Having to get up at 4 AM during the week prevents me from being able to watch the ends of many extra-inning games.  Imagine my shock when I saw the final score to Monday's game this morning after heading to bed with the Brewers up 4-3 after the top of the 8th.

Yes, John Axford is human after all, and he's not going to nail down many one-run saves when he walks two guys.  That's true of most closers.  Considering the wacky lineup and the fact that Chris Narveson was starting against one of the NL's best offenses, I'm just glad that nobody else got hurt.  I can understand losing this game, especially when Trevor Hoffman was pitching in a high leverage situation.

What I can't understand is this little tidbit from the box score:

Top of 10th
T Hoffman relieved J Axford
C Young grounded out to shortstop.
K Johnson doubled to deep left.
J Upton popped out to second.
M Montero intentionally walked.

Maybe this made more sense within the context of watching the game, but just to get this straight, with two outs, Ken Macha intentionally walked Miguel Montero?  After getting Justin Upton out?  If you're going to give away the free base, why not walk Upton, the best hitter in that lineup?  Once you get two outs, why wouldn't you abandon the idea of intentionally putting someone on?  You no longer need a double play to end the inning.  If it's because of R/L match ups, why would you put all your eggs in the Mark Reynolds basket, knowing that lefty Stephen Drew is on deck and lefty Ryan Church is still available to pinch hit?  And based on Hoffman's previous outings this season, why would you willingly prolong an inning when he only gets worse as the outing gets longer?

Obviously, this game didn't mean much, and like I said, it's a minor miracle no one else was hurt while playing out of position.  It doesn't make Macha's love for intentional walks any less frustrating.

We have a trade!

Once the Brewers fell out of contention, it became pretty clear that Jim Edmonds' days in a Brewers uniform were numbered.  There were a few rumors that popped up in the final 24 to 48 hours before the non-waiver trade deadline, but nothing came to pass.  It was mildly disappointing at the time, even if we kept in mind players like Edmonds are more likely to be dealt during August.

Well, here we are.  Edmonds apparently broke the story himself -- he's being traded to the first-place Cincinnati Reds.  In return, the Brewers will be getting outfielder Chris Dickerson.  Considering what I thought the Brewers would be able to get for a half season of a 40-year old outfielder with two bad achilles tendons, this is a relative steal.

There are a lot of good bloggers out there, and just because they don't write about the Brewers doesn't mean they're not putting up great, thoughtful posts.  These were some of my favorite posts from other NL Central bloggers over the past week.  Take a look -- it's better than watching another Red Sox/Yankees game on national TV, right?

- Another Cubs Blog takes a look at what has been an excellent rookie season for Starlin Castro.  Using B-Ref's play index to go back to 1901, ACB says that Castro's current OPS+ ranks 13th all-time for rookies aged 20 or under, and 2nd for 20-year old shortstops.  Comparing him to rookies aged 21 or younger, he ranks 28th all-time in OPS+.  Obviously Castro's had a great season, but when you consider his age and the fact that he made the jump from Double A to the majors, it's even more impressive.  Definitely one of the top contenders for Rookie of the Year.

- ACB also takes a look at the so-called "Year of the Pitcher," and finds that not much has actually changed in terms of runs scored across the league.  Furthermore, they find that the NL's numbers are almost exactly the same, and the dip in scoring in the AL may be due to that league's renewed focus on defense, not just pitching.  Definitely an interesting read.

- Cards blog Pitchers Hit Eighth takes a look at reliever Fernando Salas and the numerous times he's been shuttled between St. Louis and Memphis this season.  Obviously, with the way Tony LaRussa burns through bullpen arms, there are going to be a couple guys every year who are going to be constantly brought up and sent down to keep the bullpen fresh.  PH8 did the math (taking into consideration which airports he'd use), and estimates that Salas has traveled a total of 5,868 miles between the big leagues and Triple A.  Makes Adam Stern's constant shuttling earlier this year look like peanuts, doesn't it?

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You might've noticed something strange happened during Saturday night's win over the Astros.  No, I'm not talking about Rickie Weeks' leadoff inside-the-park home run (although it was the first time a Brewer accomplished that feat since 1989).  I'm talking about Trevor Hoffman getting a save opportunity and quickly shutting the door on Jason Bourgeois, Angel Sanchez, and Hunter Pence.

While the decision to have Hoffman close the game had some scratching their heads or flat out questioning Ken Macha, it's probably the best situation for Hoffman if the team is still intent on getting him his 600 saves.  A three-run lead with nobody on against the Houston Astros is about as low-leverage as a save situation can get.  Even with John Axford not pitching since Tuesday, I feel like this was the right move -- you're better off saving Axford for the higher-leverage situations, and you're not hurting Axford's development at all by going to Hoffman when you're up by three.

It certainly doesn't appear that this team has any delusions of making Hoffman the full-time closer again, and Hoffman continues to be nothing but classy about the whole situation, even telling Adam McCalvy that "Ax is the closer."  If the plan moving forward is to give Hoffman the three-run save opportunities, I have little-to-no problem with this. 

With the team out of contention, the positives outweigh the negatives.  It's unlikely Hoffman blows a lead that large (he's only allowed three runs since June 3), Milwaukee gets a little extra media exposure as Hoffman gets closer to an unprecedented milestone, the fans get to rock out to Hell's Bells a few more times, and the Brewers gain a little cred among players for showing enough respect to let him work his way back into save situations.

What's not to like about that?

That's just a thing of beauty.  I don't even care if it was a lucky bounce or that Corey Hart was actually out.  This game ranks right up there with the Craig Counsell/Carlos Gomez walkoff sac bunt against the Cubs, as far as favorite 2010 games go.

Can we stop acting like Prince Fielder is "unclutch" because he's had a bad 100-or-so ABs with runners in scoring position?

[FanGraphs Win Probability]