Boxscore

Ben Sheets started for the Brewers, but he did not have a good outing. It seems like he’s not been as dominant as usual since C. C. Sabathia came over. Is it possible that one team simply cannot contain two pitchers of such awesome abilities? Or is Sheets just tired? I’m definitely leaning towards the former.

In 6 innings, Sheets allowed 5 runs. He was bested by Brian Moehler, of all people, who allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in 5 1/3 innings.

The loss drops the Milwaukee back another game, thanks to the Cubs win, and they now sit in 2nd place, 6 games back. The Astros improved their record to 2 games over .500, but sit a whopping 13.5 games back.

Boxscore

C. C. Sabathia pitched another complete game for the Brewers yesterday, improving his Brewers record to 8-0, which looks a lot like the emoticon for the reaction to how awesome Sabathia has been for Milwaukee.

The complete game was his 5th in the NL, moving him one ahead of teammate Ben Sheets. Sheets will try to match that next.

Sabathia also drove in a couple runs to help his offense in scoring 9 runs. Sabathia has been the best mid-season pickup I’ve ever seen. He’s been so good, I don’t doubt that he’ll be in the running for the Cy Young voting, despite having less than half a season.

As much as this season sucks for Reds fans, it’s got to suck even harder for the players. I mean, sure, they’re making the big bucks, but I can escape the games by going to work. For them, the games are the work. When I’m in the office, only a handful of people give me grief about how bad the team is; for them, all 10,000 people who bother to show up let them know about it. And if I really need my decent-team fix, I can just look at the Cubs, Brewers, or Cardinals, all of whom are within the scope of my blog and none of whom are rotten. All the Reds players can do is hope to be traded to Arizona.

In fact, what I actually do is get so busy doing other things, that I end up stocking up almost a month’s worth of content to cram into on podcast. Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Boxscore

The Astros won their 8th straight game last night, completing a 4-game sweep of the Giants.

Lance Berkman provided the heroics, breaking a tie in the bottom of the 8th with a 2-run home run.

The streak has sent Houston’s record to 3 games over .500 for the first time since the beginning of June.

The team is having a hard time explaining their recent success, though.

“There’s a little magic in the clubhouse,” manager Cecil Cooper said.

Well, that’s one explanation. But how about instead of pixie dust, we look at the two teams the Astros have played in this 8-game run? Aha, it’s the Giants and the Reds. That explains everything.

Boxscore

Okay, the title for this wrap isn’t exactly shocking, but it’s getting to the point that it’s difficult to describe how utterly dreadful the Reds are. Case in point: even reporters for the Reds are comparing the team disfavorably to the Pirates. That’s gotta hurt.

Of course, all sensible people know that the Reds are doomed, regardless of what moves are made until Dusty Baker is fired. But apparently all sensible people stopped paying serious attention to the Reds weeks ago and are now watching the Olympics in high definition.

As for the game, Aaron Harang returned too early and it showed. He gave up 8 runs in 4 innings to Houston, despite the Astros being without slugger Carlos Lee, who’s out for the rest of the year with a broken finger. “Magic Man” Gary Majewski also made an appearance and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 1/3 of an inning.

Beyond that, there was nothing of note. Same old, same old for a crappy team. The Astros swept the Reds and now likely have delusions of .500 dancing in their little heads, much like the Reds did at the All Star break.