The Brewers are on another level at the moment, and it’s starting to become almost unfair that anyone has to play against them right now. With their Game 1 victory over the Dodgers on Friday to kick off the NLCS, Milwaukee has now won their last 12 games, all of which have come in a high-pressure enviornment. The final score of this game, which came after an extended break following their sweep of the Rockies, was closer than it seemed it would be all night, but the end result was the same. Obviously, the Brewers are incredibly talented and they are led by the likely NL MVP. But they aren’t just out-talenting all of the other teams. It just seems as though there is truly something special going on in Milwaukee right now, and I don’t know how it gets stopped.
How can anyone stop the Brewers right now?
Saturday morning’s Say Hey, Baseball includes yet another win for the Brewers, pitcher-on-pitcher battles, and a major injury for the Yankees.
Just look at last night for an example of what I mean. They actually fell behind early in Friday’s victory when Manny Machado helped the Dodgers get on the board first with a solo home run. After that, it was all Milwaukee, and their run started as improbably as it gets. Brandon Woodruff came to the plate, a left-handed reliever (though he came up as a starter) going up against one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time in Clayton Kershaw. Woodruff hit a damn home run. Then, that inning continued with a barrage of breaks for Milwaukee ranging from passed balls to errors to even a catcher’s interference. Add in a barrage of hits from all over the lineup led by Lorenzo Cain, and it’s really not even fair right now.
Of course, at some point the Brewers have to lose even if it’s sheer luck. This can’t keep up literally forever. The Dodgers are, after all, just as if not more talented. One could certainly argue they have the best player in this series with Machado, though that’s no slam dunk. They certainly have the better starting pitching, too, including the red-hot Hyun-Jin Ryu slated to start Game 2. Plus, Josh Hader, who came out and dominated for three innings in Game 1, will be unavilable in this game. This is the time to strike for the Dodgers. Everything is adding up in their favor, but you just get the feeling Milwaukee will find a way to pull out another win, and it’s hard not to feel that way until you fail to actually see it happen.
- Mike Moutstakas didn’t have a huge Game 1, but generally speaking he’s come up big whenever he’s been needed after coming to Milwaukee in a midseason trade.
- That aforementioned homer from Woodruff off Kershaw? Yeah, you can watch that here.
- You can get the Brewers perspective from their Game 1 victory here, and the Dodgers perspective here.
- The twelfth straight win for Milwaukee didn’t just mean a 1-0 lead in the NLCS. It also means free hamburgers!
- On Saturday, the ALCS kicks off, but before that Alex Rodriguez had a debt he had to repay. He didn’t enjoy himself very much.
- Speaking of that ALCS, the first two games are going to be an interesting battle pitting the Astros’ tendency to crush lefties against the Red Sox’ talented southpaws in Chris Sale and David Price.
- One thing both of these LCS’s have in common? Each features a player who sort of optimizes the long, arduous free agent period from last winter.
- Looking back on the ALDS, and specifically Game 3, there has been some belief Luis Severino was tipping his pitches. Now, we have proof that he was.
- In more Yankees news, Aaron Boone revealed towards the conclusion of his end-of-season presser that Didi Gregorius will need to undergo Tommy John surgery. Hello Manny Machado.
- Also included in that presser was Brian Cashman indicating that he will indeed be looking at a Sonny Gray trade this winter. What about a swap of disappointing starters including Gray and Tyler Chatwood?
- As the Giants look for a new general manager, Kim Ng keeps popping upas a potential name to watch in that hiring process.
- Meanwhile, the Rangers are reportedly going to interview former Yankees and Marlins manager Joe Girardi for their empty managerial position.
