Have a great Friday everyone and have a an even better weekend.

MILWAUKEE -- Ben Sheets did not mince words after an unusually average performance on Thursday night.

"Pathetic," said Sheets, disgusted and downright bewildered after a 7-3 Brewers loss to the Astros at Miller Park. "I was absolutely pathetic. There was nothing good about it."

Sheets has been plagued by injuries for the last calendar year, but insisted he felt "unbelievable" in terms of his health. So what gave him so much trouble?

"Everything," said Sheets. "Control stunk, velocity stunk, breaking ball. Nothing was good. I think every pitch got hit hard. ... My fastball velocity is down, and I don't know why. I feel too good to be throwing that slow."

Sheets (3-5) surrendered seven runs on 10 hits in seven innings to an Astros offense that had not scored in 21 consecutive innings coming in. Meanwhile, the Brewers' stalled-out offense mustered little against a pitcher who entered without a Major League victory. Houston right-hander Jason Hirsch (1-1) pitched 5 1/3 innings for his first big-league win and combined with three relievers to limit the Brewers to five hits.

After the media scrum disbanded, Sheets continued to unload.

"Normally, when I throw 88 [mph], it's uncomfortable. I don't throw 88 mph. That's just the way it is," he said. "If I throw 88, you look up there and say, 'Something's wrong with him.' And most of the time, you're probably right.

"That's what I don't understand. How can I throw 88 when I feel this good? Today, I had no aches and pains at all. Nothing."

Sheets lost for the sixth time in his last seven starts against Houston after winning eight straight before that, and he did not have much help. Corey Hart homered in his first career at-bat as a leadoff hitter, and David Bell stayed hot with a pair of RBIs.

Tied at 2 after the fourth, Houston scored three runs on three hits and a hit batsman in the fifth inning, taking the lead on Mike Lamb's RBI single and padding it on Luke Scott's two-run triple.

But the Brewers cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth inning, when Hirsh loaded the bases on a double and a pair of walks and reliever Chad Qualls walked Bell on four pitches to force in a run. But the chance for a big inning evaporated when catcher Damian Miller shattered his bat while grounding into an easy double play.

"In the first inning, Corey hit the home run and we got two [other] guys on, but we never really did much after that," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "You just keep trying every day and hope that it turns on. A lot of times, it can be a switch. We're a capable offensive unit, we're just struggling at four or five spots in the lineup, and that's generally not a good thing."

The Brewers are averaging 3.8 runs per game this month. They scored 4.6 runs per game in the four months before August.

"The potential is definitely here," said Bell, who was coming off a four-hit day in Wednesday's win. "It doesn't do us much good to talk about it, but the potential is definitely here, and that's the first step."

Sheets' outing was another bump in a 2006 season that has been littered with potholes. With six weeks left in the season, he has made only nine starts and pitched 50 1/3 innings while being continuously set back by injuries in and around his shoulder. Thursday was Sheets' second start since a one-inning stint in St. Louis on Aug. 5 was cut short by a tight chest muscle, but he said his ugly pitching line had nothing to do any physical ailments.

His manager concurred.

"In Atlanta, he was throwing 96 [mph]," Yost said, referring to an outing five days earlier in which Sheets surrendered five runs over seven innings but pitched much better than his line conveyed. "He just didn't have his best stuff tonight. On nights like tonight, good pitchers find ways to get through that. That's something Benny is, but he just made some mistakes, and they jumped on it."

Yost conceded that he left Sheets in the game longer than he usually would because the Brewers' bullpen was a bit short. The team won in 13 innings at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and set-up man Matt Wise was unavailable because of an irritated nerve in his elbow.

That was no excuse, according to Sheets. He touched 94 mph at least once but sat mostly at 90-91 mph and threw more changeups and cut-fastballs.

"Maybe I'm not strong. I don't know," Sheets said. "When I feel this good and I rear back, I normally got it. Tonight, I was rearing back and grabbing 88, 90. ... It shouldn't be that way."

Sheets declined the notion that he was "holding back" because of his various injuries, all of which likely stem from a torn muscle in his back, behind the right shoulder, that he suffered in a start last August. He started this season on the disabled list after straining a nearby muscle in Spring Training, then suffered a bout of tendinitis in May that sent him back to the DL for more than two months.

