As of today, the Chicago Cubs have a spot in the postseason picture, but only barely. They’re currently squatting on the second Wild Card slot, with a 3.o game cushion between themselves and the Phillies/Diamondbacks. Meanwhile, they’re 3.0 games behind the Nationals for the top spot in the Wild Card race and and 2.5 games behind the Cardinals for the lead in the NL Central.
But there’s another team about which they’ll have to worry, and we’re right on their doorstep …
… The Milwaukee Brewers may be 4.0 games behind the Cubs with only 24 games left to play, but the next 4 games are head-to-head, so a lot can happen between tonight and Sunday. And while the Cubs could (more or less) end the Brewers season during this series with enough wins, they did just drop two to the Crew last weekend, with three rematches on-tap:
The first three games of this four-game #Cubs/#Brewers series is an exact rematch of last weekend:
Game 1: Quintana v. Anderson
Game 2: Hamels v. Davies
Game 3: Darvish v. GonzalezGame 4: Hendricks v. Houser
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) September 5, 2019
Let’s hope things go better than they did last Saturday and Sunday.
We’re Going Streaking
The Chicago Cubs (75-63) just swept the Mariners after dropping two of three against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. They’re 2.5 games out of first place and 3.0 games behind the Nationals for the top Wild Card spot.
The Milwaukee Brewers (71-67) split their two games with the Astros after taking two of three from the Cubs. They’re 6.5 games out of first place in the NL Central and they trail the Cubs by 4.0 games for the second Wild Card.
Game Times and Broadcasts Info
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Jose Quintana (L) v. Chase Anderson (R)
Game 2: Cole Hamels (L) v. Zach Davies (R)
Game 3: Yu Darvish (R) v. Gio Gonzalez (L)
Game 4: Kyle Hendricks (R) v. Adrian Houser
Chicago Cubs
Unavailable: Xavier Cedeno, Brandon Morrow, Allen Webster
Milwaukee Brewers
Unavailable: Brandon Woodruff, Keston Hiura
Keep An Eye Out For …
Cubs Pitcher: Brad Wieck (the return for Carl Edwards Jr.) has faced only 4 batters as a member of the Cubs bullpen this season, but he’s struck out 3 of them and seems to have everyone’s attention (probably because he’s a nearly 7-foot tall left-hander). If he pitches to his potential, he can quietly become a big part of the Cubs bullpen in September.
Cubs Player: Ben Zobrist debuted nicely in the Mariners series, drawing a walk, reaching on a bunt single, and otherwise seeing about one thousand pitches. He won’t be at second base and leading off in every game, but I expect to see him plenty this weekend, given the positive way things started.
Brewers Pitcher: Adrian Houser has actually been the best Brewers starter in the second-half of the season, and he’s the only guy the Cubs didn’t see last weekend. Indeed, Houser has allowed no more than 1 earned run in 6 of his last 7 starts, including the last five straight (2.36 ERA, 3.64 FIP during that stretch). HOWEVER, the one start in which he failed to meet that threshold was against the Cubs (5.0 IP, 9H, 4ER, 1BB, 5Ks), which is obviously a good sign for the weekend.
Brewers Player: I don’t know. Ryan Braun or something. Forget these guys. Just go win.