2021-09-22: Cardinals (Mikolas) at Brewers (Anderson) [Brewers lose, 10-2]

[Bulldogboy]

I wonder is there any point the rest of the season if Yelich would be benched in a playoff game due to performance. Say Fried on the mound going with Taylor?? I am all about winning and don't care how the personalities feel about it. I doubt Counsell would do it but he needs to be prepared for anything.

[Eye Black]

Well one positive from tonight is the Brewers appear they are going to get through the game without using any of pitchers from their upper tier. Still have Ashby available for another day.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Well one positive from tonight is the Brewers appear they are going to get through the game without using any of pitchers from their upper tier. Still have Ashby available for another day.

 

Yes, good job by Gustave. Anderson was horrible, but this is still a game if Escobar makes a routine play.

 

Really hope Houser can put up a few early zeroes and Ashby can hand it to the Frosty Boys tomorrow

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

 

That Royals team scored 724 runs, 6th in the AL.

 

Brewers have scored 695 runs, with 12 games left, 5th in the NL

 

98 OPS+ to 91 for the Brewers. Yeah, it's closer than I thought...I think I'd still take that Royals offense if given the choice, but maybe that's splitting hairs...

 

 

Brewers are dragged down by having Shaw and Hiura, McKinney and Robertson eating up a lot of really bad PA's (almost 600) in the first half.

 

I won't take away JBJ, as he's still on the team, and still playing a lot. The Royals had 9 regulars and only 4 bench guys who got 100 PA's. They had pretty much the same position players from wire to wire. They weren't particularly good, but they did have a consistent group. LoCain had a really nice season.

[Nola Beery]

No worries. I’m totally sure that they can turn it on the last week of the season. They’re just setting the Cards up for a big fall. After all we have already won over 90 games this season.

[BrewCrewForever]

I am going to the game tomorrow and Wainwright is pitching for the Cardinals. Not happy about that.

[sixtolezcano16]

Will anyone be worried if the Cards sweep the Brewers tomorrow?

[PinaMadness]

So riddle me this. At what point in time does this team stop going through the motions because they can and start, you know, taking care of business (clinching the division)?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Will anyone be worried if the Cards sweep the Brewers tomorrow?

 

Nope. If the Brewers get swept by the Mets this weekend, and the Cardinals sweep the Cubs, I'll be mildly concerned come next Monday. But that's it.

[Eye Black]

Will anyone be worried if the Cards sweep the Brewers tomorrow?

No, I find comfort in the fact the Brewers still have three games against the Cardinals next week. Winning one of those shaves two games off the magic number, so as long as they win one game between now and Sunday (or the Cardinals lose one) they will show up in St. Louis with a chance to clinch with a single win.

[Nola Beery]

Counsell has to take the blame on this one. There was absolutely no reason to throw Anderson out there against this team tonight. Now we will get to see Ashby after the game is over. Good decision. Brewers appear to be getting punked at the high school lunch room.

 

Brewers aren't being "punked" at all this is the result of a team that has a lot less to play for right now. No reason at all to try to line up your stud pitchers to face the Cardinals at this point. This team needs to basically lose out in order to lose the division, and if they do that, that means they were playing bad enough baseball where it wasn't going to matter if they were starting Anderson twice in that stretch or not.

 

Anderson has been serviceable enough this year where you don't expect him to give up 6 runs in 1 and 2/3rds innings. Obviously if they expected that they wouldn't have started him. Best case you get 4 solid innings out of him and are in the game, worst case is what happened tonight. Either way, your studs are still getting their rest and ready for the real games in 2 weeks.

WHAT the FOXTROT!!? A lot less to play for?!??!? I sure hope this is not the Club's mindset. Tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed. We should have been sharpening our cutlasses and "stud pitchers" to slash these birds to ribbons. I'd rather the Brewers have my miserable mindset than to as be complacent as that.

 

~~~~

Several years ago, the Yankees beat the Red Sox "20-something to Not Much" in the ALCS. The Sox won the World Series that year.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Escobar is a pop-up machine lately.

 

Offense really needs to get it together. With Wainwright starting and Carpenter probably playing for Arenado, that'll be a lot of bad Cardinals memories in the lineup.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Well, a position player getting a K is always fun.

[HarveysWBs]

Going 45 to 86 has got to be hard on a hitter. I know it’s embarrassing to K, but that’s a sneak tough situation.

[owbc]

WHAT the FOXTROT!!? A lot less to play for?!??!? I sure hope this is not the Club's mindset. Tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed. We should have been sharpening our cutlasses and "stud pitchers" to slash these birds to ribbons. I'd rather the Brewers have my miserable mindset than to as be complacent as that.

 

~~~~

Several years ago, the Yankees beat the Red Sox "20-something to Not Much" in the ALCS. The Sox won the World Series that year.

 

The Brewers have never played with that mindset in the Counsell era. They always play with the bigger picture in mind. We have twice seen the Brewers flame out in the NLCS, do we want to make it a third time?

[rickh150]

Glad we got CC in the dugout, especially going thru this mini rut. Great coaches/managers use these downtimes to their advantage in speeches and team molding moments.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

The old reset button is getting it's first real workout of the season. Let's hope this is the last time it needs pressing.

[Nola Beery]

Counsell has to take the blame on this one. There was absolutely no reason to throw Anderson out there against this team tonight. Now we will get to see Ashby after the game is over. Good decision. Brewers appear to be getting punked at the high school lunch room.

 

Brewers aren't being "punked" at all this is the result of a team that has a lot less to play for right now. No reason at all to try to line up your stud pitchers to face the Cardinals at this point. This team needs to basically lose out in order to lose the division, and if they do that, that means they were playing bad enough baseball where it wasn't going to matter if they were starting Anderson twice in that stretch or not.