"Maybe I need to junk some of them pitches I've been learning and go back to what works," Sheets said. "Fastball, curveball and an occasional change. I know mixing all this up doen't really work for me. ... I don't think I ever allow myself to get in a rhythm."

Sheets has worked on the cut fastball this season, a pitch popular with many of his teammates. He has also thrown more two-seam, sinking fastballs than usual, and on Thursday he leaned heavily on his changeup. After Sheets was allowed out for the seventh, he surrendered Lance Berkman's 33rd home run -- a two-run shot to right field -- on a changeup.

"Trying to be cute," Sheets said. "In the end, I think it comes down to trusting your stuff. There's no reason not to trust it, because it's been good to me. It's been good to me all my life."

He vowed to make the most of his remaining starts in 2006.

"I can get it right. I've gotten it right every other year," Sheets said. "I want to wipe my slate clean in the pitching aspect. I shouldn't be getting weaker at the end of games. I never have. Why, in the seventh or eighth innings, am I unable to get outs? I don't know." Pitching problems again.

   Hang on everybody, only one more day to get through before the weekend. I'm just looking forward to the Brewers taking care of the Astros.

In a battle of teams worn down by extra innings, the Brewers will host the Astros in a four-game series beginning on Thursday night.

The Astros lost an 18-inning affair on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at Minute Maid Park that ended well after midnight, then played an afternoon game on Wednesday before traveling to Milwaukee. The Brewers outlasted the Pirates on Wednesday in 13 innings.

It's Brewers ace Ben Sheets against Astros rookie Jason Hirsh in the series opener. After leaving his previous start after an inning because of a tight chest muscle, Sheets returned to throw seven strong innings at Atlanta and ease some concerns about his health. He limited Atlanta to two runs and three hits in the first seven innings, then surrendered three hits on three pitches in the eighth and all three runners scored.

Still, Sheets touched his usual 96 mph on the radar gun and had his sharp curveball, good signs that he will be able to contribute over the final six weeks of the season. He was battered around by the Astros at Miller Park on May 2, allowing seven runs on nine hits before the end of the third inning, and ended up on the disabled list with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.

The Brewers are coming off a series win over the Pirates at PNC Park, their first road-series win in nearly two months. But they have been tough at Miller Park, going 34-24 there.

"It's nice to get that monkey off out back a little bit," Wednesday starter Chris Capuano said. "It definitely makes you feel good heading home."

The Brewers hope to know more on the status of reliever Matt Wise, who was unavailable on Wednesday because of some nerve irritation in his surgically-repaired right elbow. Wise has been one of the team's key setup relievers this season.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Ben Sheets (3-4, 4.98 ERA)
Sheets has 52 strikeouts this season versus four walks in 43 1/3 innings.

HOU: RHP Jason Hirsh (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Hirsh lost his Major League debut against the Padres on Aug. 12, when he surrendered three home runs in the fourth inning. He only gave up five home runs all season at Triple-A Round Rock, where he went 13-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 118 strikeouts.

Player to watch
Shortstop Bill Hall is batting .296 at home this season, versus .226 on the road. But Hall's production has been more evenly split, with 12 home runs at home and 14 on the road, and 28 RBIs at home and 34 on the road.

This one is right.

PITTSBURGH -- The overtime was worth it.

David Bell hit a two-run single in the top of the 13th inning that sent the Brewers to a 5-2 win over the Pirates at PNC Park on Wednesday. The Brewers won the series, snapping a streak of seven consecutive losing road series since they took three of four from the Cubs at Wrigley Field in late June.

Bell's bases-loaded hit off losing pitcher Damaso Marte (0-7) snapped an 0-for-16 in-game slump by Brewers hitters since Tony Graffanino led off the eighth inning with a single. Graffanino led off the 13th with a walk, and the Brewers loaded the bases courtesy of two Marte wild pitches and two intentional walks.

Bell atoned for a third-inning error that led to an unearned run and finished 4-for-5. Mike Rivera greeted reliever Britt Reames with an RBI single for a three-run lead, Rivera's second RBI of a long afternoon.

