Five Cuts: CC needs to carry Brew

CC Sabathia (13-2 with Milwaukee) sports a pedestrian 4.62 ERA against the Cubs, his worst figure against National League foes. AP

MILWAUKEE -- Taking five cuts after the Brewers' 7-3 loss to the Cubs on Saturday, with the Wild Card race tied with the Mets heading into game 162 ...

1. The Brew desperately need to clinch with CC Sabathia on the hill, because their pitching options are meager for a one-game playoff at Shea Stadium on Monday. Manager Dale Sveum said his Monday arms strategy would have to be "mix and match," which is essentially a code phrase for screwed. The first candidate Sveum mentioned, righty Dave Bush, threw 43 pitches in relief on Saturday and would be working on one day of rest. The second, righty Yovani Gallardo, threw 67 pitches on Thursday, his first start since May 1, and the Brewers have to be wary about risking his future. The Mets wouldn't be in the greatest shape either -- they'd be looking at shaky Pedro Martinez as their clincher -- but at least they'd have a regular starter on three days' rest.

2. CC wants the all the pressure and responsibility of a Sunday start. While there aren't any doubts about Sabathia's readiness to pitch Sunday -- he told me "there's no way" he'd allow Sveum to give anyone else the ball, and Sveum admitted to fearing that Sabathia could "pinch my neck off" -- he's also throwing against the best right-handed hitting team in the NL. Sabathia's overall ERA with the Brewers is a Herculean 1.78, but in 13 2/3 innings against the Cubs, he has a 4.62 ERA, his worst against any NL team. CC hasn't been able to strike out the Cubs at his normal, one-per-inning rate, either; he's whiffed just eight in two starts. Asked if he's learned anything from those two outings -- one a no-decision, the other a loss -- Sabathia said no, that he always does the same thing: Just tries to pitch his game. He'll need to bullheadedly exert his will over the Cubs in the regular season's final game.

3. Sweet Lou gave the Brewers a gift -- starting a lineup full of B-Teamers, and even scratching Jim Edmonds from the lineup at the last minute for pinch-hitting specialist Daryle Ward -- and yet Milwaukee couldn't capitalize. Was it just Ted Lilly's magnificent pitching (he gave up one run in six innings) or the fact that the scoreboard-watching Brewers tensed up when they saw the Mets take an early 2-0 lead on the Marlins? Initially, I thought the Crew was trying to keep that game out of their minds, as all of the clubhouse TVs, after batting practice, were tuned to either college football (Ohio State-Minnesota, Michigan State-Indiana, Miami-UNC) or a Brewers Classic win over the Cubs from April 23, 2007. Then I realized the Mets game simply wasn't available on the regular tube, and only on MLBTV. Huddled around a tiny computer monitor were Eric Gagne, Corey Hart, Tony Gwynn and Prince Fielder, looking on as Johan Santana mowed down the Marlins. The Brewers didn't miss anything good after they took the field to face the Cubs: Just minutes after Ward socked a two-run homer off of Ben Sheets in the first inning, Santana got Cody Ross to fly out to the warning track in left for the final out that sealed a complete game three-hitter.

4. Piniella is giving Milwaukee perhaps an even bigger gift on Sunday: Rather than starting Carlos Zambrano, he's putting September call-up Angel Guzman on the hill. Do we need to list the ways in which this is like early Christmas for the Brew? Guzman has never won a major-league game despite making 13 starts in 2006 and '07. He has not started a major-league game this year but has a 7.04 ERA in 7 2/3 innings pitched. He made one appearance against the Brewers, on Sept. 17, and gave up three runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Also, he's not Zambrano. The Mets cannot be pleased with this, but Piniella, whose team has already clinched home-field advantage the NL playoffs, kindly offered this explanation of the nature of Sunday's game (via the Chicago Tribune: "It's not going to matter because, well, it is going to matter but it's not going to matter."

5. Now that Ben Sheets' condition is no longer debatable -- Saturday's losing pitcher said he had "broke arm" and won't throw again in 2008 -- Brewers fans can shift their concerns to closer Salomon Torres. Torres hasn't left any games due to injury and will be available for Sunday and beyond. But has he hit a wall? Torres was lit up by the Cubs on Sunday (three earned runs without recording an out) for the second straight time, the first coming the devastating loss on Sept. 18 at Wrigley Field, in which he yielded four ninth-inning runs. Torres' sinker has been flattening out and getting left over the plate, turning from a nasty out-pitch into cannon fodder for Cubs sluggers. "Every mistake [Torres] seems to make is getting hit," Sveum said.

Torres, who's 36, admitted that he's not as young as he used to be, and therefore, "I don't have the stamina that I need" to overpower hitters. He's likely to find himself on the mound in at least one more situation where the Brewers' season is on the line, and after once seeming like a sure thing out of their bullpen, he's now a serious question mark. Both Sveum and the Brewers' faithful have to be praying for the Crew to score so many runs off Guzman on Sunday that a call to their closer is unnecessary.