Brewers Need to Get OFF!

The bad news: The Brewers lost.

The good news: The Cubs lost.

The Brewers are still tied for first place in the NL Central.

That's amazing, especially given that Ned Yost hasn't exactly been at the top of his game recently.

For example:

A mosquito bite that Brewers manager Ned Yost got earlier in the week at Miller Park cost his team a scoring opportunity in the first inning in what became an 11-4 rout at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.

That's right, a mosquito bite.

Gabe Gross hit a one-out double in the first inning but ended the inning by getting caught trying to steal third as Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo struck out Ryan Braun.

"I had a mosquito bite in a certain spot and I was itching it, and Nick thought I was putting the steal on," Brewers manager Ned Yost said, referring to third-base coach Nick Leyva.

Baseball creed says never to make the first or third out at third base, and with Prince Fielder due up after Braun, seeing Gross take off for third was simply shocking.

"Gabe takes off and I'm looking around thinking, 'What's going on here?' " Yost said. "That was an omen to begin with."

Gross was equally shocked.

"I thought it was kind of a weird time, but he put it on and I took off," Gross said.

Had the Brewers won the game, that story would be amusing.

A screw-up resulting from a badly timed itch could be brushed away and forgotten.

However, at this point in the season, there is no room for such airheaded moves.

Some suggestions:

---The grounds crew should consider spraying to lessen the mosquito problem at Miller Park.

---Yost should be thoroughly doused with OFF!

---All mosquito bites should be treated with topical treatments to eliminate the itch.

---The Brewers need to play each game as if their shot at the playoffs depends on it, BECAUSE IT DOES.