Francisco Cordero worked the bottom of the 13th inning for his eighth National League save. Winning pitcher Geremi Gonzalez (4-2) pitched around a leadoff single by Pirates shortstop Jose Hernandez in the bottom of the 12th inning that snapped a combined 0-for-23 batting drought for both teams.

Brewers starter Chris Capuano pitched six innings and surrendered only two runs, one earned, on five hits. He struck out five and did not walk a batter, but came up short in his seventh attempt to notch his 11th win of the season.

I'm still a bit of a rookie at contributions but I'm finally at least at 20 total so far. I'll keep climbing as much as I can.

ATLANTA -- Kevin Mench is in the middle of a two-month crash course in National League pitching.

The outfielder, acquired from Texas along with Francisco Cordero and two Minor Leaguers on July 28, had a three-hit, three-RBI night on Saturday that raised his average to .295 since the trade, with one home run and 11 RBIs in 12 games.

Before coming to Milwaukee, all 1,806 of Mench's career at-bats came as an American Leaguer, and, like Carlos Lee two seasons ago, Mench is facing a mostly new stable of opposing pitchers. Watching extra video can help, and so can talking to veteran teammates, but it's not the same as seeing a John Smoltz slider coming at you.

"Scouting reports only take you so far," Mench said. "You actually have to go out there and see guys for yourself, because every [pitcher] is different. I was [in the American League] for five years, and I was still learning guys."

Lee, who was sent to Texas in the trade along with outfield prospect Nelson Cruz, made the same transition at the start of the 2005 season, after he was acquired from the Chicago White Sox. Lee hit .215 in April with only three home runs, then absolutely raked in May and June, hitting .300 with 19 homers over those two months.

"Some guys adjust quicker. Carlos adjusted quick," manager Ned Yost said. "I've seen guys come over and it takes them a full year to get adjusted. I know that [Mench] can hit, and I know that he's going to hit."

The rest of the season could be a springboard for Mench. Starting Monday in Pittsburgh, 26 of the Brewers' remaining 45 games are against NL Central opponents.

'Hall' of a future: Bill Hall remains on pace for one of the stranger seasons in Brewers history.

Entering Sunday's game, he was hitting a solid .273, but 57 of his 104 hits -- 55 percent -- were for extra bases. Hall had 27 doubles, four triples and a team-high 26 home runs, including a Major League-best 18 as a shortstop.

But Hall continues to bat relatively low in Yost's lineup (fifth on Sunday, though he seen more at-bats lately hitting sixth or seventh) because of his high strikeout total. He had 118 strikeouts, the fifth-most in the Majors, and a so-so .332 on-base percentage.

"He's still learning, and it has to do with offensive discipline," Yost said. "He's made huge strides from two years ago in terms of learning plate discipline. Now he has to learn hitting discipline, the discipline to stay within yourself, to be successful."

Yost is confident that Hall, still just 26 years old, will make that adjustment. The key is to "shorten up" his swing.

"He could go out and hit 30 to 35 home runs without even trying," Yost said. "He's got that type of strength, that type of quickness and bat speed. ... But there's times when you get feeling good and you really want to hit it four miles, and all of a sudden, you're fouling off balls you should crush. That's what he falls into."

Old stomping grounds: Reliever Dan Kolb caught up this weekend with some former Braves teammates, including injured closer Chris Reitsma. Kolb struggled badly after being traded to Atlanta before the 2005 season, going 3-8 with a 5.93 ERA and seven blown saves.

"It's nice here. There's nothing wrong with playing here," said Kolb, who returned to the Brewers in a trade last winter and negotiated a discounted contract for 2006. "It just didn't work out for me here."

False alarm: Yost admitted that he was concerned in the fourth inning of Ben Sheets' outing on Saturday night, when Sheets appeared to experience discomfort in his right pectoral muscle. Pain in that muscle had forced Sheets from his previous start after one inning.

"He threw a pitch and walked off the mound, and he called [catcher Damian] Miller out," Yost said. "He was just itching a spot on his arm. He wanted to change the signs. But everybody jumped up and was looking to make sure he was all right."

