Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Brewers Near .500 Record
Confidence Displayed in 7-2 Win Over Arizona
Dennis Jenders
Milwaukee exuded confidence in themselves even as pitcher Chris Capuano was missing some of his spots and errors in the third could have led to a big lead for Arizona. But the Brewers perservered in their 7-2 win, bringing them a game within the .500 mark.
Rookie J.J. Hardy, who's defense is usually solid, committed an error in the third on a double play ball that could have ended the inning. With the bases loaded Capuano had gotten Luis Gonzalez to dribble a ball to the mound that should have recorded the second out at home, but Capuano couldn't get his hand on the ball allowing a run to score. With the solo shot by Tony Clark in the second Arizona found themselves on top 2-0.
But the Brewers were able to turn a double play to end the inning and save Capuano from falling to behind in the game. Lyle Overbay homered in the fourth to cut the lead in half.
The pivotal defensive play came in the sixth when Geoff Jenkins gunned down Shawn Green at third base after Jose Cruz Jr. hit a fly to right-center field. Jenkins called off Brady Clark and the play really seemed to wake the team up. The defense would provide the spark the offense would need to awaken later.
The Brewers unleashed in the seventh when Jenkins led off the bottom of the inning with a towering home run. Russell Branyan reached on a single and Damian Miller followed him with a double and J.J. Hardy continued the rally with an RBI single.
Chris Magruder came on for Dana Eveland, who pitched two scoreless innings, and hit a sacrifice to center to score Miller. The ground rule double by Brady Clark robbed the Brewers of another run, but when Royce Clayton comitted an error that let Rickie Weeks reach second as Hardy and Clark scored. Carlos Lee capped off the inning with his NL leading 84th RBI as he singled to center before the inning was over.
The Brewers found themselves leading 7-2 as Matt Wise came on to close out the game - bringing the Brewers one game, and one sweep, away from reaching .500.
Tomo Ohka will need to rebound from a poor outing in Cincinnati where he gave up 7 runs in a 11-6 loss. If the Brewers sweep Arizona they will find themselves at .500 for the first time since May 28, when they were 24-24.