Game Sixteen: Brewers 6, Phillies 3

Box Score

You don't see games like this too often.

I did not have much fun watching this game. In fact, after Axford blew the save and the Phillies had a runner on second with one out I decided to turn off the game and take a break from the Brewers for a while. I thought about avoiding the next few games and figuring out how to take the Brewers a little less seriously. About five minutes later I decided to turn the game back on to, you know, see what was happening.

Much to my surprise, Axford finished the 9th and the bullpen was able to stave off the Phillies until the Brewers scored three in the top of the 12th. Presumably because the baseball gods don't like making things easy on the Brewers, the Phillies brought the tying run to the plate (thanks in part to a dribbler that hit the cuff of the infield grass and scooted past Betancourt) in the form of Ryan Howard. But Brandon Kintzler shut the door and preserved a much needed victory.

Other thoughts on the game:

-The performance of Axford is problematic. He threw 24 pitches in the 9th and only 9 for strikes. The next clean inning he has will be his first of 2011. Though there is a 0% chance of this happening soon, I think a brief stint in AAA would be good for him. He needs to sharpen up and save situations are not the place to do it.

-An huge appeal of professional sports is that anybody is capable of greatness. Though Yuniesky Betancourt is a terrible major league player, the 1-6-4 double play in the bottom of the 7th was one of the best defensive plays I've ever seen. You can watch it here.

-Carlos Gomez is very fast and excellent in center field. While he is terrible at the plate, he's worth having on the roster for defensive and pinch-running purposes. At least for now.

It's nice to be rid of the bad taste left by weekend sweep, even it took the equivalent of a bottle of cough syrup. Now let us never speak of this game ever again.