Brewers sweep Astros

From Sunday, August 7th, 2011
Brewers 7, Astros 3
W: Greinke (10-4) L: Norris (5-8)

The Brewers did exactly what they needed to do against a down and out team, sweep them on their own field. Make no mistake about it, Milwaukee is not taking anything lightly, but they know the teams they are suppose to beat and they are determined to fulfill the expectations.

Zack Greinke delivered another dominating performance and this time it was against the struggling Houston batters. He dropped his ERA to 4.21 as he only allowed one earned run on four hits in seven innings. He also had six strikeouts and walked three.

As good as Greinke pitched, it was nothing compared to how great his defense was. In the first inning Jose Altuve attempted to bunt for a hit, except the ball went just to the right of the pitcher mound and Greinke made an incredible lunging grab for the out. In the second inning with Carlos Lee on first base, J.D. Martinez hit a sharp ball to Greinke, who miraculously snagged it in his glove and threw to Yuniesky Betancourt to start a 1-4-3 double play. The very next inning with two men on base and two outs, as Greinke began his motion he caught Clint Barmes attempting to steal third base. Zack quickly turned around and tossed the ball to Casey McGehee to end the threat. Who would have guessed that the Cy Young Award winner the Brewers acquired in the off-season was also a possible Gold Glove winner.

Prince Fielder got the offense rolling early when he smacked a solo homer down the right field line in the first inning. It was a thing of beauty to watch Prince swing his hips fast around to crush the ball out of the park. There is no doubt the man has offensive talent and the Milwaukee fans are so lucky to be witnessing it before their very eyes. Fielder finished the day going 3-4 with two RBIs and four runs.

The Brewers added two more runs in the third when Nyjer Morgan led off with a double on a line drive to right field. Felipe Lopez wasted no time getting Morgan home when he singled to center. After Ryan Braun struck out and Fielder reached on a fielder's choice, Mark Kotsay singled to score Prince. Kotsay started in place of Corey Hart who got the day off to rest his left hand, which was hit by a pitch the previous night. Mark filled the shoes well going 3-5 with an RBI and a run.

Milwaukee scored another two runs in the fifth inning, courtesy of Betancourt's single that drove in Fielder and Kotsay. Yuniesky continues to be a breath of fresh air for this ball club as he finished the game 3-5 with three RBIs. He is by far having the best second-half of the season of any Brewer and that is extremely good news considering how much production the bottom three of the batting order need to have for this team to make a playoff run.

The Brewers accomplished something they have not done all season, sweep a team on the road. It does not matter that team was the Astros, who are currently on pace to finish the season with 100 losses. It only matters that Milwaukee is improving their road record, which could not come at a better time considering they will be heading into Busch Stadium to face the second place Cardinals next.