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.

I'd really like to win this series.  Obviously, I'd like to win every series, but if we take 2 out of 3 this weekend, we'll have a winning record in interleague, and given the way interleague has gone so far this year, odds are the Cubs and/or Cards won't do the same and we'll pick up some ground.

The matchup tonight is between guys who you almost certainly did not draft for your fantasy team before the season started: Seth McClung and Nick Blackburn.  You don't need me to tell you how awesome McClung has been since moving into the rotation, but it is worth noting that he got the W against the Twins two starts ago.  Blackburn has also been quite good, with a 3.68 ERA and peripherals that support it.

Game time is 7:10 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

So, Mike Rivera is batting .500 since I suggested he should play more. I know it's a small sample size (4-for-8), but it'd be a bigger sample size if he played more.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Thanks to Jeff for allowing you to drink straight from the tap with the Win Expectancy Graphs and BR Box Scores over the weekend.

Jim Powell blogged after Saturday's game. He's pretty excited about the homestand so far, and reasonably so.

He also mentions the massive home run Russell Branyan hit Saturday. I was at the game (my first of the season), and from my perspective, it didn't look like the ball actually made the Dew Deck. It looked like it hit near the back of the second deck. Unfortunately, at the ballpark I only got to see it once, and at game speed. Anyone have access to it on video?

Following Saturday's game, Ned Yost took a beating from Beyond the Box Score for allowing Ben Sheets to throw 120 pitches. I understand the logic at play here, but I find myself agreeing with the first commenter, who notes that everything would've been fine if not for the 11 pitch at bat with Lance Berkman, with two outs in the ninth.

Also Sheets related: Another Baseball Blog takes a look at Sheets' hitting and how it impacts a game. He estimates that the difference between Gallardo's hitting (near elite) and Sheets' hitting (near inept) is equivalent to about a .30 difference in ERA. If the swing from top to bottom is that small, maybe I've spent too much time worrying about pitcher hitting.

Dave Pinto notes that Brewer starters are 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA over their last 7 starts. It's probably a little early to say our pitching woes are over, but this is certainly an improvement.

Here's an interesting new stat: The Beane Count. It tracks home runs and walks, by hitters and pitchers, and combines them to form one number to evaluate. The Brewers rank 13th in the NL at present. I rank somewhere near dead last in being able to explain new stats.

While I'm on the topic of interesting stats, Recondite Baseball takes a look at the all time highest and lowest BABIP numbers. Most of these guys aren't huge surprises, but somehow, Gorman Thomas cracked the list on the low end, at #18. How did that happen?

On injuries:

Twins P Nick Blackburn is fine, amazingly, after being hit in the face by a line drive. He may not miss a start.
Hank Blalock had carpal tunnel surgery Friday and will miss at least another month.
J.D. Drew missed a start over the weekend with vertigo.
Padres P Shawn Estes broke his thumb falling down the stairs. The bad jokes here can only escalate.
Angels IF Chone Figgins has been placed on the DL with irritation in his hamstring.
Reds P Josh Fogg has been placed on the DL with a bad back.
Travis Hafner has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
D-Backs 1B Conor Jackson will be out for a few days with a strained quad.
Braves OF Mark Kotsay has been placed on the DL with a strained lower back.
David Ortiz felt something pop in his wrist Saturday and will (maybe already did?) undergo an MRI.

The Brewers aren't the only team that can't win on the road. At The Book blog, MGL notes that the homefield advantage this year is significantly higher than average, and offers some reasons why.

Dugout Central notes a moment from Friday that's indicative of the problem MLB has with confrontational umpires: Seriously, aside from professional wrestling, is there another major sport where this would be tolerated?

If this works out, it'll set a dangerous precedent: Last week, the Braves designated backup C Brayan Pena for assignment, and placed him on waivers, presumably hoping to send him to the minors. The Royals claimed him off waivers, kept him on their roster for a day, then DFA'd him again, hoping to send him to the minors as well. If this is possible, couldn't Pena be claimed and DFA'd by teams needing a AAA catcher every few days for months?

Here's something new to check periodically: Baseball Musings has a daily chart showing the probability Chipper Jones will hit .400.

Oh, and here's some fun with misheard lyrics.

Drink up.

I think I need a Frosty Mug of coffee.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
ESPN Video Highlights
BDD Recaps
Postseason odds: Projecting 83.5 wins and a 21.7% chance of winning the Central.

A quick aside to discuss in the comments: Does anyone actually watch/enjoy the ESPN Video highlights? I really used to like them, but lately I'm getting pretty frustrated with them. Take last night's game, for example. A pretty good back-and-forth with some interesting moments and late inning drama. ESPN could've produced at least a full minute of highlights to show that. Instead, the highlight package is 24 seconds long and the only highlight is a sac fly. If you want the ESPN Video highlights to remain a part of the Mug, say something in the comments, otherwise I'm cutting them tomorrow.

As I'm sure you noticed below, in the JS or on ESPN, Ben Sheets will miss his next start. I'm trying hard not to overreact. Really hard.

Of course, even with Sheets inactive, the Brewers still have 13 active pitchers on their roster. The Official Site says they're sticking to it, even if Luft On Deck does call it creatively twisted logic. Cardinals Diaspora also picked up on the need to pinch hit with a pitcher in the 7th last night.

Between the Green Pillars thinks Derrick Turnbow doesn't have a place in the bullpen anymore. Last week, in the comments of the Turnbow thread, I said the following: Obviously Turnbow's not pitching well. But unless we produce a bunch of contract extensions real soon, he's going to be a key part of the 2009 bullpen again.

Only one injury report today, so it's exceptionally brief: Rangers P Kason Gabbard left yesterday's game with back stiffness.

Results are posted for the Baseball Happenings Awards Blogpoll. Manny Ramirez takes home the MVP this week, Cliff Lee takes home the Cy Young and Nick Blackburn wins Rookie of the Year. See the full results here and the BCB ballot here.

Al over at Bleed Cubbie Blue notes that the Cubs are inching up on 10,000 franchise wins. (Clever joke about 100 years goes here.)

This week's Fan Opinion Poll is a week late but it's up, go vote here. This week's new topics include roster construction, Yovani Gallardo, resting closers, Ben Sheets, and the five questions I've been tracking with the previous polls. Please go vote, and if you have the capacity to help promote the poll and build turnout numbers, that'd be fantastic as well. Last week 142 people voted, my goal for this week is 150.

That's all I've got for today. Drink up.