Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Brewers are Winners
.500 Record is Just a Start for Team
Dennis Jenders
The Brewers are coming home winners. After a 4-2 road trip against very tough teams the Crew has showed the Mets, the Phillies, and Major League Baseball that they are for real.
Since July 5 Geoff Jenkins has been on fire batting .411 and providing a spark for the offense. Carlos Lee continues to lead the National League in RBIs with 90, trailing only Manny Ramiriez (100) of Boston for the title. Rookies J.J. Hardy and Rickie Weeks continue to prove why experts have called the club's farm system one of the best in baseball. Hardy has made adjustments to big league pitching and is having an excellent second-half to the season.
The pitching continues to prosper as well as Sheets has returned from the inner-ear affliction that side-lined him earlier this year. The bullpen continues to be one of the best in baseball.
And there are whispers around the league that the Brewers has some of the best chemistry in the club house. While Jenkins, Lee and Damian Miller provide some veteran leadership the youth movement has begun and the team is winning - and winning together.
That spirit and drive now brings the Brewers home with a .500 record. With 50 games left to play this season if they simply win half of them they will end up at .500. A significant achievement, but the Brewers have maintained all along that .500 is not their goal, merely a stepping stone.
It's an important mind set because the younger players are not used to losing, and the veterans are enjoying the success. With things going well, and a favorable schedule the Brewers could contend in the Wild Card race. Currently they find themselves 4 games behind Houston in the Central Division and the Wild Card race.
If the Brewers can find a way to steal a game or two from St. Louis and sweep Cincinnati they will put themselves in prime position to make a charge. They will find themselves in homerun happy Coors Field for three games before taking on Houston in a four game series that could launch Milwaukee near the top of the race - and just behind St. Louis in the Central Division.
The club will need to continue their hot hitting. In the past 20 games, going back to the St. Louis series on July 18, the Brewers have scored 104 runs, an average of 5.2 runs per game. The Cardinals lead the league, on the season, scoring just over five a game. If Jenkins and Lee continue to stay hot and the rest of the lineup keeps contributing the Brewers will provide enough support to their pitching staff.
While, as a fan, I can look ahead the Crew really needs to stay focused and find a way to win in the big games. The past road trip is proof to the fans, and to the team, that they can do it. Will the return home find consistency in those numbers or will the team regress? I am betting they make more strides before they take a step backwards. Congratulations Milwaukee - you have a team to cheer for in August.