Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Reds Swing Away
Brewers Lose 11-4
Nate Roth
One day after riding the high of finally topping the .500 mark, the Milwaukee Brewers tumbled back to even with a 11-4 trouncing at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.
Attempting to be the first Brewers pitcher to earn 19 wins since 1987 despite his recent control struggles, Chris Capuano did not bring his A-game and the offense didn't bail him out. He gave up hits early and often, and exited after five innings and surrendering six runs. His record is now 18-11 and most likely will not reach the coveted 20 win plateau. Adam Harang pitched into the eighth inning, mowing down the Brewers and earning his 12th win.
Once Capuano exited, the game virtually turned into a spring training game with multiple substitutions, especially on the Brewers side. The struggling Wes Obermueller came on in the sixth inning and promptly couldn't find the strike zone. The Reds fought for a two out rally against him, scoring three runs in the process. A hearty crowd of 21,181 gave him a cynical standing ovation after the final out of the inning.
Dana Eveland also continued his September swoon by giving up two more runs in the seventh inning, putting the Brewers in an insurmountable hole, even with their hot September hitting.
There were a few bright spots for the Brewers Wednesday night, JJ Hardy hit his ninth homer of the season and Nelson Cruz collected his first major league hit – a hard double down the right field line that bounced off of first baseman Adam Dunn. Prince Fielder also chipped in with a liner up the middle for a single in the eighth inning.
A scary situation occurred in the bottom of the fourth with two out. Bill Hall crushed an Adam Harang pitch to left center field that Wily Mo Pena made a headfirst dive to attempt to catch it … but he dove right into the base of the wall where it juts out. The ball bounced away and was relayed in to catch Hall at homeplate trying to have an inside the park homerun to end the inning. Pena, however, still lay on the ground and was surrounded by medical personnel and teammates for more than five minutes. He left the game with a hyper extended lower back, no word on how serious the injury is.
With the loss, the Brewers are 79-79 and remain in third place in the NL Central, two games ahead of the Cubs. The home finale is Thursday at 1pm and is the "free" game, so it will be a packed house to send the Brewers off in style.