W: Chris Narveson (4-4)
L: Carlos Zambrano (5-4)
HR: Rickie Weeks (13), Jeff Baker, Reed Johnson
MVP: Corey Hart (+.149)
LVP: Chris Narveson (-.091)
An hour and forty minutes after the game was supposed to start, the Brewers came out and made it worth our wait.
The first few innings of this game were very frustrating, as the Brewers looked like they had been replaced with the players from Major League. Rickie Weeks and Nyjer Morgan led off the game with back-to-back hits. But with Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Casey McGehee due up, they couldn't score. In the bottom of that inning Jeff Baker hit a solo home run to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. the next few innings were filled with more screw ups; bad base running, defensive miscues, and a lack of clutch hitting.
But then things started to turn around. Braun led off the fourth with a double, and after Prince Fielder was unintentionally intentionally walked Corey Hart singled to drive in both runners and give the Crew a 2-1 lead. They would tack on three more in the fifth with a nice 2-RBI double by McGehee, and an RBI double from Hart.
With a 5-1 lead, things were looking pretty good for the Crew. But that didn't last long. Chris Narveson, who had done a good job at holding the Cubs down for the first four innings, suddenly lost his control. He began the bottom of the fifth by walking Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano. He then walked Starlin Castro in four pitches, and then gave up a three-run homer to Reed Johnson. After yet another walk, Narveson settled down and finished the inning with no further damage, but with the Cubs now only trailing by one.
Narveson came back out for the sixth, but was replaced by Tim Dillard after allowing the second batter to reach. Dillard retired the final two batters. The Crew rallied again in the seventh, scoring two more on an RBI single by Yuniesky Betancourt (for real, with two outs even!). Rickie Weeks, hit an absolute bomb onto the street in the eighth to give the Brewers another BMIR and an 8-4 lead. Kameron Loe allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth, but the Crew got that run back in the top of the ninth with a sac fly, courtesy of Jonathan Lucroy.
John Axford came on to pitch the ninth in a non-save situation, pitching a scoreless inning to give the Crew the win. With the Cardinal's loss today, the Brewers now once again sit alone atop the NL Central standings.
Rickie Weeks was the offensive star of the game, collecting two doubles and a home run. Corey Hart and Ryan Braun also had three hits, with Braun collecting two doubles. Prince Fielder reached base four times with his three walks and a single. But the real surprise of this game was the bottom of the lineup. The top of the order (Weeks, Morgan, Braun, and Fielder) only has one RBI, while the bottom of the order (McGehee, Hart, Betancourt, and Lucroy) each had two RBIs.