On Friday evening CC Sabathia pitched a solid seven inning, one run game, but was unable to pick up a victory because the Brewers bullpen was unable to hang on. On Saturday night, the Brewers' second ace, Ben Sheets, never allowed the bullpen to even get up. He willed his way to a career high, 13th victory by tossing a five hit 1-0 shut out against the San Diego Padres. This all comes after leaving last Monday's game due to stiffness in his groin. So much for that injury fear bug, right?
Everyone knew this was going to be a pitchers' duel. The last two times Ben Sheets and Jake Peavy squared off, each team was held scoreless through the first six innings until Peavy bended and Sheets broke. Milwaukee lost that game 3-2 despite their efforts to pin one on closer Trevor Hoffman. This time a around, these special pitchers proved why they are some of the best in the business.
Benny was impressive right from the start, easily mowing down the first six batters he saw. And then it happened, the token Sheets' injury scare. God, I should have said anything. In the bottom of the second inning, Sheets swung at a sinker with two out and runners at the corners. He caught the ball at the end of the bat and immediately grimaced, holding his throwing hand. His first warm up pitch in the following inning sailed over the Jason Kendall's head, and out came Roger Caplinger. It was clear that Benny was grabbing his finger during the process, but luckily for the Brewers, the umpire gave him a few minutes and some extra pitches to shake off the injury, dubbed a hand stinger. Good thing he did. Sheets got through the third unscathed despite a lead off walk, and the rest, as they say, was history.
The Brewers offense responded in the bottom half of the inning when Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder finally combined for a productive back to back hit combo. These two boys have struggled during this homestand, but have picked up back to back two-out hits on numerous occasions. The problem? They were always singles. On this night, Prince Fielder finally found a pitch he liked and smoked it over the head of right fielder Brian Giles. Interestingly, the ball stuck under the right field fence, and Giles chose to grab it instead of holding his hands up. A bad throw by Matt Antonelli allowed Braun to score all the way from first to make the game a 1-0.
And that's all Benny and his defense would need. Yes, Sheets was dominating, but that doesn't go without saying the Padres hit some balls very hard. In fact, the hardest hit ball all night came with runners in scoring position. In the fourth, Luis Rodriguez led off the inning with one of his three hits on the night by singling up the middle. Rodriguez would steal second base with two outs to bring up Chase Headley, who promptly smoked a ball to the second base side of Rickie Weeks. Weeks took one step to his right and lunged for the ball, snagging the ball despite the fact it had already passed him. He quickly returned to his feet and threw Headley out, saving a run and another AB with RISP. It was easily Weeks' best play all season and perhaps one of the best five made by a Brewer all season. There were a few more gems from Craig Counsell and Gabe Kapler, but Weeks' play completely over shadowed them in importance and flare.
When all was said and done, Sheets gave up only five hits in his complete game shut out. Oddly enough, three of those went to Luis Rodriguez and the other two to Chase Headley. As a result of this gem, former Cy Young Award winner, Jake Peavy's record moved to 9-10 this season, the same record now carried by Dave Bush. Is it clear that pitching records mean absolutely nothing? The guy has a sub-3.00 ERA with one of the sickest stuff in baseball, but he's in the same boat as Dave Bush (not really, just making a point), who has given up an alarming 25 HRs this season.
Records: Brewers (82-60); Padres (54-88)
Countdown to 92 Wins: 10 wins with 20 to play
Scoreboard Watching:
Chicago Cubs (4.0 GU): Win -- CHC 14, CIN 9
Philadelphia Phillies (4.5 GB): PPD
St. Louis Cardinals (6.0 GB): Win -- FLA 3, STL 5
Houston Astros (7.0 GB): Win -- HOU 2, COL 0
Florida Marlins (10.0 GB): Loss -- FLA 3, STL 5
Down on the Farm:
The West Virginia Power advanced to the South Atlantic League Championship on Saturday night after defeating the Lake County Captains 4-1. This time the bats were pretty quiet, but the pitchers did the talking for them. Lucas Luetge, Mike Ramlow, and Robert Wooten combined to give up only one run on seven hits, while striking out nine, allowing the Power hitters to capitalize on four errors committed by the home team. The decisive blow came in the top of the eighth inning after Lake County third baseman Karexon Sanchez had trouble with a 2-out groundball from Steffan Wilson. A wild pitch, an intentional walk, and consective hits from Zelous Wheeler and Curt Rindal following the muff, scored three runs to break a 1-1 tie. Rob Wooten got his first save of the post season by striking out the side to seal the victory.
The Power begin a best of five series against the Augusta GreenJackets, a Giants affiliate, on Monday night. Look for R.J. Seidl or Daniel Merklinger to get the start.