With the number of starts left before the All-Star break dwindling, Ben Sheets did what he had to do Monday night–get a ‘W.’
The 6-1 win, however, wasn’t Sheets at his best–troubles in the first two innings lead to an early high pitch count, but Yost squeezed 6 IP and 112 pitches out of Sheets…but Sheets kept the Astros off the board until his former teammate, Carlos Lee, led off the 6th with a solo shot.
Carlos Villanueva–spared from Sunday’s meltdown–fanned a pair in the 7th; Derrick Turnbow regained some respect by fanning a pair in the 8th, and Ned Yost (once again) wanted to boost Chris Spurling’s confidence by inserting him into the 9th…but after he gave up a walk and a hit, had Coco Cordero start to warm up…Spurling fanned the last batter to secure the win.
Sheets’ ERA dropped to 3.09; his record now 9-3, and Big Ben should get two more starts before the All-Star break: one on Sunday in Chicago against the Cubs, and the other in D.C. against the Nationals on Friday, July 6th (meaning he’d have 3 full days rest before any All-Star appearances).
The Brewers are now 7 ahead of the Cubs and 8 up on the Cardinals in the loss column.
Also:
* Prince Fielder’s lead in All-Star voting has increased…to over a quarter of a million!
* La Porta finally signs
* Chris Capuano is set to return later this week…probably sending YoGa (Yovani Gallardo) to the pen in place of…sweet Moses, please let it be Chris Spurling
Oh, Claudio Vargas goes on buckethead night.
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