Thursday may have been one of the most up-and-down games I have ever watched in my life. Dave Bush was only six outs away from a no-hitter but somehow the Brewers were only able to squeak out a win over the Blue Jays by a score of 8-7.
Bush took his no-no into the eighth inning before giving up a lead off triple to Lyle Overbay. Ryan Braun made a diving attempt for the ball but was no where near coming up with the catch. Bush then got a little rattled and gave up another hit which scored Overbay and cost him the shutout. Bush did get out of the inning without any further damage. On the day, Bush went eight great innings giving up only the two hits and the one run. He only walked one on the day and had great control throughout the game. It was by far his best performance of the season and it showed Brewers fans that Bush is a solid Major League pitcher. I hope this outing gives Bush the confidence to pitch with no fear for the rest of the season.
The bats got off to a quick start scoring twice in the first. With two outs, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder each got singles followed up by a Corey Hart double. Russell Branyan hit yet another home run, his tenth on the season. It was a three-run shot to blow the game wide open. Prince Fielder hit his second inside the park home run of his career when he hit a shot to left field that got wedged in the padding. Alex Rios stood there with his hands up to try and signal that the ball was unplayable, but the umpire wasn’t buying it. Fielder chugged his way around the bases and slid in under the tag to put the Brewers up 7-0. The Brewers added one more run in the fifth to make the score 8-0 and they were well on their way to an easy victory…or so the Brewers and their fans thought.
Tim Dillard and David Riske both came on in the ninth and neither could end the game. Dillard gave up four runs in only 2/3 innings pitched. Riske was no better. He came on and didn’t record an out and gave up a grand slam to get the Jays to within one run. Amazingly, after all the excitement of a near no-hitter and a ton of offense, Salomon Torres had to come on and close out the game for his tenth save. Torres gave up an infield hit to Rod Barajas but was able to strike out Matt Stairs to finally finish off the win and the sweep of the Jays.
There was so much good and bad in this game; it was just a microcosm of the season thus far. The Orioles now come into town and Jeff Suppan will take the mound Friday night for the Crew.
It was another great day of scoreboard watching for Brewers’ fans. The Cubs and the Cardinals each loss and were swept in their respective series. The Brewers are now 5.5 back of the Cubs and only 2 back of the Cardinals. It may continue to get better for the Brewers this weekend. The Cubs play the White Sox and the Cardinals have to travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox. Go Crew!!!
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