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For the second night in a row, the Brewers were the only team in the NL Central to win. I like that strategy for gaining on the teams ahead of you. I wonder why more teams don’t employ it.

Ben Sheets was the pitcher of record for Milwaukee, going 6 innings and allowing 2 runs. It took him 108 pitches to get that far, though, thanks in part to 4 walks. The walks might be a trouble sign for the future, but for now, Sheets is kicking butt for the Brewers.

The homers keep flying out for the Brewers, too. Russel Branyan clubbed another one, and Mike Cameron joined in the fun. Over the last week or so, Milwaukee has been playing much more like I expected earlier this year. I’ll be watching to see if this is the real Brewers team. For the sake of all those fans who don’t want the Cubs to win, you’d better hope so.

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The injury bug that swept through St. Louis the last couple weeks seems to be descending upon Chicago. Carlos Zambrano left his game yesterday in the 7th inning with discomfort in his shoulder. He’ll be undergoing an MRI today, but the situation is one likely to bring back dancing visions of the so-called Cubs curse.

Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson are also gimpy for the Cubs, but neither of them are nearly the impact player that Zambrano is. If he misses any starts at all, or worse, has to go on the DL, the Cubs starting rotation will take a huge hit. Zambrano has been very good this year, seemingly rebounding from drop-offs the last couple years.

The Cubs attempted to rally after Zambrano was taken out, scoring one run in the 9th, but fell short.

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Ryan Dempster struck out 6 and allowed one run in his start against the Devil Rays yesterday. That sounds good until I let you know that he did that in only 5 innings because he threw 107 pitches. Methinks he should focus more on getting people out instead of trying to boost his strikeout totals. He’s unlikely to catch Edinson Volquez, anyway.

Overall, the Cubs pitching was fine, but they demonstrated a marked lack of offense. The heart of the lineup failed to get a hit, which generally makes it tough to score runs, let alone win. Still, I suppose the Cubs were due for an non-off-day off day. Every team loses sometime.

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Apparently, the Brewers didn’t check their mail about how every team in the NL Central was supposed to lose yesterday. Their loss, or win, as the case may be.

Manny Parra had his best outing of the year, with 7 innings of shutout ball. He’s pitching much better lately, which has to please Milwaukee. Parra is 3-0 for the month, and has lowered his ERA from 5.86 to 4.22. His win also gained the Brewers a game thanks to the Cubs losing.

The offense did well, too, with Prince Fielder hitting another home run to silence those savage meat-eating critics. Three other players–Craig Counsell, Russell Branyan, and Ryan Braun–joined him in the homer parade.

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This is the second game in recent memory that manager Dusty Baker refused to put his team in a place where it could succeed. Previously, he left Mike Lincoln in instead of bringing in Francisco Cordero. Yesterday, he refused to pinch-hit for Corey Patterson in the late innings with the chance to tie the game.

Good one, Dusty! Because what leads a team to success is not pinch-hitting for a guy with a pitcher’s batting average. The man-crush present between those two men is so thick, it chokes the throat. Oh, and makes the Reds lose.

Johnny Cueto did his best impersonation of Aaron Harang, pitching 7 innings and allowing just 2 runs. Keep it up, Cueto, but let’s watch that pitch count. 109 is edging into dangerous territory, and I’d like you to survive Baker’s disastrous tenure.