Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Games 38-42: Brewers Sweep Pirates 5-2, 8-2, 9-6, Split with Dodgers 2-1, 3-0

The lack of posts was a result of me being 2,700 miles away from where I live. Considering that the Brewers swept the Pirates and knocked off the Dodgers last night, I began to wonder if I should post less often. If some celestial force notifies me of a connection this blog will be shut down immediately. Until then...

...I'm beginning to think that the Brewers are just a really bad road team. The Brewers scored seven runs during their seven-game losing streak during their disastrous road trip. During the home stand the Brewers had three games where they scored eight runs or more. I can live with the Brewers being a bad on the road if they are excellent at home. But please note that I wrote "bad on the road" and not "unfathomably awful." The Brewers are currently on pace to win 55 games at home and 26 on the road. Though that comes to a respectable 81-81 record, that will not get you to the playoffs.

So why are the Brewers so bad on the road? I would point to their collective .211 average with runners in scoring position (RISP). During the split with the Dodgers they were 2-23 (.080). And why are they so bad with RISP on the road? Hell if I know. It's probably a combination of bad luck and the general difficulty of playing on the road, but this could be one of those things in sports that defy explanation, such as...

...the Pirates being 3-33 at Miller Park since 2007 (.083). Over that same time frame the Pirates are 109-237 on the road (.315). Though that's very, very bad, it's about what you'd expect from a team with the caliber of the Pirates. Their record at Miller Park, on the other hand, is simply absurd. That's said, I would have no issue with this trend continuing.

For the time being the Brewers are 20-22. I think they're trending in the right direction. Corey Hart and Casey McGehee are showing signs of life, Yovani Gallardo has put together a pair of very solid starts, and Zack Grienke's back. Even though Mr Grienke has been shaky, I'm not concerned about his future performance. If these trends continue, the Brewers will be back in the NL Central race very soon.

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