I'm not sure if you've heard, but the Brewers played yesterday. Unfortunately, it was more of the same.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Even Mike Cameron's return (1-for-4 with a K) and a Jason Kendall home run weren't enough to save the Brewers last night.

Sounds like the locker room after the game might have been a little lacking in realism, as well. Salomon Torres said the Brewers will still catch the Cubs, and Ned Yost said everything short of "math is still on our side." I'm officially starting to worry.

I'll just go ahead and lump all the bullpen stuff together in bullet points:

• Buster Olney ranked the Brewer bullpen 11th out of the 14 remaining playoff contenders.
• In-Between Hops crunched the numbers and suggests that the bullpen may actually be suffering from underuse.
• The Official Site says David Riske might have a sore arm. Seriously, someone couldn't just walk up to him and ask?
• Chuckie Hacks has made Gagne into a verb.

So, with an unreliable bullpen forcing him to go farther into games, is CC Sabathia wearing out? Dixieflatline says no, over at The Hardball Times.

I haven't talked much lately about defense. Would it surprise you to discover that the Brewers are the sixth best defensive team in baseball? Beyond the Box Score makes that case. Other notes from the same post: Jason Kendall is the top defensive C in baseball, Ray Durham is tied for the worst defensive 2B (and not with Rickie Weeks), and Prince Fielder's defense has cost the Brewers 17 runs this season.

The new Whisnant rankings have the Brewers 9th.

On injuries:

Giants SS Emmanuel Burriss could be done for the year with a strained oblique.
Rays C Shawn Riggans will be out 3-5 days with bursitis in his knee.
Rays RP Juan Salas had to be taken to the hospital after suffering an epileptic seizure at Fenway Park yesterday but should be fine today.
Marlins C Matt Treanor will likely be relegated to emergency-only duty for the remainder of the season after fouling a ball off his left knee.
Rays CF B.J. Upton has a strained quad and will miss a few days.
Billy Wagner is out for the rest of 2008 and could be the first pitcher out for all of 2009 with a torn MCL in his elbow.
Jack Wilson is finished for 2008 with a hairline fracture in his finger.

Yesterday I mentioned that A's OF Rajai Davis had entered the game as a pinch runner and hit a grand slam in the same inning. Recondite Baseball followed up on that. Today, another strange line: Tigers 1B Mike Hessman was hit by two pitches in the same inning last night. It was only the fifth time in baseball history that that's happened.

Via Baseball Musings, I found out that Chris Young shook off his catcher before throwing the pitch Gabe Kapler used to hit a home run and end his perfect game on Sunday. Oops.

This seems unlikely at best, but worth mentioning: Mark McGwire may consider a 2009 return.

Oh, and apparently the pizza is terrible in Cincinnati.

Drink up.

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.

I had a Nutrisoda yesterday. It was fantastic. Then the Brewers won. I went online and ordered a case.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Ok, I'm as eager as anybody to move on, but most of today's most interesting Brewer links are still about Fielder/Parra, so let's bust out some more bullet points:

• Prince apologized, but not to Manny.
• Big League Stew wants to know if you think this will affect the Brewers.
• It obviously didn't affect Prince's performance.
• Adam Charles wonders if the whole thing was about Brett Favre.
• After the game, Fielder continued to commit the crime many find so intolerable: untucking his shirt.

I know we're all sick of conversations about Fielder's diet too, but Red Hot Mama has a post on Fielder's caloric intake that actually raises interesting questions.

Does it seem to you like the Brewers might be on pace to set a single-season record for solo home runs? They're not.

If Corey Hart stays hot, pretty soon we'll all be stealing hairstyle ideas from Vanilla Ice.

The Canadian Olympic team won't return from Beijing until after the signing deadline, so the Brewers went ahead and signed Brett Lawrie yesterday. If his Olympic performance is anything like his triple-crown winning performance in the Junior World Championships, his stock should go up pretty fast.

On injuries:

Joba Chamberlain is going to see Dr. James Andrews.
Blue Jays utilityman Joe Inglett missed yesterday's game with "a wonky left knee." Apparently medical terminology is different in Canada.
O's OF Adam Jones has a broken foot and is likely out for the year.
Billy Wagner is on the DL with a strained forearm.
Rangers closer C.J. Wilson is headed to the DL with bone spurs in his elbow.

A mystery has been solved and we can all rest easier. MurrayChass.com's real author is...Murray Chass.

I don't know if MurrayChass.com is banned in China, but I can tell you that joeposnanski.com is, which will probably make it difficult for him to blog from the Olympics.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz is still upset over Monday's Cubs/Astros game being played through a tornado warning. He's calling for discipline for crew chief Wally Bell, and raises the question of whether the game would have continued if the Cubs were winning. As is frequently the case, MLB has no interest in publicly disclosing their thought process on the matter.

