the Milwaukee Brewers. The now 2nd place team in the NL Central and Wild Card leaders who happen to now be only 2 games back of the division lead.

This Brewers team is playing with more swagger and confidence then I have seen in a very long time. It seems once they got CC Sabathia this teams confidence shot through the roof.

We just swung a deal for Ray Durham who will be a nice veteran presence in the clubhouse as well as a switch hitter off the bench who can start at 2B a few times a week. He hist for average and carries a high OBP just what the Brewers need at the top.

I'm not sure how the whole Bush/McClung platoon in the starting rotation will work out but Seth looked good last night and Bush has been on fire his last five starts. We will see how Suppan pitches tonight but maybe HE should be the odd man out. But with the salary they pay him he ain't pitching out of the pen anytime soon.

Bill Hall is heating up, even against RHP. IT"S ABOUT TIME! I still want to see Branyan get a few starts a week against RHP though.

And hey, after last night's win in St. Louis and their first road sweep since 2004 the Brewers are only 1 game under .500 on the road this season. Simple amazing considering how they have played on the road since Yost took over as Manager in 2003.

It's Been Awhile, And Things Look Great In Milwaukee!

I have not posted on here since June 25th. Mostly because I have been busy, but also because I have been very lazy and have not felt like writing anything. And although I was not down with the idea of trading Gamel or LaPorta for Sabathia, I have totally changed my mind. And of course we did swing a trade for the 2007 AL Cy Young winner big lefty CC Sabathia. We got to keep Gamel, Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome. Because of this I am totally okay with the trade. Yeah we had to give up Matt LaPorta who will be a damn good player, but we also only had to throw in a few spare parts like Zach Jackson. Because of this and the fact that Sabathia is one of the most electric players to now ever wear a Brewers uniform I totally take back my last post. The Brewers have been hot and now with Sabathia and Sheets heading the pitching staff things look great! Not to mention the great jobs Dave Bush and Manny Parra have done. Well two more games before the All-Star break tonight and tomorrow against Cincinnatti (tomorrow CC will make his second start as a Brewer). And speaking of the All-Star game, it is just amazing that for the second straight season we got a player voted into the starting lineup. Ryan Braun will start in the OF for the NL along with Matt Holliday and Kosuke Fukudome. Joining Braun on the NL team from the Brewers is Ben Sheets and Corey Hart. After years of getting one player in the mid summer classic representing Milwaukee it's nice to see 3 or more on a consistent basis. Were only .5 games back of the Cardinals for the wild card and only 5 back of the Cubs for the division lead. Things look great and I really feel a post season birth this year, FINALLY!

Gamel And/Or LaPorta For CC Sabathia? No Thanks

This has become a hot topic amongst Milwaukee sports talk radio show hosts this past week after ESPN's Buster Olney mentioned the Brewers as a top candidate to get last years AL Cy Young winner. The main reason that Onley feels the Brewers have perhaps the best chance is because of the large amount of talent in their minor league system, specifically in AA Huntsville. And even more specifically 3B Matt Gamel and LF Matt LaPorta. The Matt's are two of the biggest prospects in all of baseball. LaPorta was the Brewers first round pick a year ago and Gamel was the Brewers 4th round pick in 2005 (same year they drafted Braun in the 1st round, talk about a nice draft). Both guys have just been ripping the cover off the ball in AA Huntsville this season. Gamel is batting .371, 15 HR, 66 RBI and an OPS of 1.064. LaPorta is batting .294, 19 HR, 59 RBI and an OPS of 1.011. Here is the thing, the Indians if they even decide they want to deal Sabathia and if Melvin asks about him their is no doubt they will want one of these guys plus a guy like maybe Tony Gwynn, that would be a minimum deal. There is a chance they could ask for as high as both Gamel and LaPorta. Personally if they just wanted one of the Matt's, it would be hard not to really consider it. I mean an ace like CC joining Sheets in our rotation would be quite awesome. But Sabathia is a free agent after the season and their is no guarantee he would be more then a 2 month rental. Is that worth giving up one of our future studs on this team? I'm not sure it is and I know for a fact it wouldn't be worth it if we had to give up both players. I guess when it comes down to it I don't want to trade either player, but if it is just one and we did make the playoffs and won the whole fucking thing, I would have to approve and say well worth it. If we make a trade and we don't even get into the playoffs and CC walks, I would have steam coming out of my ears all off-season.

