Knowing that the Cubs had won the first game of their day-night doublheader in St. Louis, the Brewers and their fans looked to veteran Jeff Suppan to deliver a win Saturday night. Suppan delivered…with a little help from his friends.
The offense gave Suppan support early on, plating a pair in the first to take a 2-0 lead–with Weeks and Braun scoring runs. Suppan gave a run back in the 2nd, giving up three straight hits to Dunn, Encarnacion, and Joey Votto.
Prince Fielder restore the lead to two runs, with his 46th homer of the year in the 3rd. The homer sets the club record for most home runs in a season.
Suppan took a 4-1 lead into the 7th, putting the first two runners on base before getting the hook; both men scored to cut the lead to 4-3.
Yost’s bullpen calls went almost perfect Saturday night–first, lefty Brian Shouse came in to get Ken Griffey, Jr. out; then righty Scott Linebrink was called upon, and gave up a RBI single to Brandon Phillips; lefty Ray King came to get Adam Dunn to strike out.
After J.J. Hardy hit an insurance home run, Yost went to Derrick Turnbow…after Turnbow got two outs and walked two, Yost went to Francisco Cordero, who finished up the 8th, and went on to get his 42nd save in the 9th–including getting Griffey and Phillips to both fan in the frame.
Carlos Villanueva (7-4, 4.42) tries for the series win on Sunday, squaring off against the Reds’ Matt Belisle (8-8, 5.31). Belisle is 5-1, 4.40 on the road this year, and is 3-0 since August.
Yost has already decided to try his luck one more time, by moving Sheets up a day in the rotation. As Sheets’ outing Friday evening was rather short, Yost thinks that Sheets may actually benefit from pitching Tuesday night against the Astros. The switch gives Dave Bush an extra day of rest, and pits Sheets against the veteran Woody Williams.
Lastly…the Cubs and Cardinals split their doublheader today, bringing the standings to:
1. Cubs, 77-72, —
2. Brewers, 75-72, 1.0
3. Cardinals, 70-77, 6.0
The Brewers won’t catch up to the Cubs in the number of games played until a week from Monday, 9/24. The Cubs also have an off day this Thursday, while the Brewers are in Atlanta. Milwaukee hosts the Cardinals on 9/24, meaning that the Brewers can match the Cubs game for game herein out, as long as they win their two extra games.
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