» Big series:
If the Milwaukee Brewers want any real chance at winning their division, they have to sweep the Chicago Cubs this weekend at Wrigley Field.
Sweep or bust. For all intents and purposes, that’s the position the Milwaukee Brewers put themselves entering their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, if they want any real chance at winning the National League Central Division title.
The Brewers face that challenge after getting swept in a three-game series by the lastplace Reds in Cincinnati, a stunning development for a club that had just taken three of four games at home from first-place Washington. The matchup should have favored the Brewers but they were thoroughly dominated by the Reds, getting outscored, 21-8.
That pratfall dropped the Brewers into third place in the division, a half-game behind St. Louis and 41⁄2 games behind the Cubs. And those deficits could increase before the Chicago series because the Brewers were off Thursday, while the Cubs were playing in Pittsburgh and the Cardinals in San Diego.
The Brewers have a four- game series at home against Chicago from Sept. 21-24, so there still will be opportunity to do some damage against the Cubs. But if the Brewers want to jump back in the thick of the division race, a sweep is recommended this weekend.
Winning two of three would allow the Brewers to peel just one game off Chicago’s lead, a minimal result. And Brewers fans don’t want to even think about what losing the series would do to their team’s chances.
Of course, there’s still the wild-card race to consider, which at this stage appears to be the Brewers’ best chance to see postseason play. They trailed Colorado by 21⁄2 games for the second berth, entering the Rockies’ game late Thursday in Los Angeles.
“This will be as close as you can get to playoff baseball,” Brewers second baseman Neil Walker said of the Chicago series. “That’s the exciting thing about September, especially when you’re playing within the division. We’re fully expecting it to be a really exciting series. We know the atmosphere will be good.”
And, in a bit of reverse psychology, Walker said, “It can be more pressure on the team that’s leading, in my opinion. When you think about expectations, they’re the team expected to win.
“I’ve been in both situations, the hunter and the hunted. The mindset really doesn’t change. You take it each game and try to win that game, and then the series. It’s not do-ordie yet, so you don’t want to put any of that in your head.”
In a nod to the importance of the series, Brewers manager Craig Counsell moved starter Jimmy
Nelson back from his regular day Wednesday to the series opener Friday night at Wrigley. By doing so, it aligned the Brewers’ three best starters, Nelson, Chase Anderson and Zach Davies, to face the Cubs.
Chicago, on the other hand, had to scratch its hottest starter, Jake Arrieta, from his scheduled start Saturday after he suffered a hamstring strain last time out in Pittsburgh. Swingman Mike Montgomery will fill that spot, sandwiched between John Lackey (1110, 4.74) and Kyle Hendricks (6-4, 3.29).
Of being moved back to face the Cubs, Nelson said, “It means a lot to have the trust of the manager and coaches. I love it. I want the challenge. I love throwing against those guys. I like throwing against the good teams, the playoff teams.
“That’s what all of us want as starters. You take it as a compliment. We’re pretty confident in the couple of guys going after me as well, so it should be a good series.”
It will be if the Brewers can muster some offense. After scoring runs seemingly at will before the allstar break, it has been a major challenge in the second half. The Brewers rank last among the 30 big-league clubs in both total runs (177) and average runs per game (3.61) since the break. Tampa Bay is the closest in that struggle at 3.63 runs per game.
By comparison, the Brewers averaged 4.96 runs per game in the first half (sixth in the majors), giving them an alarming drop of 1.35 per game since.
That home run-or-bust attack has put pressure on the pitchers to carry the load, and they have done so, for the most part. The Brewers’ 4.10 team ERA ranks sixth in the NL.
The Cubs, on the other hand, led the majors with 297 runs scored in the second half entering play Thursday. That surge has been the biggest factor in Chicago finally getting its act together after staggering into the all-star break 51⁄2 games behind the Brewers.
So, that’s the challenge for the Brewers against the defending World Series champs, who petitioned MLB and the City of Chicago to move the series opener from a day game to night game to get more rest after their night contest in Pittsburgh.
Of the pitching carrying the team in the second half, Nelson said, “(The hitters) were really picking us up a lot in the first half. That’s what happens with a team throughout the season. You want it to all come together down the stretch. You want to be clicking on all cylinders the last two-three weeks. That’s what we’re looking to do.”
While the Brewers likely realize they need to sweep the Cubs, they were not going to say that before the series. You have to take it one game at a time, a concept that might have slipped away a bit in Cincinnati.
“You know, we’ve got seven games against the Cubs,” Nelson said. “We’ll just play our game. I don’t think anybody needs to be pressing or stressing out, or trying to do too much, because we do have a significant amount of games left against the Cubs.
“We control our own destiny. If we go out there and play our game, there are a lot of things that can happen, even though we’re down however many games right now. There really should be no stress in this.”
After the dismal performance against the Reds, however, there should be a sense of urgency.