Phillies win another series as Jake Arrieta shuts downs the Brewers

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Jake Arrieta pitched the Phillies past Milwaukee at Miller Park

This was shaping up to be the type of  game that has bedeviled the Philadelphia Phillies all season. Build a lead, fail in chances to put it away. Watch the opposition come back late. Take a small lead into the last inning. Home opponent rallies to a walkoff win against the bullpen.

Three times already this season the opposition has done it. Walked off with a win in their final at-bats. It just happened four days ago in Chicago, for goodness sakes. And here we were again. Phillies build a 4-0 lead. Two on, one out in the top of the 7th inning. Nothing to show for it.

The Milwaukee Brewers (29-24) used a solo homer off the bat of Mike Moustakas in the home 7th to get on the scoreboard. Then a leadoff single by Eric Thames in the bottom of the 8th was followed one out later by an RBI double from Orlando Arcia. Suddenly it was a 4-2 game with the tying run at the plate.

But something different would happen this time. The bullpen didn’t blow the game, at least in part because they weren’t in the game. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta was still in there, and manager Gabe Kapler was showing faith in the veteran right-hander. Arrieta rewarded that faith, retiring the final two batters in the frame and keeping the lead at 4-2.

And then the Phillies bats did something they have done very seldom this season. They struck a late blow against the opposition. Actually, a couple of late blows. Big blows. After Jean Segura led off the top of the 9th with a base hit, Rhys Hoskins followed two batters later by blasting his 13th home run of the season out high and deep to left-center field.

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Phillies to spend Memorial Day weekend 2019 at Miller Park in Milwaukee

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Phillies hope to keep Bernie Brewer from sliding much this weekend

The Philadelphia Phillies (29-21) will be spending Memorial Day weekend at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers (29-22), who are currently sitting in second place in the National League Central Division standings.

The Brew Crew trail the Chicago Cubs, against whom the Phillies just split a four-game series, by 1.5 games, three in the loss column. They enjoyed an off-day on Thursday prior to this series, coming off an 11-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in their previous game on Wednesday night.

It was just over a week ago that the Brewers captured three of four games between the two teams at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies won the opener of that series by 7-4 when J.T. Realmuto and Odubel Herrera produced run-scoring doubles to break up a 4-4 tie game. But Milwaukee roared back to capture the final three games by a combined 22-6 runs margin.

The two clubs have proven very evenly matched in recent years with the Phillies holding a 10-9 edge in their 19 meetings over the three previous combined entering this 2019 season.

The Brewers (250) and Phillies (249) rank 4th and 5th respectively in the NL in runs scored, though Milwaukee has played one more game. The Atlanta Braves (252) are 3rd, and also have one more game than the Phillies.

Milwaukee is a well-rounded, dynamic offensive ball club. The Brewers hitters collectively rank 4th in OPS and 5th in OBP. They lead the entire National League in home runs and are tied for the league lead in stolen bases. No slouch with their gloves, the Brew Crew defenders have committed the 5th-fewest errors in the NL while handling the 2nd-most chances.

After splitting their series at Wrigley Field with the Cubs, the Phillies are now 6-5 during what we have described previously here at Phillies Nation as a 23-game “crucible”, a nearly month-long stretch against top-notch competition from outside the NL East Division. That stretch continues this weekend.

Phillies need to find a way to slow down Ryan Braun

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Ryan Braun has been a Phillies-killer for years

Over the course of his 13-year career in Major League Baseball, outfielder Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers has done a lot of damage against a lot of opposing teams.

Braun, who served a 65-game suspension back in 2013after admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his 2011 National League MVP-winning campaign, has blasted 331 home runs over that career.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been victimized by Braun more than most, to the point that he is now high on the list of “Phillie-killers”, those players who consistently do damage when the two teams meet.

Over 74 regular season games played against the Phillies, 72 of those as starts, Braun is slashing .378/.417/.711 with 25 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 44 extra-base hits with a 1.129 OPS. He even hit the Phillies during the one postseason series between the two clubs. During that 2008 NLDS he delivered five hits and a pair of RBIs. Ironically, he went 0-4 in the lone Brewers victory of that series.

At Citizens Bank Park, Braun has ripped successive generations of Phillies pitching to the tune of a .406/.453/.804 slash line with 14 homers and 43 RBIs over 36 games.

