MILWAUKEE — With a day to ruminate about the Crew’s silly 5-4 loss to the Cards in Game 2, some of the pain from a painful defeat has abated.
The beauty of today is that it was once a tomorrow to look forward to. If blowing a game as they did in Game 2 happened in a clincher or a Game 7, then it would be a longer, colder winter than usual in Milwaukee.
Yet, only a game, and some momentum, was lost. The series stands at 1-1 and the next three are at County Stadium. The last time the Crew played three in a row at the Stadium, they won all three to make the World Series. Win all three again and the world championship is theirs.
Sounds good doesn’t it? Then, only four of the last 13 World Series have ended in five games or less. The historic trends don’t suggest this series will end early in favor of the Crew. Or the Cards for that matter.
For one, the Brewers are rarely ever comfortable when they’re comfortably ahead (see also: last week of the regular season). Watching them race to leads, whether it’s in the standings or a game, only to see them cough up one or the other or both is still disheartening, but not surprising. Brewers fans have been on a wild ride all season. Why should we expect smooth sailing now?
We shouldn’t, which is why Game 3 will be an interesting litmus test for the Crew. How do they respond to Game 2? How will they handle Joaquin Andujar, the Cards starting pitcher? All those questions will begin to be answered when Pete Vuckovich throws the first pitch at 7:30 p.m. CT.
As always, if you can’t watch the game or listen to it, you can follow our tweets at @tweetsfrom1982