Brewers Bounce Back

The Brewers were 2 games behind in the NL Central and 4 games behind in the Wild Card race. After a brutal series finale against the Nationals, the Brewers lost 15-2. In the Cubs series at Miller Park however, the Brew Crew was back to being the Brewers of this past season; taking Game 1 2-1. In the game, it was the team debut of former White Sox pitcher Anthony Swarzak. Swarzak closed out his opening inning despite giving up a home run.

With that win, it took the Brewers from 2 games behind, to only a half game behind. If they are able to sweep the Cubs, the Brewers will have an easy road coming into August, starting with series against the Cardinals, interleague play against the Rays and Twins, plus divisional series against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and 2 upcoming series in the NL West. The Brew Crew is on pace to get at least 60-75 wins after August ends and as we approach October 2 months from now.

The Brewers need to win the majority of the games in the next 2-3 series in order to feel they have a manageable lead going into August and September. Accomplish that, and they'll make it to the Postseason easily. Despite losing 2 of 3 to the Nationals, The Brewers have a possibility of meeting them in the NLDS. However if they are going to have a chance to play for the pennant in the NLCS, they must execute, make adjustments and fix key mistakes that occurred in the previous series.

One of these crucial errors they must fix is the ability to get off to a quick start. The Brew Crew did the complete opposite in the Nats game last Thursday as they didn't score their first run until the 4th inning. This was largely in part by Washington's 7 run inning; 6 of which came off of home runs. The Brewers must get off to a fast start in order to secure an early lead that is safe enough to carry through most of the game.

The pitchers must also stay on point. In order for this to stay consistent, their pitch counts must be low. If they're pitch counts within the ranges of the 80s-100s, this will most likely result in tiredness and fatigue if he has thrown too many balls and surrendered too many runs. Thus, this will force the manager Craig Counsell to rely on his bullpen more often than not in the early goings.

Closing games is also an important key in the Brewers winning games. when the late innings come around, the closers must be as precise or even more precise with their pitches as the starters may have done earlier in the game. In a road game especially, it is important to have enough insurance runs going into the home half of the ninth so that the home team does not cook up a comeback. If the road team is up by one, the pitcher must not blow his save. The most common way to blow a save is a walk off.

These are the keys to the Brewers going back up and taking a lead in the division. They must secure a lead withinthe division to ensure their tickets to the Postseason are for sure punched.