So I'll admit it: I was thinking sweep after Monday's game. It was a trap.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

After the game, Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart had this to say: Geoff Blum is hitting .229/.269/.419 with 12 HR. Rickie Weeks, for comparison purposes, is hitting .229/.331/.381 with 10 HR. We complain an awful lot about Tom H. around here, but wow...even he wouldn't have said something like that.

Brewer management is still playing defense after leaving CC Sabathia in to throw 130 pitches Monday. Ned says it's ok because Sabathia only averages 13.7 pitches per inning. That's a "math is still on our side" moment if I've ever seen one. Ken Rosenthal got some similar quotes from Doug Melvin.

Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron compares Sabathia to the greatest mid-season pitching acquisitions of all time. Dugout Central and Rob Neyer both make a case for him to win NL MVP.

Corey Hart needs to hit one home run to be the first Brewer ever to finish with 20 HR and 20 steals more than once. Does it surprise anyone else that it's never happened twice? It surprised me.

Between this catch last night and this one Saturday, Gabe Kapler is giving me a reason to scroll through the Yahoo photos that doesn't involve searching for untucked shirts.

Ben Sheets ERA for August is up over 4. In-Between Hops notes that Sheets had a similar stretch in 2004, and it's probably nothing to worry about.

Power Rankings, quickly:
Whatifsports: Second, behind the Cubs.
Bugs and Cranks: Seventh.
Whisnant Rankings: Ninth.

Between the Green Pillars has made a list of four things to watch for the Brewers down the stretch. Let me summarize them for you:

1. Health
2. Health
3. Bullpen
4. Someone needs to get hot.

Tomorrow, we apply these needs to every other playoff team.

On injuries:

Josh Beckett's next start has been pushed back 3 days while doctors try to find the source of numbness in his pitching hand.
Braves IF Ruben Gotay has been placed on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Jason Isringhausen is likely out for the season with elbow tendinitis and a partially torn tendon.
O's closer George Sherrill is on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Billy Wagner's elbow isn't getting any better and he's likely done for the year.

So, let's say for a moment you're a Reds fan. You signed Francisco Cordero before the season, hired Dusty Baker to manage and showed all the signs of "going for it." Then, you underperformed, cleaned house in the front office, traded away Ken Griffey and Adam Dunn, and now it doesn't look like you'll be any better in 2009. Is one letter to season ticket holders really going to make you feel better? Me either.

Oh, and the Cardinals season really must be over, because Cardinals Diaspora is talking about The Hills. Seriously.

Drink up.

Thomas ("Stros Bro"), of SBN sister site The Crawfish Boxes, was kind enough to answer my questions about his team.  We've got a three-game set against the Astros this weekend, and now we'll have a little better idea of what we're watching.

Q: You've gotten to watch Carlos Lee every day for a full season now.  What do you think?  Is he worth $12MM this year?  How about $18.5MM in 2012?

A: Last season, I would have said without much doubt in my mind that he was worth the money and will be worth it over the life of his contract.  Now seeing how he's playing this season, I can't help but wonder whether that is now true.  He seems to be gaining weight and isn't getting better in the outfield.  If he was still hitting like last season I would be okay with it, but he's not even doing that this season.  Right now he's playing as a below average defensive player and an average offensive player.  He's definitely not playing up to what we're paying for him.

Q: Fun fact: The opening day starting five for the Astros were all born within 21 months of each other.  The rotation seems to me to be the achilles heel of this team, especially with Oswalt struggling.  What do you think?

A: Quick answer to this would be... who knows?  Before the season started, most people believed the Astros were solid everywhere but their starting rotation and the starting rotation was Roy Oswalt and then a bunch of question marks.  Well, now that the season has started, Roy Oswalt was terrible for his first 3 starts and 3 of the 4 other Astros starters were at least solid.  I think the Astros rotation is still going to end up being the weak point for the Astros, but they haven't shown it so far this season for the most part.

Q: I'm really curious about J.R. Towles.  Catchers (at least of the non-Joe Mauer variety) usually don't get promoted straight a starting job, much less hold on to it when a vet is sitting on the bench.  What are your impressions of him so far?

A: I can't say that I've been overly impressed with J.R. Towles so far this season.  He has some pop and can definitely bring more to the plate than Brad Ausmus... but Ausmus is one of the worst offensive catchers in baseball, so that's not much of a compliment.  Towles is a solid defensive catcher but still has a few strides to take before he becomes a real major league catcher.  If I had my choice right now, I'd rather the Astros have Quintero up taking most of the catching duties and let Towles have another season down in Triple-A to work on some things.

Q: Brewers fans like grit, and we've got our share, but Kendall, Counsell and Kapler pale in comparison to Ausmus, Matsui, and Erstad.  How do you feel about your team's bench construction?

A: The Astros bench consists of weak-hitting Brad Ausmus, light-hitting Geoff Blum, decent-hitting Mark Loretta, not-hitting Jose Cruz Jr and swings-at-everything Darin Erstad.  I wouldn't rank our bench in the top 20 in baseball.  If I had a choice of who to keep and who to get rid of... only Erstad and Loretta would still be on the team.  The other 3 aren't of much use to me other than defensive replacements.  Blum is good for a clutch hit every now and then, but at the end of the night, he's still just a light-hitting .250 hitter.

Q: Since the Miguel Tejada trade, Miggy has, uh, "matured," and Troy Patton has had shoulder surgery.  It's early, but what's your take on the big swap?

A: With Patton going down this trade comes out as Tejada for Luke Scott.  I really liked Luke Scott when he played for Houston and don't think he ever really got a chance to be a starter; no matter how well he did.  I think the Astros leash on him was too short.  That being said, Tejada is a monster and has been one of the best Astros players this season.  You have to look past all of the steroid talk and the age issue and see the good clubhouse guy and energetic leader who has been one of the only bright spots on the Astros this season.  So I'll have to say that I am happy with the trade overall... although, I think ultimately, the O's will be happy with the trade as well, once Patton becomes healthy.

Thanks Thomas!