During Tuesday night’s 6-1 victory for the Brewers, Braun crushed his ninth home run of the season. It was just another successful night in South Philly for the now 35-year-old slugger, who is enjoying his best power year since the 2016 season.

In addition to that tainted 2011 NL MVP Award, Braun has finished among the top three in the voting in two other seasons. He was the 2007 National League Rookie of the Year and is a six-time NL All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger.

After manager Craig Counsell sat him out for the previous three Brewers games, using him only as a pinch-hitter, Braun was back in the starting lineup to torture the Phillies last night. Fans who head down to the ball park tonight can expect to see him in there again, looking to continue his onslaught.

The Brewers (25-19) trail the first-place Chicago Cubs by 2.5 games in the NL Central Division race, but are five games back in the loss column. The Phillies (24-17) are 3.5 games up in the NL East Division standings, three in the loss column over the New York Mets.

Coming into this series, the Phillies had been finding a way to win despite consistently dropping their series openers. This time around they won that opener. In order to capture their fourth series in a row the Phillies need to slow down Braun and beat the Brew Crew on Wednesday night in this third of a four-game set.

Final 2018 MLB Power Ranking

Ryan Braun and the Brewers ranked lowest
among MLB playoff teams
(Photo: Steve Paluch)

The 2018 Major League Baseball regular season has come to an end, and yet it still isn’t over. For the first time ever there will be a pair of “Game 163” events taking place.

The Chicago Cubs are hosting the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field at this very moment. The winner will be crowned champions of the National League Central Division. The loser will host the National League Wildcard Game tomorrow night.

Should the Cubbies win it would mark their third consecutive Central Division title. This will be their fourth straight postseason appearance. Back in 2015 the Cubs shut out the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wildcard Game behind a 4-0 gem from Jake Arrieta.

The Brew Crew last captured the division crown back in 2011. That was the first division title for the franchise since their move to the National League for the 1998 season.

Prior to that you would have to go all the way back to 1982 and the “Harvey’s Wallbangers” team that won a second consecutive American League East Division title to find the last Brewers division championship squad.

Beginning at 4:09PM EDT the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. The winner of that contest will be crowned as champions of the National League West Division. The loser will travel to either Chicago or Milwaukee, whichever also loses today, for a do-or-die meeting in that National League Wildcard Game on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers have been kings of this division for a long time now. Los Angeles has captured the last five National League West Division titles and seven of the last 10 division crowns.

Last year the Dodgers rolled through the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cubs, losing just once en route to the franchise’ first World Series appearance in nearly three decades. There they were defeated in seven games by the Houston Astros.

The Rockies played their first season as an expansion team back in 1993, and they have never won a division title. Colorado has advanced to the postseason four times, three as the division runners-up. Last year saw the Rockies losing an 11-8 slug-fest in the NL Wildcard Game to the Dbacks after finishing third behind LA and Arizona in the division during the regular season.

The Atlanta Braves are sitting home, able to relax and enjoy a few days break after running away with the National League East Division title. It marked the first division crown for the Braves in five years. Atlanta will travel to play whichever club wins the west in one National League Division Series beginning on Thursday.

Whichever team captures the Central Division title will play host to the survivor of the NL Wildcard Game in the other National League Division Series. That series is also scheduled to open on Thursday.

Over in the American League the match-ups have been set for some time. It will be the New York Yankees hosting the Oakland Athletics at 8:00PM EDT on Wednesday night in the American League Wildcard Game.

The winner of that game will then travel up to Fenway Park in Boston to face the host Red Sox in one American League Division Series beginning on Friday night. The Cleveland Indians will visit the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in the other ALDS beginning on Friday evening at Minute Maid Park.

Those four division series are each a best-of-five games, played in a 2-2-1 format as to home field. The winners in each league would advance to face one another in a best-of-seven League Championship Series. The winner of those would then meet towards the end of October in the 2018 World Series.

I released my first 2018 MLB Power Ranking on July 1, when the season was three months old. There have been four more since that time. Each time saw the Astros either alone at the top or sharing the top spot.

That remains the case in the below final 2018 MLB regular season rankings. The old saying remains true. If you want to be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ. The Brewers are the lowest-ranked among all of the MLB playoff teams at 13th overall.

