Al Gore Speaks Out Against Brewers.

Former Next President of the United States Al Gore cannot like what the Brewers have been doing as of late. The team has become a leading contributor to global warming by turning up the heat.
After a 12-2 routing of the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, the Brew Crew not only retains a commanding lead in the NL Central, but also holds the best record in all of Major League Baseball. While the team had far out-performed its pythagorean record* (subscription required) coming into the game — enough to actually be trailing the Cubs by 2-2.5 games — euphoria among Brewers fans is rank nonetheless.
Through the first three innings, it looked troublesome for the Crew tonight. Sheets was not on in the early going, issuing a walk to the powerless David Eckstein and an RBI single to pitcher Braden Looper in the 2nd inning, then a solo homer to Chris Duncan to open the 3rd. It looked like he was getting the ball up in the zone and not hitting his spots with his fastball, which meant he had to throw more curves and changeups. The pitch to Duncan was a letter-high meatball.
After that though, Benny settled down and only allowed two baserunners for the rest of the 3rd inning through the sixth. He even collected his first base hit of the season in the bottom of the 6th, which started a 7-run inning. When the team batted around and got back to Ben, Ned Yost decided to pull him, pinch-hitting Gabe Gross, who lined out to CF.
Some other notes and thoughts on the game:
1) Mench was in the lineup against a RHP again, and showed exactly why he shouldn’t be. He grounded into what should have been three double-plays. He managed to beat out two of them for a “fielder’s choice.” His other two PAs were a weak fly ball to CF that netted him an RBI, and another ground out. That friggin’ RBI better not be enough for Ned to continue starting him against RHP, especially when he has Gabe Gross healthy and ready to go.
2) J.J. Hardy is at the top of Al Gore’s list with the fires he’s been setting. With his first inning double, he extended his hitting streak to 12 games and is now batting .306 with 6 HR and a team leading 19 RBI. His OPS is well above .900. Plus, the ladies love him: some girl was screaming that she loved J.J. while wearing a Prince Fielder jersey. T-shirt idea — “Prince Fielder: cuckold”.
3) I really hope Corey Hart is not playing because his wrist is a bit sore yet. Otherwise, wtf Ned?
4) Shouse and Spurling combine for three shutout innings (not that we needed it tonight). The bullpen continues to be an asset.
5) The Crew has outscored the Cards 19-3 in the series.
6) This win clinches the three-game series, which means the Brewers have won five straight series. They have lost only one series all year long. If they play .500 ball from here on out, they might very well win the NL Central. Not that that’s what they should aim for . . .
The Brewers aren’t even running optimally yet. Sheets has yet to hit his stride, and we’re still playing Counsenino at 3B while Ryan “The Rabbi” Braun tears up the minors. Not to mention, ¡Gallardo! awaits. And if Ned can figure out that Mench should play against LHP and only LHP, it should only get better from here on out.
Sorry, Al Gore, but the polar icecaps are going to start melting, and it’s all because of the Brew Crew!
*An explanation of Pythagorean Record can be found here.
Also, as a P.S., I don’t mean to make light of the issue of Global Warming, and I encourage people to visit Mr. Gore’s site as linked through his name above. It’s fantastically done and a noble effort. I like Al Gore and I like the planet earth. I also like the Milwaukee Brewers.