Expectations for the St. Louis Series

[sauveb]

I agree that winning tonight does not guarantee anything and there is a long way to go. I want this win tonight because I want to see how Abner LaRussa and his players would react. They seem to be extremely tight right now and the possibility of a St. Louis implosion has me highly intrigued. If the Brewers win tonight I just might drive to STL to watch the games with Colorado and to visit with the locals.

[Crew2323]

http://images.yuku.com/image/png/82115f6a8e9dbb67bc7451e1ceecb56b4ba4708.png

[FoxyFoxes]

At this point I cango into work tonight and not be afraid of the result in this game. Gravy big time. Get out of the series no worse for the ware 4 games up. Six games up ould be huge but I doubt it happens. If it does WONDERFUL but 2 out of 3 in St Louis is really just fine.

[RobDeer 45]

I will still be nervous until we actually clinch this thing. That being said, I think a win tonight does wonders to crush the Cards confidence quite a bit and probably boost ours even more. But we have already had some big wins against them here the last week so I'm sure our confidence is already building even with a loss today.

[sargennm]

Even if we sweep tonight, this thing is far from over. Remember the Cards swept the Reds late last year, and the Reds still ended up winning the division going away. If Weeks and Narvy were healthy, I might start to think we could run away with it, but given our recent injuries, I will remain concerned to the very end. That being said, I would not trade our position in the NL with anyone but the Phillies at the moment.

This is the exact same time frame as that series. They "celebrated" the Phillips-Molina-Bench-Clearing brawl anniversary the other day.

[jjfanec]

Even if we sweep tonight, this thing is far from over. Remember the Cards swept the Reds late last year, and the Reds still ended up winning the division going away. If Weeks and Narvy were healthy, I might start to think we could run away with it, but given our recent injuries, I will remain concerned to the very end. That being said, I would not trade our position in the NL with anyone but the Phillies at the moment.

This is the exact same time frame as that series. They "celebrated" the Phillips-Molina-Bench-Clearing brawl anniversary the other day.

The huge difference in these series is if the Brewers win they be up 6 games and the when the Cards swept the Reds they went up 1 game.

[Nottso]

pwned? Please, God; no pwned. It makes me want to visit the nearest gaming center and commit great bodily mayhem upon someone... possibly everyone.

[sargennm]

Even if we sweep tonight, this thing is far from over. Remember the Cards swept the Reds late last year, and the Reds still ended up winning the division going away. If Weeks and Narvy were healthy, I might start to think we could run away with it, but given our recent injuries, I will remain concerned to the very end. That being said, I would not trade our position in the NL with anyone but the Phillies at the moment.

This is the exact same time frame as that series. They "celebrated" the Phillips-Molina-Bench-Clearing brawl anniversary the other day.

The huge difference in these series is if the Brewers win they be up 6 games and the when the Cards swept the Reds they went up 1 game.

Fair point. Although I will point out the Reds finished five games up at the end of the year, so there's still plenty of time and precedent for the Cards to catch up. By the way, anyone else see the Cards home/road split last year: 52-29; 34-47?

 

I wonder why they were so good at home and so bad on the road? LOL

[hawing]

If the Brewers win tonight I just might drive to STL to watch the games with Colorado and to visit with the locals.

If things unfold this way, I hope you'll share your observations here.

 

If 2-of-3 is meant to be, OK. But I hope the Brewers don't look owned ("owned", Nottso) on MLB Network tonight.

(and of course, it would be heartening to have a reason to just point to my signature line tonight)

[Menotti80]

I think the Brewers were .5 game behind the Pirates on July 24 and the Reds were three games out of first.

You're close enough to earn your cigar. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif The Brewers were in third place, one percentage point out of first.

 

July 24:

 

NL Central	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK
Pittsburgh	52	47	.525	-	26-25	26-22	382	378	+4	Won 1
St. Louis	53	48	.525	-	25-21	28-27	474	438	+36	Lost 1
Milwaukee	54	49	.524	-	33-14	21-35	443	452	-9	Lost 2
Cincinnati	50	51	.495	3	27-23	23-28	469	433	+36	Won 2
Chicago Cubs	42	60	.412	11.5	25-31	17-29	411	507	-96	Won 3
Houston	33	68	.327	20	17-36	16-32	388	506	-118	Lost 3

Tonight:

 

