After tough trip, Brewers remain confident in playoff hopes

DENVER -- On Aug. 3, the Brewers were atop the National League Central standings, 1 1/2 games up on the Cardinals. After an 8-4 loss to the Rockies on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field, Milwaukee (71-65) found itself 9 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the division and four games out of the third and final NL Wild Card spot.

A lot can change in the span of 35 days.

But don’t tell Brewers manager Craig Counsell that making the postseason for a fifth consecutive year is looking more and more like a longshot with 26 games to go in the regular season.

“We’re very much still in this thing,” Counsell said after the Brewers completed a 2-5 road trip through Arizona and Colorado. “When you have a trip like this, it doesn’t feel good at this time of year when you know you are in it and you know you have a chance, but we’re going to leave today, we’re going to wake up tomorrow, and we’re going to be right in the middle of this thing.”

There are a lot of teams around baseball who, if you told them they’d wake up on Sept. 8 within three or four games of a postseason spot, would take that every day. But the Brewers’ case is different -- Milwaukee relinquished first place, a position it held for 92 days this season, as it fell on hard times just as the Cardinals caught fire, and the two clubs are moving rapidly in opposite directions.

More than that, the adversity is piling up for the Brewers. Wednesday’s starter, left-hander Eric Lauer, had to come out of the game after 2 2/3 innings because of a left elbow strain. He walked off the mound after surrendering a long three-run homer to Rockies rookie first baseman Michael Toglia, who also got Lauer for an RBI double in the second to open the scoring. In all, Lauer gave up seven runs on six hits, including two homers, with one walk and four strikeouts.

“I couldn’t really feel where my arm was, which was kind of alarming to me,” Lauer said. “It felt like jello, the ball was coming out like jello -- it didn’t feel like I could pull down on anything, so I was leaving a lot of those pitches up.”

Lauer said the injury wasn’t “super concerning” to him after he underwent some tests, and that it seems that it’s a byproduct of muscle fatigue. Counsell said Lauer will miss at least one start and that he would see the team’s doctors when the Brewers return to Milwaukee to play a doubleheader against the Giants on Thursday.

The big issue for Milwaukee in losing three of four to the D-backs to open the road trip was lack of offense. The Brewers only scored two runs across the three losses. Things started to pick up at the plate when they reached Coors Field, where they scored 13 runs over the first two games of their series with the Rockies. The trouble was, while they were seemingly on their way to a comfortable victory to make it two straight over Colorado on Tuesday night, they blew a five-run lead in the eighth inning, eventually losing on a Randal Grichuk walk-off homer in the 10th, 10-7.

Much like the last five weeks, the Brewers took a big gut punch Tuesday. As they staggered against the ropes, the question was: How would they respond? The answer was another disappointing loss to compound the somber mood on the flight back to Wisconsin. Their response over the remainder of the season, though, will carry more weight.

There is a silver lining at the edge of the storm the Brewers find themselves in: Of the 26 games remaining in the regular season, 20 are at home, where Milwaukee has played well -- heading into Thursday’s twin bill with San Francisco, the Brewers are 35-26 at American Family Field and 36-39 on the road.

Being at home helps, but it’s going to take a lot more than the venue to get the Brewers into the postseason, especially after their record since the Trade Deadline fell to 14-19 with Wednesday’s defeat.

“Good baseball is going to turn it around, and that’s going to take contributions from everybody,” Counsell said. “… That’s how we’re going to get on a roll and string wins together. … We know that we can play good baseball and make this a great stretch for us.

“That still has to be our mindset and it still is.”