"I had nothing," said a candid Brewers manager Ned Yost, whose pitching staff was in disarray because of injuries, overuse and a sharp set of salad tongs. Yep, salad tongs.
"I had no idea what we were doing all day long," Yost said. "I'm serious. I didn't know how we were going to get through it."
He must have had some idea, because the Brewers got through it with a win. Geremi Gonzalez overcame one of the more glaring errors in club history, the offense overcame a nearly missed opportunity, Matt Wise overcame those offending tongs and the Brewers overcame the Cubs, 5-4, in front of 39,144 fans at Wrigley Field.
The Brewers, who scored four of their five runs with two outs, won three of the four games in the series and once again pushed back to .500 at 40-40 heading into an Interleague series in Minnesota.
"The bullpen was the star of the day today," Yost said. "We talk about guys picking up the slack when things happen, and the bullpen definitely picked it up today."
"Things happen" was one way to describe what happened to Gonzalez (1-0) in the fifth inning. Making an emergency start because Doug Davis was out with back spasms, Gonzalez was spotted a 3-0 lead on RBI doubles by Carlos Lee and Bill Hall and a solo home run by Corey Koskie off Cubs starter Mark Prior (0-3).
Gonzalez recorded two quick outs in the fifth, but he ran into trouble when Todd Walker squared to bunt and popped the ball up between home plate and the pitcher's mound. Gonzalez called for what should have been an inning-ending out, but the ball hit the tip of his glove and fell to the grass.
"I think I lost concentration," Gonzalez said. "I lost it. I lost the ball."
Asked if it was the easiest popup in the history of Major League Baseball that wasn't caught, Yost said, "It very well could have been."
Appearing rattled, Gonzalez walked Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramiez to load the bases, and Jacque Jones lined a two-run single that cut the Brewers' lead to 3-2. Gonzalez evaded further damage, but Yost was forced to dip early into his stretched-thin bullpen.
"We were going to go as long as we could with Geremi," Yost said. "But Geremi lost his opportunity to win a Gold Glove [Award] and [he] cost himself about 16-17 extra pitches and two runs."
The Brewers came right back in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs against Prior before almost letting the Cubs off the hook. Prior struck out Damian Miller and Brady Clark looking, but pinch-hitter Gabe Gross followed with a bloop, two-run single that gave the Brewers a 5-2 lead and stood as the decisive hit in the game.
"I'm not complaining," Gross said. "I wouldn't trade it for a pot of gold right now."
Enter the Brewers bullpen. Wise, who cut his right middle finger on salad tongs after Sunday's game in Kansas City, managed to get through two innings without his usually sharp changeup. But he allowed a run in the sixth inning and another in the seventh, and he was facing runners at second and third with one out.
Wise induced a sharp Phil Nevin ground out to the third baseman, Koskie, who saved two Cubs runs with a backhanded stop. Wise then retired Ronny Cedeno on an inning-ending fly out.
"Honestly, I was just trying to keep the ball on the ground," Wise said of his at-bat against Nevin. "If the ball would have gotten through the hole, it might be a different story. I was just glad he hit it right to Corey, and he made a good play and kept the runners where they were."
Entering the game, Yost was not sure what he could get out of Wise. The cut on his finger happened to be right where he releases his signature changeup, and treatment did not stop the wound from breaking open in the bullpen during Wednesday's game.
"We were hoping that his finger would allow him to go two innings," Yost said. "You get in that kind of situation, and you're counting outs."
The Cubs were at it again in the eighth, when closer Derrick Turnbow was called on with runners at second and third base, Lee batting and the Brewers clinging to a one-run lead. Lee worked to a full count, but he waved at a low, outside fastball to end the threat.
"He's a great hitter and he's very aggressive, so I was just trying to match the aggressiveness," Turnbow said. "He's definitely not one of the guys you want to be facing in that situation, so fortunately, I was able to get out of there."
Turnbow kept the Cubs off the board in the ninth for his 23rd save this season and his first save of more than one inning since last Sept. 24.
"If that performance didn't put him in the All-Star Game, than I don't know what will," Wise said.
Wise had Turnbow's back, and the burly Brewers closer planned to return the favor. Wise has taken plenty of flack from teammates over the past few days for his run-in with those tongs, and Turnbow could not help but pile on.
"I'll have to hire someone to follow him around at all times to make sure he doesn't have any silverware, whatsoever," Turnbow said. "I sit with him on the plane, so I'll ask for plastic silverware."
Please beat the Twins this weekend.