To Err Is Human, But This Is Ridiculous

The San Diego Padres needed a win to keep pace in both the Wild Card and NL West races last night, they got it thanks to a little help from the Milwaukee Brewers. Ok, fine, they got a lot of help from Bernie’s crew. The Brewers, in the thick of a pennant race of their own, committed five errors (FIVE!) and virtually gave the game to the Friars, as they suffered a 9-5 loss at home. Three of the errors came courtesy of rookie phenom Ryan Braun and his not quite ready for the-big leagues defense at third base. Those snafus gave him 26 errors in just 110 games.

The Padres took advantage of Milwaukee’s mistakes by pounding out four-run innings in both the third and seventh. Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene combined for five RBIs and Brian Giles added two hits and two runs on the night. Joe Thatcher, who came to the Padres as part of the Scott Linebrink trade, tossed 1 1/3 innings, retired all four batters he faced, lowered his ERA to 0.95 and was credited with the win.

The Brewers wasted two home runs by Rickie Weeks and Braun’s 34th blast of the season. Geoff Jenkins and Prince Fielder both added to the horror show that was the Brewers’ defensive outing, committing their third and 14th errors respectively. The loss put Milwaukee on the proverbial ropes, reducing the Cubs’ magic number to two in the NL Central race. With three games left, and Ben Sheets sent to the bullpen while recovering from a hamstring injury, things look pretty bleak for the Brewers. Solid defense like that displayed Thursday night is sure to get the Brewers just what they appear to want; an early vacation.