Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to win the National League Central division this weekend. They even had a chance at forcing a Game 163 for the division title. Neither of which happened for Milwaukee. Rather, their bullpen fell apart on Saturday night. St. Louis won the division on Sunday with a dominating 9-0 performance. Brewers went 13 innings with not many of the stars playing as they knew their fate already. Brewers will have to play in the Wild Card game on Tuesday then if they win, the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday. Sounds hard, right? There is a reason to believe this is the best path for Milwaukee to make it to the World Series. Let me explain…

1. Game 163 would have required more travel than needed – If Brewers went to Game 163, they would have dealt with travel schedule from hell. Denver to St. Louis for a day game. Then if they were to lose, Washington which would be three time zones in three days. Then if they win on Tuesday, it is another time zone to Los Angeles. This feels like a mentally draining experience for the Brewers. This gives them a day off and time to prepare for one opponent, Washington.

2. Los Angeles in five games > Los Angeles in seven games – Look the Dodgers are the juggernauts of the National League, they’re the best team and not even close. But baseball is a funny sport. Things can happen. That’s why it is better for the Brewers to potentially play the Dodgers in five games versus seven. There is more chance of something weird happening compared to a seven-game series. Although it happened in April, Brewers were 3-3 against Los Angeles. St. Louis was the only team better. They’re as experienced as any team to take them down

3. There is no such thing as a Wild Card home-field advantage – Through the seven years that the National League had their Wild Card game, five times the road team has won the game. Yes, Washington has the better pitching option with Max Scherzer. But again, it is baseball. And people forget that Scherzer can give up the long ball especially against left-handers. Scherzer surrendered eleven homers to left-handers this season, and they hit .255 against him all season. To add fuel to this fire, Scherzer does not have the Madison Bumgarner-like numbers in the postseason.

Back-to-back division titles would have been cool. But you know what would be cooler? A World Series appearance. The best way for the Brewers to do that is by the Wild Card route. It has been done before. Ask the Giants or the Royals.

Charlie.