Dana Eveland vs. Ramon Ortiz. There are several reasons to be hopeful about tonight's game:
- The Nationals are, unquestionably, a worse team than the Brewers.
- Eveland may not inspire confidence, but his ERA is only 2 1/2 runs higher than Ortiz's.
- The Brewers are 17-9 at home.
- Eveland has shown plenty of positive signs in all of his starts, and it usually all breaks down with a home run to a star batter: in his first start, it was Carlos Beltran; last time, it was Ryan Howard. There's only one such player, Alfonso Soriano, in the Nats lineup, and he'll likely bat leadoff.
- Buck O'Neil is on hand for tonight's Negro League tribute, and when Buck O'Neil is in your corner, the gods are with you. Unless you're the 1962 Chicago Cubs.
Go Brewers!