Weekend in Review

As Mike posted Earlier today, it was a disappointing weekend series against our southern rivals, the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday of this last week, Tom Haudricourt of the MJS commented on the fact that the Brewers went into a 9-game home stand in second place in the NL Central, finished 5-4 and emerged in first place. Is the division really that weak?

Maybe, maybe not. More likely though, the answer is maybe. The Crew went 1-4 against the Cubs this weekend, who before the series started were second to last in total runs scored in the entire major leagues. Against the Brewers rotation (which mind you contained Seth McClung and Mike Burns) the chubs put up 21 runs in four games. Embarrassing.

And so the Brewers emerge second in the division a game behind St. Louis, while the Cubs are now only 2.5 back of the Cards. The saddest part is that every team in the central has a shot. The Pirates sit dead last and yet they're only 7 games out. If Cincinati and Houston figure things out they are just as likely to make their own surges at three and four games out, respectively.

Sometimes there are no answers to these things. Sometimes there are. And this time we all know the answer. It's just nice to hear Ryan Braun say it rather than we normal folk and our blogs.

His frustration mirrors Brewer Nation. (quotes courtesy of the AP):

“Their starting pitching is a lot better than ours,” Braun said after the Brewers were beaten 8-2 Sunday. “They threw the ball a lot better than our starters did. They certainly swung the bats better than we did. Clearly they were the better team. It’s nice to get the one win but they clearly outplayed us and outperformed us all series.”

“No matter who is in there, we have to find a way to throw the ball better for us to have success,” said Braun. “I think when you’re constantly behind in games, it’s not easy and it’s not fun. Their starting pitcher was clearly better than ours this series.”

Tom Haudricourt summarized on twitter:

"After Brewers drop 3 of 4 to Cubs, all-star LF Ryan Braun says he'd like the team to make a trade for a pitcher. 'The sooner, the better.'"
-about 5 hours ago from web

Ryan Braun is not a guy to run his mouth. He doesn't publicly talk trash and very rarely does he criticise anyone other than himself. What he said needed to be said, and considering Braun is the first Brewer to start in consecutive All-Star games since Robin Yount, his words should not only carry significant weight, but paid attention to. We love the guy because he's a compeitor and we know he wants the best for this ball club. These words are not in desperation but they carry a similar tone. Something has to be done.

In other notes, Haudricourt also found it interesting that Trevor Hoffman was left off the All-Star despite his incredible stats for the first half:

"Trevor Hoffman not on NL all-star staff despite these numbers: 18 for 19 in saves, 1.93 ERA in 24 games, .205 OBA. Did miss most of April."
-about 9 hours ago from web

All things aside, the Baseball Gods have given us a chance to redeem ourselves. The Crew begin a three game series with St. Louis tomorrow. As long as Yo goes five strong tomorrow, we may be able to heave a small sigh of relief and brace ourselves for what could be total disaster (the starter for Thursday's game is still TBA).

Until tomorrow, just remember: sun's out, gun's out.