W: Kevin Gregg (3-2)

L: Mark DiFelice (4-1)

With the wind blowing in at Wrigley Field, the sellout crowd got to see a pitching duel between Carlos Zambrano and....Jeff Suppan?  Yea, Jeff Suppan.  Too bad the boys in blue didn't allow the game to be decided by the two teams on the field.  The Cubs defeated the Brewers in 10 innings on a controversial call by home plate umpire Bill Welke on a bases loaded 3-2 pitch by Mark DiFelice.  Welke called a 3-2 changeup that looked to be clealy in the strike zone a ball and walk in the winning run.

Both teams struggled against the opposing team's starting pitcher.  Zambrano gave up one earned run in seven innings while throwing 110 pitches.  He struck out three batters, while also walking three.  He definitely did not have his best stuff today, but he was able to hold the Brewers to only one run.  He worked out of difficult situations multiple times.  In my personal opinion, I thought Zambrano was bailed out more than a couple of times by the wind keeping some very well hit balls in the stadium.

For as well as Zambrano pitched, Suppan pitched better.  He was more efficient and effective with his pitches than Zambrano.  While Zambrano used 110 pitches to go seven innings, Suppan used only 90 pitches.  He did a great job of inducing grounballs from Cubs hitters all afternoon.  He did a great job of keeping the ball down in the strike zone all day.

The Brewers did not get a hit until the fourth inning when Craig Counsell singled on a ground ball to right field.  After Ryan Braun singled and moved Counsell to third, Zambrano hit Fielder with a high fastball.  With the bases loaded and no outs, Casey McGehee and Mike Cameron both popped out in the infield and it looked like the Brewers weren't going to be able to score a run.  With two outs and the bases still loaded, Corey Hart was able to draw a walk to score Counsell from third and bring up J.J. Hardy.  Inevitably, J.J. popped up in the infield for the third out of the inning.

Suppan stayed out of real trouble until the fifth inning.  He started the inning by hitting A.J. Fox with the second pitch of his at-bat.  Mike Fontenot followed Fox's HBP with a double to the left centerfield gap that moved Fox to third.  With runners on first and third, Suppan induced a groundball to Prince Fielder by Koyie Hill for the first out of the inning, bringing up pitcher Carlos Zambrano.  The switch-hitting Zambrano surprisingly decided to hit from the right side of the plate today against right-handed Suppan, but it paid off with a line drive single to center.  With only one out and runners on first and third, Suppan managed to get out of the inning with an infield pop out by Alfonso Soriano to first and a Ryan Theriot fly-out to centerfield.

Both bullpens took over in the eighth inning and pitched scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th.  The main highlight occurred with runners on first and second and one out in the ninth inning with Mitch Stetter facing the Cubs' hot-hitting rookie Sam Fuld (batting .500 with two doubles in 8 AB since being called up).  With a 2-2 count, Fuld hit a looper to the left side of the infield.  J.J. Hardy climbed the ladder and absolutely robbed Sam Fuld of a hit, hit the ground, and doubled off Mike Fontenot at second with the wily veteran Counsell covering second base.  Absolutely great play by two very smart infielders up the middle for the Brewers that got Stetter out of a jam.

After a disappointing 1-2-3 top half, the Brewers brought in Mark DiFelice to pitch the bottom of the tenth inning.  DiFelice started the inning with a simple groundball out to Craig Counsell.  Following this groundout, Theriot singled on a groundball to the right side.  After a wild pitch that moved Theriot over to second against Derrek Lee, Lee flew out to right and moved Theriot over to third.  With a runner on third, DiFelice intentionally walked Milton Bradley and Geovany Soto to get to Jake Fox.

This is where the controversy begins.  After falling behind 3-1 to Fox, DiFelice started to pound the strike zone and Fox fouled off four consecutive pitches.  On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, DiFelice threw a strike (as my partner Jim has already shown), but unfortunately it was called a ball by home plate umpire Bill Welke.  This was an absolutely TERRIBLE call.  I am not the type of person who ever complains about the mistakes umpires make, but that was awful and cost the Brewers the game.

Player of the Game: Jeff Suppan

Wow, what a performance by Jeff Suppan.  Suppan gave up four hits and walked two while using only 90 pitches.  This is exactly the kind of performance the Brewers needed out of him today.  By going seven innings, Suppan allowed the Brewers to save a few of their bullpen arms and put us in a better position for the rest of the weekend.  It is just a shame that the Brewers could not score a few more runs and get Suppan a win.

On Tap:

The Brewers will spend their Fourth of July at the not-so Friendly Confines for the third game of the series.  The Brewers will put Braden Looper up against Rich Harden at 12:05pm CST tomorrow.  Have a great Fourth everyone!  Hopefully the Brewers will be able to help you out with a W.