Cool Hand Lucroy

Too many little mistakes tonight, in every facet. Drohan struggled to locate. If it weren't for a couple of very slick defensive plays and some good luck lineup-wise, facing the bottom of the order in RISPy spots, the Braves might have (should have) had 3 or 4 more. Three poor infield plays each cost us a run. On the offensive side, a couple of bad ABs with the bases loaded in the 2nd kind of let Atlanta get into their preferred pitching plan. Definitely battled in Brewers style, but that one felt like an appropriate L. This is a big week for us to hopefully get a little healthier. Love to see Romero get into a game later in the week so he can maybe be ready for the Cubs. Feel good if we can post another 4-2. We do that and get some help from AZ, we can go a long way toward keeping this division race as drama free as possible. All of which is to say, right where we want to be.

Take a 4-2 week, especially one where the Cubs went 3-3. 6 up in the Central 5 up for the bye. The Braves schedule is really tough down the stretch here. They get the Dodgers, the Phillies twice, the Rays, Astros, and the Cubs. Let's take care of business against the Mets and pick up some ground the next few days.

Oh man. I thought Bill got that.

With everyone who would've sat Ashby. No need for the stress there. I could see him having gotten a high-leverage out or two, or maybe thrown the 11th inning. The 9th down 3-2 seems pushing it. Good to see Lara rip one, though. Hoping Iglesias having to get 4 outs helps us out here. Good start.

Braves should probably have 4 or 5 runs, but we've also gifted them a couple.

I thought Mitchell's HBP looked more like a swelling/contusion situation. Hopefully X-rays negative. Would be nice to hit a little bit.

Just great awareness from Hamilton, fielding it and seeing where the runner was. Very athletic, but also very keyed into the game situation. One of the more impressive defensive plays you'll see.

Bunty=Fieldy

Letting Mahle off the hook there. Good play from Acuna. Mitchell and Bauers with the tough Ks.

I would imagine Anderson is first up out of the pen tonight, probably followed by Senzatela. Wilson could get extended work in a multi-run game, and Patrick/Ashby for emergency, one-out appearances only.

Given the offensive paradise in the desert, the Cubs pen might be pretty wrecked after this series and then AZ without an off day. That trip to Seattle is really tough. It's an island, and even the West Coast opponents nearby are longer flights. I think expansion should look to Portland/Vancouver just to give the M's at least one good travel partner. Geography really makes it tough on them. Glad we are done with that for the regular season.

The Cubs bullpen is struggle-ville. When they take losses with their leverage arms, it hurts bad. (For them, I mean). Long way to go, obviously, but the math is matching good. Let's keep it going that way.

Thought the same, almost to the letter. Good for Woodruff, probably meaningless for the Brewers this year. We've been surprised before, and the playoffs are weird, but I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of "hard to trust." I guess we could see him on the postseason roster in that long-relief, you're down 4 or 5 runs, role. But that seems like most optimistic projection.

Very good point. And the Braves have the inside track on the tiebreaker too. Brewers would need a sweep to grab it. 2 of 3 levels it, but the Braves have a 27-13 division record (the next tiebreaker). Brewers are 22-11, so similar pace, but I'd give Atlanta a slight edge given they've already done more of the work. They do have the Phillies 6 more times, though, so who knows? SIDE NOTE: Division tiebreaker is a little bit silly? I'm not sure you want to reward teams for playing in a worse division. But it's almost never going to come down to that, so, not a huge gripe. Braves-Dodgers also comes up next series, so the Brewers could get lots closer to a bye if they can go 4-2 these next two series.

Yeah, the schedules are pretty comparable down the stretch. Maybe the Cubs have it slightly better, with a more balanced off-day pattern. They've got a West Coast roadie, though, and no games against teams as bad as the Mets. Both of us play the Reds a lot. Cubs have the Marlins six times. We get Orioles and Rangers. Our Phillies, Cardinals closing is a pretty tough one, but at least it's at home, and who knows? Both of those teams could be playing for very little at that point. Cubs end Marlins-Red Sox, which is a similar, but probably not as difficult, though the Boston series is on the road. It really feels to me like it comes down to the 7 games vs. each other. 4-3 means the Cubs have to make up seven (with the tiebreaker) games over the course of the other 27. That's awfully difficult. 3-4 is still advantage Brewers. You're really letting them back in it if you go 2-5 and really stomping on their hope if you're 5-2. Point is, beat everybody, but especially beat the Cubs.

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.