Brewers Sweep Dodgers in Los Angeles

We are getting to the point in the baseball season where the pretenders start to fade and the real contenders emerge. The long season tends to catch up with teams that lack depth or otherwise can’t go the distance. Some might put the Milwaukee Brewers in that category. The Brewers have held a narrow lead in the tight National League Central race for most of the season, but the preseason favorites—St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati—haven’t been far behind, staying close enough to take the lead if Milwaukee falters.

That is starting to change. Through games of August 17th, Cincinnati has fallen to a sub .500 61-63, 8 ½ games out, after losing seven of 10. With six weeks left in the season, the Reds have dug a hole for themselves that may be too deep. The Pirates, who also have lost seven of 10, are 5 ½ back at 64-60. They could use a healthy Andrew McCutcheon back in the lineup, but the 2013 MVP is on the disabled list with a rib injury. The Cardinals are back in contention, as they always seem to be, at 66-57, three games behind Milwaukee.

But the Brewers sent a message in their August 15th-17th weekend series in Los Angeles against the N.L. West leading Dodgers. The Brewers swept the Dodgers for L.A.’s first three game series loss pf the season. Milwaukee came from behind with five runs in the eighth inning on the 15th to win 6-3. They handed Clayton Kershaw his first loss since May with a 3-2 win on August 16th. Kershaw pitched a rare complete game loss, striking out 11, but he gave up a two run homer to Ryan Braun and a solo shot to Carlos Gomez that cost him the game.

The Brewers took the final game7-2 on August 17th behind this five RBI performance by Jonathan Lucroy:

Starting pitcher Wily Peralta, who has pitched well this season beneath the radar, picked up his 15th victory of the season, tying him with the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright and the Reds’ Johnny Cueto for the Major League lead. The Brewers players said they consider the Dodgers to be a possible playoff opponent, and took this series very seriously. If they aren’t already doing so, the rest of the league should be taking the Brewer’s seriously, too.