So yesterday was a first. For the first time in 2008, I actually had to get up and leave my computer during a Brewer game due to fear I might vomit.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Tom H. is calling it the worst defeat of the season. I'm not ready to say it's head-and-shoulders above the Arizona debacle, but it certainly wasn't fun.

So, did the Brewers' playoff hopes end yesterday? Chuckie Hacks, The Brew Town Beat and Two-Fisted Slopper all seem to think so.

This got somewhat lost in everything else, but it's worth noting: The baserunning was awful yesterday. As an example, here are two pictures of J.J. Hardy getting thrown out at bases. But, Sveum blamed the wind.

So what now? Jeff Suppan will start tonight, since McClung was forced into duty in yesterday's game. There are some more hints for the future in this JS roundup, which I'll summarize for you:

• No one knows when/if Sheets can pitch again.
• Yovani Gallardo will throw one more time today, then rejoin the team.
• Gabe Kapler is back with the team but can't slide head first or throw.
• Mat Gamel's elbow pain has been diagnosed as tendinitis.
• Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall will only play against lefties the rest of the way.
• Mike Rivera isn't going to play at all. No reason. Just sitting a guy who's hitting .311/.382/.443 as a catcher but will finish the season with less than 70 plate appearances on a team that's "going for it." Did Mike Rivera kill somebody's pets? I'm honestly flabbergasted by this one.

Baseball Musings says Dave Bush's slugging percentage allowed is the one thing keeping him from becoming an elite pitcher. To me, he seems a little farther away than that, but he certainly gives up the long ball.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, CC Sabathia made Baseball Analysts "Getting it Done" pitching staff.

Even after losing two of three in Chicago, the Brewers only need 6 wins in their last 9 games to finish with 90 wins. If they do that, the Astros and Marlins win out and the Phillies and Mets falter a bit, we could still have a five-way tie for the NL wild Card.

On injuries:

A's SP Justin Duchsherer will miss his scheduled start Saturday as he continues to rehab his surgically repaired hip.
Michael Young reinjured his fractured finger last night and could be done for 2008.

Symmetry in action: John Fay notes that the Reds have 4 starting pitchers that have made 25 starts with an ERA below 5.00 for the first time since 1992. That struck me as a really long time, so I looked up the last time the Brewers did it. Also 1992. With luck, they'll break that streak in 2008. Sheets, Parra, Suppan and Bush all have 25 starts, and Suppan is the only one at immediate risk of having his ERA sneak over 5.

Maybe this guy can still pitch? Eduardo Rodriguez was the only Brewer to take advantage of a save rule that allowed a pitcher to get a save without finishing a game, in 1974.

Ned Yost won't be on the Braves staff next year after all. The Braves announced yesterday that their entire coaching staff will return for 2009.

This Mug is already getting kind of long, so I won't reveal any of them here, but there's some good stuff I didn't know in this 25 Fact Baseball Roster.

Oh, and Ryan Howard isn't leading the NL in strikeouts. Who knew?

Drink up.

From the JS: And everywhere else, for that matter.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

I didn't get a chance to watch the game last night, but I could tell Rickie Weeks was struggling because my dad called twice to complain about him. After the game, Ned Yost said Weeks was rushing his throws. The Brew Town Beat took it to the next level and said he sucks at life. One thing is for sure: you know your defense is bad when people are seriously considering Ray Durham as a defensive replacement.

As noted in the Fanshots, Derrick Turnbow has a partial tear of his rotator cuff. Surgery may or may not be needed, but he's done for 2008, at any rate. In the grand scheme, this is likely good news for Turnbow, who can rehab, recover and attempt a fresh start in 2009, but it probably is the end of his time in a Brewer uniform.

ESPN has opened up the voting for the greatest Brewer of all time. I'm guessing the winner is more or less a foregone conclusion, but go check out the list of candidates anyway.

Robin Yount also made The Hardball Times' list of greatest slugging middle infielders of all time.

Today we have good, bad and bizarre power rankings:
THE GOOD: WhatifSports ranks the Brewers #1 by more than 2 full wins.
THE BAD: The Whisnant Rankings dropped the Brewers from 15th to 16th.
THE BIZARRE: Andrea Reiher of Bugs and Cranks ranks the Brewers 6th. At least I think the Alice Cooper quote represented the Brewers.

Batter's Box Interactive takes a look at players on every NL team with a shot at the Hall of Fame, and comes up with 5 Brewers: CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun...and Eric Gagne. Really? Eric Gagne?

Jonathan Mayo recently posted his notes from the AAA All-Star game, and says that Luis Pena created the biggest buzz with his three-digit fastball...and the home run Pawtucket's Chris Carter hit off of it.

