C.C. eeks out 2nd NL win, 3-2

Well, not all wins can be pretty…but this one was exciting.
C.C. Sabathia pitched a complete game en route to his second win with the Brewers…but it took until the bottom of the 9th inning to secure the victory.
The Reds scored first, in the top of the second, when catcher David Ross hit a sac fly to plate Edwin Encarnacion; then, in the third, Adam Dunn hit a sac fly to plate Jay Bruce.
Sabathia got that run back, however, in the bottom of the inning, hitting a solo home run, his second of the season (he hit one earlier in the year in Interleague play).
The Crew tied the game in the sixth, after Gabe Kapler doubled in J.J. Hardy.
Listening to the game, I began to cringe at the start of every inning, as Yost kept sending Sabathia out there, and Sabathia kept on getting in–and then out of–jams. Perhaps Yost didn’t trust his pen…more likely, he trusted his new starter.
The ninth came and Sabathia took the hill again. First, he struck out Corey Patterson…then David Ross…and then, Joey Votto.
Dusty Baker sent out former Brewers’ reliever David Weathers, who had successfully kept the Crew off the board in each of the last two games, pitching a scoreless 8th inning both Friday and Saturday nights. With the game tied 2-2, and extra innings looming large, Bill Hall singled to center…then advanced to third when Mike Cameron’s sacrifice bunt was misfielded by Weathers, who threw it past first and into right field. Weathers then gave a free pass to Jason Kendall, before handing over the duties to Francisco Cordero. With the bases loaded–and still no outs–Yost pinch-hits for Sabathia…but opts for Craig Counsell. And–you guessed it–Counsell hit a sac fly to plate Hall with the winning run.
So the Crew finishes the unofficial first-half of the season at 52-43, which works out to about an 88.67 win season when extrapolated. The Brewers are 5 games back of the Cubs for the division title, and tied with the Cardinals (in the loss column) for the NL Wild Card spot. The Crew–save All-Stars Braun, Sheets, and Hart–get four days off to recharge their batteries for the stretch run.