Fun fact: The Brewers have the fourth best record in baseball right now.  Only the Cubs, Rays, and Angels are better, and one could make a case that the Angels play in a weaker division.  (They get to play the Mariners...a lot.)

Great matchup of young pitchers tonight: Manny Parra against Adam Wainwright.  Parra is coming off of two out of three nice outings, while Wainwright has had one solid start since returning from injury.  My only prediction is that neither team will score 12 runs tonight.

Game time is 7:15 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

Now that we've taken our turns against the Pirates, the Cubs get their chance.  (We get them again soon, too.)  Tomorrow we start a two-gamer against the Cardinals.

Possible topics for discussion:

• Will the Brewers ever lose again?
• Will Ned ever pull CC before the 10th inning again?
• Should Erik Komatsu be called up when the rosters expand?
• Would it be more appropriate if Walter Young was acquired to help the roster "expand?"
• Is this gold medalist Elena Dementieva's year at the US Open?

Paul Maholm's pretty good.  Lucky for us, CC Sabathia is even better.

Game time is 1:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

Hey, look, I posted a game thread!

Matchup tonight is Tom Gorzellany and Jeff Suppan.  The last time Gorzo faced the Brewers was also the last time he pitched in the big leagues.  It didn't go well, and precipitated his demotion.  Let's hope he didn't figure too much out in Indianapolis.

Game time is 6:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

Thanks to an easy schedule and a team that has executed, August has been a good month for Brewers fans.  In 20 August games so far, we're 14-6, scoring 105 runs against only 57 given up.  It hasn't made much of an impact in the standings--since the close of play on July 31, we've gained a whole half-game, but given the threat of a Wild Card challenge coming out of the east, it's nice to open up some space there.

As regular readers know, I'm on a permanent war against incorrect uses of small samples, but with that caveat, I thought I'd take a look at how the Brewers have succeeded this month:

• The starting rotation is just filthy.  Altogether, they've posted a 2.83 ERA and averaged exactly seven innings per start.  Speaking to that durability, they've notched 17 of the 20 decisions in August.
  
• On the offensive side, thanks go to Mike Cameron.  He's been a monster.  His line of 328/423/731 is best on the team in all three stats. 
• Rickie Weeks isn't exactly on a tear, but he's been respectable.  As usual, there's at least 100 points between his batting average and OBP: right now, his OPS sits at an even 800, fifth best among regulars and respectable for a second baseman.
• The middle of the order is slugging, even if they're not doing much else--Fielder, Braun, and Hart all have 500+ slugging percentages.  On the downside, Fielder is having some bad luck (BABIP of .204) and Hart has walked only twice in 84 plate appearances.
• Even the bullpen has gotten into the act.  It helps that they haven't been worked very much, so the middle relief hasn't been overexposed, but regardless of context, a 2.25 ERA from relievers is pretty darn good.

As is probably typical in 14-6 stretches, there just isn't much to complain about.  It's a shame that Branyan is hurting and Counsell is starting every day--he's hitting just about like the pessimists among us expect him to--but it's hard to object to putting a good defender in the infield every day.  Parra hasn't been as successful this month as he was earlier in the year, but if you're quibbling about a starter with a 4.94 ERA on the month, there just isn't much negative to talk about.

I like it.

The Crew is off today, and I don't have much to say, so I figured I'd leave it open to you guys. 

Highlights on today's schedule:

• 1:20 CT: Reds at Cubs
• 6:10 CT: Braves at Mets
• 8:40 CT: Padres at D-Backs (Webb's starting)

Last time Manny Parra and Wandy Rodriguez faced off, Wandy came out on top.  Of course, Michael Bourn had an extra-base hit, since he's had 16 of those this year, and he has to cram those into a small number of Astros-Brewers games.  Rodriguez has only had one good start in four tries since then, though, while Parra has...uh, also not been very good. 

Game time is 1:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

I guess you have to give credit to Cecil Cooper for boldness, if not perceptiveness.  If he predicts a sweep before tonight's game, we'll know he's almost as crazy as Ed Wade.

Matchup tonight is Ben Sheets and Brian Moehler.  If Sheets gets two hits and two RBIs...well, I'll go as crazy as Ed Wade.

Game time is 7:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

It's a bit of a surprise, but for a middling NL team, the Astros match up pretty well with Sabathia.  Erstad, Loretta (I had forgotten about his year with the Red Sox), and Tejada have all spent some time in the AL, and all have 790+ OPS's in their time against him.  Of course, Erstad was better then.

This is a slightly different Astros team than we last saw--Wolf was newly acquired before our last series, but since then, Carlos Lee was lost for the season, meaning that Erstad, Blum, or both are fixtures in the starting lineup.  Those guys are pesky, sure, but it's definitely a blow to the offense.

Matchup is Wolf and Sabathia, game time is 7:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!