NL Central Notes: Garza, Astros, Brewers

The Cardinals beat the Brewers in extra innings last night, and Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun got hit by pitches in the process. Here are some NL Central links for Wednesday, before the division rivals take the field again…

• Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that he's glad to have Matt Garza under team control for 2012.
• Matt Eddy of Baseball America looks back at the Astros' forays into free agency and their subsequent trades for prospects in a subscriber-only piece. It's clear, Eddy writes, that the Astros are well-positioned to land the top pick in next year's draft. Houston has an MLB-worst 36-74 record. 
• The Brewers announced that they've already sold more tickets for 2011 than they did in 2010, when they drew 2,776,531 fans. More fans mean more revenue for the Brewers, who have already committed $59MM to next year's payroll.