On the other hand, the Brewers have had some seriously bright spots

From the "I never would have seen this coming files..." Kevin Mench is hitting .405 (actually down from when I check the stats a few days ago) with 5 doubles, 6 RBIs and a home run. As of Thursday afternoon (when I was last in Milwaukee and in front of all the stats) Mench was 6-7 in the series.

Also, Claudio Vargas had a stellar start on Thursday for the Brewers. Offensively, we got on top early, but Vargas found himself in a jam in the fourth inning, when he walked a couple of batters and had the bases loaded with no outs. Pitching coach Mike Maddux had a talk with him and Vargas went on to retire the next 3 batters in order. In the game he racked up a career high 11 strikeouts. He's got 22 K's on the season, a full 7 more than the next closest Brewer pitcher. Impressive!

Dave Bush has shown that he's not only useful defensively. In Tuesday night's game, before the players blew it after he'd already been replaced, Dave Bush hit a two-out, two RBI double. It was all the more sweet because the Reds had intentionally walked Craig Counsell to get to Bush and he made them pay. Well done.

The offensive theatrics have been focused on a few players this season, but no one seems to be noticing J.J. Hardy. Coming back after missing most of last season, Hardy has proven himself a reliable #2 hitter. In Thursday's game he had a 2-run homer, a 2-run RBI single and a double.
On the season he's got 9 RBIs and 9 runs scored on 18 hits hitting .273.

Derrick Turnbow had his worst outing of the season on Thursday afternoon when he walked two players and then gave up hits allowing them both to score. The runs put the Pirates within striking distance. However, the Pirates scoring those runs meant we brought in closer Francisco Cordero, who proceeded to sit down the next three Pirates batters successively.

Finally, as of the end of play Thursday, the Brewers had the 3rd highest batting average in the National League and were second in slugging percentage. Of course, we are 3rd from last in the NL in team ERA.

And you thought this year's team was going to be all about pitching!