by Tracy Ringolsby, Special to FOXSports.com

Updated: July 12, 2008, 10:54 AM EST 9 comments

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There were the Milwaukee Brewers, buying full page ads in the Milwaukee Journal, proclaiming the arrival of CC Sabathia, marketing partial season ticket plans to ensure post-season priority.

And before the final ticket was handed out for the sellout welcoming of Sabathia to Miller Park on Tuesday night, the Cubs had thrown the Brewers a curve.

The Brewers acquired Sabathia, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, on Monday for four minor-league players, including Matt LaPorta, their No. 1 draft pick a year ago, and hustled him into town so he could start Tuesday, which meant he could come back again on Sunday before the All-Star Break.

So what did the Cubs do? On Saturday they put the final pieces in place and sent four players to Oakland in exchange for right-handed pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. They called the Brewers bluff and raised them one (crossing their fingers that Harden can finally somehow stay healthy).

"(Monday), Milwaukee made a deal for a left-hander starter and (Tuesday) Jim (Hendry) went out and got himself a real good right-handed pitcher," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "It's good to see (Hendry) is so competitive, and he's doing everything in his power to ensure that we win."

The battle obviously has expanded from the playing field to the front office.

"Even general managers are competing now," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

He had a smile on his face or was it a smirk?

At least he was able to exhale by night's end.

At least Sabathia's Brewers debut was a success. A work of beauty? Not close. But a win, which is what matters most for a team trying to overtake both St. Louis and the Cubs in a bid to climb atop the NL Central and enjoy the postseason for the first time in 26 years.

So forget about the five walks in six innings or the good fortune that allowed Sabathia to escape with allowing only three runs in what became a 7-3 Brewers win against the Rockies.

Remember the good times. The place sold out, and already ticket sales are piling up for his encore on Sunday against Cincinnati. The Brewers are the buzz in Beer Town, even pushing the expectation of a return of Brett Favre from the tip of sports fans' tongues.

"It's the way it should be,'' said Rockies manager Clint Hurdle. "You wake up and read about the Brewers and hear about the Brewers. You come to the ballpark, and there is a buzz. The stadium is full. That's what you hope will happen. It's good for baseball.''

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio has opened his wallet in search of a winner. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

It's a feeling the folks in Milwaukee haven't enjoyed for more than a quarter of a century. The last 25 years the Brewers have been annual sellers, a small market team with small market visions. Not anymore. New owner Mark Attanasio wasn't around back in 1982 when the Brewers swung that late August deal for Don Sutton, who provided just what the Brewers needed to get to the World Series for the only time in franchise history.

He's heard tell of the events, including Sutton going head-to-head against Jim Palmer in Baltimore on the final day of that season with the winner advancing to the ALCS. He wants to live through that kind of thing. That's why he took a deep breath, and agreed to sign the checks for what is now a $90 million payroll. Even with a projected attendance of more than three million, the Brewers figure to lose money, but if they win games like they anticipate, Attanasio said he can overlook the red ink.

"If you have that opportunity, you have to take it,'' said Attanasio. "If he does what he does, it's going to be more than enough for us. It's just the opportunity."

First impressions were just fine. There were nerves and anxieties, just like anybody has his first day on a new job, but there were big pitches and big plays when they were needed.

Leading 4-0, Sabathia faced a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth. He gave up only one run. He got Jayson Nix to ground into a double play, and Omar Quintanilla to ground out.

Then in the sixth, again the bases were loaded with nobody out. This time, Yorvit Torrealba lined a double down the right field line. This time Sabathia caught a break. Ryan Spilborhgs, breaking from first with every intention of scoring the game-tying run, felt a strain in his left oblique as he hit second base and was fortunate to get to third. This time Sabathia caught a line drive, off the bat of Nix, and he doubled pinch-runner Scott Podesednik off third.

Goodbye Rockies rally.

Hello victory.

"He was nimble like a cat, snatched it and made the throw," said Yost. "That was a big break for us."

There is that old saw about being better off lucky than good.

"It was an accident," Sabathia said of grabbing Nix's line drive. "I'm not a great fielding pitcher."

There is no accident about what the Brewers envision from Sabathia. They see him and Ben Sheets as a Sandy Koufax-Don Drsydale perfecta that will carry the team into October. They will both be free agents come November, but Attanasio says the concern is July, August, September and October.

"I'm following Doug Melvin's lead on this and just trying to focus on putting the best possible team together this year to win this year and then address all that in the offseason," Attanasio said.

The Cubs, however, are anxious to trip up the Brewers, and so the Cubs were willing to take a chance on Harden.

The Brewers have added the known factor. Sabathia is the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. He's well on his way to an eighth consecutive season of 180-plus innings and looking to win at least 15 games for the third time in four years. He averaged 31 starts in his first seven big league seasons.

Rich Harden, the Cubs answer to Sabathia, comes with many question marks. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

The Cubs took the risk. Harden could either be another Mark Prior, or maybe he's finally figured out how to avoid the arm ailments that have sidelined him so often in his career. He's started more than 19 games only once in his first five big-league seasons. The 13 starts he already has made this year equal his total for the last two. He has pitched 130 innings once in his career and never won more than 11 games in a season.

He does, however, have a dominating arm, when healthy, and the Cubs did pick up the insurance of Gaudin, another live arm who can fill voids in the rotation or the bullpen.

And it's not like either team gutted its future to get better today.

La Porta is the one prime prospect that the Brewers lost, and his is a defensively challenged hitter who would have had a hard time finding playing time in a league without a DH and on a team that already is forced to endure the defensive endeavors of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, and has another, Double-A Huntsville third baseman Mark Gamel, on the way.

The Cubs, meanwhile, replaced right-hander Sean Gallagher with the addition of Harden, in addition to Gaudin, and given the presence of outfielder Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukodome, infielders Ryan Theriot and Mike Fotenot and catcher Geovany Soto, couldn't foresee a big-league opportunity for any of the three players they packaged with Gallagher.

"It is fun," said Yost. "We made our move. (The Cubs) made their move. St. Louis is looking to make a move. It's great for the fans, for baseball players, too."