Dave Bush vs. Tom Gorzelanny tonight.

The biggest baseball news in Pittsburgh these days is surely the Pedro Alvarez saga, while for the Brewers, it's probably that the Cubs beat the Phillies 3-2 earlier today, featuring yet another late-inning comeback for Chicago (including another bases-loaded walk). So much for that vaunted Phillies bullpen. Rich Harden was mortal this time out at least. Then again, considering where we are relative to both teams at this point, maybe we should have been cheering for the Cubs anyway.

In other Brewers news, the Tigers blogger I mentioned before who simulates Elias' free agent rankings put up the ones for NL infielders. Neither Ray Durham nor Craig Counsell are projected to qualify even as Type B free agents, though Durham is pretty close.

Anyway, as usual, don't forget to check out the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

From Ken Rosenthal via MLB Trade Rumors:

The Phillies, adding a left-handed hitter to their bench, have acquired outfielder Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays, according to major-league sources.

The Jays will receive a prospect in return. The identity of that player has not yet been determined.

The Phillies have been actively searching for bench help, and their urgency only increased after they placed outfielder Geoff Jenkins on the disabled list Saturday. The team attempted to acquire outfielder Mark Kotsay earlier this week, but the Braves traded Kotsay to the Red Sox.

Stairs is hitting .250 this season with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. He was designated for assignment Thursday to clear a spot for outfielder Travis Snider, who is one of the Jays' top position prospects and will replace Stairs in the outfield.

I've always followed Cordier with more interest than other prospects not on the Brewers simply because he's a Wisconsin product. Baseball Handyman just put up a nice in-depth scouting report on him. He used to top out at 98, but it sounds like his velocity isn't back entirely:

* Looked about 6'1", not his listed height of 6'3"; His listed weight of 214 lbs. looked about right
* First pitch of the game was 93 MPH
* 90-93 fastball MPH throughout; topped out at 94 MPH
* Easy, fluid delivery when at 90 MPH; Visibly strained to get up to 93 MPH
* Flashed 84-86 MPH changeup; Left it up in the zone
* Serious let up on the change; lacked follow through on the pitch
* Curveball in the upper 70's
* Curveball hit hard; lacked bite
* Visibly struggled with curveball feel between innings
* Even keel on the mound; Secondary stuff was lacking, but he worked efficiently and kept attacking

It's Ben Sheets against Todd Wellemeyer tonight, in what feels like a pretty big game. Sheets could use a good start to get the fans back on his side, and it seems like a sweep of this two-game series would pretty much be a knockout blow to St. Louis' playoff hopes. Also, as ol Pete pointed out, it is the battle of young and hip versus the old and stodgy:

Whether it was Ryan Braun's strut after his game-winning home run in the series finale or the Brewers' celebratory untucking of their jerseys after each win, that series added heat to a percolating rivalry.

"We're not fans of those guys," one Cardinal said.

I suddenly feel a kinship with Derek Jeter--it's nice to be good enough that people feel they have to justify their dislike and so drum up a bunch of resentment about small things that would otherwise go unnoticed. Click here and revel in it.

Don't forget to check out the BR Game Preview. The Brewers' lineup is their standard one against righties, except for Ray Durham replacing Rickie Weeks at the top of the order. Game time is 7:15 Central.