Sheets' next pitch was a 95-mph fastball, Yost said, so they figured he was OK. Sheets went on to pitch seven solid innings, though his final line was inflated after the Braves' first three hitters reached leading off the eighth inning and eventually scored.

Last call: Second baseman Rickie Weeks left during Sunday's game for a flight to Phoenix, and he will see Dr. Don Sheridan for a pre-op checkup on Monday. Weeks will undergo season-ending surgery on Tuesday or Wednesday to repair a loose tendon in his right wrist. ... Yost started Jeff Cirillo at third base on Sunday because of David Bell's career struggles (.158, 6-for-38) against Braves starter Tim Hudson. ... Saturday's win ensured the Brewers' first season series victory over the Braves, but Yost was unimpressed. "I'm not going to have a plaque made," he quipped.

On deck: On to the Brewers' house of horrors. Milwaukee is 0-4 at Pittsburgh's PNC Park this season and 15-34 since the place opened in 2001, and will try to buck the trend when it begins a three-game series there on Monday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Dave Bush will work the series opener for Milwaukee against former Brewer Victor Santos, who returns to the Pirates' starting rotation in place of injured right-hander Shawn Chacon.

Considering how the Brewers have fared against the Pirates at PNC Park, they might as well have traveled back in time to face Willie Stargell and the "We Are Family" gang of the late 1970s.

Instead they travel to face Jason Bay and the red-hot 2006 Pirates for a three-game series beginning on Monday night. Since PNC Park opened in 2001, it's been a house of horrors for the Brewers, who are 15-34 there, including 0-4 this season.

The numbers this year -- at home and on the road -- aren't pretty. Pittsburgh has won six of the last seven games between the two teams, and Pirates batters are hitting .317 against Brewers pitchers this season, with 24 doubles, 15 home runs and 67 runs scored in 10 games.

The Brewers' 21-38 road record is second-worst in the National League, behind only Pittsburgh's 14-45 mark (the Pirates are 30-28 at home). The Brewers have played six series away from Miller Park since the All-Star break and have lost all six, each by a 2-1 margin.

"I don't think a lot of guys in here are tied up in stats, but I glanced at the home and road record, and it's pretty obvious," said reliever Matt Wise, who insisted after Sunday's loss that the Brewers "have to get [to Pittsburgh] and sweep them. Not just win the series, but sweep them."

The Brewers will send to the mound Dave Bush, who hasn't been the same pitcher on the road this season. He is 5-4 at Miller Park with a 3.65 ERA and a .208 opponents' batting average, compared with 3-4, 5.80 and .307 on the road.

Milwaukee will be looking to rebound from Sunday's 7-4 loss at Atlanta, a game that turned on a seventh-inning error charged to usually sound second baseman Tony Graffanino.

"All three games, we played well," Graffanino said. "Obviously, we let today get away. But whatever our road record is, it's all in the past, anyway. We like our team, we like how we're playing. If we keep going out there and giving the effort we gave in the three games [in Atlanta], keeping ourselves in positions to win, I think we're going to be OK."

The Pirates are coming off a three-game sweep of the first-place Cardinals, who were outscored in the series, 17-3.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Dave Bush (8-8, 4.67 ERA)
Bush has won each of his last two starts, holding the Rockies and Cubs to three runs on eight hits in 14 combined innings, with one walk and eight strikeouts. All three runs scored on Aramis Ramirez's three-run home run in Bush's last start, when he started with 5 1/3 no-hit innings against the Cubs.

PIT: RHP Victor Santos (4-7, 5.58 ERA)
Santos is making a spot start in place of Shawn Chacon, who has been sidelined by a right knee injury. Santos went 3-7 with a 4.89 ERA in 14 starts before going on the disabled list on June 18 with a rotator cuff injury.

Player to watch
Corey Hart drew a pair of walks on Sunday, but he also struck out twice and is hitless in his last 18 at-bats. Since manager Ned Yost announced that Hart would see the majority of starts in right field over the slumping Geoff Jenkins, Hart is 0-for-7 with three called strikeouts. "Just like anybody else, it takes time to get adjusted," Yost said.

ATLANTA -- It's not that the Brewers have played horrible baseball on the road this season. It's just that they always seem to find a way to lose.

