Gabe Kapler continued his success at the plate and hit a two run bomb in the first inning, but Manny Parra made a few too many mistakes, and the red hot Dodgers took advantage.  After sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in a four game series, the Dodgers took game one 5-3 on the shoulders of Casey Blake, who went 3 for 4 with a double, single and a two run home run.

Things were looking bright for the Brewers early against Dodgers' starter Chad Billingsly.  Rickie Weeks opened up the game with a base hit and was quickly brought around on a line drive home run to give the Crew an early two run lead.  But Manny gave one back right away, but not by way of the walk.  Manny threw a lot of strikes last night (62/93 66%), but instead of missing down or away, he found himself missing middle or middle in.  The Dodgers took advantage quickly in the first getting three singles and a run.

But the Brewers would retaliate quickly and push the margin back up to two with a Mike Cameron triple and a Jason Kendall single.  This was the point of the game when I got excited.  When Cam and Kendall are being productive, I fully expect a quality offensive performance.  Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case as the Brewers picked up four of their seven hits in the first two innings.  Billingsly quickly figured things out and just started painting, going seven solid innings while striking out five.

Parra, however, could not figure things out.  In his post game interview, Parra said that he thought he had his best stuff all night, and he's probably right.  His ball had a lot of movement, but it just was not on point and it showed in the fourth and fifth innings.  Nomar Garciaparra led off the fourth with a solid single to bring up Russell Martin who grounded into to their for a tough double play chance.  Rickie did his best to make an extremely fast turn, but even if the ball was on point Martin would have beaten it.  This brought up Casey Blake who fought off a tough pitch in the sixth pitch of the AB before launching a splitter that didn't have a lot of movement into the left field bleachers to tie the game.

Manny would get tagged for another run in the fifth on a Matt Kemp double and a Jeff Kent single to give the Dodgers the lead and the game.  It was a tough loss, but let's be honest here.  You can't win 'em all, and it's not all that disappointing to lose to Chad Billingsly and Jake Peavy.  These are great pitchers, but a better approach at the plate could do wonders for this team.  I would kill to see a higher percentage of opposite field hits.  We'll see though.

Tonight is a must win for the Brewers, as the Cubs and Cards are streaking again.   Dave Bush takes the mound tonight against a pitcher who is having a roller coaster of a year in Derek Lowe.  The last time Lowe took on the Brewers he went six innings and gave up four runs, while striking out six and walking three.  Dave Bush has not seen the Dodgers this year, so it should be interesting.

Records: Brewers (70-53); Dodgers (63-59)

 Countdown to 92 Wins: 22 wins, 39 to play

Scoreboard Watching:

Chicago Cubs (5.5 GU):  Win -- CHC 6 FLA 5

St. Louis Cardinals (2 GB):  Win -- STL 5 CIN 3

Philadelphia Phillies (4.5 GB):  Win -- PHI 1 SDP 0

Down on the Farm:

Since Angel Salome came off the 7-day disabled list last week he's gone 11/36 with a homerun, a triple and five doubles.  With Jason Kendall's option being fulfilled this week, Salome will undoubtedly be on his way to AAA-Nashville with his buddies, Michael Brantley, Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar next season.  The question is, what will happen with Mike Rivera in the seasons to come.  I imagine he cannot be happy about being the back up catcher to iron man Jason Kendall.  But a log jam at the catcher spot is probably one of the best things that can happen to an organization.

Speaking of Michael Brantley, he is swinging a very hot bat for the Stars right now and may have firmly planted himself ahead of Tony Gwynn Jr. on the center fielder of the future chart.  In his last ten games he's 15 for his last 40 with four walks and eight runs.  The scary thing, however, is only has one extra base hit in that time.  The positive thing about that is his OBP is well over .400, which it has been all season.  That's where Gwynn is lacking a bit.  He has the speed and a decent bat, but his lack of power isn't supported by an overwhelming knack to get on base.  Brewers fans keep your eyes on the that PTBNL bit, as Brantley is on the short list.