Brews keep hopes alive with 13-5 pounding of Cards

Monday night’s game was #156 for the Brewers…important in that the Cubs played their game #156 yesterday. So the seesawing of games in hand that has gone on for the last couple of months ended with the Brewers, realistically, only able to not hurt their chances, not improve them.
The Cubs came into Monday night with an 83-73 mark, while the Brewers finished the night with an 80-76 record.
The Brewers wasted no time getting to Cards’ starter Adam Wainwright–after J.J. Hardy’s double plated Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun got on…then Prince Fielder hit his 48th homer of the year. A 5-run 5th and a 3-run 6th (2 of which came on Braun’s 33rd homer of the year) were enough to give Dave Bush his 12th win of the year.
The Brewers still have 2 more against the Cardinals, followed by 4 against the Padres; meanwhile, the Cubs are on the road for 3 in Miami against the Marlins, followed by 3 in Cincinnati.
Even if the Brewers should somehow manage to win their last 6 games, they’d still need the Cubs to lose at least 3 games to force a one-game tiebreaker at Wrigley. Dontrelle Willis gets the start Tuesday night, while the Reds send Bronson Arroyo on Friday, and its Aaron Harang–the Reds’ ace–against Carlos Zambrano on Saturday.
No word yet if Jake Peavy or Chris Young will make starts against the Brewers…they will only if it will determine the Padres’ playoff picture. The Padres are 2½ back of the D-backs before their game Monday night, and would be tied with the Phillies for the Wild Card with a loss Monday night. No matter what happens Tuesday night, the Brewers are still in it through Wednesday…and a Brewers’ win and/or a Cubs’ loss will make at least the first game of the Padres’ series critical to the Brewers’ playoff chances.