Some things to read while enforcing the rules.
The Milwaukee Brewers were off Monday while they made final preparations for a nine-game, 10-day road trip that will likely decide their playoff fate. The trip opens at 7:10 p.m. tonight when Wily Peralta takes on Lance Lynn and the St. Louis Cardinals, and Joe Morgan has the MLB.com preview. Jenifer Langosch of Sports on Earth says Lynn has evolved into the Cardinals’ secret weapon.
The Brewers have played a lot of important games and/or series over the course of a six-month season, but this week’s games against the Cardinals and Pirates truly may be “win-or-go-home” contests. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com talked to Carlos Gomez and Aramis Ramirez about the week ahead, and previewed the important moments and players on this road trip. Andy Baggot of Madison.com says this is “the biggest two-week stretch in Brewers history,” although I have a tough time believing it’s bigger than the final two weeks of the 2008 season.
Brewers veterans like Gomez and Ramirez have had to share the spotlight with an unlikely candidate in recent weeks as Matt Clark has hit three big home runs during his brief stint with the team. @Baseball_ref notes that Clark is only the fourth player in the last 100 years to hit home runs in each of his first three games with three or more plate appearances.
Wednesday’s game will feature Mike Fiers pitching for the first time since his start on Thursday abruptly ended after pitches thrown up and in to Marlins outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Reed Johnson. All eyes will be on Fiers as he attempts to bounce back from the incident, and C.J. Nitkowski of Just A Bit Outside has a story on what that’s like. Nitkowski broke Craig Counsell’s jaw with a pitch in 1995.
Yovani Gallardo won’t pitch against the Cardinals this week but his spot in the rotation is tentatively scheduled to come up when the Brewers head to Pittsburgh on Friday. Gallardo is featured prominently in Drew Fairservice of FanGraphs’ look at how pitchers handle 3-0 counts, with Fairservice noting that Gallardo throws the fastball almost exclusively in those situations and has been rewarded with four 3-0 count home runs in the last five seasons.
If the Brewers don’t find a way to earn a postseason berth, the 2014 season will be over in two weeks. Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball has a breakdown that will drive home the finality of the season’s final games.
In the minors:
- It could be a chaotic few weeks for the Brewers farm teams, as the team’s player development contracts with their top three affiliates (Nashville, Huntsville/Biloxi and Brevard County) are all being allowed to expire. JP of Brew Crew Ball has a primer on how the affiliation shuffle works and a list of the available affiliates at each level.
- @Mass_Haas spotted a Ballpark Digest report that the Brewers have agreed to terms to re-sign with Huntsville/Biloxi and Brevard County but have yet to officially announce the deals.
- Meanwhile, many of the top prospects in the lower levels of the Brewers organization are back in Arizona for the 2014 instructional league. Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has the rosters and schedules for the Brewers’ two teams in the desert.
- Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio was recently in Milwaukee as Wisconsin catcher Clint Coulter was presented with the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year award, and documented the experience.
- Jonah Keri of Grantland has the Brewers holding steady as baseball’s 13th-best team.
- ESPN has the Brewers 14th, which is one spot better than last week.
Around baseball:
Phillies: Closer Jonathan Papelbon has been suspended seven games for his actions after being removed from Sunday’s game.
- There was only one run scored in the entire division on Monday, and it came off the bat of Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who homered in Chicago’s 1-0 win over the Reds. Starting pitchers Travis Wood and Alfredo Simon combined to throw 13 scoreless innings but neither factored in the decision.
- The Cardinals, Pirates and Brewers were all off on Monday.
| Team | W | L | GB | Today | Matchup |
| Cardinals | 83 | 67 | — | vs Brewers, 7:15 p.m. | Lance Lynn vs Wily Peralta |
| Pirates | 79 | 70 | 3.5 | vs Red Sox, 6:05 p.m. | Charlie Morton vs Anthony Ranaudo |
| Brewers | 78 | 72 | 5 | @ Cardinals, 7:15 p.m. | Wily Peralta vs Lance Lynn |
| Reds | 71 | 80 | 12.5 | @ Cubs, 7:05 p.m. | Johnny Cueto vs Jake Arrieta |
| Cubs | 66 | 84 | 17 | vs Reds, 7:05 p.m. | Jake Arrieta vs Johnny Cueto |
Meanwhile in the Wild Card race, the Braves lost their fourth consecutive game on Monday and continue to fall back of the pack:
| Team | W | L | GB | Today | Matchup |
| Giants | 82 | 68 | +2.5 | @ Diamondbacks, 8:40 p.m. | Jake Peavy vs Josh Collmenter |
| Pirates | 79 | 70 | — | vs Red Sox, 6:05 p.m. | Charlie Morton vs Anthony Ranaudo |
| Brewers | 78 | 72 | 1.5 | @ Cardinals, 7:15 p.m. | Wily Peralta vs Lance Lynn |
| Braves | 75 | 75 | 4.5 | vs Nationals, 6:10 p.m. | Aaron Harang vs Tanner Roark |
Despite being off on Monday, Baseball Prospectus says the Brewers’ playoff odds rose almost two points and now stand at 26.6 percent. That’s up 5.2 points in the last seven days.
The Braves’ recent slide has all but eliminated one potential rival for the final Wild Card, but @Mass_Haas notes that that’s not necessarily a good thing. The Pirates play Atlanta four times next week, and having something to play for would make it more likely the Braves might win those games and help the Brewers catch Pittsburgh.
File this one under “things could always be worse:” The White Sox were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention on Monday, becoming the eighth team to face 2014’s final curtain with almost two weeks left to play. The Rays, Phillies, Padres and Reds are likely to be the next four out, but none will be eliminated today.
- The Royals picked up a walkoff win on Monday but are still 3-5 in their last eight games, and their late fade has them clinging to the American League’s final playoff spot. Ned Yost’s managerial mishaps down the stretch have become a national story, with David Schoenfield of ESPN again noting that Yost has never managed a postseason game in 11 MLB seasons, Shaun Newkirk of Royals Review calling for Yost’s firing and Grant Brisbee of SB Nation looking for any reason to keep him around.
- Hank Aaron, Tommy Harper, Marquis Grissom and Scott Podsednik are among the players featured on Lee Sinins of Gammons Daily’s list of decade-by-decade stolen base leaders.
- 1998 Brewer Bronswell Patrick, who turns 44.
- 1974-1993 Brewer and Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who turns 59 (Today In Brewer History).
- 1973-76 Brewer Ed Sprague, who turns 69.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to wash my hands again.
Drink up.
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