This weekend is a HUGE series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs. In full discloser, I live in Milwaukee and am a Brewers SSH so you know where my interests lie. But both teams are on a tear recently! The Brewers are coming off two straight series sweeps over the Mets and the Nationals. I will say that the Brewers got lucky in not having to face either deGrom or Syndergaard. However the Brewers luck ran out when they had to face both Scherzer and Strasburg against the Nationals and they did not disappoint – getting to both of them for multiple runs. The Brewer’s offense is back (it helps that Christian Yelich has returned from injury and has not missed a stride) and they are hot. Looking at their division rivals up North, this run the Cubs are on can’t be ignored. I will say I was a doubter of them for a while and was getting annoyed at all the hype about their “corner turn” after beating the Marlins – not to bring up the No Eligibility Podcast debate again. However I have to admit that they really surprised me. I thought for sure that the Mariners, Dodgers, and Cardinals would put them in their place but oh boy was I wrong. It took the Marlins again at Wrigley field to break up their winning streak.
Regardless, I can’t wait for this series at Wrigley Field. I got way too excited when I saw the pitching match ups for each game. The Brewers are coming to Wrigley for the first time after the division winning game 163 that forced the Cubs into the Wildcard game. Below I will go through each game and my thoughts on how this series might shake out. I should warn any readers however that I will not offer any score predictions or betting thoughts. As someone who is not much of a gambling man, I will have to refer any readers to my colleagues at the Degenerates Playbook. Anyone who has been following them so far should be very happy at their results. Let’s take a look at each game for this amazing weekend series.
Game 1: Friday May 10th, First Pitch: 1:20pm
Wow this game is going to be a great one! The Brewers have Gio Gonzalez throwing against Jose Quintana. Gonzalez has been great for the Brewers since his acquisition a few weeks ago posting a 2.61 ERA not to mention being a big part of the rotation for the Crew during their playoff run last year. Quintana has also come on very well in his last few starts. He has a 4-1 record with a respectable 3.4 ERA. A lot of this is due to a slow start by the entire pitching staff at the beginning of the season. Quintana has also been someone who has been able to really shut down the Brewer’s offense the last couple of seasons. Milwaukee did get to him early during his first start against them at Miller Park earlier this season however. It think this will be the key. The Brewers really have to jump on him early for some runs and force Maddon to go to his bullpen. The Cubs offense has been playing way too well lately to fall behind early. While I do give the edge to the Brewers in terms of strength of bullpen, it won’t matter much if they can’t score any runs off of Quintana.
Game 2: Saturday May 11th, First Pitch: 1:20pm
This is a very interesting game – really wish I was going. This game features Zach Davies for Milwaukee posting a great 1.56 ERA going against Cole Hamels for the Cubs with his 3.38 ERA. Both pitchers have been throwing very well lately. I’m not sure why, but Hamels always scares me to go against. He just looks intimidating to me and has the ability to really shut down a lineup. This is actually however the game that I give the Brewers the best chance. As much as love Gio in the first game, I see Davies stepping up and the offense getting to Hamels around the 4th or 5th inning with Jeffries and Hader shutting down the Cubs for the rest of the game.
Game 3: Sunday May 12th, First Pitch 6:08pm
This is the game in the series in which I really hope the Brewers took at least one game on Friday or Saturday as I don’t like to root against Jon Lester. I have never been a big fan of his, but he has been pitching way too well lately to think that this will change this weekend. He will be going against the Venezuelan Marcus Mumford look alike in Jhoulys Chacin. He has been a very dependable starter for the Crew and had an amazing homerun off the Cardinals on opening day, but I don’t see him out-pitching Lester. Speaking of, can any Cubs fans let me know if he can throw to first yet? I don’t watch enough of his starts to really know either way. Regardless, I see the Cubs taking game three of this series setting up a great summer race for the NL Central.
Just throw in some fun at the end, here is a link to a video of all Christian Yelich HRs in March/April to start the season.
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