Thursday, June 19, 2008

Those Last Six Outs Were Tough to Get

So, which one of you out there jinxed the no-hitter today? No matter who it was, Dave Bush's quest to a no-no wasn't meant to be today. It was still a valiant effort from a guy who was sent to the minors a little over a month ago, and who has since then solidified himself in the Brewers starting rotation. (Note: I could of thought of a better headline for this article, but "From No-No to Uh-Oh was already taken. By like everyone.)

Bush took the no-hitter into the 8th inning, where he was just six batters away from the Brewers first such occurance since Juan Nieves in 1987. Ultimately, it would be one of the men he was traded for, Lyle Overbay, that would eventually break up the no hitter. Great effort by Braun in left to try to preserve it with a diving catch, although he was just short. Also, if Overbay ever makes it back to Miller Park again, do we still cheer him, or breaking up the no-hitter too much to forgive him for?

At this point, the Brewers had an 8-0 lead, so nobody was really too concerned. I've noticed though that when no-hitters are broken, the game either goes one of two ways. Either the pitcher and his staff regroup, and limit the opposition to either one or two hits, or the opposing team uses that momentum to keep the hits coming. Today, we saw the latter.

First, I want to mention how the Brewres got to those 8 runs. The scoring was highlighted by a Russell Branyan 3 run shot in the 3rd inning, as he's up to 10 already in his short season. The Brewers hit another home run in the 5th, although this one never left the park. Prince Fielder hit yet another inside the parker, as the ball got stuck under the padding in right field. Alex Rios thought it would be ruled a double, and backed off. Prince just kept on running (from the law?) and it was ruled as a home run. It was a good effort from the Brewers offensively, once again.

But would it be enough? The Blue Jays came storming back with home runs from Lyle Overbay and a grand-slam from Joe Inglett, which put the Blue Jays to within one. Bush gave up the first run, Dillard the next two, and Riske gave up the grand slam. It should be noted that Riske was activated Thursday after the Brewers DFA'd Julian Tavarez. Perhaps he'll clear waivers. Gagne is apparently ready to return soon, by the way, but it appears like Torres will continue to close. Which is fine with me, as he picked up another save today.

The Brewers gave us a little bit of everything today, which is fine with me as long as they got the win. The Cubs lost as again, so the team is now just 5 1/2 back, and just 2 out of the Wild Card.

Box Score.

TBC's Player of the Game: Dave Bush (first time this season!)

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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