On August 15, the Milwaukee Brewers were looking shaky, dropping four of five games out on the West Coast, and their lead in the NL Central was suddenly feeling way too close for comfort. They got swept by the Padres, then split two games with the Dodgers, and it really looked like the Chicago Cubs, only three games back with seven head-to-head matchups still to play, were about to make September a legitimate division title race. Man, what a difference a couple of weeks can make.
Brewers Got Hot, Cubs Did Not
Since that shaky stretch, the Brewers flipped the script hard. They pulled out the last two wins against the Dodgers and haven’t lost a series since, absolutely crushing it with 10 wins in their last 14 games. Meanwhile, the Cubs have been struggling, big time. They’re 1-4 in their last five series and only 5-9 overall in that same stretch. Now, as these rivals clash at Wrigley Field for a four-game series starting Monday, August 31, the Cubs are staring up at an eight-game deficit. Chicago basically needs to sweep the Brewers at home, something they haven’t done since 2019, just to make a dent. The Brewers’ magic number to clinch the division is already at 18. This Milwaukee squad has been a menace to the Cubs all season, too, winning all three games played in Chicago back in May and outscoring them 19-5. Kyle Harrison, the Brewers’ starter for Monday’s game, was a beast in the finale of that May series, pitching seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 batters, and giving up only two hits in a dominant 5-0 victory.
Misiorowski Is Breaking Records, Blowing Minds
Even if the division title feels out of reach for the Cubs, they’re still fighting for that top wild-card seed, leading the Philadelphia Phillies by one game. If they can hold onto that spot, they’d host the wild-card round. But imagine this: the winner of that wild-card matchup currently faces the Brewers in the NL Division Series if the standings hold. What a showdown that would be! And a huge reason the Brewers are so dangerous is Jacob Misiorowski. He’s following up his impressive rookie season with a straight-up dominant second year, and it could honestly be the best pitching season in team history. This dude leads all of baseball with a ridiculously low 1.62 ERA and an insane 167 strikeouts. He’s set the record multiple times for the fastest pitch ever thrown by a starting pitcher, earned his second All-Star Game appearance, and is a leading candidate for the NL Cy Young Award. Just before the All-Star break on July 7, Misiorowski tossed 11 strikeouts and zero walks over seven innings in a 4-3 win against the Cardinals, moving him to 10-4 on the season. He even threw a 105.5 mph pitch in the first inning of a June 26 game against the Cubs, breaking his own record! That’s just wild, man.
The games this week are gonna get plenty of national attention, with the Sept 1 game on TBS, Sept 2 (featuring Misiorowski, no surprise there) on the MLB Network, and the series finale on Fox. Can Misiorowski keep up this record-setting pace, or will the Cubs find a way to make the wild-card race interesting? We’re about to find out!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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