THREE UP ...
Carrying the load
SS J.J. Hardy and C Jason Kendall carried the offensive load through the first five innings with two singles each off Cincinnati rookie Johnny Cueto. Hardy broke his bat on each of the hits. "I didn't exactly square him up," Hardy said of Cueto. Bill Hall added a home run in the seventh, the fifth and final hit off Cueto. 

Do we need recount?
Brewers followers have seen starter Jeff Suppan go through many an inning with a high pitch count but he needed just 30 through three, 44 through four and 61 through five innings. He used 95 pitches in his seven-inning stint.

Leather goods
Those who keep score regularly often put an asterisk on the scorecard for exceptional fielding plays, and the Brewers had three in the first six innings. Two belonged to 1B Prince Fielder, who made diving stops to rob Adam Dunn in the second and fourth. The third went to 3B Bill Hall, whose dive to his left smothered Jeff Keppinger's bid in the sixth.

... THREE DOWN
Leaving door open
Eric Gagne did it again. The Brewers' closer blew his second save attempt of the season by allowing a home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score. This one came off the bat of Corey Patterson, who dropped one into the picnic area in right field.

Let's try this
Give the Brewers credit for one thing: They tried to vary their hitting approach against Cueto. Early they were patient. That didn't work too well. The second time around, they went at him early in the count. That didn't work so well, either. Though they didn't score in the fifth, they did force Cueto to throw 26 pitches, his highest inning count of the game.

Playing into the shift
Last week, Fielder said he wouldn't let a defensive shift force him to alter his strategy at the plate. "I might as well try to bunt," Fielder said. Well, that's just what Ken Griffey Jr. did in the sixth against the Brewers with one out. But the Brewers weren't hurt by it.