There's Always Next Year, Brewers Fans

The St. Louis Cardinals won Game 6 of the National League Championship Series Sunday night to bring their 18th pennant home and punch their ticket to their World Series for the first time since 2006 when they won it all.

After rallying from a 10 1/2-game deficit at the end of August, the Cards played their asses off to earn the Wild Card before defying the odds and beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. It took them six exciting games, but they tossed the Milwaukee Brewers out of the postseason to make it to the Fall Classic and take on the American League Champion Texas Rangers.

Meanwhile, Tony Hush, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and the rest of the Brewers will disperse to their offseason homes. Where the free agent Fielder will go, no one is quite sure. Speaking of sad things, here is the Brew Crew's farewell to a fantastic season. In unfortunate photo montage...

Randy Wolf Pitches Brewers Past Cardinals in Game 4 to Tie Up NLDS

Randy Wolf did a hell of a job Thursday evening keeping his Milwaukee Brewers in the game, helping to tie up the series and force the National League pennant to eventually be decided at Miller Park.

The 35-year-old lefty went seven solid innings in Game 4, surrendering just two runs on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts in his team's 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Pretty sure Wolf, who also nailed a double in the third, was excited to end his embarrassing drought of 342 starts without a playoff victory, which was the most among active pitchers. It's a good thing too, because he didn't take his last loss very well:

“You know, I’ll be honest with you, the day after the Diamondbacks start I didn’t eat or shower. I don’t know if they call that depression, but it was tough to swallow."

Now losing St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse moves to second on that crappy list with 298 starts, trailing only Ted Lilly’s 318. Speaking of skids, Game 4 marks the Brewers' first road win of the playoffs and their first postseason victory since Game 1 of the 1982 World Series, also in St. Louis... Some of you weren't even born yet.

Matt Holliday gave the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the second before Allen Craig added a homer the following inning. The Brewers answered with a two-run fourth to knot it back up when Prince Fielder scored on Jerry Hairston, Jr.'s RBI double and Yuniesky Betancourt drove him home with a shallow base hit to center. Ryan Braun, who now owns a .471 batting average after going 16-for-34 this postseason, brought Nyjer Morgan in on a blooper to left in the fifth before Rickie Weeks scored on a fielding error by Ryan Theriot to complete the scoring.

Wolf tossed 107 pitches before Francisco Rodriguez pitched the scoreless eighth and closer John Axford came in for the save to bring the best-of-seven series even at 2-2.

The two sides will play one more game at Busch Stadium (where the families of Brewers players will be seated God knows where) at 8:05pm ET Friday night on TBS before the series moves back to Milwaukee. Jaime Garcia will face Zack Greinke for the second time this series, the last being Game 1 in which Greinke managed to get the 9-6 win even though he didn't pitch all that well.

[Brew Crew Ball]

Mark Kotsay Face-Plants, Cardinals Beat Brewers in NLCS Game 3

Chris Carpenter was far from his best Wednesday night, lasting just five innings in his St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of their National League Division Series at Busch Stadium.

While Carpenter surrendered all three Milwaukee runs on six hits and three walks, the relief corps came up big. Fernando Salas, Game 2-winning rookie Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski and closer Jason Motte, who struck out three of the four batters he faced for the save, combined to bail out the Cardinals and retire the final 12 Brewers in order. Sadly, none of their jerseys were torn off and shredded to pieces by Nick Punto.

Albert Pujols, Cardinals Tie up NLCS in 12-3 Rout of Brewers

“Sometimes, you’re going to get spanked a little bit.” - Nyjer Morgan

Thanks to five RBI by Albert Pujols and some additional run support from guys like David Freese and Nick Punto, the St. Louis Cardinals evened up the National League Championship Series at a game a-piece with a 12-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers Monday night.

After producing just one run in his team's first six postseason games this year, Pujols went 4-for-5 with a home run and three doubles to power St. Louis past Milwaukee. That must have felt pretty good after screwing up royally during Game 1 when he hit into a broken-bat double play representing the tying run in the seventh.

Rickie Weeks nailed a two-run shot in the fourth and Ryan Braun went 2-for-4, but failed to drive in any runs. Prince Fielder did his part with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, but unfortunately for the Brew Crew, it was too little, too late. Nyjer Morgan and all of his trash-talk is 0-for-4 against the Cards so far this round.