NL Central	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
Milwaukee	67	50	.573	-	41-15	26-35	522	490	+32	Won 6	9-1
St. Louis	62	55	.530	5	29-26	33-29	556	510	+46	Lost 2	5-5
Pittsburgh	56	60	.483	10.5	26-32	30-28	445	477	-32	Won 1	2-8
Cincinnati	56	61	.479	11	31-29	25-32	547	515	+32	Won 1	4-6
Chicago Cubs	50	67	.427	17	28-33	22-34	479	576	-97	Won 1	8-2
Houston	38	79	.325	29	19-40	19-39	449	591	-142	Lost 2	3-7

i love the difference in Run Differential from an embarassing negative number to a +32

 

[brwrsfan]

This is off topic, but I can't look at that graphic without saying just how incredibly AWFUL Houston is. Obviously we all know that, but they have the worst record in the league by over 10 games. Our magic number is at 41 right now....Houston's elimination number is 17. SEVENTEEN!!! It's only early-mid August. Man is that brutal.

[nate82]

This series feels like the '08 series against the Cardinals.

[FoxyFoxes]

I know the series is over and done but hear me out. I found this on the wonderful interweb and it relates to someone asking if they could bring a "FASTBALL" or "CURVEBALL" sign to the ball game without risking being kicked out. Turns out a couple Jays fans had signs like that. Why would Miller Park be any different? Therefore it is my expectiation to see some signs like that in the next series at home.

 

Linky. http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/31275521?fb_xd_fragment#?=&cb=f139d1e01a4e6a4&relation=parent&transport=fragment&frame=f154983d56ea693

[pitchleague]

yeah, I saw that the other day on MLB Network. Too funny. They had the binoculars and everything. But it wasn't just a sign saying "FASTBALL" or what not. They had a second sign they'd put up as well. Something like "Sizzling" or "Looping" so, when held up together it would be "Sizzling FASTBALL" or "Looping CURVEBALL" and the like.

[topper09er]

If we can split our final 6 games with StL, and go 10-11 in the remaining 21 games, StL will need to go 21-1 in their remaining games to tie us.

 

2 out of 3 in this series will be huge.

[jjfanec]

Anything but getting swept is fine for the Brewers in the long run. If we go 1-2 we are up 9 1/2 with 24 to play. If we win 2 of 3 we are up 11 1/2 with 24 to play which would be hard to lose.

 

The pitching match-ups look pretty good

 

Jackson vs Marcum

Westbrook vs Wolf

Dickson vs Gallardo

 

Dickson is making his first big league start and I know we usually struggle in those games but I like that he is going against Yo. We hit Jackson and Westbrook fairly well the last couple times we have faced them.

[brewmann04]

I agree as long as the Crew does not get swept we should be fine.

[pebadger]

At this point the Brewers could get swept in BOTH Cards series and still probably be fine in terms of winning the division.

 

Expanding on topper's point, even getting double swept, if the Brewers go 10-11 in the rest of their games, the Cards still have to go 15-7 in the rest of theirs just to tie the Brewers. And the Cards have 7 games left with the Phils and Braves.

 

In short, it would take as epic a collapse as there has been in modern baseball to mess this up. I am 100x more worried about the Brewers losing their edge in terms of clinching too early than I am about them messing this up and even making it a race.

[dlk9s]

Am I missing something? Why would TLR not have Carpenter go on Thursday? He'd be on four days rest and could still pitch against the Brewers the following week.

[GAME05]

I am 100x more worried about the Brewers losing their edge in terms of clinching too early

 

nothing wrong at all with what was written, but it was just so strange to be reading it. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I wonder if Carpenter isn't hurting. I know that he didn't look very good on Saturday and that LaRussa made a mound visit instead of the Lilliquist.

 

This could be a crazy series. I hope that our bats come alive. I know that the odds are in our favor but I also know that we have a tougher schedule over the next couple of weeks than what we have had. If we lose a couple of games in a row I could see us tightening up. It would happen to most teams. I won't relax until after I see a division title celebration. We have made the play-offs 3 times. In 81 clinched on the next to last day, in 82 we clinched on the last day, and in 2008 we clinched on the last day of the season. In 82 and 08 we had a small cushion and played poorly in September. I am therefore conditioned to believe that it will happen again.

[brewmann04]

It would be hugh if the Crew can win the first game .

[igor67]

Well since others are going a bit pessimistic, I'm going to take the Colorado series in the when do we clinch pool.

[razzzorsharp]

Carpenter will end up pitching, just more mind games.

[TooLiveBrew]

2 out of 3 in this series will be huge.

 

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgfy7x7iWc1qh5hg3o1_500.jpg

 

We must break them.