Cool Hand Lucroy

Hopefully that's just a hip contusion. Hurts like hell, but if x-rays are negative, he should be able to bring something for the WC round.

Um, maybe Frelick should rev down a little? Love the effort, but dude...

It always rains in Pittsburgh! Surprised they don't lead the world in double-headers. I tried to look this up, but couldn't find it. I'd love to know which stadium has hosted the most DHers in the last decade. I'd have to think Target Field and PNC would both be top 5.

Followed this one through 3, took a few innings off, came back at 8-6. What an awesome 8th inning. I know it doesn't matter in terms of portending anything, but it's stuff like this that makes this team FUN. There's zero point in arguing about "how disappointed will we be if they crash out early?" because we all want this team to win the whole thing. What I will say is that the joy quotient of this team is through the freaking roof. The '21, '22, and '23 teams were painful to watch, despite being very good. Just the emotional exhaustion of trying to win every game 3-2, praying the offense could actually secure some baserunners and the pitching could somehow hold on. It was the least fun I've ever had playing winning baseball. Win or lose in October, this season has been a blast. The process of watching this team has been so many steps beyond that, it's just wild. I hope we get to see them as long as possible. Be great for Milwaukee, be amazing for us, and, yeah, it'd be damn good for baseball. Let's see speed, defense, and balls in play win a World Series.

Silver lining, I suppose, is that we're making it less likely we face the DBacks in round one. Rooting for the Phillies tonight and hoping the Braves hang on in Miami. My ideal scenario, at this point, is that this comes down to the last day between Atlanta and NY. As many high-stress innings for as many of their pitchers as possible is going to be the best way to give the Crew an advantage. It also opens up the option to really approach that Mets series with a "make them throw you pitches" philosophy.

At this point, rooting for the race to come down to the last day may be more beneficial than hoping for a specific opponent. With only one day between the end of the regular season and the start of the Wild Card series, having the Mets, Braves, and DBacks all have to throw their good starters and high-leverage guys would be a win. So, easiest thing is to root for the Braves and against the Mets, and they happen to be playing each other Tues, Wed., Thurs. Beating the DBacks obviously helps a little at the margins too. The closer the race is, the better for us.

They can call it Brewers Devil Magic if they want. All I know is, we've become the team to beat in the division.

NL Central champs! Win tonight and celebrate.

A's take a 4-3 lead vs. the Cubs. 6 defensive outs, and this will be a celebratory atmosphere tonight.

Looks to me like it's coming down to the Mets, DBacks, or Braves. Currently, the Mets and DBacks are tied (assuming Arizona goes on to lose to Colorado tonight--they trail 5-1 in the 7th). The Braves are two back. DBacks lose tiebreakers to both teams. Braves and Mets tiebreaker is TBD, depending on outcome of their final 3-game series. Currently, it's 5-5. Schedules: DBacks go 1 Rockies, 4 Brewers, 3 Giants, 3 Padres Mets go 1 Nats, 4 Phillies, 3 Braves, 3 Brewers Braves go 2 Reds, 3 Marlins, 3 Mets, 3 Royals Mets have the toughest road but also have been playing the best baseball. DBacks have that terrifying lineup, not to mention last year's deep postseason run, which began in a way we'd all prefer to forget. Braves can throw Sale and Reynaldo Lopez in a short series. It's a tough call. I think...the Mets are the team I DON'T want to see. They've really been pitching well, they hate Hoskins, and they got some bona fide good hitters. That leaves ATL and AZ. I can see the Brewers having advantages against either of these teams, although the DBacks offense is maybe the scariest element of any of the three teams. Their pitching is such a mess, though. I think I'd take the Braves if I could pick. It's close, though. And we all know it's random, small sample playoff baseball. The only way it might be worthwhile to face the Mets is if they're having to go all out against the Crew those last three games. Curious to hear what others think. Obviously, the hope is that all three of these teams stick close and come in to the playoffs having had to manage every game with maximizing TOR starts and "A" bullpen innings.

Show me Fernando Vina!!!

Just couldn't get to Wheeler tonight. Dodgers are really struggling and still have a series with the Padres coming up. They go 2 Marlins, 3 Rockies, 3 Padres, 3 Rockies. Brewers pretty much have to hope they go 6-5 and then we close our tougher schedule 9-2. I don't see it, but that's why they play the games, I guess. In better news, Cubs lose! Let's clinch tomorrow!

Bummer not to get the fourth. But I would guess Suarez won't come out for the 5th. Good start to this one.

Just me, or is Rhys looking a lot better at the dish? Love to get that guy going in the playoffs.

Ortiz picking it at third has been such a key part of this season, especially after some early struggles. Nice to amp up Suarez's pitch count too. Keep at it.

