Brewers Season on Life Support, NL Central Week in Review

Sep 21, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez (27) is tagged out in a rundown by Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison (5) during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Despite a flat out amazing week by the Brewers starting rotation, the Milwaukee Brewers went 2-4 in this do-or-die week, and now their playoff hopes are all but mathematically dead.

Check out this tweet from ESPN’s Jayson Stark:

The Brewers came into the week five games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the division and 3 ½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild card race. With six games on the schedule against those same two teams the Crew could have gone a long way toward helping their fortunes.

Instead, what the Brewers did was blow two 8th inning leads, and score a grand total of seven runs in six games.

They started the week off on the right foot, with a 3-2 win over the Cardinals, but they dropped the last two games of the series. The first on an Adam Wainwright shutout, and the second when the Brewers pissed away a 2-0 lead in the 8th and turned it into a 3-2 loss.

They did it again on Friday in the first game of the series with the Pirates. They took a 2-0 lead into the eighth and gave the Pirates four runs on route to a 4-2 loss. They came back and won the second game of the series, 1-0 but at this point, with three losses already in the week, their playoff hopes were on life support. They lose the final game of the Pirates series by the same 1-0 score as they were shut down by Vance Worley.

The Brewers are scoring 2.79 runs per game in September, by far their worst month of the season. In fact, it is worse than the offense they put up in their 8-19 September in the franchise worst 56-106, 2002 season.

There are six games left on the Milwaukee schedule. They have three games in Cincinnati before finishing the season at home against the Chicago Cubs.

If the Brewers were to win all six games, which would be a miracle in and of itself, the Pirates would have to go 2-5 or worse in their final seven games for Milwaukee to get the wild card.

St. Louis Cardinals

After taking 2-of-3 from the Brewers, the Cardinals did the same against the Reds to make it a 4-2 week. Their four wins, combined with the Brewers four losses means that the Cardinals have clinched at the very least, the second wild card, as there is no way for Milwaukee to catch them any more.

The Cardinals will finish the season with three games against the Cubs, and three against the Diamondbacks. With a 2 ½ game lead on the Pirates, the Cardinals magic number is at five. Meaning any combination of five Cardinals wins or Pirates losses will guarantee the central division for St. Louis.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates will finish the season with a four-game series in Atlanta, and a three-game series in Cincinnati after going 5-1 this week. The Pirates swept the Boston Red Sox, before their 2-1 victory over the Brewers.

The Braves series looked like it could have playoff implications, but the Braves have collapsed harder than Brewers have in September. Where Milwaukee is 7-13, the Braves are 4-14 this month, and have scored just 40 runs in 18 games.

The Pirates are in the driver’s seat for the second wild card spot, and still within striking difference of the San Francisco Giants in the lead, but the distinction between the two is largely inconsequential.

The Pirates can still win the central division, but it is pretty unlikely with the woeful schedule the Cardinals have for the last week.