Tastes Great:

Mike Rivera–Nearly single-handedly kept the Brewers alive in a game they should have lost.  Three walks and a couple hits including a three run double to tie it up in the 8th.  He’s hitting about 80 points higher than Kendall this year, yet Ned apparently thinks he should play once every three weeks.  I don’t think he’d keep up that pace over a full season as a full-timer, but at least one start a week, especially in the dog days of summer, should be the standard.

Gabe Kapler–Well on his way to a Less Filling appearance after going 0 for his first 6 with 3 strikeouts and 6 men left on base.  But then he goes and does something like that…..and totally redeems himself. 

Manny Parra–He’d struggled in his last handful of starts, but came out and was rock solid today.  He certainly deserved a better fate after going 7 strong innings. 

Less Filling:

Eric Gagne–Ahh, Eric.  He’d been doing so well lately.  I was watching the 8th inning today and Gagne had 2 outs with no one on and 2 strikes on Ryan Zimmerman.  I went to change my little boy’s diaper and come back to find its all of a sudden 4-1.  He’s turning into Turnbow from last year.  Go 4-5 outings in a row and be good, and then all of a sudden blow up and allow 3 runs or more.  When he blows up, he really blows up.  Hopefully he can get things straightened out (again) unlike Turnbow last year.

J.J. Hardy–A very tough 0 for 6 with three strikeouts.  And his strikeout with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th could have cost the Brewers the game.  Luckily the rest of the bullpen was rock solid and Kapler came through in the 13th.