Brewers Upcoming Series Pivotal in Hunt for Wild Card Spot

After a beautiful win was solidified by Garrett Mitchell, the Brewers inch to 1.5 games back from the playoffs. By far, this is the closest the Brewers have been this season to the Wild Card. Along with that, their series against the Yankees could prove to be the last boost Milwaukee needs.

Tonight, the Yankees pitch Jameson Taillon (3.94 ERA) against Brandon Woodruff (3.39 ERA) for the second game of the series. The Yankees are set to give rotation players a chance tonight, with Oswald Peraza and Marwin Gonzalez in the lineup.

Most Valuable Games?

The Yankees still have a hold on their division and they are starting to rotate around players for rest. Their playoff bid is essentially solidified and now they are working out the kinks. Last night’s win was almost lost, after Josh Donaldson tied the game in the 9th, but Garrett Mitchell helped dig out the walk-off for the Brewers.

The Padres are playing the Diamondbacks currently and Zac Gallen will be on the mound. It should be a tough test for the Padres hitters, but the rest of their schedule is as well. The Padres play twice more against the Diamondbacks before the Cardinals visit them.

The Phillies are playing against the Braves this weekend after a five game win streak last week. After these Braves games, the Phillies play Toronto twice before playing the Braves again. Remember, Philly has a 1.5 game lead on the Padres, but since both teams are entering tough stretches, the Brewers need to capitalize.

Realistically, that means winning this series against the Yankees and the next against the Mets. The Brewers don’t need sweeps, if they happen that would be wonderful, but they need to win as many games during this stretch. Atlanta, Toronto, St. Louis, and Arizona have all contributed to a chunk of the losses of both teams. This is also crucial timing because of the pitching rotations. As mentioned, Zac Gallen will be pitching against the Padres tonight, and they will face Wainwright, Mikolas, and Flaherty during the week. The Phillies will face Odorizzi and Strider twice in the next 8 games, along with Ross Stripling and Kevin Gausman from Toronto.

These games aren’t easy for the Brewers either. They will have to play top notch baseball to avoid dropping games. If the Brewers can manage to win each series, they should be able to gain a game and a half. This stretch could prove to be valuable in the end because of the timing of every match up.

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