Brewers look to come together

With a little over a month to go in the major league season there is little room for error for the Brewers in they're quest for only their third ever playoff berth and the first since 1982.  After the acquisition of ace pitcher CC Sabathia the Brewers looked to be well on their way to wiping away they're collapse of last season.  But since going 3 games up in the wild card race have faltered a lot lately with a recent slide that had them lose 7 of 9 games, a slide which helped they're rivals the Cards draw to within a game of them in the wild card race.  The Brewers appeared to be self destructing after an altercation in a recent game with Prince Fielder who shoved pitcher Manny Parra twice after he was removed from a game that saw the Brewers lose 6-3,  teammates had to intervene to make sure the incident didn't go any further. Fielder and manager Ned Yost downplayed the incident claiming it was just a tense situation that went too far. 

The next few weeks will determine where the Brewers will be come October as they prepare to take on the Dodgers next weekend before meeting the surging Cards in two weeks, and opening September against the New York Mets.  A team that has shown huge improvements over the past two seasons has got to show they are ready for the big time, the playoffs.  The edition of Sabathia gives the Brewers a very dominating rotation and helps take some pressure of ace pitcher Ben Sheets who leads the team with 10 wins this season.  At the plate Ryan Braun has led this team all year with 30 home runs, 84 RBI's, and a 589 slugging percentage that has put him near the top of most NL offensive categories.  Prince Fielder has overcome a slow start to hit 26 home runs and 67 RBI's to help put the Brewers into a position to make a run at the playoffs. 

The key to the Brewers turnaround this season has been consistent pitching from Sheets,Suppan,and Bush as well as a very solid defence anchored by shortstop J.J. Hardy who has been solid in the infield and added 49 RBI's to help the cause. 

The Brewers seem to have enough left to get a playoff spot, but after losing a division lead they had most of last year you can be sure they will not take anything for granted.  Hopefully they learned something from last season and are able to gain experience from being in contention for so long last season.  Newcomers to Milwaukee this season Jason Kendall and Ray Durham's experience should prove to be quite valuable in this situation as this team looks to turn the corner and make the playoffs.  A playoff berth would be invaluable to this organization that has gone through many hardships over the years.  The Brewers have a more than capable team to go all the way, if they are able to execute the way they did just before the All-Star break.  They are solid in every position and have a very dangerous and consistent team at bat.  They do lack a lot of experience but definitely have the pitching that is needed to make a run at the World Series.  Some consistency and execution with the Brewers will make them a very dangerous team down the home stretch.