I'm never exactly sure when the "pennant race" begins in earnest, but if I had to pick I think I'd go with the Brewers-Cardinals series this week. The Brewers have a 3 1/2-game lead on the Cardinals in the NL wild-card race and as the calendar is about to turn to September, that's suddenly becoming significant. A sweep by the Brewers gives them a massive lead. A sweep by the Cardinals makes things very interesting.In the two-game series, the Brewers are kicking things off by sending the semi-scuffling Ben Sheets to the mound against Todd Wellemeyer tonight, while Manny Parra and Adam Wainwright go at it tomorrow. That means that the Cardinals are thanking their lucky stars that CC Sabathia pitched against the Pirates on Sunday and they won't have to see him in their most important series of the season.
Oddly, this is the last time the division rivals will play this year. As Andrew noted yesterday, the schedule is much more favorable to Milwaukee than it is for St. Louis, which heaps even more pressure on the Cards for these two games. If they don't take advantage of these two games with the Brewers, they really might not get a better chance to make this race interesting.
For a while, the Cardinals debated bringing
For most of this season, the Cardinals have been waiting on the return of their aces,
One day after setting the date for
After two months on the shelf and a couple of set-backs,
For the first time since Opening Day 2007,
With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.
With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.