It's time to give it up to the Milwaukee Brewers! Winners of twelve of their last fourteen games, the Brewers are an unwelcome sight right now for any contender...just ask the Cubs and the Phillies. And even though the Brewers have lost seventeen more games than they have lost for the season, Milwaukee's Brew Crew is a fun team to follow.

Today saw these Brewers beat up on the Cubs who desperately need to put together a winning streak. Team offensive giant, Richie Sexson went three for four with four RBI to lift his season total to one hundred. Sexson is perceived as this big guy who strikes out a lot and hits a homer once in a while. Let's take a closer look:

Last five year homer totals: 31, 30, 45, 29 and so far 36 this year.
Last five year RBI totals: 116, 91, 125, 102 and 100 so far this year.

Sexson also has a lifetime .271 batting average (and hits there consistently year after year) while increasing his total bases on balls every year for the last five years. This is a good player!

Geoff Jenkins is another great player who just can't seem to shake the injury bug. Jenkins had 28 homers and 95 RBI when he went down again this year with a fractured left thumb.

Another find is rookie leadoff hitter, Scott Podsednik. Podsednik is batting .313 with a fairly good OBP (for a leadoff hitter) of .379. He has stolen 31 bases and has 76 runs scored.

The Brewers have a few good arms in Ben Sheets, Wayne Franklin, Matt Kinney and new closer, Matt Kolb (13 saves with a 2.01 ERA). But my favorite pitcher and story has to be Brooks Kieschnick who had cups of coffee with the Cubs, Reds and Colorado. This year he is a pitcher...a pitcher who regularly pinch hits.

Kieschnick hasn't played the field at all this year but as a batter--mostly as a pinch hitter--has five homers and nine RBI in only 55 at bats. His batting average is .327, his OBP is .383 and has a slugging percentage over .600! What's more, in his first year as a pitcher, he hasn't performed too badly. He's won a game and lost a game and has a 4.76 ERA. Hey, that's lower than Jose Mesa! What a great story.


Speaking of great stories, I almost hesitate to write about Barry Bonds as so much has been written already. But the man has game-winning homers in the last three games he's played and has homered in 24 of the last 27 games he's played. His homer today was off an inside pitch from Randy Johnson that he turned on lightning quick. The man is simply amazing.


After mentioning Randy Johnson, makes me compare him to Pedro Martinez who just don't seem to be themselves. Johnson has a bad knee and is 4-7 on the year. Martinez, after being sick last week, got hammered by the Yankees today. I have a feeling that this series is going to go fifty/fifty for both teams the rest of the way.