Sheets' elbow woes latest bad news for Brewers
This hasn't been a great week for anyone associated with the Milwaukee Brewers.
And their bad fortune continued Wednesday night even in a 6-2 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field when all-star right-hander Ben Sheets had to leave the game after the second inning and just 24 pitches.
It was announced that Sheets had experienced right forearm tightness, but after the game the veteran sent up a huge red flag of concern by telling reporters the problem was with his elbow.
"I'm bummed out," said the 13-8 Sheets, who is being counted on to lead the Brewers to the playoffs along with CC Sabathia. "My elbow has been bothering me for a while now and somewhere in that Derrek Lee at-bat (in the first inning), I just started feeling a tug in that elbow. We've been fighting it off for a while."
Sheets, who surrendered a home run to Aramis Ramirez leading off the second inning before retiring the next three hitters, admitted he had an MRI a week and a half ago that showed no structural damage and that he already has received a shot.
"It felt great for a while and today it kind of went backward," Sheets said. "We'll just evaluate it on a day-to-day basis."
The Brewers remained a half-game behind the New York Mets in the NL wild-card standings but now might have to try and stay alive without Sheets.
"Of course you're concerned," Brewers manager Dale Sveum said.
A serious problem with Sheets would be the topper in what has been a miserable week for Milwaukee.
On Sunday, the Brewers lost their fourth straight game in Philadelphia then had to watch on TV as Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter and celebrated with his Cubs teammates - in their Miller Park clubhouse.
On Monday, Ned Yost was fired as manager with the team in the middle of a second straight September slide.
Tuesday yielded another loss to the Cubs, dropping the Brewers out of first place in the NL wild-card standings.
The bright side? Thanks to Wednesday's win, now at least the Brewers won't have to suffer the indignation of having to watch the Cubs clinch the NL Central title in front of them.
The soonest the Cubs can clinch the division is Friday against the Cardinals.
Seven relief pitchers silenced the Cubs after Sheets departed, allowing a run on 5 hits in 7 innings.
"You can't worry about tomorrow," Sveum said of using seven relievers. "Every game is a playoff game now for us."
Prince Fielder had 3 hits for the Brewers, the biggest being a 3-run double off Jason Marquis in the first inning.
"I feel like we've got some momentum back in the clubhouse," Sheets said.
While the Brewers snapped a five-game losing streak, the loss was the first after five straight wins for the Cubs, who are trying not to get all caught up in the talk of clinching the division on this homestand.
"We've definitely put ourselves in a great situation, but we put ourselves in a great position leading up until the time we dropped eight of nine and panic started to set in with everybody," Mark DeRosa said.
"We just want to keep playing good baseball."