Another big road trip (7.28 - 8.3) facing the Crew

[brewmann04]

TB AND STL gong to be a big week for the Brewers and like to see what help Doug can add for the Stl Series and HOME STRETCH.

[pitchleague]

and then home vs. San Francisco and the Dodgers (or the Dodgers and THEN San Francisco--I'm not sure which.)

 

So really, this is a big TWO weeks.

 

 

[come on, somebody trump me and make it three weeks.]

[SoupTown]

I think it is fantastic where we are and having to really man up vs four very good teams. It should be fun and I look forward to it. And I think not so much the win/loss, but how we carry ourselves. For example, I am sick and tired of assuming St Louis will be tough. We are the better side. So the guys will need to play with a bit of mojo to prove to us fans they believe in themselves.

[torts]

and then home vs. San Francisco and the Dodgers (or the Dodgers and THEN San Francisco--I'm not sure which.)

 

So really, this is a big TWO weeks.

 

 

[come on, somebody trump me and make it three weeks.]

 

well they do follow that up with 4 games against the Cubs and then a weekend against the Dodgers in LA

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't think this week is bigger than any other week. Whether they go 5-1 or 1-5, they are still in the middle of the race. I know, it always seems like the next series is huge. You could pick out any week the rest of the season and say it's huge. Truth is they all are, or looking at it another way none of them are.

[Dead Simmons]

I don't think this week is bigger than any other week. Whether they go 5-1 or 1-5, they are still in the middle of the race. I know, it always seems like the next series is huge. You could pick out any week the rest of the season and say it's huge. Truth is they all are, or looking at it another way none of them are.

 

I agree with this, but there ARE wrinkles. The Cubs are a good example. They hung between 11 and 12.5 out since May, but have dipped to 15.5 since losing their Aces despite of the fact that the rest of the division has been quite unremarkable in that time period. So it's better to play them NOW than before.

 

As to Tampa Bay: If Price is moved on Thursday he won't make his scheduled start on Wednesday.

 

The Giants seem to be in panic mode. Peavy, who was acquired because of fear that Matt Cain is losing it continued to be awful in his start yesterday, and Dan Uggla is worse. Three errors in his 3 starts so far and of course, he can't hit a lick anymore. Now is the best time to play them.

 

LA is no juggernaut. Everybody has Puig figured out and HanRam has become a human eggshell, in and out of the lineup. Kemp is rumored to be Boston bound BTW. At any rate, the Brewers are at least as good as the Dodgers.

[ImScafering]

The Brewers haven't exactly fared too well against teams that are above .500 this year, especially teams that have the type of pitching that TB, STL, LA, and SF have.... I'm very anxious to see how well they perform the next 2 weeks because I think it will foreshadow whether or not they will be able to hold on and make the playoffs.

[FVBrewerFan]

The Brewers haven't exactly fared too well against teams that are above .500 this year, especially teams that have the type of pitching that TB, STL, LA, and SF have.... I'm very anxious to see how well they perform the next 2 weeks because I think it will foreshadow whether or not they will be able to hold on and make the playoffs.

 

Yea, I've been thinking about that too. Say they do very well agains those teams. Doesn't necessarliry mean they can beat them later. Just as doing poorly against them doesn't mean they can't beat them later.

 

Sure, it tells us something but I'm not going to read too much into it. When this offense is humming, they can hit anyone. When it's not, they can't hit anyone. Impossible to predict when they'll be on, for how long, or what magical force needs to happen to get the bats going. Pretty sure RR has been trying to figure that out all year. (But I am pretty sure the answer isn't bunting more.)

[ImScafering]

The Brewers haven't exactly fared too well against teams that are above .500 this year, especially teams that have the type of pitching that TB, STL, LA, and SF have.... I'm very anxious to see how well they perform the next 2 weeks because I think it will foreshadow whether or not they will be able to hold on and make the playoffs.

 

Yea, I've been thinking about that too. Say they do very well agains those teams. Doesn't necessarliry mean they can beat them later. Just as doing poorly against them doesn't mean they can't beat them later.

