Cool Hand Lucroy

How about we win 6-1 and save that Seattle A bullpen.

Seconded. And even if the Cubs win tomorrow and pull it down to 4.5, you'll still take that outcome every time. Plus, the tiebreaker with the Dodgers is nontrivial. All in all, this team did what they needed to do, despite a poor series in SD. .500 in 10 West Coast road games, 7 of them against playoff contenders, 4 of those against the 2x reigning champs, and 3 of them against the hottest team in the league. Just a dug in effort from the Crew today. Henderson shoved. Big, two-out hits. Made Skubal work and then kept making pitchers work all afternoon. Added runs to buy Megill another half-game off (he was warming to start the 9th). You love going into an off day with a W. 3 of the next 4 series are against teams in the mediocre to bad range (even though the Rangers and M's are holding onto playoff relevance), so it'd sure be nice to get a little hot streak going. The Braves series will have some weird travel dynamics, but another off day next Monday means we should be plenty rested before another 16 games in a row, including the 7 vs. the Cubs.

Just missed from Chourio. If I'm not mistaken, we still haven't had a grand slam this year? That seems reasonably rare. Good, Brewers inning. Take the single tally and keep the line moving.

Regular season games are never as big as they feel, but this one feels pretty big. Season series on the Dodgers would be nice, for sure. So would ending this stretch 4 up on the Cubs. I think, at this point in the year, the difference between a 3-game lead and a 5-game one is massive. The former isn't the end of the world, but the latter would feel great given the schedule stretch we just went through and the way the Cubs have been playing. Even a loss today ends a tough stretch 9-8. Part of winning at the margins is grabbing wins even during bad runs of play, and the Brewers are good at that. Let's hope they get back to true, rolling form after hanging in there out west.

Definitely agree with this. Reminds me of the AI parable where you ask an agent to help you make as many paperclips as possible. If that's the only directive, the AI will, in theory, do things like kill all humans in order to end international law in order to extract as much metal as possible, in order to fulfill the directive. Sometimes, when you isolate one variable, you lose the whole bedrock of context that makes that variable meaningful in the first place. I think anyone who's watched the Cubs' offense can admit it's more talented than the Brewers'. That team can hit, but the Brewers lineup has certain advantage that revolve around patience and contact, rather than SLG.

Ditto on Uribe. Just really odd to see opportunities for his use go by the boards twice the last couple of days, even if there were certainly compelling reasons to keep him out both days.

Yeah, the "didn't reveal anything SERIOUS" caught my attention too. I mean, probably just a "long season" scenario. But not something you want to see. Again, the lack of off days and all the travel can't be good for lower body bumps and bruises. This Field of Dreams game is pretty fun as we wait for the Brewers. Too bad the Twins aren't putting on a better showing.

I certainly get the feeling. I feel like we've put away the division really early the last few years, though. In 2024 we did miss out on the bye and limped to the finish a bit. And in 2025 we missed out on 100 wins. But the last genuine collapse I remember was 2014. I think, if the Cubs do catch us, it'll be because their pitching stabilizes and their offense continues to mash. It'll be more about them, in other words. Still. I do think we'll find out how good this team really is in September. It's absolutely legit to question the offense and bullpen depth. I know we're right on line with our Pythagorean, but it does feel like we have some regression candidates (as well as some positive regression candidates). Edit: I guess you could argue 2022 was a collapse, though that team always felt deeply flawed.

I know the mood around here is dour (and rightfully so after blowing two late-inning leads in San Diego), but I do think this slide back to the pack is right in line with expectations during this stretch. It's really hard to play 17 straight games with two separate West Coast trips. So far, we're 7-6 during that stretch, which I think a lot of folks would have taken at the start. The Cubs have played well and cut our division lead in half, so credit to them for that. I still say this division is going to come down to our 7 September games against CHC. Their Sept. schedule is tougher than ours, so August is kind of a hang in there month. At the end of the day, I'd love to win this division (4 years in a row and 5 of 6 is dynastic, no matter the October results), but, as with last year, I'd prefer not to the play the Cubs in the playoffs. It's just too much fake narrative to pile on top of something already mostly random. If we do have to play them, I'd rather do it as the WC team, which I know is weird, but it just gives you less to lose going in. Every team in baseball needs to hit the reset button at least once during the year. Today's a good time to do that. 41 games to go, and we have the best record in the NL, tied for the most wins in MLB, a 3-game division lead, and virtual assurance of another year of playoff baseball. Big-picture, that's nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully, we can wash away the bad taste of SD and grab a few wins this weekend. I have a good feeling about the Cubs coming back to Earth, too. Go Crew.

This. And it cuts both ways. Cubs sweep the Dodgers and come back today and gain.....1 game. Go back to the end of last week, and it's even, since we took 2 of 3 in Anaheim while they dropped 2 of 3 to the Yanks. Division will most likely be decided by our 7 remaining games against the Cubs. Go 4-3, and they're really going to have to run it up. Even 3-4 is an uphill climb. If anyone is nervous, Cubs are +325ish to win the Central. About the only thing sports betting is good for is emotional insurance, so... there's that. As for today, good win. Twins have a night game in KC, so the Brewers should be better rested. Hopefully we can grab 2 of 3 and get the Royals hot against CHC.

Yikes, Pratt. That was a lazy miscue there. Needed that out.

It's possible teams evaluate prospects differently, isn't it? We're not talking about crude oil, where there's a price based on tons of daily transactions. People pay different prices because everyone has their own evaluation systems, their own scouts, and their own computer models.

Because they are right more than average. I bet they were wrong a lot. Because everyone is. The rates are just much higher on internet forums. The reality is, reputable publication miss all the time. Just like good hitters strike out all the time. This trade might be terrible! It would just be nice if the detractors would admit there's a reasonable chance it'll work out just fine.

This I completely get. Honestly? I don't think I would have done this deal. But I think the trade deadline is always a seller's market, and the Brewers are usually better sitting it out and dealing with the bad press. They never care about the press anyway. That said, I can see an argument for why May and Romero are valuable enough to warrant two very, very young OFers from a system chock full of them. Maybe the Brewers just think this is the highest those players will ever be valued. I guess we'll find out who's right by 2030.

That doesn't connect at all, though. Maybe the Brewers like May and Romero a lot more than Gausman. Maybe the Blue Jays valued what they got from the Cubs really highly. Maybe the Brewers are just not that high on Frias and Ragsdale. It's fine to THINK we gave up too much. But the certainty with which some folks have pronounced it is a big red flag that undercuts their take. I promise you, most big-league GMs are very fluent in uncertainty and very aware that the error bars around prospect evaluations are massive.