Randy Wolf Pitches Brewers Past Cardinals in Game 4 to Tie Up NLDS

Randy Wolf did a hell of a job Thursday evening keeping his Milwaukee Brewers in the game, helping to tie up the series and force the National League pennant to eventually be decided at Miller Park.

The 35-year-old lefty went seven solid innings in Game 4, surrendering just two runs on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts in his team's 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Pretty sure Wolf, who also nailed a double in the third, was excited to end his embarrassing drought of 342 starts without a playoff victory, which was the most among active pitchers. It's a good thing too, because he didn't take his last loss very well:

“You know, I’ll be honest with you, the day after the Diamondbacks start I didn’t eat or shower. I don’t know if they call that depression, but it was tough to swallow."

Now losing St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse moves to second on that crappy list with 298 starts, trailing only Ted Lilly’s 318. Speaking of skids, Game 4 marks the Brewers' first road win of the playoffs and their first postseason victory since Game 1 of the 1982 World Series, also in St. Louis... Some of you weren't even born yet.

Matt Holliday gave the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the second before Allen Craig added a homer the following inning. The Brewers answered with a two-run fourth to knot it back up when Prince Fielder scored on Jerry Hairston, Jr.'s RBI double and Yuniesky Betancourt drove him home with a shallow base hit to center. Ryan Braun, who now owns a .471 batting average after going 16-for-34 this postseason, brought Nyjer Morgan in on a blooper to left in the fifth before Rickie Weeks scored on a fielding error by Ryan Theriot to complete the scoring.

Wolf tossed 107 pitches before Francisco Rodriguez pitched the scoreless eighth and closer John Axford came in for the save to bring the best-of-seven series even at 2-2.

The two sides will play one more game at Busch Stadium (where the families of Brewers players will be seated God knows where) at 8:05pm ET Friday night on TBS before the series moves back to Milwaukee. Jaime Garcia will face Zack Greinke for the second time this series, the last being Game 1 in which Greinke managed to get the 9-6 win even though he didn't pitch all that well.

[Brew Crew Ball]

Diamondbacks Stay Alive Thanks to Rookies Collmenter and Goldschmidt

Putting a rookie on the hill and one in the no. 5 spot of the batting order in a must-win situation is just how Arizona Diamondbacks Kirk Gibson rolls. And apparently it works.

Josh Collmenter silenced the Milwaukee Brewers abusive bats for a second time this season with six strikeouts and two walks, while first baseman Paul Goldschmidt added five RBI, including the third grand slam by a rookie in postseason history, to give the Diamondbacks an 8-1 rout to force Game 4 of their NLDS.

While the 25-year-old Collmenter and his crazy changeup were called up as a reliever back in mid-April before eventually becoming a starter, the 24-year-old Goldschmidt didn't join the team until August 1 when he was called up from Double-A Mobile. Goldy had this to say about the victory:

"It was awesome. Now to be back home and hear almost 50,000 people screaming for us is awesome."

Meanwhile, Ryan Braun, who had been 6-for-8 with a homer and two doubles in the series so far, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Prince Fielder managed only an infield single after being hit by a pitch following Brauny's walk in the first. Brewers starter Shaun Marcum didn't help matters by giving up seven runs on seven hits in just 4.2 innings.

Game 4 begins at 9:30pm ET Wednesday on TBS in a battle of lefties with Randy Wolf taking on Joe Saunders.

[AZ Central]

$30 Million For Randy Wolf? Yikes.

Really Milwaukee Brewers? You're dishing out $29.75 million over the next three seasons for Randy Wolf? He's really still a $10 million/year type of guy, huh? Hey, what do I know -- maybe that's why I'm not a GM.

The deal, which is still in the works but was leaked by an anonymous source on Wednesday, even includes a $10 million option for 2013. They may change their minds by then, though. The 34-year-old lefty was 11-7 with a decent 3.23 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season.

Oh yeah, the Brew Crew wants to give LaTroy Hawkins a two-year deal, too. (Yep. He still plays baseball.) At least they're only dropping $7.5 million on that bomb.

[MLB] | [ESPN] | [Brew Crew Ball]

Ed Wade Boggles My Mind

The Houston Astros have some sort of plan they are about to set into action. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it somehow involves Randy Wolf. Maybe they're planning a hostile takeover of the NL Central.

The Astros shipped off 26-year-old AAA righty Chad Reineke (5-9, 4.41 ERA) to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Wolf, who is 6-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 21 starts this season. He's all set to make his Houston debut this Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

So... why? General manager Ed Wade flew all the way to California to meet with Wolf in the offseason and was determined to land the lefty before he chose to sign with the Pads.

"Randy is an experienced starter and a great competitor," Wade gushed.

We're talking about the same Randy Wolf here, right? The same guy who has failed to make it through an entire season without hurting himself since 2003?

[Houston Chronicle] | [The Fanhouse] | [Sporting Chronicle] | [Trade Talk]

Randy Wolf Gets Deal from Padres

The San Diego Padres and Randy Wolf have agreed in principle to a one-year deal worth $4 million and up to $9 million if he meets all of his performance bonus standards.

The 31-year-old lefty went 9-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 18 starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year before his season was cut short in early July due to shoulder soreness.

He underwent surgery on his pitching shoulder in September and is expected to be healthy enough to join the rotation as a fourth starter behind Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy, Chris Young and veteran Greg Maddux.

[FOX Sports]

Squeeze Play On A Rainy Day

There are in fact, a few games that are not rained out today...
Chris Young gets the ball tonight when the Los Angeles Dodgers (7-4) honor Jackie Robinson on the 60th anniversary of the day he broke the MLB color barrier at 8:05pm ET. Randy Wolf will start for the San Diego Padres (7-4) as the two clubs wrap up their weekend series. The Padres bounced back from a 9-1 blowout loss in the opener with a 7-2 win on Saturday.

Young put up great numbers in five starts against the Dodgers last season, allowing only 16 hits and nine runs over 30.1 innings, but went 0-1. Wolf gave up one run and three hits over six innings in his last start to earn the win in the Dodgers' 10-4 victory against the San Francisco Giants last Sunday. He hasn't faced the Padres since 2003, when he went 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA against them.

[MLB]