Jake Thompson dealt by Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

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Jake Thompson dealt from Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

The Philadelphia Phillies “traded” pitcher Jake Thompson to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. 

In exchange the Phillies received…cash. Not an intriguing prospect named “Cash”, just plain cash, as in money.

In effect, the Phillies sold Thompson to a National League Wildcard playoff rival. There is no other way to color this transaction than the Phillies giving up on Thompson.

Though details on the exact “why” were not announced, the likelihood is that the Brewers claimed Thompson after the Phillies designated him for assignment on Friday. That move was done in order to make room on the roster for the newly acquired Justin Bour.

With the claim, the Phillies would have three choices. Pull him back and DFA someone else. Let him go to the Brewers for nothing. Or cut some type of deal with Milwaukee.

GM Matt Klentak was obviously offered some amount of cash that he felt comfortable receiving back from Brew Crew GM David Stearns in order to surrender Thompson.

All of this begs the question, why Thompson? Why did the Phillies choose to DFA a 24-year-old pitcher who in seven minor league seasons has surrendered fewer hits than innings pitched, has produced a 3.55 ERA over 669 innings, and who just two years ago was the 2016 International League Most Valuable Pitcher?

There were other options. The club could have chosen to DFA someone like Mitch Walding, a soon-to-be 26-year-old. Walding is enjoying a nice season with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. However, he is nowhere to be found on any list or discussion of top Phillies prospects. He is an “organizational” guy available for positional depth at best.

The club could have chosen from a number of other similar pitchers rather than Thompson. Right-handers Ben Lively, Mark Leiter Jr, Yacksel Rios, and Drew Anderson. Lefties Adam Morgan or Jose Taveras.

These would have been the other candidates. You can make a legitimate argument that none has higher upside than Thompson. It’s hard to see any reason that Taveras was kept over Thompson other than the age-old baseball love for left-handed pitchers of nearly any skill level.

If you’re wondering whether the Phillies could have chosen to DFA catcher Andrew Knapp, the answer is both yes and no. The backup backstop turns 27-years-old in early November and has slashed .217/.310/.354 while demonstrating questionable defensive ability at best behind the plate.

However, with Wilson Ramos still on the DL at the time that the Bour move needed to be made, Knapp and Jorge Alfaro were the lone catchers on the 40-man roster. There is no way that you can play with just one legitimate catcher. So, while results and upside might mean Knapp could go, short-term practicality meant that he could not.

None of this is to say that Thompson didn’t have his own issues, command and control chief among them. With the Phillies, Thompson had allowed 4.7 walks for every nine innings pitched. Over 16.1 innings with the big club this season that BB/9 average was at the unsightly 6.1 mark.

His minor league record reveals just a 3.2 BB/9 figure over 144 games, 118 of those starts. However, this year his 5.0 mark revealed regression. Perhaps the Phillies simply didn’t think that he was fixable.

There is also always the possibility that some situation was going on behind the scenes to which we aren’t privy. Some personal or disciplinary problem. But that would be nothing more than pure speculation.

What we do know is that the Phillies now have given up on half the return which they received from the Texas Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade three years ago.

Thompson was considered a big part of that deal at the time. He had been the Detroit Tigers second round pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school. Detroit dealt him along with Corey Knebel at the approach of the 2014 trade deadline to the Rangers in exchange for reliever Joakim Soria.

Almost exactly two years ago at this time, Thompson was making just his second MLB start. In earning his first big league win with a five-inning effort against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park he also made a little Phillies history.

Thompson struck out four Rockies batters in the second inning of that contest. In doing so he became the first Phillies pitcher ever and the 80th in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

Also gone from the Hamels deal is lefty pitcher Matt Harrison, who was never going to pitch for the Phillies. He had career-ending injury issues that the club new about at the time of the trade, and his inclusion was simply the Phillies taking on a contract in order to obtain a better prospect package.

Right-handed pitcher Alec Asher was basically given away to the Baltimore Orioles. He was dealt at the end of spring training in 2017 for cash considerations or a player to be named later who was never named. Odds are that some small amount of cash was passed between the two organizations.

Remaining with the Phillies are the current starting right fielder Nick Williams, starting catcher (for the time being) Jorge Alfaro, and injured pitcher Jerad Eickhoff.

