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 a few weeks ago I moved into a new place. This is the first place I've ever lived where my garbage goes out to the curb and not into a dumpster. I think a key part of growing up is remembering to take the garbage out on time. I'm 1-for-3 in the new place, and forgot it again this morning. Just FYI - when my fiancee comes home and asks why the garbage didn't go out, I'm blaming you.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

I probably don't need to tell you about the excitement of yesterday, which was certainly better than a normal Tuesday. Reviews of the Sabathia deal continue to pour in, including the long awaited BTF Transaction Oracle, which projects CC for 101 innings over 14 starts the rest of the way, with a 3.48 ERA.

Dayn Perry says the trade makes the Brewers the odds-on favorite to win the wild card, but still leaves the Cubs as favorites to win the division.

Regardless of what it will mean for the standings, Adam Charles of Bugs and Cranks would like to share a George Webb cheeseburger with CC.

Ryan Braun will participate in Monday's Home Run Derby. In-Between Hops took a look at the numbers and debunked the myth that being in the Derby "screws up your swing."

On injuries:

Erik Bedard won't pitch again until after the All-Star break.
Eric Byrnes' hamstrings aren't recovering and may need surgery which would mean the end of his season.
Ryan Church has returned to the DL for the third time with symptoms related to concussions.
Rangers RP Eric Hurley has been placed on the DL with a sore hamstring.
White Sox closer Bobby Jenks still has pain when he throws off a mound, and is headed to the DL.
Rangers SP Vicente Padilla will miss his start today with a neck strain and sore thumb.
Marlins C Matt Treanor aggravated an abdominal injury and may be headed for the DL.

Of course the biggest non-Brewer story of the day, as noted in the Fanshots, is the Cubs' acquisition of Rich Harden. Drawing much less attention: the Braves signed Julian Tavarez.

Have I used this joke before? I don't remember. Even if I have, having the Rockies in town gives me an excuse to ring-rang-a-dong for Matt Holliday.

Even 3 months later, Ben Sheets' performance on April 6 against the Giants is tied for the fifth best game score of the season. A more surprising fact, though: Hiroki Kuroda has outperformed him twice in 2008.

The Reds are delaying radio broadcasts of their games so the audio matches up with the video on their TV broadcasts. I haven't done it in years, but I grew up listening to the radio broadcast while watching the Brewers on TV, and don't ever recall having a lag problem. Is it a problem now?

Oh, and it's pretty much never a good idea to intentionally walk home the tying run in the bottom of the 9th.

Drink up.