 

Anderson has been serviceable enough this year where you don't expect him to give up 6 runs in 1 and 2/3rds innings. Obviously if they expected that they wouldn't have started him. Best case you get 4 solid innings out of him and are in the game, worst case is what happened tonight. Either way, your studs are still getting their rest and ready for the real games in 2 weeks.

Well you already pitched two of them and they lost both games. I'm not sure what you mean but if you can't beat them with Peralta and Woodruff you sure ain't beating them with Anderson. The Cards are not the Brewers they can hit lefties.

[Pugger]

You cannot underestimate how much Yelich being bad hurts this team's chances. You can't win a world series without a stud bat. Avi Garcia ain't exactly what we signed up for imo as good as he's been.

3 for 32 with 1 double. Pretty bad stretch again. 2 hrs since Aug 1st.

 

He hasn't been the same since he shattered his kneecap. This is one hell of a stretch...

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Win tomorrow. I know, tough matchup with Wainright chugging straight from the Fountain of Youth this year, but Houser is no slouch when he's on either. Then take game one against the Mets Friday with Burnes on the bump.

 

Done.

[Joseph Zarr]

I believe this is actually the First real adversity the Team has faced, in terms of Results, since pre-Adames. Let’s see how they respond.

[BruisedCrew]

I’m not going to call tomorrow a “must” game because it obviously is not exactly that. But, I will say that it is a very important game.

 

Win and the magic number goes to 1 and the Brewers can clinch the division at home by winning one against the Mets. And they will go into that weekend series in a much better frame of mind than if the Cardinals complete the sweep.

 

Lose and the outlook is significantly different. The team goes into the weekend still pressing trying to snap out of their group hitting slump, and can only guarantee clinching the division by sweeping the series unless they get help from the Cubs (whose pitchers are going to be red meat for the red hot Redbirds).

 

If they do lose again tomorrow, it becomes critical that they at least get that magic number down to 2 so that it only takes one win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. Going into the final weekend facing the best team in the league needing even one win while staring in the face of being known as the biggest chokers in the history of baseball would put pressure on anyone.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I’m not going to call tomorrow a “must” game because it obviously is not exactly that. But, I will say that it is a very important game.

 

Win and the magic number goes to 1 and the Brewers can clinch the division at home by winning one against the Mets. And they will go into that weekend series in a much better frame of mind than if the Cardinals complete the sweep.

 

Lose and the outlook is significantly different. The team goes into the weekend still pressing trying to snap out of their group hitting slump, and can only guarantee clinching the division by sweeping the series unless they get help from the Cubs (whose pitchers are going to be red meat for the red hot Redbirds).

 

If they do lose again tomorrow, it becomes critical that they at least get that magic number down to 2 so that it only takes one win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. Going into the final weekend facing the best team in the league needing even one win while staring in the face of being known as the biggest chokers in the history of baseball would put pressure on anyone.

 

I do get the frustration. I really do. But there is about 7 or 8 worst-case scenarios you have wrapped up in here that you are kinda making sound like an actual, legit possibility.

[adambr2]

Yeah, and how’d that 2019 season end again? I must have missed how being the hottest team in September guarantees you postseason glory. I would have very much liked to have seen our parade.

 

That's my point. The 2019 Brewers were a very mediocre team that got scorching hot in September. Then they lost the Wild Card game.

 

My guess is the Cardinals are looking at a similar fate.

 

I mean I just respectfully don't see the relevance in the comparison here. The WC game is and always was a crap shoot and maybe the Cardinals win it and maybe they don't. We were an error and blown save away from winning that game against the eventual champs and if we do who knows what happens.

 

I'm okay with a Cardinals/Dodgers WC game though because one of them will be heading home immediately. The Giants are up and the Dodgers are down tonight and I'm really hoping the Giants can hang onto the West.

[BruisedCrew]

I’m not going to call tomorrow a “must” game because it obviously is not exactly that. But, I will say that it is a very important game.

 

Win and the magic number goes to 1 and the Brewers can clinch the division at home by winning one against the Mets. And they will go into that weekend series in a much better frame of mind than if the Cardinals complete the sweep.

 

Lose and the outlook is significantly different. The team goes into the weekend still pressing trying to snap out of their group hitting slump, and can only guarantee clinching the division by sweeping the series unless they get help from the Cubs (whose pitchers are going to be red meat for the red hot Redbirds).

 

If they do lose again tomorrow, it becomes critical that they at least get that magic number down to 2 so that it only takes one win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. Going into the final weekend facing the best team in the league needing even one win while staring in the face of being known as the biggest chokers in the history of baseball would put pressure on anyone.

 

I do get the frustration. I really do. But there is about 7 or 8 worst-case scenarios you have wrapped up in here that you are kinda making sound like an actual, legit possibility.

 

I’m trying to take these things in sequence, because I think there is significant value to the Brewers in wrapping up the division as soon as possible. The sequence is:

 

1. Tomorrow’s game which could take 2 off the magic number and effectively end any anxiety.

 

2. This weekend, where there will be 7 games in which the Brewers might take one off their magic number.

 

3. The Cardinals series, where there will be 3 games in which the Brewers can take 2 off the magic number.

 

4. The final weekend where there will be 6 games in which one could come off the magic number..

 

That’s 17 relevant games, and only 3 of them have to produce the Brewers desired result to mathematically, 100% end the race (and it only has to be 2 of them if one is one of the Brewers-Cardinals games). Logically the odds of that not happening are astronomical. But, I just want to see it done as soon as possible, preferably before the home stand ends. Last week it seemed all but certain that the clinching would take place during the Cardinals series if not before. A loss tomorrow and that becomes no better than a 50-50 proposition.