I’m as much of a big picture fan as you’ll find, so you know it’s a big deal when I’m falling for the hype of this series. In particular, it’s hard to convince myself that last night’s win didn’t count for more. To hell with it- it did mean something bigger. Since the break, the Brewers had set it up so that CC Sabathia would lead off the series, stymie the Cubs the way he had with St. Louis and his other victims, and get things started on a high note. And he gets out-pitched by Ted Lilly. Lilly, while holding his end of the rotation just fine for the last couple years with only momentary flashes of greatness or bar sign-itis (wherein the subject gets lit up every night), seems like yesterday’s news compared to CC, Z and Harden. For everything we did poorly yesterday, and with our bullpen still clinging together by a piece of scotch tape (fine… Irish tape), we threw out our number three pitcher and won a game against their number one.

General consensus among Milwaukee fans is that the Brewers threw the game away. Hard not to argue with that. Heck, it’s almost literal. They also question Yost sticking with Rickie Weeks over Ray Durham. I suppose that’s a legitimate gripe- not in the level of, say, playing Felix Pie over Reed Johnson or Good Jim Edmonds though. Of course, no acknowledging Soriano ripping on Sabathia in two at bats, Johnson’s great slide to break up the double play and force Weeks’s error or Lee’s clutch double in the ninth off their closer. So I suppose we have to play on and make sure there’s no doubt that the Cubs are winning these games more than the Brewers are losing them.