I hate losing to the Cubs. It's really the only series that I let myself become completely irrational when watching a game.  The umps are against us.  The national media doesn't respect us.  I am part of the team when the Brewers play the Cubs.  Now it's time to step back and take a deep breath.

It doesn't make sense, but when the Cubs are in town, perspective flies out the window.  The Brewers stole games from the Cardinals on the last road trip.  How does a team come back in four straight games against a team they're chasing in the standings?  Maybe they win two...or three if it's a really good series, but four games?  Against the Cardinals?  Tony LaRussa has Milwaukee's number, so how does he let his team, which is in contention, drop four games to the Brewers in St. Louis?  Crazy stuff happens over the course of 162 games.

Regress to the mean?  That isn't really a great excuse for sweeping the Cards on the road and then struggling with the Astros and Cubs at home.  If the Brewers are able to sweep a seven game road trip that swings through St. Louis, we can probably expect a let down at some point.  The Cubs are a better team and the Brewers can't afford to play  anything less than their best and expect to win.  Sabathia pitched well, but the defense let him down.  Sheets lost it in the 6th and didn't any help from his outfield defense.  The bats are still struggling.

Things need to turn around for the Crew not just because we'd like to see them catch the Cubs and take over the lead in the NL Central, but because they're still playing every other teams in the NL. The Brewers lead the Cardinals in the Wild Card by one game.  They have a two game lead over the Mets and and two and a half over the Phillies.  They're playing offense and defense at the same time.

This series is big for the Brewers and the Cubs.  The Brewers at this point want to stay right on the tail of the Cubs, and the Cubs would like to extend their lead in the NL Central.  Just because the Brewers lost when both CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets took the mound doesn't mean they can't win the last two.  It will be tough, but stranger things have happened.