Second inning: Piling up the pitches

MILWAUKEE – Ryan Howard beat the shift with a double to left-center on the first pitch of the second to continue his hot hitting against Brewers’ pitcher Dave Bush. Heading into the game Howard was 5-for-14 with two homers against Bush. But Howard isn’t the only Phillie with good lifetime numbers against Bush. Pat Burrell was 5-for-13 with three homers; Chase Utley was 4-for-9 with a homer; Pedro Feliz had two homers and Greg Dobbs had a pair of homers and a .462 average (6-for-13).

However, following the double to Howard, Bush retired the next three in order. As a result, the Phillies have stranded 18 runners during their 18 times at bat during the series and 12 of those in scoring position.

That kind of makes it tough.

It also gets tough when pitcher Jamie Moyer continued to work deep counts. So far, only two Brewers have gotten first-pitch strikes as the lefty’s pitch count soared to 56 after just two innings. The pitcher is clearly frustrated with the strike zone and appeared to be yapping at home-plate ump Brian Runge. After Mike Cameron walked with two outs, Moyer yelled for catcher Carlos Ruiz to get out to the mound.

Moyer got out of the inning by striking out Bill Hall, but it wasn’t until the hitter was halfway down the base line to first thinking he had walked that Runge rung him up.

End of 2: Brewers 2, Phillies 0

Fifth inning: Break up the Brewers?

In a sense, the Brewers’ playoff run looks a lot like the one the Phillies had last year. They snuck in on the last day of the season thanks to a loss by the Mets, celebrated like crazy and are poised to be bounced out very quickly. Like in Philly, Milwaukee fans waited even longer for their team to make the playoffs. The Phillies ended a 14-year drought last season, while the Brewers knocked off a 26-year absence in ’08. Better yet, the Brewers switched leagues so this is their first trip to the National League playoffs.

But unlike the Phillies last year, the Brewers don’t seem to be regrouping for another run in 2009. That’s part of the reason why the club went after CC Sabathia at the deadline and fired manager Ned Yost two weeks ago even though they were tied for first in the wild-card race.

The Brewers are a flawed club that will have to make a bunch of moves this winter if they want to challenge the Cubs in the NL Central. That’s easy to say, but hard to do. More than likely Sabathia will be pitching for big money somewhere else next season. Heck, it could even be for the Phillies, who will have some cash to spend after a few big salaries come off the payroll.

Needless to say, the Phillies will have a spot for a lefty starter who throws around 250 innings per season.

In the meantime it will be interesting to see how the Brewers respond in Game 2 if they are down 2-0. That’s especially the case considering their best pitcher was beaten like a drum as they turn to Dave Bush.

Meanwhile, Myers appears to be in cruise control. After giving up a hit and a run in a shaky first inning, Myers has not allowed a hit since and has retired 13 of the last 14 he faced.

End of 5: Phillies 5, Brewers 1