* Shortstop J.J. Hardy tied for third among NL hitters in best batting average on the road, with at least 250 plate appearances. Hardy batted .316 in 72 road games.

* CC Sabathia led the league in complete games with seven. He and Ben Sheets led the league in shutouts with three.

* Sabathia was one of three NL pitchers to throw a one-hitter (Aug. 31 vs. Pittsburgh). He led the NL in low-run complete games with six. Sheets was second with five.

* Brewers pitchers had the second-lowest ERA in the NL (3.85), behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.68).

* Jason Kendall led the league as a defensive catcher in four categories: games (149, tied with Russell Martin of Los Angeles), assists (94), total chances (1,125) and double plays (13).

* Rickie Weeks led all league second basemen in errors (15).

* Ryan Braun led all NL outfielders with zero errors. He was first in extra-base hits (83) and second in total bases (338).

* Pitcher Seth McClung was one of six NL hitters who reached first base because of catcher's interference.

* The Brewers had the fourth-worst pinch-hitting average (.211), but Gabe Kapler was the eighth-best with a .323 average.

* Milwaukee had the second-best winning percentage in games started by opposing left-handers (33-20, .623).

* Milwaukee had the best record in games decided by one run (28-17, .622).

* Prince Fielder was walked intentionally 19 times, tied for second. Fielder and Corey Hart were third and fourth in sacrifice flies, with 10 and nine, respectively.

* Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush gave up the fourth-most and fifth-most homers, with 30 and 29, respectively.

* Manny Parra tied for the league lead with most wild pitches (19).

* A nine-inning Brewers home game took 2 hours 49 minutes to play. A road game averaged 2:50. The NL average was 2:49. Brewers at Chicago Cubs games last season averaged 3:12.

Protection issues

In the ESPN Magazine cover story about National Football League players thinking they have become targets for criminals, one compelling testimonial comes from Dunta Robinson, a cornerback for the Houston Texans.

Robinson describes being the victim of an armed robbery in his home, in a gated community near Houston.

He said on a Saturday in September 2007 he was watching college football on TV when some armed robbers "barged into" his home, made him lay face down, duct-taped his arms and legs behind him and pushed his two children into a closet.

"Scariest moment of my life," Robinson said.

"What let me know I wasn't going to die was they kept calling me by my first name," Robinson said. "I saw them looking at my face, then back to the football pictures on the wall, then one of the guys was like, 'You're a good player, so I'm not going to kill you.' "

As a result of the incident, Robinson bought a gun for protection in his home.

"I've heard the league say you don't need a gun," Robinson said. "But if you haven't been in my situation, you really can't answer that question. I would never use a weapon in the wrong way or look for trouble. But I will tell you this: I will protect my house."

Robinson is expected to start at right cornerback for the Texans against the Packers today at Lambeau Field.

UW makes fave 12

Wisconsin's men's basketball team is the 12th-most popular in the U.S., according to a poll taken of 3,735 respondents who identified themselves as fans of college basketball.

ESPN Sports Poll, a service of TNS Sport, asked fans from January to September to name their favorite team, and UW finished with about 1.2% of the vote, one slot ahead of No. 13 Connecticut and one behind No. 11 Illinois.

Duke finished first with 4.1% of the vote, followed by North Carolina (3.7%), UCLA (2.5%), Ohio State (2.2%) and Michigan State (1.7%).

The second five were Texas (1.7%), Florida (1.6%), Kansas (1.5%), Kentucky (1.5%) and Maryland (1.4%).

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