The Brewers’ pitching staff was certainly on top of its game this week as Big Ben Sheets closed out the series with his first win of the season, and recorded the team’s first-ever sweep of the Atlanta Braves. This was not only the first sweep of Atlanta, but also the first time the Brewers have won a series against the Braves in Milwaukee since moving to the National League. This was an outstanding series for Brewers pitchers.
Southpaw Chris Capuano started things off on Monday with his outstanding performance, and right hander Tomo Ohka tossed a beauty on Tuesday. Ohka pitched seven strong innings, giving up seven hits, two runs and walking none. Jose Capellan, who has looked great in his last few outings, pitched a hitless frame, as did closer Derrick Turnbow to notch his seventh save of the season in as many attempts.
Big Ben looked phenomenal today, starting off the game with three straight strikeouts in the first inning. His speed is back up; one pitch registered 96 miles an hour in the sixth, and his curve ball is as nasty as it ever was. Sheets fanned nine in his six innings of work, giving up only six hits and two runs. Ben walked one, but it was his first walk of the season. That’s one walk in 18 innings pitched, with 25 punchouts, and only eight earned runs. It looks to me like Benny is back.
Dan Kolb threw a scoreless seventh inning, giving up only one hit, to set things up for Matt Wise. Matt, thank goodness, looked to be back to top form today as he tossed a hitless frame for the Crew, striking out two along the way. Once again, the save went to Derrick Turnbow, who got into a little bit of trouble and gave up a couple of runs, but he was able to pitch out of it to record his eighth save of the season.
The last three starts by our pitchers are known as 'quality starts,' a phrase discussed during the pre-game interview with Chris Capuano last night. According to Chris, this is a somewhat newly created statistic. A quality start is when a starting pitcher throws at least six innings, and gives up three or fewer runs. These last three quality starts by our pitchers mean our bullpen got lots of much needed rest. That's great news as we head into a three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley this weekend.
Dave Bush, who was spectacular in his last start, throwing a complete game shutout, goes up against veteran Greg Maddux on Friday. Maddux is currently sitting on an ERA of 0.99. This should be an interesting match up, as both of these right handed pitchers have done extremely well so far this season. None as well as Maddux, obviously, who leads Major League starters with his ERA. The Brewers are looking to improve their all time record against the Cubs, which is currently 62-61, in favor of Chicago. We won nine of 16 last season, but dropped four of six at Wrigley. We have to do better than that this season guys!
Well that's it for now. I hope to see some of you out at Wrigley this weekend to cheer on our guys. Until next time, go Brewers!
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