Both bullpens got a lot of work in after both starters were chased in the fourth inning. Milwaukee’s Shaun Marcum looked just plain ugly out there, coughing up five runs on seven hits and taking the loss. St. Louis starter Edwin Jackson surrendered the Weeks homer along with seven hits and a walk before his exit in the fourth.

The Cards are headed home for Game 3 Wednesday evening with ace Chris Carpenter on the hill against Yovani Gallardo at 8:05pm ET on TBS.

[USA Today]

Brewers Sport their Rally Caps, Beat Cardinals in NLCS Opener

It's pretty amazing the way Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder can turn a game around.

The Milwaukee Brewers rallied in the fifth inning of NLCS Game 1 against their bitter division rivals with huge back-to-back hits by Braun and Fielder to come away with a 9-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braun launched a 463-foot, two-run bomb in the first inning before adding a two-run double during the huge six-run fifth. Fielder followed up with a homer worth two runs before Yuniesky Betancourt capped the comeback with a two-run shot of his own.

While we were honestly hoping for a few plunkings, maybe a bench-clearing brawl, and definitely some more smack-talk from the two sides, all we got was a small stir-up and an umpire's warning to Tony La Russa after Jaime Garcia hit Fielder immediately after Braun's first inning longball.

Brewers ace Zack Greinke, who made some awkward comments regarding Chris Carpenter and his "phony attitude" on Saturday, hinted that there may have been some heckling coming from the opposing dugout on Sunday:

Will the Brewers and Cardinals Go all Bush League on Each Other in the NLCS?

Remember back in August 2010 when then-Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan was rounding the bases in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals and smashed into catcher Bryan Anderson for no good reason as he crossed the plate? I say for no good reason because he scored standing up and there was no attempt at a play. Not very nice, and I'm pretty sure Cardinals fans didn't forget about that move. In a totally unrelated incident a few days later, Morgan went berserk during the entire series against the Florida Marlins. He separated Brett Hayes' shoulder on a hard play at the plate during one game before charging the mound and taking a swing at Chris Volstad the next night. Yikes.

Fast forward to a year later on August 1, 2011 and Morgan is now enjoying an exciting season with the Milwaukee Brewers, who are holding a two-game lead on the Cardinals. He's just nailed a three-run double to center field off Chris Carpenter, whose abs we'd like to wash our laundry on. Of course, Morgan gets a little excited and maybe a little cocky and does this fist-pumpy thing directly at the Cardinals' dugout. Hilarious, but not cool. Also not cool? Tony La Russa accusing the folks at Miller Park of altering the stadium's lighting to give the opposition a disadvantage. Give me a break.

There's Always Next Year, Phillies Fans

ONE HUNDRED AND TWO REGULAR SEASON VICTORIES. ONE GIANT FAILURE.

The one game the Philadelphia Phillies needed to win -- Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Wild Card-winning St. Louis Cardinals Friday night -- they lost 1-0 thanks to Chris Carpenter's rocket arm and a Skip Schumaker RBI.

Carpenter was lights out all night long, allowing only three hits with three strikeouts. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay pitched his little heart out, surrendering just the one run on six hits with seven Ks over eight solid innings. Not quite phucking solid enough though.

But enough about that incredible pitcher's duel. Highlighting this season's fourth edition of There's Always Next Year, let's see the Phillies off with a bang into their long, long offseason. In sad photo montage.

NLDS Game 5: Chris Carpenter 1, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Let the keyword searches for "Shirtless Chris Carpenter" commence. (Thank you Nick Punto). It's amazing what seeing a man's abs can do for a girl...as if tossing a three-hit, complete game shutout to carry your team to the National League Championship Series in a must-win Game 5 isn't sexy enough.

Carpenter was out of control. Lights out. In command. Determined to pitch that entire game, and probably thrilled as hell that his teammates managed even one run off his offseason fishing buddy Roy Halladay.

There's Always Next Year, Diamondbacks Fans

Welcome to this season's third edition of There's Always Next Year, starring the Arizona Diamondbacks!

Nyjer Morgan is T-Clutch, which he prefers to be called when he is kicking ass, taking names, and driving in walkoff runs to advance his team to the National League Championship Series. The Brewers advanced Friday night and sent the Diamondbacks packing for the offseason in the 10th inning of their 3-2 walkoff victory, with Carlos Gomez absolutely cruising around the horn to score the winning run off Morgan's base hit.