After 0-2 Start, Brewers Finish Homestand 6-3

After winning 2 straight to finish off a series win over the Baltimore Orioles the Brewers finished off this 9 game homestand 6-3. Not the 8-1 we had hoped for like their last 9 game stand but after losing the first two games to Minnesota To win 6 out of the next 7 was very impressive. The Brewers for the first time all season are 7 games over .500 with their record now 41-34. And on this homestand the HR ball came back in a big way as they now have 99 as a team. Here are their leaders in long balls:

Ryan Braun: 20
Prince Fielder: 16
Corey Hart: 12
Mike Cameron: 11
Russell Branyan: 10
Bill Hall: 10

Some of the other highlights on this homestand would have to be Dave Bush's no-hit bid he took into the 8th inning against the Blue Jays on Thursday, two more strong starts and wins from Seth McClung, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder each with 2-HR games and Salomon Torres continuing to rack up saves now with 12 on the season.

The Crew now heads out on a 10 game road trip going to Atlanta, Minnesota and Arizona. That is a tough 10 games on the road one of which is a AL park meaning we have to use a DH. Of course unlike last time we were in an AL park (Boston) we don't have to worry about Ned using someone like Tony Gwynn as the DH (probably weakest hitting DH of all time, in the history of baseball). I would be thrilled if they are just able to go 5-5 on the trip. Anything less then that would be awful and anything more would be a pleasant surprise. Go Brewers! Catch those Cubs and/or Cardinals!

Gagne Close To Returning, Will Set-Up Torres Upon Arrival

I have to give Ned Yost some serious credit. He has already made the decision that when Eric Gagne comes off the DL during the Twins series June 27th he will not be the closer, but will instead be the 8th inning set-up man. Salomon Torres who has been lights out since taking over for Gagne picked up his 10th save today and surley deserves to continue to be the closer for this team until he proves otherwise. I'm as big of a Gagne fan as you will find, but this is flat out the right decision. Gagne had some struggles before this DL stint closing games out and Torres has just been to good to make any kind of move. Now if Torres struggles, sure then maybe you make a change at some point. I don't see Torres all of a sudden blowing up though. I do believe that Gagne can be a very effective 8th inning guy setting Torres up. Guillermo Mota has been the 8th inning guy but has been very inconsistent. I see Yost going with roles of Villanueva in the 7th, Gagne in the 8th and Torres in the 9th. Mix in Brian Shouse anytime you need to get a lefy out in the 7th or 8th and our pen should be set. David Riske, Tim Dillard and Mota will be guys you can go to in the 6th and I would assume Mark DiFelice will now be the long man if a starter struggles early on. The best part about all of this is Gagne is being a true team player and had this to say:

"I'm here to win," Gagne said. "That's all I care about. Salomon has been throwing unbelievable, and if I get upset with that, that would be stupid. That would be selfish. ... All I demanded when I came over here was respect, and they showed me a lot of respect.

"Closing, setting up, [pitching the] third inning, I don't care. That's the last of my worries. I just want to compete, get back on the mound."

Say what you will about Gagne but you have to respect comments like that. Team first.

Ryan Braun Wants Your Votes, Campaigns With 2 Homerun Game

Ryan Braun has moved into 4th in NL All-Star voting for Outfielders. He now only trails; Alfonso Soriano (injured), Koskue Fukudome and Ken Griffey. The top three vote getter's make up the starting OF in the mid summer classic. If you have not voted your 25 times online, please do (yes I already have casted all of my votes, I voted for Braun, Burrell and McClouth for the NL OF). Braun has better total numbers then all three of the players in front of him one of which (Soriano) is on DL. Braun currently: .291 AVG, 20 HR, 55 RBI and a .908 OPS. Braun was in full campaign mode last night in the Brewers 7-0 win over the Blue Jays as he hit his 18th and 19th HR's of the season. Braun's star is rising fast not only here in Milwaukee where he is already a superstar but the rest of the league and it's fans are really starting to notice. So go to mlb.com and cast your 25 votes for Ryan so for the second consecutive season the Brewers can get a deserving player voted in as a starter in the mid summer classic.