On Sunday, a lack of clutch hitting and an untimely defensive lapse proved the culprits. A half-inning after his two-run double tied the game, second baseman Tony Graffanino was charged with an error that set up a three-run Atlanta Braves outburst and sent the Brewers to a 7-4 loss at Turner Field.

Braves catcher Brian McCann had a four-RBI afternoon and helped extend the Brewers' road woes. The Brewers have played six series away from Miller Park since the All-Star break and have lost all six, each by a 2-1 margin. Milwaukee's 21-38 road record is the second-worst in the National League.

"If we knew what the deal was on the road, we would have fixed it in April," losing pitcher Matt Wise (5-6) said. "We've talked about it a lot. Enough is enough. Now we go into Pittsburgh, and they've played us tough, but we need to get in there and sweep them. Not just win the series, but sweep them."

Simply winning a series might be a better place to start. The Brewers had plenty of chances early in Sunday's game against Braves starter Tim Hudson, but they went hitless in their first 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position, a stretch that included Mike Rivera's run-scoring groundout in the sixth.

The Brewers were trailing, 4-1, and had two runners on base with no outs in the seventh when Prince Fielder grounded into a double play. Gabe Gross followed with the Brewers' first clutch hit, an RBI single off Hudson, and two batters later, Graffanino yanked a two-run double off reliever Tyler Yates that knotted the game at 4.

"We put ourselves in a good position right there, and then we just turned around and gave it back," Graffanino said.

Things unraveled on Wise and the Brewers in the bottom of the inning, when Graffanino, covering first base, couldn't handle a low throw from Fielder on Edgar Renteria's sacrifice bunt. The error left runners at the corners, no outs and Wise in a huge jam.

"With the bright background, I kind of lost it a little bit," said Graffanino, who had not committed an error in his 15 previous games since being traded from Kansas City. "Then the throw was low and I went down to get it. I should have caught it, bottom line."

Said manager Ned Yost: "If we make that play, they probably don't score anything in that inning."

Instead, Marcus Giles scooted to third on the error and scored the go-ahead run when Chipper Jones, fresh off the disabled list, lifted a sacrifice fly to left field. Wise got a called third strike on Andruw Jones that would have ended the inning if not for the error, but McCann followed with a two-run home run.

With a runner on second base and first open, the Brewers considered walking McCann. But they liked the matchup of Wise's low-and-away changeup against McCann, who struggles with that pitch. Pitching coach Mike Maddux went to the mound and discussed the plan: changeup away, two fastballs inside, then finish McCann with changeups away.

"It was the exact sequence we wanted to throw, I just left [a 3-1 changeup] over the plate, and he crushed it," Wise said.

McCann also hit a two-run single off starter Tomo Ohka in a three-run Atlanta third. McCann is hitting .350 this season and has hit safely in 53 of his last 70 games, but remains a bit of an unknown outside Atlanta.

"We definitely know who he is," Wise said. "One of his holes is changeups below the zone, and I just didn't throw it below the zone. My first four pitches were where I wanted them. That's the most frustrating thing, to have the right game plan but not execute it."

Braves right-hander Chad Paronto (0-1) got the win by recording the final out of the seventh. Bob Wickman worked the ninth for his seventh NL save.

Milwaukee's earlier problems with runners in scoring position had something to do with Hudson, who had at least two runners on base in five of the seven innings in which he worked. But Hudson somehow escaped major damage, allowing three runs on nine hits and a pair of walks.

Ohka, who had surrendered nine total runs in the first innings of his previous two starts, got through a scoreless opening on Sunday despite Giles' leadoff double. But he got into trouble in the third inning, issuing three consecutive two-out walks, including a pass to Andruw Jones that forced in a run. McCann followed with a two-run double for a 3-0 Braves lead.

"He got his pitch count up real high early," Yost said. "He was at 90-some pitches after five [innings], but he kept us in the game. Those balls didn't look like they were missing by much."

Rivera cut the lead to 3-1 with his run-scoring groundout in the sixth, but that was all the Brewers could muster after starting the inning with runners at second and third base and no outs. Jeff Francoeur extended the Braves' lead with a sixth-inning solo homer off reliever Rick Helling.