Allow me to modify this and say: Let's clinch the division and savor every second and celebrate like hell. Not being snarky. I know everyone is going to be jazzed when we clinch this thing. The broader point: When our season comes down to two or three home games in October, that's about all we can ask for given the realities of MLB. The Brewers are an incredible organization in terms of culture, overall approach, player development, and analytical sophistication. There isn't a team in the league that so consistently outperforms expectations and market size, with the possible exception of the Rays. We have genuinely dominated the Central for the better part of the last decade, and, after this season, we'll have 5 division titles in the last 15 years, tied for most in the division with the Cardinals (who only have two since 2015). The lack of playoff success irks some around here, and while I get the frustration, I feel more and more like the playoffs are a bad way to measure a franchise. I'm going to enjoy every one of these last 13 games win or lose. Then, I'm going to do my best not to make the playoffs such a terrifying experience. Will I get sucked in if we find ourselves deep in the NLDS? Probably. But this has been one of the most enjoyable squads of my Brewers life, and that ain't going to change even if we get routed by the Mets or whoever in a playoff series. Go Crew!

I agree completely. And here's the other thing. Arizona had their best pitcher in for two innings and had to pull him in the 10th after nearly 30 pitches. They pulled him (a righty) with a righty coming up and had to bring in a lefty. Which gave Murph plenty of time to think and Williams plenty of time to be loose and ready. I see what Murph was thinking. But it was way, way too fancy. Just like walking Turang to get the platoon advantage against Chuorio. Williams is going to convert that save (two-run lead in the 10th) like 90-95% of the time. Koenig is probably still 70-75%, maybe even more, but it's a significant drop either way. It was just a bad move. Does it matter that much? No, probably not. The odds of us catching the Dodgers or Phillies are still relatively low. The division is locked up. I'd rather not play the DBacks in round 1 (just think Atlanta or NYM are slightly better matchups, though I'm afraid of San Diego most of all), so losing to them actually helps us avoid them on some level. It was a crappy way to end a 4-2 road trip. But we'll get back up tomorrow night and try to clinch at home.

Weirdest game of the year. Walking Turang....inexcusable. Then Murph says "hold my beer." Only explanation (non-injury) is that he saw all the lefties coming for AZ and then overthought it. And by the time Carroll hit, it was 10-9, bases loaded, nobody out, and you're looking at a game where Devin is lucky to get to the 11th even if he comes in. At which point, you just hold fire and hope. Bad call. You're trying to win every game, you go with your best. Learn from it, Pat. Move on, and let's pop some champagne at home this week.

I really like little nuggets like this to remind us a) the difference between 160 and 560 ABs and b) the importance of defense/position. Both these guys have been good! Above league average hitters in nontrivial samples. But Willy doing what he does every single day, at shortstop, is just so amazing. This is a game that rewards you for just failing slightly less often over a really long stretch of time. What a sport.

Tough one tonight. The way I look at it is that we're a significant underdog for the bye no matter how you slice it. Philly is better roster wise and has an easier schedule, plus the inside track on the tiebreaker should that come into play. Our hopes for that really come down to sweeping the Phils. Two of three that series just probably isn't going to be enough, especially when that series comes right after a west coast trip. We actually go @Giants, @DBacks, home Phils, home DBacks, which is just a murderous stretch. During that same run, Philly has home Rays, home Mets, @Brewers, @Mets. That's tough, but not quite as bad, I don't think. They also close with the Nats, while we'll get the likely to be scrapping for their lives Mets. Point is: I want to wrap the division and then be as fresh as we can. Would love to see the Mets and Braves having to gut everything to win that last WC. I'm not giving up on the bye, but we're probably 2.5 to 1 underdogs for that no matter how you slice it. Foot on the gas for now. Champagne is coming.

I guess the silver lining is that Helsley is going to throw more pitches and that may help a little for tomorrow. Cards pen has been worked pretty hard this series.

A little surprised you're not walking Goldy there to set up a potential double play with the platoon advantage. I guess I get the argument that one run doesn't necessarily beat you, but, even still, that 0-2 pitch was way too nice.

Civale has been pretty much what we wanted/needed. An important arm, and a good pickup. Still, I trust him very little and want no part of him on the postseason roster.

Cubs also have to catch the Mets...harder to be chasing two teams. The next week probably tells the tale on their season. If they get out these next 8 (Skenes plus 6 versus the Yankees and Dodgers) still only back 2 or 3, they'll be right there and probably feeling good. If they're 4 or 5 back and chasing multiple teams, though, that's going to be tough. Mets are sneaky, sneaky hanging in there and may end up just staying in Milwaukee for six games since they close out their season at AmFam. I'll hope we clinch the bye, though.

Cubs have the Pirates again coming up (though they will face Skenes), but then they have six against the Yankees and Dodgers. After that, they go to Coors, which makes for weird things. I'll never count out the appearance of September Craig, but it's going to be really tough for them if they're even 3-4 back with 14 to go. They have 3 against the Phillies still too. It's a pretty easy schedule overall, but they're in a really, really tough spot.