Extra-Base Hits The Difference In The Series

Besides the Brewers pitching staff only allowing two hits to the Blue Jays yesterday, pitching took a back seat to hitting in this series. The storylines all came from extra base hits as the Brewers and Jays split their last interleague series of the season. On Tuesday it was the Brewers who broke out the bats headlined by Jonathan Lucroy adding onto his league lead in doubles (42) by pounding two more off J.A. Happ. These were two of seven total doubles hit by the Crew in the game en route to a 6-1 beating of the blue birds. Wednesday started off similar with Gerardo Parra and Jean Segura both doubling in the second inning to give the Brewers an early lead but then the longball took over. The teams combined for twelve extra-base hits, three of which were bombs. These favored the Blue Jays as Bautista took Kinztler up and out for a three-run blast in the 6th and Colby Rasmus with a two-run dagger in the 9th off Will Smith. The lone blast for the Brewers was a moonshot by Carlos Gomez  in the 6th which ended up being too little too late. The Brewers continue their crazy

run against Cy Young winners tagging R.A. Dickey for 5 earned in 5.2 innings.

Wednesday's game stings for the Brewers and is definitely one that got away as the bullpen was unable to lock it down for Jimmy Nelson. In 3.1 innings the bullpen gave up 5 earned not counting the one that was accredited to Nelson when Reyes had an RBI single off Zack Duke. Games like this hurt for the Brewers because pitching has been the story of the season and you almost just expect them to slam the door on the back end. It was only the 5 non-quality start in the last 28 games for the Brewers. They look to start another winning streak when the scuffling Pirates come to town Friday after tomorrows off day. Arguably the three hottest starting pitchers (Gallardo, Peralta, Fiers) will be on the bump for the Brewers in the series. Peralta leads the MLB in wins, Fiers has been untouchable and Gallardo has all but owned the Pirates thus far in his career.

Down The Stretch: 37 Games To Go

Coming off handing the Dodgers their first sweep of the season, with a record fifteen games over .500 and perched atop the lead of the NL Central, the Brewers find themselves where nobody thought they'd be with 37 games to go in the season. Fangraphs has given the Brewers an 83% chance to make the playoffs and it seems to be getting greater with each passing game. The Pirates and Reds are each 2-8 in their last 10 games and are reeling just trying to keep up as the Brewers have hit somewhat of a hot streak of late. The Cardinals have had struggles of their own with their once sure-handed bullpen blowing games day in and day out. Much of the Cardinals and Pirates struggles can be attributed to key injuries as Molina and McCutchen have both missed significant time. McCutchen is expected to return tonight but Molina won't be back till the later part of September. The key to the Brewers late success has been the starting pitching, much like the rest of the season. In the last 26 games starters have 22 quality starts and a 2.46 ERA.  This includes Mike Fiers' success since stepping into the rotation. Along with ringing up 14 Cubs in his last start he has posted a 1.29 ERA only allowing 3 earned runs in his two starts. The Crew will continue to fight for the top playoff spot which has new meaning since the addition of the second wild card seed which forces a one-game playoff. As the top seed the Brewers would get to play the winner of this game who most likely will burn their ace in order to keep their season alive. The Brewers begin the last of their interleague play tonight against the Blue Jays in which Mike Fiers will toe the rubber.