For Milwaukee, the first inning was something of a disaster. They threw away an opportunity at the plate, and then in the bottom half, they watched St. Louis go to town against staff ace Yovani Gallardo, scoring four runs before the third out. The Brewers were probably already the slight underdog coming into Wednesday's Game 3; an early 4-0 deficit, though, put them well behind the 8 ball.

But in the top of the second, the Brewers made this a game. Against Chris Carpenter - maybe, who knows, a cold Chris Carpenter, given that he sat in the dugout for so long - Milwaukee began the inning with three consecutive singles, all hit sharply. The third of them, by Yuniesky Betancourt, scored Rickie Weeks from second base.

That narrowed the deficit to 4-1, and Gallardo cut it to 4-2 himself when he flew out to right with a runner on third. That runner was Jerry Hairston Jr., and Lance Berkman didn't have a prayer of throwing him out at home. Or maybe he did, but he didn't try, which suggests that he did not.

The inning ended when Corey Hart struck out looking at a fastball, but two runs is nothing to be ashamed of, and one senses that there's still a long way to go in St. Louis. Not only because there might be rain in the forecast! Ha-haaaa