The Phillies are not likely to miss Thompson very much in the long run. That they felt capable of giving up on a talented pitcher who still projects to have some upside says something positive about the state of the organizational pitching options.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies give up on pitcher Jake Thompson"

MLB Power Ranking: July 1

The World Series champion Astros remain baseball's top team

As July 2018 opens, the majority of teams across Major League Baseball have now reached the 81-game mark, which marks the exact halfway point to their regular season.

There are a dozen teams that I feel safe in saying there is no chance at recovering from a poor first half. These 12 ball clubs have no chance at reaching the postseason this year.

Seven of those clubs are found in the American League: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers.

In the National League, the five clubs now out of it are the Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Diego Padres.

The only team currently with a losing record that I am not quite ready to say is totally out of things would be the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are a game below the .500 mark at 41-42. They are six games off the NL West pace, but just four games in back of the second NL Wildcard berth.

A quick look around at the six MLB Division races finds only one team in a comfortable position. That team would be the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central. Despite losing four of their last five, the Tribe hold an eight-game lead.

The Boston Red Sox currently lead the arch-rival New York Yankees by one game in the American League East standings, but trail the Bronx Bombers by a game in the loss column.

In the AL West Division, the defending World Series champion Houston Astros are on top by just 1.5 games over the Seattle Mariners. However, a look at the statistical breakdown in the offense, defense, and pitching categories reveals that Houston is clearly the top team in baseball.

The Yankees currently hold the first of two American League Wildcard playoff berths, and do so by a comfortable nine-game margin. The Mariners hold a seven-game lead for the second slot over their division rivals, the Oakland Athletics. Every other AL team is at least 10 games off the Wildcard pace.

In the National League, the Atlanta Braves are one of best young teams in the game. They lead the NL East race by three over the Philadelphia Phillies, a team whose win-loss record is far better than their statistical evaluations. The always dangerous Washington Nationals lurk just five games back.

The NL Central has seen the Milwaukee Brewers jump out with a strong first-half, with the Brew Crew taking a 1.5 game lead over the divison's two-time defending champion Chicago Cubs. The always tough Saint Louis Cardinals are 5.5 games off the pace.

Out in the NL West, it's the Arizona Diamondbacks who have taken the lead at the halfway mark. The Dbacks are currently 3.5 ahead of a pair of historic arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants and the five-time defending division champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The National League Wildcard berths are held by the Cubs and the Phillies. The confusing Fightin' Phils are up by 1.5 games on both the Dodgers and Giants, two up on the Cardinals and Nationals, as they try to emerge from a half-decade of losing.

So with those six divisional and two wildcard playoff races in mind, let's take a look now at where the 30 teams in Major League Baseball currently stand when compared to one another as a group.

The following is the MLB Power Ranking as of July 1, with my 'Power Points' formula shown in parentheses. The number has little to do with the MLB standings, and is based solely on statistics. The lower the number, the stronger your club:

Rockies draw close enough to earn their own 'Magic Number'

Pat Valaika hustles one of his two key hits in Rox victory

The Colorado Rockies defeated the host San Diego Padres on Sunday by an 8-4 score at Petco Park. In so doing, the Rockies lowered their 'Magic Number' to just six in order to clinch the second NL Wildcard playoff berth.

Colorado sits with an 84-72 record following victory. Also on Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers (82-74) and Saint Louis Cardinals (82-74) both lost.

They are the only two teams capable of catching the Rockies as we enter the final week of the 2017 MLB regular season.

The win also raised the Rockies final road record on the season to 41-40. It marks just the club's second winning season on the road in their quarter-century existence. The only other team to finish with a winning road record was the 2009 club, the last Rockies team to reach the postseason.

The Rockies received a workmanlike effort over five innings on the mound from rookie German Marquez. The 22-year old righty allowed five hits and walked three batters, striking out two. He also earned the official win, raising his record to 11-7 on the season.

Manager Bud Black then utilized five different relievers to battle through the rest of the game. The Padres got to the first of those, Scott Oberg, for a pair of runs.

But the final four arms out of the Rockies bullpen totally shut down the San Diego bats. Pat Neshek, Jake McGee, Carlos Estevez, and closer Greg Holland combined to strike out seven over the final three innings, allowing no base runners.

