Winning is fun, isn't it? It has this magical way of making you forget about all the stupid things people do that used to result in losses. Luckily I slept through Ned's handling of the seventh and eighth innings, so I only got to see Sheets look good in the beginning and the offense look great at the end.
Sheets still didn't get the strikeouts we like to see, but five in 6.1 innings is getting there. One of these outings he's going to give us 10 in seven frames or something and we'll stop it with the skepticism. He was hitting 95 and higher on the gun and struck out Jason Bay twice. He continued to have more control problems than we're accustomed to seeing, but I'm willing to accept that as long as the velocity is there.
On the offensive side, Fielder re-took the team home run lead, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the last time he has to do that for a while. Good thing he showed up to play today because the rest of the Brewers offense was almost less productive than Prince by himself. Tony Gwynn was two for three with a triple, plus an RBI single in the eighth where he advanced to second on a bobble that most people wouldn't have even tried on. I've been skeptical about Gwynn for awhile, but I wonder at what point we have to start taking him seriously. He's fast, he's a great fielder, and...current signs suggest he can hit. He certainly has ready access to a great coach.
As I mentioned last night, it's tough to get too pumped up about taking games from the Pirates, but...that was game number six this year against Pittsburgh, and we've only lost one. The Cubbies are down a run to the Nats in the 9th; if they don't score against Chad Cordero, we'll be six up on the second place team at close of play today. And things keep getting worse for the rest of the division: Carpenter is out for (at least) three months, suggesting the Cards will have a tough road to respectability; and Clemens signed with the Yankees, so the Astros won't get any mid-season reinforcements except for the much less reinforcing presence of Brandon Backe. It's too early to say for certain, of course, but this is increasingly looking like a two-team race between the Crew and the Cubs.
Bring on the Nats!