News
Series win has sparked roll
Picking each other up bringing Brewers togetherBy Gene Duffey / Special to MLB.com
04/26/09 2:30 PM ET
HOUSTON -- Baseball is series-ous business, mainly about winning series. The Milwaukee Brewers were unable to do that in their first four series of the season, losing two out of three to San Francisco, the Cubs, Cincinnati and the Mets. They finally won their first series earlier this week at Philadelphia. After dropping the opener, 11-4, they beat the World Series champions, 2-1 and 6-1, with outstanding pitching by Braden Looper and Dave Bush. "It didn't matter who it was," said veteran infielder Craig Counsell. "We needed to win a series." "People were trying to do too much," catcher Jason Kendall said of the Brewers' early struggles. "Everyone wants to get off to a good start. Look at the big picture. Take a step back and slow things down." Coming from behind a couple of times to win Saturday night's wild 11-inning verdict against the Astros had to help the Brewers' attitude. It also guaranteed the Brewers winning their second series this week, both on the road. "These are the kinds of wins that send a team steam-rolling," said Bill Hall, who drove in four runs in the win against the Astros. "We made some costly errors, but we picked each other up. Our pitchers got us out of innings, and we came back and scored some runs for our pitchers. After a game like [Saturday's], we feel like we're all behind each other. Maybe we can take advantage of these guys while they're down." Winning a game where so many players contribute can help bring a team closer together. "That's [what] makes this team go," said Todd Coffey, who blew a save opportunity Saturday but was bailed out by the Brewers' offense. "Everybody's there for everybody else." CC Sabathia's pitching helped carry the Brewers into the playoffs last year. But this year's starting rotation has pitched well, with eight quality starts in the last 10 games. Jeff Suppan gave up three earned runs in his six innings Saturday night. "It was a battle," he said. "I stayed the course and we came out on top," he said.Gene Duffey is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
