By Jeff Cirillo Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Oct 03, 2008 at 2:08 PM

In addition to being fan favorite during his eight seasons in Milwaukee, OnMilwaukee.com guest blogger -- and former Brewers third baseman -- Jeff Cirillo was a two-time all star and is the Brewers' all-time leader in batting average (.306). He also shares the major-league record of playing 99 consecutive errorless games at third base.

Cirillo, who now works as a post-game analyst for Brewers broadcasts on FSN Wisconsin, will offer his thoughts periodically throughout the post-season.

Here is ‘Rillo's take on the Brewers' 5-2 loss to the Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Division Series:

The Phillies have scored in two of the 16 innings they have batted in the National League Division Series.

But, that is enough to give them a 2-0 lead heading into Game 3 Saturday at Miller Park.

I thought Phillies hitters did a good job of working CC Sabathia and laying off his changeups away. The momentum that Philadelphia gained from Brett Myers' epic at bat was unreal.

That is why I love the National League style of play. With every pitch, the crowd grew louder and louder. The fans new that every foul ball was one more on CC's pitch count. Sabathia seemed visibly shaken after giving up the walk to Myers.

It even happens to the best pitchers -- when they cant get a pitcher to bite on that slider down or that nasty changeup away, they sometimes lose confidence in their pitches.

Sabathia walked Rollins on four pitches and then left a 1-2 slider up and middle in to a contact hitter. It may seem strange, but hitters often find that breaking ball strikes in "pitcher's counts" (like 0-2 and 1-2) actually are good pitches to hit.

That's because you are protecting against the fastball away and that breaking pitch up and over the plate goes right into the swing path. CC still was great at times, but when you walk hitters you don't have wiggle room for mistakes.

The Brewers offense was again tough to watch because Myers really wasn't forced to make pitches after the first inning. When Corey Hart hit into that 1-2-3 double play, you could almost hear Myers exhale a big sigh of relief.

The Phillies knew what CC has been doing over the past few weeks. If Milwaukee had put up a crooked number there, you would have seen the Phillies start to get a bit tight. When Feliz hit the double to tie it, the Phillies felt they struck against CC and saw his vulnerability.

CC didn't pitch badly, but the Phillies lineup wore him down and eventually out. All you want to do as a team is get him out of the game. To do that, you take pitches, make him work and throw strikes. The Brewers didn't take the ball the other way and Myers was hitting his spots and pitching to the scouting reports.

I still think the Brew Crew can set up a Game 5 Tuesday in Philadelphia. David Bush has been awesome down the stretch and I think the home fans can will the Crew into a win in Game 3. They will face Jamie Moyer, a crafty lefty who will test their discipline.

Jeff Cirillo Special to OnMilwaukee.com
With the Brewers in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, OnMilwaukee.com has enlisted the help of a celebrity baseball blogger – former Brewers third baseman Jeff Cirillo. In addition to being fan favorite during his eight seasons in Milwaukee, Cirillo was a two-time all star and is the Brewers’ all-time leader in batting average (.306). He also shares the major-league record of playing 99 consecutive errorless games at third base. Cirillo, who is now working as a post-game analyst for Brewers broadcasts on FSN Wisconsin, will offer his thoughts periodically throughout the post-season.