The Second Coming Of Russell Branyan!

Brewers 5 - Toronto 4

Ben Sheets (8-1) earned the win, going 9 consecutive starts now with 6 or more innings. Impressive, better yet, reassuring...that perhaps his injury plaqued days are thru? Probably not.
Sheets maintained that low ERA (2.74) by giving up only 2 runs. He should be an All Star again this year, one would think. Ben is third in the National League for ERA, tied for 4th with five other pitchers w/ 8 wins. Brandon Webb of Arizona has 11 wins, that's insane.

Guellermo Mota looked pariticularly rough last night giving up a run and throwing a number of pitches in the dirt. Yost can no longer afford to have Mota as the set-up man. Thank the good Lord, David Riske rejoins the team today and should be available with in days.

Salomon Torres, on the other hand, has been a saint. This seasoned veteran has a laid back approach to closing, not letting the fact that the bases are loaded and one false move could flip flop the game. He earned his ninth save last night in a stunning fashion.

You can't say enough about Russell Branyan (.305) these days, at least in the month of June. He continued to terrorize National and American League pitchers with his power last night belting a dinger in the second inning. He now has 9 HR's and 4 doubles (23 k's) in 59 at-bats. Not to mention, half of his hits are home runs. Although he will always be nagged for striking out too much, he does provide clutch hitting (evident in Saturday's game) and is one you can rely on for power. Everytime he comes up to bat, one gets that feeling that he has a damn good chance of going yard. Additionally, he is one of the few left handed batters on the team besides Prince. It is safe to say that the call up of Russell, or better yet, the acquisition of Russell Branyan, may be of the of the best moves/call ups of the year in the National League (Jay Bruce excluded). Sorry Billy Hall, I think your days are numbered at third...and with the Brewers.

Now...Imagine if the Brewers would have worked out a deal with St. Louis and David Eckstein was traded to Milwaukee? We all remember those days leading up to the winter meetings don't ya? Well, it's hard to comparet the two being that they are in opposing leagues. But here's a look:
Eckstein is batting .282 in 47 games this season, 1 HR, 11 Doubles, and 16 strike outs. Good move Melvin! See above for Branyan's stats.