Remember that 2021 was supposed to belong to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central after signing Nolan Arenado after getting Paul Goldschmidt the year before.
Saturday night, ace pitcher Corbin Burnes combined with closer Josh Hader combined for the league’s ninth no-hitter, a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Burnes finally got the recognition he was long overdue this season. Burnes started the year by striking out 58 batters before giving up his first walk, a MLB record. Burnes also tied the league record by striking out 10 consecutive hitters.
This was the fourth time the Indians were hitless this season. Officially the league will recognize three, as the third was an abbreviated seven-inning game during a second game of a doubleheader. The MLB went to the shortened style during doubleheaders with the ongoing Covid pandemic.
The Indians also grounded into a triple play earlier this year.
Not only have the Brewers exceeded expectations, they are 12.5 games up on the Cincinnati Reds for second in the division and 15.5 ahead of the Cardinals.
The Brewers then held Cleveland without a hit into the sixth inning of Sunday’s game. This would have been the first time since the 1917 St. Louis Browns that one franchise threw no-hitters on back-to-back days. The Browns beat the New York Yankees by a combined four runs on those two days (3-0 and 1-0), whereas the Brewers won 3-0 and were up 8-0 when the Indians secured their first hit.
Not only did Cleveland get a hit in that inning, they got three...AND scored a run! Quick, someone call the local newspaper.
Milwaukee is not going to pound the ball out of the park like Tampa Bay, New York or either of the two NL West powers (Los Angeles and San Francisco). They will shut you down with their pitching, holding the MLB lead in strikeouts and are third in team ERA, only behind the NL West clubs. Milwaukee does lead all of baseball in shutouts.
We know the argument that their stats look so good because the rest of their division is so bad. You can make a case for this much like the Chicago White Sox’ situation in the AL Central, but Milwaukee has more experience, being tied for seventh in average age with the Yankees and New York Mets (29.2 years).
The veteran leadership of Craig Counsell as manager should prove valuable as the playoffs begin. Counsell has two World Series rings as a player, while also being the longest-tenured manager in the National League. The last time the Brewers won their division was 2018, where they lost the NL pennant to the Dodgers in seven games. In fact, the Brewers’ last three trips to the postseason have ended at the hands of the eventual NL champion, with the World Series champion each of the past two years (Washington 2019 and Los Angeles last year).
How great would it be for legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker to get the chance to call a World Series for his beloved Brewers, for whom he has been with since 1971? The Hall of Famer called numerous postseasons as part of the ABC and NBC national broadcast teams, when those networks held broadcast rights.
A lot of things in the National League would have to go right for the Brewers to win the pennant in 2021, but playing in a retractable roof American Family Field would cause hell for whomever the American League representative would be in November.
Although, it would take away the advantage of southern teams having to adjust to the elements going north late in the season. This is still baseball however. You do not want to be playing baseball in conditions better suited for the Green Bay Packers.
-JC24