Milwaukee Brewers: Can They Still Make the Playoffs?

The question now is, "Can the Milwaukee Brewers still make the Playoffs?" I think so.

I bring this up because since the Brewers were tied atop the NL Central, they have basically free-fell to a 62-51 record. Granted, their record is still good enough to get them the second-best record in the NL and hold sole possession of the NL Wild Card spot, things are looking quite bleak right now.

One thing I would like to bring up is the Prince Fielder-Manny Parra altercation that happened Monday night in Cincinnati. The shoving came after Parra slammed his jacket against the bench as he was lifted for pinch-hitter Russell Branyan. Fielder seemed to take notice to the slamming of the jacket and shoved Parra to the bench. Prince was quickly dragged away from the Brewers' lefty and was held back by Ryan Braun and Ray Durham.

Since Milwaukee swept a four game series in St. Louis and a three game series in San Francisco just after the All-Star break, the Brew Crew have gone 3-8. Seven of those losses have come at the hands of division foes with two to Houston, four to Chicago and one to Cincinnati.

But, let's look at where Milwaukee's sluggers stand right now.

They have a record of 62-51. They are just five games back of the division-leading Chicago Cubs and just a half-game ahead of third-place St. Louis. The Cubs and Cardinals start a three-game set in Chicago starting on August 8th. That same day, the Brewers will be coming off an off-day to start a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.

The Brewers also face the Cubs six more times this season, three in Chicago (Sept 16-18) and three in Milwaukee (Sept 26-28). Those three games in Milwaukee also happen to be the last three games of the season.

The Crew also play two more games against St. Louis, both at the new Busch Stadium. After St. Louis' upcoming series against Chicago, the two will play six more games against each other.

With that being said, I think that the Cards and Cubs will beat each other up and Milwaukee will have to use that to their advantage. In a sense though, as a Brewers fan, we might just want the Cubs to sweep the Cardinals the rest of the season and play for the Wild Card.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens as the Brew Crew try to make it back to the post-season for the first time since Harvey's Wallbangers in 1982.