The Cubs received some unexpected help from their archenemies Wednesday night.
The Cardinals, beat up and beaten down, did something the Cubs couldn’t do the last two days — win a baseball game. And their 7-3 victory over the Brewers reduced the Cubs’ magic number to three.
Despite knowing in the seventh inning that the Cubs already had lost to Florida, the Brewers could not get any offense going to complete a sweep of the Cardinals.
It doesn’t take a math major to know Milwaukee got itself into deep trouble with the loss.
They remain two games behind the Cubs in the National League Central and only four games remain, all against San Diego, which is in the middle of the West Division and wild-card races. The playoff possibilities for the Padres are more varied than for the Brewers, whose only hope is to catch the Cubs.
Milwaukee manager Ned Yost tried to keep it all very simple for his players before the game: “Go play hard and have fun; that’s my only advice now.”
If the Brewers are feeling any pressure, they aren’t showing it.
“No, there is none, because we have to win,” slugger Prince Fielder said. “If the Cubs win all their games and we win all ours, there’s nothing we can do.
“To me, it’s not pressure. That’s what makes the game fun.”
Of course, “fun” leans different things to different people.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” Yost said. “So much fun you can’t even sleep. You wake up in the middle of the night and you want to get going. You’re thinking about how much fun this is.
“That’s what this is all about, not being able to sleep in September and waking up at 3 a.m. and turning on the TV because you can’t go back to sleep. You can’t wait to get to the ballpark to start a game. The last week of the season and we’re playing for something. Unbelievable. Hard work, too, but it’s unbelievable.”
The last week of the season is melting away and the Brewers are playing every game for keeps, including getting involved in a one-upmanship beanball battle that resulted in ejections for Yost and reliever Seth McClung.
Wednesday, Fielder was drilled in the shoulder by Cardinals starter Brad Thompson one day after St. Louis hero Albert Pujols was buzzed near the neck. Despite an earlier warning from umpires, McClung popped Pujols again in the eighth inning, leading to an automatic banishment.
Ironically, Pujols came around to score on a bases-loaded walk from Derrick Turnbow to give the Cards a 4-2 lead, which increased by two on So Taguchi’s pinch-hit double.
Pujols had given the Cards a 1-0 lead, which vanished with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. The Brewers had a brief lead in the second, but the Cardinals came back with two on Ryan Ludwick’s double in the third.
That’s the way it stayed until the final innings, much to the dismay of a buzzing crowd of 32,41l, many of whom have been with their team all season.
Brewers fans should have many more chances at watching playoff contenders, so losing out to the Cubs in the final week should not be considered complete failure.
“I don’t think any one of us wants to look at it that way,” rookie-of-the-year candidate Ryan Braun said. “You just never know when you’re going to get in position [again] to be in the postseason. Hopefully, we can play together a few years … and it becomes an annual thing. But we put ourselves in position [to do it] this year and we don’t want to look back and say it was a good experience but … “
Extra innings
Ace Ben Sheets likely will be scratched from Friday night’s start against San Diego. The replacement could be lefty Chris Capuano, who is 5-12 .
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Padres at Brewers
Thursday: 7:05 p.m.;
WTMJ-AM 620.
RH Jack Cassel (1-1, 4.00) vs.
RH Yovani Gallardo (9-4, 3.59)
Friday: 7:05 p.m.;
WTMJ-AM 620.
RH Greg Maddux (13-11, 4.10)
vs. TBA.
Saturday: 2:55 p.m.;
WTMJ-AM 620.
RH Chris Young (9-8, 3.13) vs.
RH Dave Bush (12-10, 5.16).
Sunday: 1:05 p.m.;
WSSP-AM 1250.
RH Brett Tomko (4-11, 5.39)
vs. RH Jeff Suppan (11-12, 4.57).
Who’s hot: The Brewers led the league in homers (225) through Tuesday with Prince Fielder hitting 50, including three in two days. Brewers pitchers had posted quality starts in nine of 11 games before Wednesday. Closer Francisco Cordero has a 0.70 ERA at Miller Park.
Who’s not: Brewers have spent 41 days in second place and have led the Central for 133. Catcher Johnny Estrada will miss rest of season with a knee injury. Young has a 0-5 record and 6.08 ERA in last 10 starts. Maddux has allowed 14 earned runs in his last three starts.
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dvandyck@tribune.com
