Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Brewers Fold Cards, Win 12-7
Brewers Manage to Split Series
Dennis Jenders
Your Milwaukee Brewers powered their way to a 12-7 win to split the series and leave St. Louis no worse than when they arrived. In fact the series might be a turning point in the season with the Brewers giving the Cardinals all they could handle in 3 of the 4 games and possibly boosting the morale of the entire club.
The score was much closer than the game actually was with the Cardinals tacking on two runs in the bottom of the ninth when Hector Luna had a 2 RBI double.
Geoff Jenkins celebrated his 31st birthday going 3-4 with a homer, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, and a walk to raise his average to .279 and help power the Brewers to split the series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Rickie Weeks opened the flood gates with a deep triple to start the game and Lyle Overbay drove him home. Scott Rolen threw the ball away letting Overbay reach second. Carlos Lee who has had a rough time with the Cardinals singled to score Overbay. Jenkins bounced into a double play to end the inning but he would extend his hitting streak with a single in the the third to score Overbay.
Chris Capuano started the game very well. Staying away from walks and other mistakes Capuano cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble. To help his cause in the fourth Capuano singled to center to score the scorching hot J.J. Hardy. But the heat seemed to have gotten to him as he did not have the chance to take a break between innings. Capuano quickly found himself in trouble in the bottom of the inning when Albert Pujols singled and Capuano walked both Mark Grudzielanek and rookie John Rodriguez. The Cards managed to score 3 runs off the Crew when Mike Mahoney singled to score Pujols and Grudzielanek. Capuano's counterpart Jason Marquis also singled to score Rodriguez before Chris could put an end to the inning. The Brewers only led 5-3 at the end of the inning.
The game looked like it would be another close one until the Brewers broke lose for three more runs in both the fifth and seventh innings. Pujols had an RBI single in the fifth and with Jenkins homer in the eighth the Brewers were in command of the game with a 12-4 lead. The entire order contributed to the Brewers win with everyone from the starting lineup getting at least one hit. The number nine hole contributed two RBIs from Capuano and reliever Matt Wise.
The embarassing 11-4 pounding on Monday and tough luck loss last night made the Brewers look a lot worse than they actually played. With a few pitching mistakes Monday the Crew quickly found the game out of reach and the lack of producing runs last night, which has plagued the season, with players in scoring position looked to be mental lapses rather than a streak of bad play.
J.J. Hardy had a strong series and Geoff Jenkins took his hitting streak to 14 games. The Brewers next opponent, the Cincinnati Reds, won today beating the Cubs 9-6. The Brewers could come home Monday one game above .500 if they can manage a sweep this weekend. Today's hot hitting, if continued, could easily propel the Brewers ahead of the Cubs and Astros in the standings before coming home to face teh Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.