Goose egged

On Saturday night I attended by sister Megan's 28th birthday party. Aside from the french fry bar (yum!), the main attraction was the UFC fight. It was my first UFC fight night. While I was aware generally of UFC, I hadn't devoted any time to watching a match (mainly because I am too cheap to purchase it on pay-per-view). Despite the fact that I watch a fair number of boxing matches, I was not adequately prepared for the pummeling that often takes place during UFC matches. The concept that you can get someone on his back and then beat his face in is somewhat novel to me.

Take, for example, the Jose Aldo-Mark Hominick featherweight bout. Aldo got Hominick on the ground and nailed him in the forehead with his fist and then his forearm. The largest goose egg that I ever saw soon formed above Himinick's right eye. The announcer described it as a second head. Did the fight stop? Hell no, the doctor said he was good to go. Going into the fifth and final round, Hominick seemed to be bleeding from three places on his face, with the hematoma growing by the minute. Yet, Hominick fought on. Eventually he got Aldo to the ground and then hit him with everything that he had. Hominick didn't end up winning but he never gave up even as his face became horribly disfigured.

Likewise, through eight innings on Saturday night, the Brewers put a big goose egg on the scoreboard. Wandy Rodriguez confounded the Brewers all night. He gave up seven hits but Milwaukee couldn't string enough hits together to plate any runs. Randy Wolf kept the Brewers in the game, giving up a single run in the first inning and then blanking the Astros through seven innings.

The Brewers seemed like Hominick pinned against the cage--unable to get up; unable to score any points--until Prince Fielder came to the plate with one out in the top of the ninth inning. After working the count to 3-1, he clubbed a game-tying homer to right field. But like the fight, the comeback didn't completely materialize. Cam Loe got the first two hitters out relatively easily in the bottom of the ninth but then walked the next two batters. Loe seemed to get out of the jam by striking out Jason Bourgeois but the close pitch was called a ball. Bourgeouis then singled in the winning run. A black eye in an otherwise solid pitching performance.

Astros 2, Brewers 1
Game played 4-30-11

On Friday night, the Brewers hit two solo shots in the first inning and Shaun Marcum scattered three hits over seven innings to lead Milwaukee to a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the opening inning against Brett Myers. Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a solo shot, his first as a Brewer, in the fourth inning. Mitch Stetter (.1) and Brandon Kintzler (1.2) completed the shut out.

Marcum's performance takes him to 3-1 on the year with a 2.21 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

Brewers 5, Astros 0
Game played 4-29-11