But enough about the game and how awesome it was. Let's continue on with the Snakes' obituary... in sad photo montage.

Giants Torture Fans Down to Last Strike

As usual, the San Francisco Giants drove their fans batshit crazy with another close game during their 3-2 Game 6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday night.

It was the Giants' sixth one-run victory of the playoffs, which ties a postseason record set by the 1972 Oakland Athletics. In fact, only Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Phillies allowed their fanbase to breathe easily.

There's Always Next Year, Phillies Fans

It was looking more and more like the Philadelphia Phillies were headed for their third straight trip to the World Series Saturday night, right up until Big Bad Ryan Howard stood at the plate, bat still in hand, watching the San Francisco Giants celebrate their first NL pennant since 2002.

Stranding 11 runners on base during Game 6, Philadelphia just couldn’t seem to get a timely hit, resulting in a 3-2 loss in front of a sad and stunned crowd at Citizens Bank Park.

Posey, Panda and Uribe Get Giant Win

The two-time defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies are at the brink of elimination while the San Francisco Giants are just one victory away from reaching the World Series for the first time in eight years.

Juan Uribe and his achy left wrist was the big hero Wednesday night, nailing a walkoff sacrifice fly to give the Giants a 6-5 win over the Phillies for a 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

Watch Your Face Jayson Werth!

Tonight's Badass NLCS Pitching Matchup

Tuesday night has yet another pitchers duel in store for baseball fans.

With the NLCS tied up at a game a-piece, Matt Cain will take the hill against Cole Hamels for Game 3 at 4:19pm ET this evening at AT&T Park, where a sell-out crowd will furiously wave their towels and sing their version of Don't Stop Believing in search of their first pennant since they cheered for Barry Bonds eight years ago.

Philadelphia Phillies 6, Cody Ross 1

Roy Oswalt pretty much dominated the San Francisco Giants Sunday evening, going eight solid innings in which he allowed just one run on three hits with nine strikeouts for the 6-1 victory that knotted up the series at a game a-piece.

Not only was the Philadelphia Phillies right-hander electric on the hill, he also contributed a base hit (using Jimmy Rollins' hot bat) and ran directly through Sam Perlozzo's stop sign at third to score a run.

Tonight's Badass NLCS Pitching Matchup

If you thought Tuesday night's pitching matchup between David Price and Cliff Lee in the deciding game 5 of the ALDS, in which the Texas Rangers emerged victorious over the Tampa Bay Rays, prepare to be dazzled by Game 1 of the NLCS. If you love pitching, this game is for you.

San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum will take the hill at Citizen's Bank Park against Philadelphia Phillies gunslinger Roy Halladay at 7:30pm tonight.

Where Have You Gone, Kung Fu Panda?

Pablo Sandoval hasn't been very good lately. Panda-ish? Yes. Kung Fu-ish? Not so much.

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy even resorted to benching his third baseman in favor of Mike Fontenot for the final two NLDS games in Atlanta against the Braves after he went 1-for-6 with two strikeouts in the first two contests.

The Return of Pat the Bat

(...and Aaron Rowand too I guess.)


If there's one thing Pat Burrell might like to do before he retires, it's to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series to move onto the World Series as a San Francisco Giant.

The one-time Phillies Hero was cast away last year and replaced like a burned out light bulb. Things were not looking so good for Burrell early on this season when he was released by the Tampa Bay Rays after sucking it up there, but the Giants were willing to give him a shot.

There's Always Next Year, Braves Fans

Well that series was definitely torture -- if your idea of "torture" is four incredible baseball games.

The San Francisco Giants are one (really difficult) series closer to fans being able to scream THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! But first they must face the hardcore Philadelphia Phillies. While they wait, they'll belt out their catchy rendition of Don't Stop Believing.

There's Always Next Year, Reds Fans

First Roy Halladay tossed a no-hitter. Then the offense rallied behind Roy Oswalt. Then Cole Hamels struck out nine in a five-hit performance.

Then Jayson Werth soaked his beard in champagne for the second time in about a week.

After polishing off the sweep of the once-hopeful Cincinnati Reds, the seemingly unstoppable Philadelphia Philles are headed to the NLCS once again with their eye on a third straight pennant.

No fans ran onto the field, no little girls were puked on. All in all, it was a successful series for the Phillies.