Red Hot Phillies Left Cold After Brewers Sweep

Rheal Cormier had not given up an earned run all season. Then he pitched to Prince Fielder and Corey Koskie. Streak broken. Usually, left handed batters don't fare well against left handed pitchers. Apparently, someone forgot to tell that to Prince Fielder, who is currently batting .410 against lefties. It seems when an opposing team sends in their southpaw to pitch to Fielder, more often than not, Fielder lights them up. The reason for this stems back to Fielder's dad, All Star Cecil Fielder, who warned Prince that lefties would be sent in to get him out. Because of this, Prince focused even more on hitting the ball back up the middle. That focus is certainly paying off for the Brewers.

Once again, the Brewers have cooled off one of the hottest teams in baseball, sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies at Miller Park. Every game of this series was a knucklebiter, suspenseful till the very end. There was the throwing error that ended Tuesday's game. Turnbow being taken out in the ninth last night, and the team rallying back from a 4-1 deficit today.

Dave Bush struggled a bit last night, and left the game in the middle of the 6th with his team down 4-1. The Crew then rallied in the bottom, scoring 5 runs, and staking Dave to a win. An insurance run in the 7th seemed to ensure that Bush would get the win. Then the unthinkable happened. Derrick Turnbow came in and put the tying run on base. Brian Shouse plated it. Bush's win was gone, and he had to settle for a no-decision. Young rightie Jose Capellan, who has been outstanding lately, came in and cleaned up the mess to get his team back in the dugout.

Manager Ned Yost admitted later that it might not have been the best decision to pull Turnbow with a save still on the line, but hindsight is always 20/20. The bottom line is that the Brewers pulled out a win, thanks to Geoff Jenkins' walk off single to deep right field.

Geoff was the hero again today, hitting a double in the 7th, and driving in what turned out to be the winning runs. Chad Moeller got things started in the 7th with a two run homer to put the crew on the board, but still trailing by two. Carlos Lee scored Jeff Cirillo with a sac fly, and Jenkins finished it off.

Dana Eveland was shaky again, giving up three runs in the first inning. He also walked four and struck out only six in his five innings. Justin Lehr was near flawless in his two frames, striking out three, and surrendering only one hit. Dan Kolb and Brian Shouse worked the 8th, and Turnbow wrapped up the 9th, recording his 13th save of the season.

I have to commend Jorge de la Rosa, as well, for his outstanding performances of late. I get really nervous when Jorge comes into a game, because he's a bit of Jeckyll and Hyde pitcher, and you never know which one you're gonna get. But I have to admit, he's looked really sharp his last few outings. I hope this is a sign of things to come. What a great boost it would be to the bullpen to be able to rely on Jorge in tight games.

So after this series, it seems that the Brewers have become quite adept at snapping opponents' streaks. They did it to San Diego, then the Mets, and now the Phillies. Great job guys, but I have to ask you to stop. The Minnesota Twins are coming to town on a five game losing streak. Let's not snap that one, ok?

Doug Davis leads the Crew tomorrow night against Francisco Liriano and the rest of the Twins in the first game of interleague play. Liriano is 1-0 after 12 games, but no starts. He's thrown 22.1 innings, notching 32 punchouts, and only four walks. He's given up only one homerun, eight earned runs, and 27 hits. Not bad. However, Liriano hasn't thrown more than three innings in any of his outings. This could bode well for the Crew.

Doug struggled in some of his earlier outings, but he seems to have cured whatever what ailing him. He's looked much better in his last few outings, more like the Doug Davis we've come to know. He's still dealing with a few too many walks, but that's just classic Doug. Our 8th season veteran should be A-OK against their 2nd season newbie. (knock on wood!)

Well that's all for now Brewer fans. Only three more games on this homestand, so let's all head out to the park and cheer for our guys! Until next time, go Brewers!