The Pennant Race Starts Today

{You're nuts, Scott. It's Opening Day.  The season is 162 games long.  This is only one game.}

I pointed this out last season, but since I've been away for a while I'll open this season with it.  The Brewers finished 2010 with a record of 77-85 and were 14 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.  Their record against the Reds last year was 3-11.  If you flip those games against the Reds around - make every loss a win and every win a loss, leaving everything else the same - the Brewers would have finished the season only one game behind  the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.  The Reds would have finished two games back.

It is imperative to win games against your division rivals.  Ron Roenicke should manage these first three games like they are playoff games.  It's extremely unfortunate that Zack Grienke won't be pitching in one of them and that two other starters are hurt.  But today is the real deal.  The one game you win today could be the one game you finish ahead of the Reds in September.