1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Mets	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		3	9	2
Milwaukee	0	0	1	4	0	0	1	0	X		6	10	0

W:  Mike Burns (1-1)

L:  Johan Santana (9-6)
 
Home Runs:
MIL -- Fielder P (20)

NYM -- Wright D (5), Martinez F (1)

Key Players:
RHP Mike Burns: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K

LF Ryan Braun: 3 for 4: 2B, 4 RBI, R

RF Corey Hart: 3 for 4: 2B, 2 R

Game Summary:
Talk about kicking a man while he’s down.  On the day the Mets found out they might lose their All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran for the rest of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers stayed patient at the plate and teed off on ace Johan Santana.  Ryan Braun did the bulk of the work with four RBIs and Mike Burns picked up his first Major League victory as the Brewers defeated the Mets 6-3 at Miller Park.

Take two.  That has to be what Burns was thinking. The rookie starter got his first taste of the rotation last week against Minnesota, and while he pitched well, he didn’t get the production he would have liked.  In his second career start, Burns made sure he wouldn’t repeat that performance.

The first inning was kind of rough for the righty, as he couldn’t get ahead in the count and was leaving too many pitches up in the zone.  The control problems led to a lead off walk and then a two run blast from David Wright to dig the Brewers an early 2-0 hole. 

Mike was able to figure out things from there, allowing just three more hits and no free passes in his next five and two thirds innings.  While you can’t expect the rookie (This kid needs a nickname.) to go out there and pitch this well all the time, his approach on the mound will be very important for him.  Burns isn’t a power pitcher in any way shape or form, but he does have the ability to mix it up.  Tonight he was able to work the inside (no matter how small it was) and the outside of the plate with all of this pitches, and kept the Mets off balance all night.  Burns has four average pitches, very similar to Dave Bush, and when used properly like Tuesday night can be very effective.

On the offensive side of things the Brewers couldn’t have played it better.  The Mets ace Johan Santana has struggled with his command over the last few weeks, and it was important for the Brewers to be patient and pick their pitches.  This became especially important after Burns put them in two run hole.  If anything, the Brewers could raise Santana’s pitch count with a couple of walks to get into that damaged bullpen.

Things didn’t go so well over the first couple of innings, but after the first time through, something clicked for the top of the line up.  Corey Hart, JJ Hardy and Ryan Braun picked on some early fastballs to lead off the third with consecutive singles.  Braun’s single plated Hart, but the bottom of the lineup couldn’t push any more across despite two on and nobody out.  The same trio and their pitcher picked them up one inning later.  Burns started it off with some patience or the ‘Don’t swing at anything’ approach and walked on four straight pitches.  This was a clear indication that Santana wasn’t the Santana we’re used to.  He couldn’t place his pitches and the fact that home plate umpire Jim Wolf was giving him nothing on the insider corner wasn’t helping his cause.

The team behind him wasn’t any help either..  Following Burns‘ walk Hart hit a long towering can of corn to near the warning track in center.  Easing back to make the catch was Fernando Martinez, but a bad route to the ball caused him to get his feet tangled and then caught in the turf, so much so he took a fairway divot out of the grass before falling down.  The ball fell too, and instead of one out and a runner on first, the Brewers had runners at second and third with no one down.

Hardy followed the debauchery with more patience and a four pitch walk of his own to load the bases.  Then things got a little wild.  The four pitch walk induced a mound visit from pitching coach Dan Warthen to try and give Santana a bit of a rest.  Taking as much time as he could, Warthen waited for the crew chief to interrupt the meeting.  However, instead of going back to the dugout, Warthen started walking with Wolf back to the plate, probably complaining about the strike zone for Santana.  That, my friends, is a no-no, and Wolf sent him on his way.

The shenanigans seemed to rejuvenate Santana, who got ahead of Braun with a couple of excellent change ups off the outside corner.  His third one wasn’t so good.  While it was down, it was right over the plate and Braunie reached out and poked it over left fielder Gary Sheffield’s head.  Burns and Hart came around to score easily, but third base coach Brad Fischer ill-advisedly sent Hardy as well.  The throw from Alex Cora was on line, but the hop was too much for Omir Santos to handle and caromed off his chest, allowing Hardy to score.  Braun went to third on the throw and rounded it a little too hard on the carom.  Backing up Santos, Santana tried to get Braun, but instead sent one sailing down the left field line allowing Braun to score the fourth run on the play.

That was enough for Burns and the Brewers bullpen.  Mark DiFelice finished up the seventh for Burns, and tossed two thirds of the eighth before yielding to Todd Coffey, who finished the game despite giving up a solo blast to Martinez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.  Prince Fielder’s 20th blast chased Santana in the seventh to finish out the scoring and all of a sudden the Brewers are hitting on all cylinders once again.

Records:  Brewers (42-35); Mets (37-39)

Player of the Game: Ryan Braun
Braun was stellar tonight.  He carried an aggressive approach at the plate all night, and as a result was able to pick on Santana’s mistakes over the plate.  Truth be told, though, I think the top three in the line up (Hart, Hardy and Braun) and Mike Burns were all players of the game.  Each played exceptionally well and when you’re facing a guy like Santana, you need to have that kind of production from one part of your line up.

MVP:  LF Ryan Braun -- +0.372 WPA

LVP:  2B-3B Casey McGehee -- -0.113 WPA

On Tap:
The Brewers look to sweep the New York Metropolitans tomorrow afternoon with their ace Yovani Gallardo on the mound.  The Mets will counter with Mike Pelfrey who has really has had an excellent month despite one rough outing.  First pitch will be under the sun at 1:00 CST.  I just hope I don’t have to hear Ryan Braun whine about the shadows again.