The Brewers' National League lead is getting too close for comfort

The Milwaukee Brewers were unfortunately swept by the Texas Rangers earlier this week and now sit just 2.0 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's top playoff seed. The Phillies are coming off of a four-game sweep of the New York Mets and are rapidly closing in on the Crew's top spot.

The Brewers need to start winning games if they want to maintain the NL's top seed and obtain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Luckily, there is something that plays to the Brewers’ favor in this equation.

The Phillies still have to go out west and face the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks before season's end, and both teams are not a pushover. The simple task of having to go out west for a week generally results in at least a couple of losses for East Coast teams.

Meanwhile, the Brewers have two series left with the St. Louis Cardinals, one with the Los Angeles Angels, one against the San Diego Padres, and a final three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers must take care of business against their division foes and the Angels as they are all beatable. It could come down to the end of the season for both clubs.

If the Brewers want to win the NL, winning 4 of their 5 remaining series is absolutely imperative

The Brewers’ best chance of winning the National League should come down to beating their division rivals, the Cardinals and the Reds. They absolutely have to take care of business and not let these games slip away.

In order to do so, the Brewers need strong performances from guys like Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, and Quinn Priester down the stretch, especially given the fact that those three are likely to each make starts in the postseason. While their performance is imperative to the Brewers’ success in the final stretch, manager Pat Murphy has already demonstrated that giving each of them enough rest will also be a priority. On Friday afternoon, Murphy announced that the team is reorganizing its starting rotation to give more rest to Woody, as reported by team insiders.

The Brewers also need the offense to step up a bit more in these crucial series. The Crew was outscored 16-7 in their recent series against the Texas Rangers. That level of offensive inconsistency can't happen if the Brewers want to remain atop the National League.

Just 15 games remain in the regular season, and while the Brew Crew is almost certainly destined for October baseball, they need to get back to their winning ways in order to secure a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. They have a good shot to get back in the win column with their steady starter, Quinn Priester, making his 27th appearance of the season. They take on Andre Pallante of the St. Louis Cardinals, whose ERA currently sits north of 5.00.