When it Rains in Pittsburgh, it Pours on the Brewers
I’d like to begin these remarks by thanking the Seattle Mariners for proving me wrong. Since I proclaimed—just a few days ago—there wouldn’t be any drama in the AL wild card race this year, Seattle has stopped winning, opening the door for the Oakland A’s. To borrow a line from the Beastie Boys, my crystal ball ain’t so crystal ball. I’d rather see a team get back into the race than be proven right, anyway.
With that said, watching MLB highlights was rarely more satisfying for this Cubs fan than yesterday, the last day of the first half of the 2018 season. The Brewers came into Pittsburgh perched atop the National League Central, and they looked to be the team to beat in the second half.
The Pirates began the series six games under .500, which isn’t necessarily a lost season, but they would more likely be considered “sellers” at the upcoming trade deadline. A few months after unloading Gerit Cole and Andrew McCutchen, the expectations in Pittsburgh for 2018 were not as high as in years past.
The Brewers, on the other hand, were ready to make a run at the big time. The Christian Yelich trade and Lorenzo Cain free-agent signing were impossible to ignore. The Chicago Cubs had ruled the division for two years running, but the Brewers were making it known their time had come.
A split of a four-game series, with the first-place team effectively running out the clock until the All-Star break, seemed a reasonable enough outcome. But the addition of a fifth game, in the form of a day-night doubleheader to make up for a rainout last month, upped the ante just a little bit. But a 3-2 split, one way or the other, wouldn’t do too much to change the divisional standings. And a few days off awaited when it was all over, too.
But baseball has this amazing way of defying expectations. The Pirates won on Thursday night, and followed it up with another win on Friday night. Meanwhile, out on the west coast, the Cubs had pulled even with the Brewers, ending a month-long run atop the Central Division. The Saturday doubleheader wasn’t yet make-or-break for Milwaukee—what really is, at this point of the season?—but getting a win would be nice to regain a little bit of momentum.
But it was not meant to be for the Brew Crew. They dropped both ends of the double header and woke up Sunday morning a game-and-a-half back in the division. This definitely wasn’t the way things were supposed to go in Pittsburgh.
But every day in baseball is another chance at redemption, and the Brewers were on the verge of claiming some on Saturday afternoon. At the beginning of this season, the Brewers had pulled out an improbable ninth-inning walkoff win, with Yelich and Ryan Braun connecting on consecutive pitches to stun the St. Louis Cardinals. I wrote about that game, pointing out that a baseball game is never over until the last out is recorded. Three and a half months later, it was Milwaukee’s turn to find out about ninth-inning heroics.
With Brewers closer Corey Knebler on the mound to protect a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning, Milwaukee might have felt like the worst was over. Escaping with one win in Pittsburgh was better than getting swept. After all, a five-game sweep hadn’t happened in the majors for 12 years. But the Pirates again had other ideas, pushing the tying run across on a two-out, two-strike triple by pinch-hitter David Freese. The Pirates couldn’t win it in the ninth, but there were more heroics to come later.
In the bottom of the tenth, with the Pirates again in a hole, it started to rain, hard. If the All-Star break wasn’t staring the players and umpires in the face, maybe the tarp comes out and there’s a short rain delay. But the game went on, and the Pirates’ Josh Bell hit a walkoff liner over Cain’s head to bring home the tying and winning runs. A mob scene erupted at home plate, and the Brewers’ disaster of a weekend was complete.
With those happy thoughts in mind, this Cubs fan is looking forward to the All-Star festivities. I hope you are, too.