Cardinals sweep their way back into the NL Wildcard race

Molina (R) settles pitcher Martinez (L) in Cards key win

What a difference four days have made for the Saint Louis Cardinals. After being swept this past weekend by the arch-rival and NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, it seemed their season was over.

National League standings following games of Sunday, September 17, showed the Cardinals with a 77-72 record. That left the team 4.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies for the final NL Wildcard berth with just 13 left to play.

Flash-forward five days. Following an off-day on Monday, the Cards proceeded to sweep the host Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series.

Meanwhile, the Rockies were collapsing on a four-game losing streak. The Milwaukee Brewers, also residing in the NL Central and also chasing Colorado, have dropped their last two games.

Suddenly, the Cardinals are right back in that NL Wildcard race. Thursday night's 8-5 win at Great American Ball Park raised their record to 80-72. That leaves Saint Louis tied in the loss column with Milwaukee, just a game behind Colorado.

"These guys were coming off a tough weekend, and they did a nice job of clearing their minds of that," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.

MLB postseason races: your team is probably out

Showalter's O's are all but eliminated from postseason race

There are now less than two weeks remaining in the 2017 Major League Baseball regular season. In fact, two weeks from today the American League Wildcard Game will take place, kicking off the October madness of postseason baseball.

While the two teams who will face one another in that game, or in the following day's NL Wildcard Game, are yet to be determined, one thing can likely be said with confidence. Your favorite team is likely not taking part in the MLB postseason.

For most of this season, that was not the case. Until the last couple of weeks, there were anywhere from 8-10 teams involved in the American League Wildcard race.

Over in the National League, while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies have controlled the two slots for months, four or five other clubs were legitimately alive into August.

But now, three of the six divisional races are settled. The Houston Astros clinched the AL West on Sunday. They joined the Cleveland Indians and Washington Nationals, repeat winners in the AL Central and NL East respectively.

Cubs ground rival Cardinals, lower magic number

Hendricks was in control in beating the Cards on Saturday

The Chicago Cubs downed their historic arch-rival Saint Louis Cardinals by a 4-1 score on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

With the victory, the Cubbies lowered their 'Magic Number' to clinch their second consecutive NL Central Division crown to 10 over the Cards, and to 11 over the second place Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers were dumped by the host Marlins down in Miami by a 7-4 score. Combined with a huge 16-0 destruction of the San Diego Padres by the Colorado Rockies, the Brewers now trail the Rockies by 3.5 games, and the Cardinals trail Colorado by 4.5 in the race for the final NL Wildcard berth.

The Cubs fifth straight win was made possible largely thanks to a brilliant outing from starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks. The 27-year old righty allowed just six hits over 7.2 innings, striking out five and walking just one.

Albert Almora singled home the game's first run in the bottom of the 4th, then doubled home another in the home 5th inning that made it a 3-0 game.

After Matt Carpenter's solo homer put the Cards on the board in the top of the 8th, Addison Russell responded with one of his own in the bottom of the frame to provide the final margin of victory.

Brewers and Cardinals cut NL Wildcard deficit to just two games

Godley's gem beat Rockies to tighten NL Wildcard race

The Milwaukee Brewers made the Pittsburgh Pirates walk the plank by an 8-2 margin on Wednesday at Miller Park.

Meanwhile in Saint Louis on Thursday, the host Cardinals flew past the Cincinnati Reds for a 5-2 victory.

With their respective wins, both the Brew Crew and the Cards have now pulled within just two games in the loss column of the final NL Wildcard playoff berth.

That spot has been held for months by the Colorado Rockies, who were shut out by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. The Dbacks control the top NL Wildcard, with their Magic Number down to 8 in order to clinch an MLB postseason berth.

A two-run homer off the bat of Eric Thames in the bottom of the 3rd inning broke a 1-1 tie for Milwaukee. Brett Phillips added a two-run single later in the frame as the Brewers chased young Pirates starter Tyler Glasnow.

Yankees, Brewers refusing to go away in MLB divisional races

Brew Crew hard for defending champion Cubs to shake

The New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers apparently didn’t get the memo. As Labor Day arrives across Major League Baseball, four of the six divisional races appear to already be settled.

The Washington Nationals have opened a massive 15-game lead in the National League East Division. Both the LA Dodgers and Houston Astros have huge 13.5 game cushions in the NL and AL West Divisions respectively. And the Cleveland Indians have run away to a 9-game lead in the AL Central.

