SAN DIEGO -- Ben Sheets pitched his third professional shutout last weekend at Miller Park, but one that he worked as an amateur stands out above the rest.

Eight years have passed since Sheets, then 22 years old and Milwaukee's first-round Draft pick, blanked the heavily-favored Cubans on three singles in the gold medal game at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Even if Sheets makes it back-to-back shutouts when he faces the Padres on Thursday afternoon, it won't match the drama of Sydney.

"Totally different," Sheets said. "The talent might be better up here [in the Majors], but the importance was at a different level. ... The older I get, the more I realize how special it was, what we did over there."

Sheets watched Wednesday's Olympic baseball opener in his hotel room. Team USA, sans Brewers prospects this time, took a last-inning lead over Korea only to fall in the bottom of the ninth. The team includes Matt LaPorta, an outfielder considered to be Milwaukee's top prospect until he was traded to Cleveland for CC Sabathia.

Team USA will play seven other nations in the tournament, with the top four advancing to the medal round. Sheets says they still have a chance.

"All you have to do is get in the medal round," Sheets said. "Once you're there, anything can happen."

Brewers outfielder Laynce Nix will also be watching. Nix missed Wednesday's opening game because he was traveling to San Diego after a big league promotion, so he could not watch his younger brother, Jayson, a Rockies infield prospect, go 1-for-5. The brothers have traded messages in recent days. The time difference is making communication difficult.

"He's excited, I know that," Laynce Nix said. "They all just want to win really bad." That sounded familiar to Sheets, whose memories of Sydney have faded a bit over the years.

"I remember just being in the village," said Sheets, whose gold medal is stored at his mom's home in Louisiana. "And I remember the intensity of the games. I definitely remember that feeling."

The Brewers are starting to get that feeling as the days peel away in August. Sheets will lead a team on Thursday afternoon riding an eight-game winning streak and a string of solid starts.

Including Sabathia's seven innings of one-run ball on Wednesday, Brewers starters are 9-2 over their last 12 games with a 1.95 ERA. The starter has allowed three or fewer runs and pitched at least six innings in each game during the eight-game winning streak.

During the streak, Brewers starters are 7-0 with a 1.34 ERA.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Ben Sheets (11-5, 2.95 ERA)
In his last start, Sheets was spectacular, as he set down batters in order during four of his first five innings, working his fourth complete game of the season. The righty allowed just five hits, striking out six and walking none. Sheets matched Sabathia's five-hit shutout from the previous night nearly pitch-for-pitch in tying his teammate atop the National League leaderboard for complete games with his fourth of the year.

SD: RHP Jake Peavy (8-8, 2.68 ERA)
Peavy endured a 54-minute rain delay in his last start and actually pitched better when the game against the Rockies on Aug. 8 resumed at Coors Field. Peavy, who allowed a two-run homer in the second inning just before the rain started to fall, allowed one run the rest of the way in taking a loss. Walks were Peavy's downfall during his six-inning stint, as he allowed three runs on a season-high five walks.

Tidbits
Sheets is not the only Brewers player with Olympic ties. Among the others are reliever Eric Gagne, who pitched for a Canadian national team that was unable to qualify for the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and shortstop J.J. Hardy, who briefly played for Team USA in the run-up to the 2004 Games in Athens. The team's top Draft pick this year, Brett Lawrie, is currently playing for Team Canada in Beijing and appeared in left field as an eighth-inning defensive replacement against China on Wednesday. Canada won, 10-0. ... Manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Mike Maddux met on Wednesday afternoon and poured over the Brewers' remaining schedule, presumably making plans for the starting rotation. Three open dates during an eight-day span from Aug. 21-28 will force the team to shuffle its rotation, and Yost still won't publicly discuss his various options. Yost will have to make some sort of adjustment next week between series against the Astros and Pirates. ... Hardy snapped an 0-for-20 slump with a ninth-inning single Wednesday. He snapped an 0-for-28 drought on the team's last road trip in Cincinnati. ... The eight-game winning streak matches the Brewers' longest of the season. ... The Aug. 20 afternoon game against the Astros has been added to FSN Wisconsin's television schedule.

Tickets
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On the Internet
 MLB.TV
 Gameday Audio
•  Gameday
•  Official game notes

On television
• FSN Wisconsin

On radio
• WTMJ 620

Up next
• Friday: Brewers (Manny Parra, 9-5, 4.02) at Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 11-9, 3.07), 9:40 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Brewers (Dave Bush, 7-9, 4.35) at Dodgers (Derek Lowe, 9-10, 4.11), 9:10 p.m. CT
• Sunday: Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 8-7, 4.56) at Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 2-3, 3.78), 3:10 p.m. CT