The Holy Trinity

The Milwaukee Brewers, fresh off of their series win in Chicago, looked at the Houston Astros tonight and said, "Bring it on!" The Brew Crew used great pitching, outstanding defense and timely hitting to defeat the Astros 4-2.

Where do I even start? Ohka finally managed to put together good back to back starts. He threw only 64 pitches, leaving the game after the 5th with a strained rotator cuff, but 40 of those pitches were strikes. He's also damn near unhittable with runners in scoring position. I think I heard Bill or Daron say that Ohka was 1 for 35 with RISP. Gotta love it. Good job, Tomo. Hope the shoulder's ok.

Jose Capellan threw two good innings, giving up a homerun. But that one run was the only hit he allowed in his two innings. I think we can expect to see really good things from this young right hander.

Matt Wise looked completely back to form tonight, giving up only one hit in his scoreless frame. He gets the win tonight, as the homerun given up by Capellan knotted the game at 2. Matt set the stage for his good buddy Derrick Turnbow to come in and finish it off, which he did in most impressive fashion.

He gave up a lead off hit to Lance Berkman, which could have been big trouble had Berkman been paying attention and hustled to second when Carlos failed to make the catch. Luckily he thought he was out and by the time he tried to run Carlos had recovered and held him to first. Derrick then wrapped it up by striking out the next three batters, notching his 9th save in as many attempts. Anyone else notice it looked like Derrick got his hair cut?

Let's talk about the defense tonight. How about Brady Clark with another diving catch in the 4th inning tonight? It was almost an exact replica of the catch he made in Chicago yesterday. His fielding percentage is at 1.000. Pretty damn good.

Then there was Prince Fielder with his diving stab at first base to take extra bases away from Taveras. I admit I was nervous when we traded Overbay, but Prince has been absolutely outstanding defensively. I think he's playing well above the caliber expected from a rookie.

Even Rickie Weeks was on top of his game tonight. A spectacular play in the 8th robbed Craig Biggio of a triple. Biggio whacked the ball to deep right field, but a precision, rocket throw from Jenkins to Weeks, then another pinpoint laser to Hall at third and Biggio was gone. Looks like Rickie has been doing something right in practice, because he has looked pretty good lately. About time Rickie!

The bats were still working hard tonight too. Homeruns by Carlos Lee and Bill Hall got the Brewers on the board, but timely hitting and manufactured runs won the game. Prince Fielder walked to lead off the 8th, then Bill Hall socked a key double, moving Prince to third. A sacrifice fly by Damian Miller scored Prince, then another sac fly from Brady Clark scored Bill Hall.

Tonight was a textbook example of how to win ballgames. Everything was working. The pitching was on, the defense was tight, and the bats were hot. I've been saying it all along. These guys can play, and play well, and tonight they proved it. Great, great game guys. Well done!

Now for a final thought. The game Wednesday against Atlanta wasn't broadcast on FSN, as most of you know, so I had to watch it on TBS. I was just glad it was on somewhere! After listening to the commentators that the poor folks in Atlanta are stuck with, I have to say I'm pretty glad we have Bill and Daron. They may not be the best play by play guys, but they are a hell of lot better than the guys calling for TBS. Althought I do have to laugh every time someone hits a foul ball, or "fowell," as Daron Sutton is prone to saying. But hey, they know what they're talking about, so you gotta love 'em!

That's it for tonight Brewer fans. Let's take this momentum into tomorrow's game and take another one from Houston. I'll be there to cheer our guys on to victory as Ben Sheets takes the mound against Fernando Nieve. Until next time, go Brewers!