In the AL East, the young and talented Boston Red Sox came into 2017 as favorites. And the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs were expected to run away with the NL Central crown.

However, a check of the standings as MLB games get underway on this Monday, September 4 holiday reveals that both teams are facing serious challenges.

The Yankees trail the Bosox by just 3.5 games. New York just won three of four games between the historic rivals at Yankee Stadium over this past weekend.

Whoever makes up the 2017 MLB schedule needs to be kept away from that responsibility in future seasons. With 26 games left to be played, nearly a full month, that series was the final one between the two rivals.

MLB playoff races wild with more than 20 teams still alive

Brewers and Cardinals two of many teams still alive

It is very possible that we are about to experience one of the greatest stretch runs in MLB history during the month of September, which begins in just three weeks.

A quick glance around the standings in Major League Baseball on Thursday morning, August 10, shows that three of the division races are already virtually over.

The Washington Nationals have a 14-game lead in the National League East Division. In the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers hold a 15.5-game lead. Over the in the American League, the Houston Astros are 13 games up.

With half of the divisional races settled, some might think that it was actually shaping up to be a boring end to the regular season. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you examine the Wildcard races, particularly in the American League, things really look interesting.

The Red Sox and Indians lead the AL East and Central respectively. Each holds a four-game lead, and both clubs appear to be deeper and more talented across their rosters than their nearest pursuers.

The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs are on top of the NL Central. However, this is the one race that is remains extremely tight. The Milwaukee Brewers and Saint Louis Cardinals are just 1.5 games behind, and the Pittsburgh Pirates sit just 3.5 games out.

MLB Spotlight Series: Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers

NL Central lead at stake as Cubs visit Brewers

The most competitive division race in the 2017 MLB regular season thus far is taking place in the National League Central Division.

After appearing to sleepwalk through much of the first half, the defending champion Chicago Cubs are on top once again. However, three teams are within just 4.5 games of the lead.

This weekend, the Cubbies travel just about two hours up I-94 to Miller Park in Milwaukee. Waiting for them will be the NL Central’s second place team, the host Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers actually led the division for much of the season. The Brew Crew jumped into first place on May 17, and until this past Wednesday had spent just two days out of the top spot ever since.

The Cubs, meanwhile, were suffering from a serious World Series victory hangover. By the end of May they were two games under .500 and sitting in third place. As late as July 9, the Cubs were still those same two games below the break-even mark.

However, something clicked for Chicago coming out of the MLB All-Star Game break. The Cubs have won 11 of 13 games since taking those four days off. Conversely, Milwaukee has lost nine of their last 11 contests.

Headed into the weekend, the Cubs hold a 1.5 game lead on the second place Brewers in the division standings. That lead is three games in the loss column. There is no doubt that this series in front of their home crowd is of vital importance to manager Craig Counsell and his ball club.

Milwaukee needs to get back on track, and fast. This is a perfect opportunity to let the Cubs know that they intend to stay in the race for the long haul.

For the Cubs, it’s a chance to stay hot and begin to put Milwaukee further back in the rear view mirror. The champs are looking to make a statement: we’re back, and now we’re going to pull away.

In 2017 season, offense the name of the game in the National League

Top 2017 NL teams all feature high-powered offense

A glance at the Major League Baseball standings on July 1 reveals that the NL division leaders are the Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies control the two NL Wildcard berths by a comfortable margin.

One look at the Major League Baseball team statistical rankings on the same afternoon reveal what these teams have in common.

The five current holders of postseason positioning are also the five highest scoring teams in the National League. In fact, the each rank among the top ten teams in all of baseball to this point.

NL Central has MLB's tightest divisional race

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and the MLB divisional races are just beginning to take shape. Perhaps surprisingly, the most competitive race to this point has been in the National League Central Division.

The NL Central is home to the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. The North Siders were expected by many to run away with the division, much as they did a year ago. The Cubs finished 17.5 games ahead of their nearest divisional rival last year.

But thus far, Chicago appears to be suffering from a Fall Classic hangover. The Cubs are just 25-23 after being shutout by the Los Angeles Dodgers last night. This drops them into the middle of the divisional pack, albeit only a half-game off the lead.

That surprising new NL Central leader this morning would be the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew has not finished on top of the division since the 2011 season.