Brewers still looking to clinch top seed as Reds cling to Wild Card spot
Two games to go! The Brewers are still hoping to clinch the number one seed, but they won’t find that to be an easy task tonight, as the visiting Cincinnati Reds are, quite literally, playing for the postseason lives. The Reds and Mets come into today’s action tied for the last National League Wild Card spot. Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker, so if they win their last two games, they’re in no matter what happens. But if they falter in one of their last two games and New York wins both of theirs, the Mets are in and the Reds are out. (At publication time, the Mets had a three-run lead over the Marlins.)
Milwaukee, meanwhile, just needs one win (or a Phillies loss) to clinch the best record in the league and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, a one-game magic number that has been in place since Wednesday. The Phillies, though, are playing a thoroughly checked out Twins team at home, so banking on them losing one of their last two games seems foolish.
The Brewers may not exactly feel that getting that first seed is absolutely necessary given that they’ve already got a bye and even if they don’t finish with the one seed, the Phillies are the only team that would have home-field advantage over them in a series. But it would be a bit of a drag to go into the postseason having lost six of seven, and the potential Division Series matchup is a major factor here. Winning the one seed would ensure that Milwaukee would need to go through only one of the Phillies and Dodgers in the NL playoff bracket. That may not matter a whole lot to them, but I know I would feel a little better if that were the case. (The Twins got an early lead on a Byron Buxton leadoff homer. It is 1-0 after the first inning as this piece goes live.)
As we also wonder what an NLDS game three pitching situation might look like with Brandon Woodruff presumably (but unconfirm-edly) out for the first round, we might get a preview this evening. The Brewers are starting Robert Gasser, who is making just his second MLB appearance of the season after throwing three innings (one hit, two walks, two runs) on Sunday. In a new twist, he’s likely to be piggybacked by Jacob Misiorowski, who will be making his first ever appearance as a reliever in the big leagues. This arrangement is certainly on the table for the third game of the NLDS, but there are other potential options (involving Chad Patrick and Jose Quintana) as well.
Cincinnati, of course, needs this game, and they’ll be sending one of their excellent starting pitchers to the hill in the form of Andrew Abbott. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the NL this year, an All-Star who is fifth in the league with a 2.80 ERA (just behind Freddy Peralta) in 161 innings. Abbott doesn’t strike out a ton of guys and he’s got a FIP of 3.65. He doesn’t work with a ton of velocity but relies heavily on an effective four-seam fastball with some arm-side movement that hitters have had trouble squaring up.
William Contreras gets the night off tonight, as Danny Jansen will catch and Christian Yelich will serve as the designated hitter. Yelich is once again in the leadoff spot, the fifth straight game that he’s done so after not hitting there all year. The Brewers, for what it’s worth, have averaged two runs per game with Yelich leading off.
Tonight’s game is on national TV, at 7:15 p.m. on Fox. You can also find it on the Brewers Radio Network.
Category: General Sports
