Boxscore

For the second night in a row, the Brewers were the only team in the NL Central to win. I like that strategy for gaining on the teams ahead of you. I wonder why more teams don’t employ it.

Ben Sheets was the pitcher of record for Milwaukee, going 6 innings and allowing 2 runs. It took him 108 pitches to get that far, though, thanks in part to 4 walks. The walks might be a trouble sign for the future, but for now, Sheets is kicking butt for the Brewers.

The homers keep flying out for the Brewers, too. Russel Branyan clubbed another one, and Mike Cameron joined in the fun. Over the last week or so, Milwaukee has been playing much more like I expected earlier this year. I’ll be watching to see if this is the real Brewers team. For the sake of all those fans who don’t want the Cubs to win, you’d better hope so.

Boxscore

The injury bug that swept through St. Louis the last couple weeks seems to be descending upon Chicago. Carlos Zambrano left his game yesterday in the 7th inning with discomfort in his shoulder. He’ll be undergoing an MRI today, but the situation is one likely to bring back dancing visions of the so-called Cubs curse.

Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson are also gimpy for the Cubs, but neither of them are nearly the impact player that Zambrano is. If he misses any starts at all, or worse, has to go on the DL, the Cubs starting rotation will take a huge hit. Zambrano has been very good this year, seemingly rebounding from drop-offs the last couple years.

The Cubs attempted to rally after Zambrano was taken out, scoring one run in the 9th, but fell short.