Boxscore

The Brewers (2-0) won the second game of the season and the series against the Cubs (0-2). Dave Bush tries to finish the sweep against Ryan Dempster.

Boxscore

While the Diamondbacks-Reds game had two top 5 Cy Young finishers squaring off in Aaron Harang and Brandon Webb, the Cubs and Brewers showdown was no slouch, either. And their pitching beat expectations.

Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano matched each other’s zeros as both went into the seventh with shutouts. Zambrano’s pitching seemed remarkably free of the meltdowns he’s so famously entertaining for, but he did leave the game for forearm cramps. If it’s not tantrums, it’s cramps. Given that Zambrano admitted to not drinking enough water, perhaps that’s the key to future opponents’ success: secretly slipping Zambrano water. That or just waiting for the Cubs’ bullpen to blow it.

Wood allowed 3 runs in the top of the 9th to give the Brewers the lead. Of course, Eric Gagne, the Brewers’ closer, blew the save, too, giving those 3 runs right back to Kosuke Fukudome, who launched himself into Cubs’ fans good graces with a game-tying 3-run blast. Then Bob Howry, the other reliever previously in the Cubs’ closer sweepstakes, failed to get the job done and allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 10th. David Riske held on for the Brewers in the 9th to pick up the save, with Gagne getting the win.

If the first game is any indication, the top two NL Central teams from last year continue to be evenly matched. The games between these teams should be fun.

Opening Day is here, and I know you don’t feel like concentrating on work. It’s time to get out the fun!

This awesome Who Wants to be a Millionaire-style quiz tests your knowledge of NLC teams: current trivia, history, and Red Hot Mama lore. Well, I think it’s awesome. Whether you do is about to be seen, I reckon. I bet you will. After all, it’s not work.

Thanks to the Crack Technical Staff for making this quiz work. Now go play!

Who Wants to Be an NLC Expert?

(Game modified from a Flash template provided at Flash Kit.)
Get the latest version of Flash here.

Opening Day is nearly here. Or technically I guess it’s already done, since it apparently happened on the other side of the world when I was getting ready to drive to work. What the hell is wrong with Bud Selig?

But the real Opening Day is nearly here, and after following these teams for a spring, it’s difficult to predict who will be the worst in the coming year.

I mean, there’s the perennial winner, the Cardinals, who are just awful. They’re counting on Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan for all their offense other than Albert Pujols, and their rotation is empty without the great Chris Carpenter to anchor them. But on the other hand, Ankiel and Duncan do have some potential and they have rid themselves of David Eckstein.

They don’t look so bad when you look at the Astros. The Astros, not content with the worst farm system in the league, have completely dismantled their major league pitching organization to bring in the likes of Miguel Tejada and Kaz Matsui. Then again, they’re just starting this push for homers.

The Reds have been going down this ill-fated path for years. That won’t be a problem this year. The Reds promised to search the corners of the earth for just the right manager, and then hired the first guy who walked through the door. A guy who prefers lead-off hitters who get out more. A guy with a history of running young pitchers into the ground. A guy who really understands that black and Hispanic players are better than white players in day games.

But at least the Reds have some talent. How about those Pirates? There’s a team that wouldn’t know how to sign a number one draft pick even if they could manage to perform enough below mediocre to get one. And talk about a history of losing: 2008 is going to be consecutive losing season number 16 for this franchise.

Of course, no one can outdo the Cubs for losing. Losing their minds to blow all that money on Kosuke Fukudome, leaving them with no choice but to include Jason Marquis in the rotation. At least Ryan Dempster didn’t make it. Oh wait.

Which brings us to those Brewers.

Well, they’re pretty OK actually. I mean, they’re no Big Red Machine, but at least their fans don’t sit in such a constantly deranged state that they think just now cutting Mike Stanton heralds good things for the team.

So, yeah, I’ll go with them.

The Chicago Cubs on Tuesday signed OF Reed Johnson to a $1.3 million, one-year contract.

Johnson, a 17th-round draft pick by Toronto in 1999, had been released by Blue Jays on Sunday after missing more than three months last season due to a herniated disc in his lower back. The Cubs reportedly hope Johnson will help out in center field – he started there on Tuesday against the Giants, going 2-for-5 with a double – as well as resting Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano in right and left.

The Cubs also put RHP Angel Guzman on the 60-day DL because of an injury to his right elbow, and said that they expect southpaw Scott Eyre to start the season on the DL due to a bone spur in his left elbow.