 

Sure, it tells us something but I'm not going to read too much into it. When this offense is humming, they can hit anyone. When it's not, they can't hit anyone. Impossible to predict when they'll be on, for how long, or what magical force needs to happen to get the bats going. Pretty sure RR has been trying to figure that out all year. (But I am pretty sure the answer isn't bunting more.)

I agree, but if they play .400 baseball the next 2 weeks like they are prone to do against very good teams there is no way they are still going to be in 1st place at end of this 2 week stretch....This is the time to man up and prove you are one of the best teams in baseball. I will officially be a buyer if they can get through this stretch and keep the division lead.

[adambr2]

The degree to which this team struggles against good pitching is worrisome. They look set up to squeak into the playoffs and get swept in the first round.

[trwi7]

The degree to which this team struggles against good pitching is worrisome. They look set up to squeak into the playoffs and get swept in the first round.

 

Assuming they actually win the division and not the wildcard and make it past the play-in game.

[torts]

The Brewers haven't exactly fared too well against teams that are above .500 this year, especially teams that have the type of pitching that TB, STL, LA, and SF have.... I'm very anxious to see how well they perform the next 2 weeks because I think it will foreshadow whether or not they will be able to hold on and make the playoffs.

joe block tweeted this this morning

 

Brewers are 22-21 vs teams over .500, one of six teams in all of MLB with a winning record against teams with winning records.

[chadomac]

The Brewers haven't exactly fared too well against teams that are above .500 this year, especially teams that have the type of pitching that TB, STL, LA, and SF have.... I'm very anxious to see how well they perform the next 2 weeks because I think it will foreshadow whether or not they will be able to hold on and make the playoffs.

joe block tweeted this this morning

 

Brewers are 22-21 vs teams over .500, one of six teams in all of MLB with a winning record against teams with winning records.

 

Yeah, I was always too lazy to try to look it up... but you would assume MOST teams would not fare well against the winnings teams.

[dlk9s]

Cue the "But all of those wins were against Pittsburgh" chorus.

[logan82]

The Brewers win 100% of the time when they have more runs than their opponent.

[sveumrules]

Building off Logan's post I've also noticed they fare extremely well when they surrender fewer runs than does their opponent.

[Eye Black]

Some possible foreshadowing to Saturday's match-up with the Cardinals via this Derrick Goold Tweet:

 

@dgoold: Wainwright will go Fri. vs #brewers. Matheny acknowledges Saturday starter is open and could come "externally," meaning via trade #cardinals

 

I always enjoy the games right after the trade deadline since it is the first look at trade acquisitions with their new teams. This year might be an exception if the Cardinals bring in a front-of-the-rotation starter. The St. Louis series has the potential to set the tone for the last two months of the season.

[brewmann04]

Well at the very least if they have this terrible than can make it up with the Big road trip in late sept.

[adambr2]

So maybe we get Price, Wainwright, and Lester 3 nights in a row. That should help us turn things around.

[brewmann04]

Right now Jeff Suppan would shut us out.

[JohnBriggs12]

Awful approaches at the plate by almost the entire lineup the last few days. Time to get Gomez out of the leadoff spot. I knew they were in trouble when he fanned in the first last night. Against a more patient team, Cobb would have walked at least 6 or 7 guys.

[ImScafering]

I took a quick glance at the Brewer's schedule and came up with their current records against contending teams so far this year. The Brewers have LOST the season series to ATL (2-5) and WAS (2-4). They TRAIL the season series against STL (4-5), TOR (0-2), CIN (6-7). They have WON the season series against NY (2-1), BAL (2-1). They LEAD the season series against PITT (10-3). They still have 6 games a piece against LAD and SF. With the exception of Pittsburgh, the Brewers have not fared well so far against contending teams, but there is still time to turn it around.

[Outlander]

This was a pretty bad road trip that would have been a lot better if they just won the last game. You sometime hear every game counts just as much as the next but just not true when facing the second place club. They could have been 2 1/2 games ahead with a win but instead are only up a game, very disappointing.

[AZBrewCrew]

And possibly lost Garza for a while

[FVBrewerFan]

Turns out it really wasn't a big road trip. Only 2-4, but still in first place. Sure, they could have extended their lead, but you can say that about any week. Even if they did extend the lead to 2 1/2 games, there's still 2 months to go- so really doesn't move the needle much.