Prior to the All-Star break, the Milwaukee Brewers faced arguably the toughest stretch of the entire 2011 season.
Over the span of the last 22 games, Milwaukee locked horns with the top three teams in the American League East, the second best team in the National League West and the defending NL and AL Central champions.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Brewers scraped together a 10-12 record in that time frame. Even with a sub .500 effort against some quality competition and many division rivals having softer schedules, the Crew managed to keep their hands on a piece of the NL Central lead.
To give a bit of perspective, the average record of the teams when they faced Milwaukee in this period was more than three games over .500. There is evidence to suggest that most of the six squads were on the upswing, on average, they finished seven games over .500 at the break.
A closer look at he numbers shows what has been typical of this year’s team: an above average record at home and an almost shameful record on the road. During the 22 games in question, the Brewers were 8-5 (.615) at Miller Park and 2-7 (.222) on the road. This is somewhat comparable to the .702 winning percentage at home and the .355 mark on the road in the first half of the year.
Things could have been better, but they also could have been much worse especially with Ryan Braun being out with a calf injury for the last home stand. This team has some glaring shortcomings, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to complain much about a team that is in first place in the division.
The Brewers hit the ground running Thursday as they kick start an 11-game road trip against the top three teams in the NL West with a four-game set in Colorado. This extended swing out West bears some resemblance to the recent stretch. The average record at the break for these foes is more than four games over .500 and, on average, these teams are more than five games over .500 at home.
This road trip is going to be a daunting task for a team who is the not so proud owner of the NL’s worst road record, but if the Brewers are going to make a serious run at the division, it has to start now.
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