On injuries:

Blue Jays IF Aaron Hill continues to miss time as he slowly recovers from a concussion.
Tim Hudson has been placed on the DL with ligament damage in his elbow.
Chipper Jones' hamstring has landed him back on the DL.
Mets P John Maine will have an MRI today after leaving last night's game with shoulder stiffness.
Jorge Posada will have shoulder surgery after all, and the time spent waiting to decide may mean he's not ready for spring training 2009.
Blue Jays RP Brian Tallet has been placed on the DL with a broken toe.
Michael Young fractured his right ring finger and should miss 5-7 days.

We'll never know how Dennis Sarfate could have fit into this year's Brewer bullpen, but he's sliding into the Orioles rotation on Wednesday.

Thanks to Dixieflatline, who mentioned this one in yesterday's comments: Over at the Hardball Times, John Walsh takes a look at the change-up, why it's not traditionally thrown inside, and how Ted Lilly has gotten away with throwing it inside anyway.

I know Greg Maddux has been around a long time and thrown a lot of pitches, but would you have guessed he's moved into tenth place on the all-time strikeout list? I would not have.

If you or someone in your family would like to win the opportunity to meet Derek Jeter and assess in person the possibility that he'll someday be baseball's least deserving Hall of Famer, weplay.com has a deal for you.

In the wake of last week's ugly minor league brawl in Peoria, the Dayton Dragons released the player whose hard slide started the altercation. The player who tried to throw a ball into the opposing team's dugout, missed and hit a fan faces felony charges. I hadn't heard anything about him being released, but he's not on Peoria's roster as of this morning.

Oh, and by the way, there's a Woot-off going on today, so if you were looking for an opportunity to go impulse buy electronics, here you go.

Drink up.

Here's a tradition I'd like to see more of.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

You can either stop holding your breath, or prepare to hold it for 15 more days: the Brewers' deadline to make a decision on Jeff Weaver has been extended to June 15.

Apparently David Riske has no new structural damage, but is taking longer than expected to recover. That's bad news all around. Of course, Salomon Torres is pretty excited about getting to close games.

So last night the Brewers got 3 hits and won. That's a stark contrast from August 24, 2002, when they got 20 hits and lost, tying the tenth highest hit total in a nine inning loss of all time. Recondite Baseball has the full list at that link. Or, you could stay here and watch me struggle with bad segues and awkward linking.

In the fanposts yesterday, Greg8370 mentioned a report that the Brewers might be looking to move their AA team to the Eastern League, and had been mentioned as a candidate to play home games in Norwich, CT. After a brief search this morning, I found the column mentioning it. Sounds like the Defenders are having some real problems with the Giants organization, mainly tied to the fact that the Giants don't like the ballpark dimensions, and also don't like playing 30-degree home games. I think I'd stick with Huntsville. I emailed the reporter, though, to see where he got the rumor from.

UPDATE: I've been in touch with Joe Perez, the writer from the Norwich Bulletin. You can see our conversation here .

So yesterday afternoon I had a moment to kill, and I got an email from the Brewers. They really wanted me to vote (25 times) to get some Brewers in the starting lineup of the All-Star Game. They've also posted a story about how close Braun is to only being 4 spots back of the leaders. So I sat down with the stats, picked out the best candidate at each position...and didn't vote for a single Brewer. Here's the ballot I clicked and reclicked and submitted 25 times:

AL:
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Kevin Youkilis
2B: Ian Kinsler
3B: Joe Crede
SS: Michael Young
OF: Milton Bradley
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Magglio Ordonez
DH: David Ortiz

NL:
C: Brian McCann
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Dan Uggla
3B: Chipper Jones
SS: Hanley Ramirez
OF: Nate McLouth
OF: Pat Burrell
OF: Adam Dunn

On injuries:

Pirates P Zach Duke will get an extra day before his next start to allow a blister to heal.
Carlos Guillen is battling some hemorrhoids his manager seems a little too eager to talk about.
Marlins P Scott Olsen still isn't getting velocity back after an exceptionally long outing against the Brewers weeks ago.
Troy Percival collapsed falling off the mound last night and has a tight hamstring. Grant Balfour may be called up in his place.
A's OF Ryan Sweeney had to be taken to the hospital for X-rays after fouling a ball off his foot.
Frank Thomas may be headed to the DL after an MRI on his strained right quad revealed major inflammation.
Blue Jays C Gregg Zaun has been placed on the DL with inflammation in his elbow.

Does the price include my computer and rent for mom's basement? The Juiced Sports Blog ranks the 100 most valuable sports blogs.

It didn't crack the top 100, but I think this post is pretty valuable: The Padres recently acquired Cha Seung Baek, and Paul DePodesta discusses the move.

Oh, and a hydrochloric acid spill is a pretty good reason to suspend a game.

Drink up.