Brewers Give Another One Away

It's hopefully not going to turn into a trend this year, but so far the Brewers have become very good at giving games away. Wednesday afternoon's matchup with the Cubs was one of those games, as they took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning only to see LaTroy Hawkins give up four runs. The Brewers offense was unable to muster a rally in the 9th, and the Cubbies got the 7-6 victory.

Actually, maybe the Brewers were lucky to have that three run lead in the first place, if only because Alfonsio Soriano has to be one of the worst left fielders in the league. He plays the space out there as if he's in a whole new stadium rather than the friendly confines of Wrigley Field of which he should be used to. He had an error which lead to a Brewers run in the 5th inning, and struggled with a ball in the 7th that allowed Rickie Weeks to score as well. But as much as he was struggling, the Brewers offense still deserves credit for the six times they did cross the plate.

Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee, and Corey Hart all collected RBI before the 8th inning, when the Brewers added two more runs via RBI triples from both Carlos Gomez and Alcides Escobar. I like those two batting next two each other because of the options their speed provides, but that lineup may not be our best option if it causes Gregg Zaun to hit sixth. Zaun has been trash at the plate so far this season, finally collecting his first hit of the year on Wednesday. Zaun's average did increase though to .045 on the season, so good for him.

I was really feeling optimistic about this game too, because Dave Bush was delivering a pretty solid performance. Bush finished the game after six innings of work, allowing just two runs and striking out two batters. But it seems that when the starters struggle, the bullpen is fine, and when the bullpen is fine, the starters struggle. Not a good trend.

The Crew will get another chance against the Cubs Thursday at 1:20pm, as Carlos Zambrano will attempt to make a fool out of Jeff Suppan, who has been activated to the 25-man squad. Mitch Stetter is the one who drew the short straw of being sent down to Nashville, if only because he's one of the few guys still with options left. So after the first two weeks of struggling baseball, the Brewers are going to Jeff Suppan to see if we can turn it around. Can't wait.

Captain Night Owl.