Watch out, Super Bowl Shuffle.

I sat down to write some quick game wraps today, only to find the same exact results as for the last two days. Everybody lost except the Brewers. C’mon, guys, some variety, please!

Of course, I expect losses from the Reds. They have by far the most promising up and coming players, but that is negated by one of the worst managers in the Majors. Which is why they’re in last place.

Houston’s been in a terrible funk lately, and Pittsburgh and the White Sox apparently substituted their baseball players for football players as both teams scored touchdowns in the second inning.

The Cardinals and the Cubs both lost again, making it look like those premiere offensive players they both recently lost were important to their success, after all. I gotta say, I believe it with Albert Pujols, but I’m surprised that Alfonso Soriano’s absence has so affected the Cubs. Of course, this is Chicago’s first rough spell all season, so one could say they were due, injuries or not.

That brings us to the Brewers, who now sit in 3rd place, just 5.5 games back. Can they keep their winning going? I don’t know, but I sure bet the Reds can continue their losing. They travel to New York to “play” the Yankees today.

If only there were something to distract me from the play on the field, perhaps a General Manager ranting about the worthlessness of a player who’s better than any other player on his team. And preferably, that ire could be directed towards an NL Central player like Adam Dunn. Nah, GMs are professionals. Even Jim Bowden wouldn’t do that.

Boxscore

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.

Boxscore

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.

Boxscore

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.