Jim Caple says closer is the most overrated position in sports. His favorite team must have a good one.

Would you like to preserve a piece of history in your home? How about a seat from Shea Stadium? Willing to pay $869 for one? I didn't think so. Consider making an investment in this flood relief charity auction instead.

Drink up.

Season sweep of the Giants, and the Brewers' first road sweep in California since 2002, eh? I'll take it.

Friday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph

Friday's BR Box Score
Saturday's BR Box Score
Sunday's BR Box Score

Of course, the weekend's biggest news is the acquisition of Ray Durham for two minor leaguers. The immediate question: Where and how much will he play? Ned Yost defended Rickie Weeks yesterday and says he'll play Durham "a couple days a week, maybe."

In the meantime, the Brewers may have kept another team from making a move, as well: Sam Mellinger says the low price the Giants received for Durham, plus with the fact that they're paying a large chunk of his salary, may keep the Royals from reaching a deal to trade Mark Grudzielanek and his $4 million salary.

The grand rotation experiment begins today, as Seth McClung starts on the road in St. Louis, his first start as part of the road/home platoon at the end of the rotation. If all goes as planned and the team sticks with the platoon, Dave Bush would then get three of the next four starts, including Saturday against Houston and the following Thursday against the Cubs.

Speaking of Dave Bush, Baseball By Paul thinks he'll come back to Earth and now is a good time to sell high. Paul also predicts a hot second half for Prince Fielder.

The Brewers have moved up to 8th in Phil Rogers' power rankings, or seventh if you want to be a purist and argue that team power rankings should only include actual teams.

On injuries:

Red Sox RP David Aardsma is on the DL with a sore groin.
A's 1B Daric Barton hit his head on the bottom of a swimming pool during the All-Star Break and has been DL'ed.
Reds RP Jared Burton has been placed on the DL with a strained right latissimus muscle.
White Sox SP Jose Contreras has been placed on the DL with elbow tendinitis.
Jermaine Dye left yesterday's game after being hit in the knee with a pitch.
Ryan Freel is out for the rest of 2008 after having surgery to repair a torn tendon behind his right knee.
Rays RP Gary Glover has been placed on the DL with a calf strain.
Orioles LHP Adam Loewen has a stress fracture in his elbow and has decided to give up pitching.
Pedro Martinez threw a bullpen session yesterday, but won't pitch Tuesday as scheduled.
Angels OF Gary Matthews Jr. has a slight tear in his knee but will play through it.
Mets OF Trot Nixon underwent season-ending hernia surgery.
Roy Oswalt has been placed on the DL with continued soreness from a left hip abductor strain.
Mets OF Angel Pagan may need season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Mariners SP Carlos Silva left yesterday's start with back spasms but may make his next start.
Billy Wagner will have an MRI today after suffering cramping in his shoulder yesterday.
Marlins OF Josh Willingham missed yesterday's game to rest a sore wrist after being hit by a pitch Saturday.
Dmitri Young, who is diabetic, is on the DL after missing two straight games with high blood sugar and lightheadedness.

Apparently Scott Linebrink is using acupuncture and other methods to relieve the pain of migraines and some back issues he's been having. I've been known to get migraines related to Linebrink as well, especially when Joe Thatcher and Will Inman pitch well.

I'm sure this debate has been hashed out before, but it doesn't usually give me the urge to sing "One of these things is not like the others." Dugout Central asked four writers to name the greatest living pitcher. Your nominees: Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens...and Dwight Gooden.

Murray Chass would like to know why it's been 2 1/2 years since Don Baylor worked in baseball.

Week 15's blogpoll results for AL Awards (conducted over the break) are up at this link. Ian Kinsler was the surprise winner for MVP, with Cliff Lee taking the Cy Young and Evan Longoria lapping the field to win the Rookie of the Year. If you read the comments, I actually only wrote about half of what's quoted to me...the part about catchers belongs to someone else. Here's my ballot:

MVP:
1. Ian Kinsler
2. Grady Sizemore
3. Alex Rodriguez

Cy Young:
1. Roy Halladay
2. Justin Duchsherer
3. Cliff Lee

ROTY:
1. Evan Longoria
2. Greg Smith
3. Nick Blackburn

Oh, and if you ever find yourself stuck in a conundrum, where a team either has the option of paying you $20 million for next season or letting you become a free agent and likely make significantly less, the way to show that team you want to stay is almost certainly not tanking in a pinch hit at-bat against the Yankees. Just saying.

Drink up.