Our Friends in Milwaukee

By John Franco

Coming into Monday’s game against the Padres, the Pirates have a record of 67-54 and a 1-game lead over the Giants for the second Wild Card slot in the National League playoffs. Assuming the Braves can hang on to the number one slot, the Pirates’ chief competitors are the Giants and Cardinals, but the team that might play the biggest role in the Pirates’ playoff chances is… the Milwaukee Brewers?

The Pirates have 41 games remaining in their season, broken down as follows:

3 with the Padres (53-70)

3 with the Cardinals (65-56)

3 with the Braves to wrap up the season (70-51)

4 with the Mets (57-64)

6 with the Reds (74-48)

6 with the Astros (39-83)

7 with the Cubs (47-73)

9 with the Brewers (54-66)

Those games with the Astros and Cubs are certainly tempting, and the Mets and Padres look good too, but the Pirates have proven this season that it’s tough to predict what they’ll do on any given day. Luckily for the Pirates, six of the nine games remaining with the Brewers are in PNC Park. The Bucs have a 3-3 record against the Brewers in 2012, but they were 3-12 against them in 2011 and 5-13 against them in 2010, so there are better teams to hold the Pirates’ fate in their hands.

The Pirates have already exorcised their 19-inning demon with Sunday’s win over the Cardinals. If they’re able to vanquish their Brewers demons, they’ll also go a long way towards ending their playoff drought.