A lot of St. Louis Cardinals fans I know were watching today’s Brewers-Reds game from Cincinnati and hoping for a little help from the Redlegs. They didn’t get it. The Brewers won 5-3 -- their 18th victory in their last 20 games -- and are now one game behind the idle Cardinals in the NL Central with three games left to play for each club.
The Brewers fell behind early on an Aristides Aquino home run but a bases-loaded and bases-clearing double from Orlando Arcia in the fourth put them up 3-1. The next batter up, Ben Gamel, doubled in Arcia to make it 4-1. Manny Piña doubled home a run the following inning and the Reds could only score two more the rest of the way.
That all sets up a three-game remote showdown, with the Brewers heading to Colorado to play three games against the Rockies and the Cardinals playing a three-game series at home against the Cubs.
St. Louis’ magic number to win the division outright is three, meaning any combination of Cardinals wins and Brewers losses that add up to three clinches it for them by Sunday. Anything less than a Cards sweep of the Cubs opens up at least the possibility of a tiebreaker game in St. Louis on Monday or an outright Brewers division title.