National League Wild Card standings: Are the Milwaukee Brewers done?
By Hayden Kane
The Milwaukee Brewers could still beat the Pittsburgh Pirates twice this weekend. They could still leave town within 2.5 games of a playoff berth with a week of baseball left. That would be the optimistic point of view after the Brewers lost to Russell Martin and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night to fall 4.5 games back.
More from Milwaukee Brewers
- Brewers attempt to troll Elly De La Cruz backfires 456 feet
- MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani, Angels, Dodgers, Rich Hill
- MLB standings ordered by hard hit rate: Struggling Cardinals still cracking bats
- MLB Trade Deadline Insider Q&A: Shohei Ohtani, Padres, Cardinals, Brewers
- Juan Soto rumors: 5 monstrous trade packages to land the Padres star
Here is the pessimistic and more realistic point of view for the Brewers: this loss leaves them with eight games to effectively make up five games in the standings. Even with two games against the Pirates, their heartbreaking 4-2 loss on Friday might have squashed their postseason hopes for good.
As for the Pirates, they are starting to buzz in Pittsburgh.
While you were sleeping, the San Francisco Giants were shut out by the San Diego Padres to give up a game to those same Pirates. As the Giants look ahead to the playoffs, perhaps the most concerning thing for them is the decline of veteran starting pitcher Tim Hudson, which may or may not be health related. The 39-year-old surrendered four earned runs and didn’t even make it out of the fifth inning on Friday. Consider this note from CSN Bay Area beat writer Andrew Baggarly.
Hindsight being what it is, if Hudson is really encumbered by the sore hip, the Giants should have started Lincecum today.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 20, 2014
Here are the National League Wild Card standings as things stand now.
- San Francisco Giants – 84-69, +1.0 WCGB
- Pittsburgh Pirates – 83-70, — WCGB
- Milwaukee Brewers – 79-75, 4.5 WCGB
- Atlanta Braves – 76-77, 7.0 WCGB
- Miami Marlins – 74-79, 9.0 WCGB
Pending something spectacular, it looks like the Brewers’ collapse is complete. That leaves the team with more questions than answers after they sat atop the National League Central for much of the 2014 season, including the future of manager Ron Roenicke.
It looks like a one-game showdown between the Giants and Pirates is in the works, with those two teams jockeying for the top spot over the course of the next week.
More from FanSided.com
Brewers vs Pirates final score: Russell Martin’s home run keys 4-2 victory for Pittsburgh
MLB Awards Watch: Clayton Kershaw leads the way
MLB: Ranking top SP combos for likely NL playoff teams
San Francisco Giants: Wild card is a consolation prize
FOX News misspells Derek Jeter ‘Derek Jester’ (Photo)