The Milwaukee Brewers went down quietly in game 2 of the NLDS.  Philadelphia got solid pitching, patient hitting and played fundamentally sound defense en route to a 5-2 victory over the punchless Crew.

“We’re just not putting the bats on the ball”, Prince Fielder commented, “We’re getting pitches to hit, we’re just getting the key hits when we need them”.  Third baseman, Craig Counsel, exclaimed that the media seems to penalize for the team hitting home runs, “You guys almost penalize us. Look, we didn’t have good at bats.  Our backs are up against the wall now.  We’re going home and we have to play like there is no tomorrow.”

When asked if the Phillies pitching staff was throwing the ball that well or was it mental mistakes at the plate, Fielder emphatically said, “No, it’s just us.  We’re not hitting.  You’ve gotta tip your cap to them but it’s us, we’re not getting the key hit.”
In the first inning, the Brewers had plated a run when Durham walked, Braun doubled, Fielder was walked intentionally and then J.J.’s base on balls forced in Durham .  Up to the plate came the struggling Corey Hart (.173 since 9/1) who didn’t do anything to help his cause.  After an intentional walk and yet another free pass to J.J., Corey took an off-balance hack at the first offering from Brett Meyers and hit a dribbler back to the mound for a 1-2-3 double play.  A cardinal sin was committed and the Brewers lost what could have been a big inning.

This type of inning epitomizes the Brewers lack of experience and free-swinging mentality and thus cost them game 2.  In their September to remember (yes, that’s sarcasm) the Brewers bats cooled off dramatically (.227 since 9/1) and these type of mental-less at bats are the reason why.
It’s easy to be Cy Young when the opponent will swing wildly at anything you throw up there.

The Brewers confidence came today because they knew Sabathia was going to the hill, “You always feel good when your ace is up but we didn’t do anything to help him today”, a disappointed Counsel reiterated.
“I didn’t have it.  I struggled with my command a bit and didn’t get ahead in the count.  That’s what hurt me”, CC said, “I got behind on a few hitters and just missed when I needed a strike.  These guys are too good; you can’t get behind like that.”

Now the Brewers head home, to Miller Park , where they’ve had a solid 49-32 home record.  “We like playing at our place”, Billy Hall said, “We’re comfortable there, we hope our fans get behind us and make it a tough place to play and maybe we’ll find our bats and feed off of that”.

Down 2 games to 0 in the NLDS, the Brewers look at their deficit as if they have to sweep a 3 game series.  “We’ve known pressure.  We had to deal with it just to get here”, Counsel said, “We’re not afraid of pressure, hopefully we’ve learned to deal with it.  We’ll get back to work tomorrow and hopefully find our stroke at home”.
Put it this way, if they don’t, the Packers will have a more attentive audience on Sunday.