If you’re not one of those baseball nerds who follows every single thing going on in the Milwaukee Brewers Organization, don’t worry, because The Sports Bank’s Nick Grays has you covered with what happened in the past week and what’s going on in the future.
And if you are one of those nerds, feel free to join in on some good old analysis of America’s pastime in the Brew City.
This week we discuss the Brewers pulling away in the NL Central and their upcoming slate of games versus the Dodgers and Mets!
Standings:
Milwaukee Brewers (70-51) (20-15-4 in series)
– FIRST in the NL Central
– Lead the St. Louis Cardinals by five games
– Run differential at +36 (up 10 from last week)
– Brewers are 16-2 in their last 18
Last Week’s Headlines:
Brewers Winning In Every Way Possible
Road, home, limited runs, a plethora of runs or extra-innings, it really doesn’t matter right now, the Brewers are winning a ton of games and building a significant lead on the rest of the NL Central. If you count out the Philadelphia Phillies (78-41) who hold a ridiculous nine game lead over a good Atlanta Braves squad in the NL East, the Brewers have the largest lead in any division at five games.
With what shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point, the pitching is continuing to dominate. This last week, the Brewers only gave up a paltry two runs per contest to the Cardinals and Pirates. Even with Chris Narveson out with a finger injury (he cut his self with scissors while repairing his glove), Marco Estrada stepped in and gave up ONE HIT over five innings in a 1-0 win on Saturday. The bullpen was just as nasty as four relievers pitched the remaining four innings and allowed only two more hits.
On the offensive end, role players like Yuni Betancourt, Casey McGehee, and Nyjer Morgan (a.k.a. T-Plush) continue to 
play pivotal roles in helping the team win games. Morgan was the latest to do so with his clutch walk-off sacrifice fly in the tenth inning of Sunday’s game with the Pirates.
Just In Case You Missed It:
– Not a Sports Bank article, but I found it very interesting, so I thought I would share it with the rest of Brewer Nation. Before the real T-Plush joined twitter, he had a really funny impersonator. Read all about it in “Being Tony Plush”
Looking Ahead:
Enough of the NL Central, Bring on Other Opponents
The Brewers start this week off with a four-gamer versus the Los Angeles Dodgers (55-64). Initial impressions indicate the Brewers have an advantage in the series because they are a league-best 44-15 at home and the Dodgers have struggled on the road at 24-30. However, in their last six on the road at Arizona and San Diego, LA did take four of six. But the fact remains that the Dodgers are still really bad at scoring runs and Brewers pitching should continue to dominate.
Beginning Friday, Milwaukee is off to the Big Apple to take on the New York Mets (58-62). The Mets have been horrible of late, losing five in a row to San Diego and Arizona. Earlier this season, the Brewers took two out of three when New York visited Miller Park. I expect this to be a high-scoring series as the Brewers pitching seems to struggle on the road and New York has a decent offense.
Monday, August 15th 7:10 PM (vs. LA Dodgers)
Probable Pitchers: LHP Randy Wolf (9-8) vs. LHP Ted Lilly (7-12)
Tuesday, August 16th 7:10 PM (vs. LA Dodgers)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (13-8) vs. RHP Chad Billingsley (10-9)
Wednesday, August 17th 7:10 PM (vs. LA Dodgers)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Zack Greinke (11-4) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0)
Thursday, August 18th 1:10 PM (vs. LA Dodgers)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Marco Estrada (3-7) vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw (14-5)
Friday, August 19th 6:10 PM (@ NY Mets)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Shaun Marcum (10-3) vs. RHP Mike Pelfrey (6-9)
Saturday, August 20th 3:10 PM (@ NY Mets)
Probable Pitchers: LHP Randy Wolf (9-8) vs. LHP Chris Capuano (9-11)
Sunday, August 21st 12:10 PM (@ NY Mets)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (13-8) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (5-11)
Do you think the Brewers have the division in the bag or do the Cardinals have a late charge left in them? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Brewers. He also enjoys to share Fantasy Advice from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.