In one tough week at exactly the wrong time, Brewers' playoff hopes have faded badly

A week ago Wednesday, things looked so much brighter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

They took the field that night in Pittsburgh with some real momentum, having won nine of 11 games. There were two realistic paths to the postseason, one in the NL Central and another in the wild-card race, where Colorado was struggling to hold the second berth.

Things began to change that night when the Brewers absorbed a very tough loss to the going-nowhere Pirates, who tied the game on closer Corey Knebel’s throwing error in the eighth inning, then won in the ninth on Adam Frazier’s walk-off homer against Knebel.

Then came the agonizing four-game series against the Chicago Cubs, which began with two 10-inning losses, the first of which the Brewers let get away in both halves of the ninth. There was a momentary, joyous reprieve when Travis Shaw walked off the Cubs on a two-run homer to avert a third consecutive 10th inning defeat.

But Cubs lefty Jose Quintana dominated the Brewers in a 5-0 blanking Sunday, putting the Brewers in must-win mode. The problem was the next opponent was last-place Cincinnati, which for some reason has brought out the worst in the Brewers of late.

It took all the Brewers could muster to hold off the Reds, 7-6, in the series opener. But they were a total no-show on both sides of the ball Wednesday night, getting whipped, 6-0, in a completely lackluster performance.

Earlier in the evening, the Cubs beat the Cardinals to clinch the NL Central title and officially make it wild card or bust for the Brewers. And they moved closer to bust when the Rockies pounded Miami, 15-9, before Cincy's injury-plagued Homer Bailey – he of the 6.96 ERA – blanked the Brewers on four hits over seven innings.

Just like that, Colorado’s magic number for claiming the second wild card shrunk to two games. By losing five of seven games, the Brewers moved closer to extinction in what otherwise has been a surprising, uplifting season.

BOX SCORE:Reds 6, Brewers 0

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The Brewers have seen Bailey many times, including four games this season. When on top of his game, he can be very good – he does have two no-hitters, after all – but Bailey has been ravaged by injuries in recent years and hadn’t controlled an offense like this all year. It's doubtful he suddenly became unhittable.

“We hit balls at guys, and we couldn’t get guys past second or third,” said Eric Thames, who was limping badly after the game after fouling a pitch off his right foot in the ninth. “He has really good stuff. I know he has had injuries over the past few years, but his ‘split’ is good; he has a good cutter. He was getting in on us pretty well.”

On the flip side, Brewers rookie Brandon Woodruff couldn’t survive a five-run third inning that, as it turned out, but the home team hopelessly behind.

“It's very disappointing,” said Woodruff, who surrendered a damaging double to Bailey in that outburst. “You always want to go out and give your team a chance to win and get deep in the ballgame. There in the third inning, I got myself in trouble.

“(Bailey’s double) just kind of set the tone for the inning. You just try to wash it away and work out of that inning, but things just kind of spiraled from there. It stings a little bit more, especially at the end of the year, in this type of race. You're trying to go out and give your team a chance to win. It hurts a little bit more, yeah.”

The Brewers know that winning their last four games might not be good enough to even force a tie with the Rockies. If they go 4-0 and Colorado wins two of three in its final series against the Dodgers, it won’t be enough.

“It was like that a week ago,” Thames said of the team’s must-win status. “Every time the Rockies play, they’re on TV. I know (Thursday) they have an off day. It’s must win. All of us have packed for 10 days. We’re not going to be happy with just going to (St. Louis).”

As for why the lowly Reds give his team so much trouble, manager Craig Counsell said, “You have to earn these wins. Tonight, we didn’t do much on both sides with starting pitching and then offensively we didn’t do well enough to give ourselves a chance.”