I think we can all agree, moving to the two-slot has greatly benefited J.J. Hardy started to heat up in June, ending the month batting .310 with four homers and 12 RBI. In his four games played in July, he's batting .667 with four homers and 7 driven in. J.J. has raised his average all the way up to .292 in the process, and has become the seventh Brewer to launch out 10 or more homers this season. Oh, and did I mention he's in the midst of a 16 game hitting streak?
Obviously, you can't expect J.J. to keep up this torrid pace, but if he can stay around the .275 or .280 mark and hit 20 homers, this offense becomes that much more deadly.
The 9-1 drubbing of the Pirates was a huge win for this team yesterday. After wrapping up their worst loss of the season, (seriously, six runs surrendered in the ninth without recording an out? That doesn't even happen in little league) this team could have mailed it in and let that loss affect them big time. They didn't though.
More than that, that devastating loss aside, this team still went 5-5 on that ridiculous road trip. The Pirates are not a good team, it's imperative that the Brewers sweep them for three reasons:
- As just stated, the Brewers are a much better team than them
- They're playing them at home
- The Cubs are playing the Cardinals during this series
The Brewers have nine games left before the All-Star break, games against the Pirates, Rockies and Reds. There is no reason why this team shouldn't go 7-2 in those games.
The Cubs also have what could be considered a soft schedule heading into the break, finishing their series with the Cardinals and then playing the Reds and Giants. The Cardinals will be the team to look at in terms of making up ground on. They finish their set with the Cubs and then travel to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Bold prediction, but I'm going to say Milwaukee will lead St. Louis in the Wild Card race by at least two games by the time the All-Star break rolls around.
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