Cubs fans right at home in Brewers' Miller Park
MILWAUKEE - When Jim Edmonds launched a grand slam in the fourth inning here Thursday afternoon, the roar from the thousands of Cubs fans at Miller Park was deafening.
You better believe the Milwaukee Brewers noticed, but there was nothing they could do about it. Just as they were powerless to stop the Cubs in this four-game series, the Brewers could only sit, watch and listen as the visiting fans took over their park.
"We don't like the fact that we allowed their fans to come into our park and have a four-day party, but that's our fault," Brewers manager Ned Yost said after Thursday's 11-4 loss that completed the Cubs' four-game sweep. "We're a better team than we showed the Cubs this series."
Maybe so, but this was a series in which the Brewers looked more like one of the worst teams in the National League than a playoff contender. The Cubs outscored them 31-11 in the series, outhit them 49-30 and won every starting pitching battle.
"We got schooled, They came here ready to play," Brewers reliever Eric Gagne said.
"We got our (butts) kicked," said pitcher Dave Bush, Thursday's starter and loser. "It's more than frustrating. Frustration is when you lose close games."
The Cubs got a lift when they beat CC Sabathia in Monday's series opener and never looked back. Whereas the Cubs and the Brewers were tied for first place in the NL Central as recently as Sunday morning, Milwaukee now is 5 games back and won't see the Cubs again until the middle of September.
"This is not a death sentence by any means," Yost said. "If it was in September, yeah, this would hurt, but we have plenty of time to recover from this to get back on track and right the ship, so to speak.
"This is four games where we got outplayed. We got spanked. They did everything right this series. They pitched great, they made every play defensively, they found every hole offensively. Everything went right for them, but it gets turned around quick, too."
Bush surrendered 2 home runs to Edmonds, a solo shot in the third that made it 1-0 and the grand slam in the fourth that put the Cubs on top 5-0 and sent all those Cubs fans into a tizzy.
"I was a little surprised by it," Edmonds said of the roar from the fans that made it sound as if he was 90 miles south in Wrigley Field. "But that's what I've seen from Cubs fans ever since I've been in this league."
Bush still was angry with himself hours later for hitting Mark DeRosa in the shoulder with an 0-2 pitch, loading the bases with two outs for Edmonds.
"The hit batter with 2 strikes turned the game around right there," Bush said.
"That 0-2 pitch where he hit DeRosa, he's got to get him out in that situation," Yost said.
The Brewers got little or no production from their best players. Ryan Braun went 4-for-15 in the series with 1 RBI, J.J. Hardy 1-for-16 and Ricky Weeks 1-for-11. Prince Fielder was 6-for-13 with 2 homers, but both came in meaningless situations.
"They just beat us, there's not much more to say," Gagne said. "We didn't do anything for four games."