What we learned: September 22, 2014

This Weekend's Results

Pirates 4, Brewers 2
Brewers 1, Pirates 0
Pirates 1, Brewers 0

In a do-or-die weekend series, all the Brewers offense could put together was 3 runs. That's it. We could talk about the reasons why the offense couldn't put up more runs than that (and I expect there will be a conversation about it in the comments). However, the bottom line is that in the biggest series of the season, the offense just couldn't pull anything together. In the last 22 innings of the series, the Brewers scored a total of 1 run. They should have been swept this weekend, had it not been for a stellar pitching performance on Saturday. On the plus side, the Brewers pitchers held the Pirates to one run in the last 18 innings. The pitching has been doing very well on this road trip. If only the offense was there was well to back it up.

Cram Session

Pitching Notes

• In Saturday's game, Matt Garza was ejected for hitting Andrew McCutchen with a pitch twice in the game. Ron Roenicke was also ejected as the benches had been warned.
• On Sunday, Jonathan Lucroy responded to critics saying that he had called for McCutchen to get hit. Bottom line: Lucroy doesn't call for those.
• Adam McCalvy notes that with his save on Saturday, Francisco Rodriguez moved into a tie for 10th on the all-time saves list.
• The pitching staff has put together one of the best seasons in the last twenty years. McCalvy looks at the pitching staff and what they have done this year. (Of note in this article: He mentions that Gallardo's option is "all but certain" to be picked up.)

Other Notes

• Mark Reynolds made a big mistake in Thursday night's game against the Cardinals. However, Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker says that Ron Roenicke made an even bigger mistake in that inning.
• Lyle Overbay knows that his doubles record is going to call soon. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel gets Overbay's take on why Lucroy has been so successful.
• ESPN The Magazine released their annual fan satisfaction rankings, and the Brewers placed fourth out of the thirty MLB teams. Caitlin Moyer has further details on the Brewers ranking.
• Rickie Weeks is in his final days with the Brewers. Tom Haudricourt looks at how Weeks is approaching these final days and what he will do next season. Included here is a look at Wei-Chung Wang's season and the real reasons Nashville dumped the Brewers as a Triple-A affiliate.

Minor League Update

• Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects reviews the season for the 2014 Helena Brewers.

Division Update

• Reds @ Cardinals
  Friday: Cardinals 2, Reds 1
  Saturday: Cardinals 8, Reds 4
  Sunday: Reds 7, Cardinals 2
• Dodgers @ Cubs
  Friday: Dodgers 14, Cubs 5
  Saturday: Cubs 8, Dodgers 7
  Sunday: Dodgers 8, Cubs 5

Today's Division Games

• Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) @ Cubs (Travis Wood) - 7:05 pm
• Pirates (Francisco Liriano) @ Braves (Aaron Harang) - 6:10 pm
• Reds have the day off.

Today's Action

Unless there is a miracle, at this point all we can do is watch the Brewers play out the last six games of the regular season. Mercifully, we get a day off from that today, as the Brewers have their last off-day of the season.