Somewhere last night, a whiny baseball purist with a stick up his butt sent the following text: Brewers 4, Pirates 2
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Cubs 9, Mets 6
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Braves 10, Phillies 4
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Well, today we get to see what Yovani Gallardo's got. Should he be pitching today? Until tonight none of us will really know. But Bernie's Crew is against it. I don't anticipate Gallardo being left in to get shelled as he would have been under a certain previous manager. In fact, I only really expect him to go 3-4 innings before Mark DiFelice, Seth McClung, Carlos Villanueva or Jeff Suppan are summoned to eat the middle innings. But, if Gallardo can provide a quality start, it could become a shining moment in Brewer history.

So I'm assuming you all saw Prince Fielder's walk off home run Tuesday night, right? But did you know he hit it wearing Brewer underwear? Home Run Derby has the full scoop.

It appears that, if the game means something, CC Sabathia will come back around on short rest and pitch again Sunday. He needs to throw 6 more innings to reach 250, which no major leaguer has done since Livan Hernandez threw 255 in 2004. Tom H. is praising his efforts and determination, but Umpbump has a poll up asking if the Brewers are screwing Sabathia by pitching him this much.

So you may know that Ryan Braun has led the NL in total bases for most of the season. He's actually in second now, one base behind David Wright. But did you know Braun is also the only major league outfielder to have played in over 140 games with no errors? Not bad for a guy's first year in the outfield.

So Baseball Prospectus has a statistic they call "Secret Sauce," which predicts which teams will do well in the postseason. The Brewers do not fare well in this stat, so I don't buy into it.

The Brewers are, however, compelled by the power of grit. Craig Counsell is one of three players who could play in the World Series for their third different team this season. Only 24 players in history have done it.

On injuries:

Carl Crawford still hasn't received medical clearance to start hitting live pitching and will likely miss the ALDS with his injured hand.
Andy Pettitte has a sore shouder and is done for 2008.
Rockies OF Willy Taveras is done for the year with a stress fracture in his leg.

The Orioles have enough injury news to warrant their own heading. Follow that link to read about the second opinion on Daniel Cabrera's elbow, reliver Jim Miller's torn muscle in his side, Dennis Sarfate's fractured collarbone and Melvin Mora's hamstring.

Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia had to be evacuated yesterday due suspicious packages that turned out to be hot dogs. You can make all the jokes you want, but aren't all hot dogs pretty suspicious packages?

TV ratings confirmed what we all suspected: No one outside of New York cared about the final game at Yankee Stadium enough to choose it over the Packers/Cowboys game. Also under the heading of "no one cared," the Nationals are about ready to set a record for lowest attendance in the first season of a new ballpark.

The Mariners lost their 100th game last night. Somehow, they're even worse than the Giants, who played nine rookies in the seventh inning last night.

So Corey Patterson has collected over 360 plate appearances for the Reds this season despite hitting .206/.241/.341. This lead to rumors that he was only playing because he's dating Dusty Baker's daughter. It was a good theory, but turned out to be false. Now it's just inexplicable again.

Drink up.

I'm getting old. Last night's game was played in a neat and tidy 2:34, but since it started at 9 I still couldn't stay up through it.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

All of today's reads will be better if read in the comforting voice of Morgan Freeman.

So, a nice start to the road trip and a 7-game winning streak, right? So what's the national media talking about? CC Sabathia went shopping for houses yesterday.

Ryan Braun doesn't seem to know exactly what's wrong with him. Doctors are still using phrases like "puzzling symptoms." But Gord Ash says Ryan Braun will be back in 2-4 days. I just asked the Magic 8 Ball if Ryan Braun will play on this road trip and was told, "Don't count on it."

Jeremy Jeffress was supposed to make his first start in AA last night at Huntsville, but the game was rained out. I'm assuming that means he'll pitch Game 1 of tonight's doubleheader, which starts at 5:05.

Adam McCalvy of The Official Site is reporting that Yovani Gallardo is along on the road trip and could throw off a mound before the Brewers return home. A September return looks a little more plausible every day.

Are the daytime shadows in Miller Park the worst of any park in the majors? Nats C Wil Nieves seems to think so.

On injuries:

Carl Crawford will have surgery to repair damaged tendons in his finger and will be out until at least September 25.
Andruw Jones has been placed on the DL with patellar tendinitis.
Tim Lincecum took a line drive off his knee last night, but X-rays were negative. He shouldn't miss a start.
Rangers SP Vicente Padilla is doubtful for his start Thursday.
White Sox OF Carlos Quentin missed last night's game after being hit by pitches on five straight days.
Phils OF Shane Victorino left last night's game with lower back stiffness.

Quick transaction notes from around the web: The Red Sox acquired Paul Byrd yesterday and Micah Owings has been confirmed as one of the PTBNL in the Adam Dunn deal.

Both the Red Sox and the Rangers will need more pitching after last night's 19-17 slugfest. If you're bored today, go look at the Win Expectancy Graph and play log front last night's game. The Red Sox were at 98.6% to win in the first inning, came all the way back down to 18% in the 7th, and still somehow snuck out with a victory.

Oh, and the people who make TV ads for 24-Hour Fitness can't count.

Drink up.

A four-game sweep would be almost as delicious as the Corn Dogs at the Iowa State Fair. I missed most of yesterday's game waiting in line for one.

Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score

Friday's Win Expectancy Graph
Friday's BR Box Score

How back-and-forth was yesterday's game? Check out the front page at BR and scroll down. Three of the five biggest plays in all of baseball yesterday happened in the last six innings of yesterday's game.

Tom H. gives a lot of credit, as we all should, to Mike Rivera, who started for just the 12th time all year, but still got on base 5 times yesterday.

Of course, after the game the Brewers continued to commit the most heinous atrocity in the history of organized sport: they untucked their shirts.

Ryan Braun isn't feeling any better. I'm just hoping his sore back doesn't have anything to do with the time he's been spending with Marisa Miller.

CC Sabathia has already thrown 57 innings as a Brewer, but has allowed just 40 hits. I thought that was worth noting.

So apparently Catfish Stew tracks the Heavyweight Champion of Baseball. The process seems pretty simple: 2008 started with the Red Sox as champions, and anyone who beats the champions takes over the crown. During interleague play the title passed over to the NL via the Mets, and now the Brewers have it. I don't think a parade is planned.

The Brewers rank 8th in Phil Rogers' weekly power rankings, just ahead of the World Baseball Classic. They're 15th in Skyking162's rankings.

On injuries:

Mariners utilityman Willie Bloomquist has been placed on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Chris Carpenter left last night's game after 66 pitches with a triceps strain.
Carl Crawford has been placed on the DL with a "right middle finger tendon subluxation." That's a new one for me.
Jose Contreras will miss the rest of 2008 and some of 2009 with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Twins OF Michael Cuddyer was hit in the foot with a line drive last night in a AAA rehab game and suffered a broken bone.
Orlando Hudson broke his wrist Saturday and will miss the rest of the season.
Carlos Lee has a broken finger and is out for the season, ending any playoff hopes he thought the Astros had.
Brad Lidge was unavailable for the second straight day Sunday with biceps tendinitis.
Scott Rolen has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
Tim Wakefield is on the DL with a stiff shoulder.

Baseball Musings notes that the Cubs just finished a 13 game run played entirely within the NL Central, and went 10-3. He says they may have put the NL Central away during that stretch. BP Postseason Odds have them at 96.7% to make the playoffs. These guys realize there's 44 games left and we're talking about the Cubs, right?

Oh, and the Gwinnett Braves would like some help naming a burrowing rodent.

Drink up.

So, a series opening loss, and a fight in the dugout? Seems like we could be in for a rough Tuesday.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

As one might expect, talk about last night's little dust-up is all over the web this morning. Let's see if I can remember how to bust out the bullet points:

• Here's Tom Haudricourt's initial reaction.
• Voros McCracken has the video, if you haven't seen it, along with a reference to the Fielder/Sabathia Onion article of a week ago.
• Afterwards, Tom H. attempted to put together the pieces on what happened, and asks if it's a big deal.
• In-Between Hops has a list of phone calls Mark A. should be making today.
• The Brew Town Beat is calling this the beginning of a second half swoon.
• Babes Love Baseball wonders if maybe Parra was just being a dick.

Hey, I can do bullet points after all! Jeff will be so proud.

Speaking of Jeff, he's got a new article up over at The Hardball Times where he takes a look at the remaining 50 games for the Brewers and reveals what he wants for his birthday.

A couple of months ago, I asked if Jason Kendall might be catching a little too much and risking burnout. Response was mixed. Today, Tom H. asks the same question. Does this help or hurt my credibility? I'm unsure.

Another sign July was a pretty good month: The Brewers had both the NL Player of the Month (Ryan Braun) and the NL Pitcher of the Month (CC Sabathia). Our August setback, though, has dropped the Brewers to 5th in the WhatIfSports power rankings.

I'll admit it: I can't get enough Trenni. Today she's talking with Drew Olson about Erin Andrews and appropriate ballpark attire.

I didn't mention the passing of Skip Caray yesterday, mainly because I didn't know where to start. Jim Powell grew up listening to Caray in Atlanta, and has a fitting tribute today.

On injuries:

A's OF Travis Buck has been diagnosed with an inner ear infection.
Joba Chamberlain left last night's start with shoulder stiffness and will get an MRI.
Carl Crawford missed last night's game with a sore hamstring, and will likely miss a day or two more.
Nats SS Alberto Gonzalez left last night's game with a "left glut contusion."

The investigation into bonuses for Dominican players continues, but this time it's baseball's wealthiest franchise being accused of forcing Dominican kids to kick back some of their bonuses. There's nothing like a billion dollar organization stealing money from people in poverty.

I fell asleep before the end of the game, but Jose de Jesus Ortiz is upset about the umpires' decision to keep the Cubs and Astros on the field through a lightning storm last night.

So first Murray Chass wrote and said scathing things about bloggers. Then his employer bought him out. Now he has a website, but we're not sure if it's actually his? Umpbump.com is on the case.

Recondite Baseball takes a look at players returning to the big leagues in 2008 after absences of two years or more. Four of the first six names should look familiar.

Geoff Young of Ducksnorts has apparently been offered a spot in the press box but turned it down. Let me make it perfectly clear now: I don't live close enough to Milwaukee to make use of it every day, but if the Brewers would like to offer me a press pass the answer is yes.

Of course, in the press box at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha they can't even get to Royals.com.

Oh, and if you'd like to wear a locket with a picture of your special someone, favorite Brewer, dachshund or retro logo but you keep changing your mind on which picture to use, today's Woot might be of use to you.

Drink up.