Crowning moment
Milwaukee claims NL Central Division title
CHICAGO - The Milwaukee Brewers got the tiebreaker they wanted.
And just as they did throughout September in earning Game 163, they made the most of their opportunity.
Sparked by eighth-inning singles by Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun, the Brewers downed the rival Chicago Cubs, 3-1, at Wrigley Field on Monday afternoon to win the Central Division title and clinch the best record in the National League.
Milwaukee will play the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card game in Chicago between the Cubs and the Colorado
Rockies.
That best-of-five NL division series starts Thursday night at Miller Park, with Game 2 Friday in Milwaukee.
Josh Hader finished out the game Monday afternoon, getting Anthony Rizzo to fly out to Keon Broxton in right on his 35th pitch.
The final play set the stage for a mad celebration on the infield and capped one of the most memorable and successful regular seasons in Milwaukee history.
The Brewers finished the regular season on an eight-game winning streak and went 20-7 since Sept. 1. They won 28 of their final 38 games to earn that all-important home-field advantage throughout the entirety of the postseason.
The Central Division title is the Brewers’ second, and their first since 2011, when they advanced to the NL
Championship Series.
“We’ve been really consistent here for a good bit of time, and we’ve been kind of in the ‘win series, win series’ mode,” said manager Craig Counsell, whose team won four straight series and 11 of 12 to close out the season.
“Then the last week resulted in a little streak. Things have got to go right to get a streak like that, but we’ve been playing really nice baseball, there’s no question about it. And it’s because we’re rattling off a bunch of guys every night.
“That’s good baseball, when there’s a bunch of guys doing it.”
And that was again the case on Monday as the Brewers used a strong 52⁄3-inning start from Jhoulys Chacín, solid work from the bullpen and a thirdinning RBI single from Christian Yelich to take a 1-1 tie into the decisive eighth inning.
Facing one of the Cubs’ best relievers in Justin Wilson, Orlando Arcia led off with his third single of the day and quickly moved up to third on a double into the left-field corner.
It was delivered by pinch-hitter extraordinaire Domingo Santana, who improved to 8 for 18 (.444) in that role since being recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs on Sept. 1.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in right-hander Steve Cishek to face Cain at that point and Cain, the veteran of many a big moment in past postseasons with the Kansas City Royals, capped a six-pitch at-bat with a solid single to center that plated Arcia and gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
“I’ve taken that leadoff role to heart this year,” Cain said. “Cishek, he’s tough to get a fly ball against with his twoseamer. He’s pretty nasty. I was able to have a good at-bat, laid off some good pitches. But even the pitch I hit up the middle, he came inside as well.
“I was able to just pull the hands in, stay through the middle and not roll over anything and get it done.”
Left-hander Randy Rosario came on and struck out Yelich, who had singled in each of his three previous at-bats. That brought up Braun, who’d grounded into a double play and struck out twice to that point.
Facing former teammate Brandon Kintzler, Braun won the battle by lacing a single to right-center just over the glove of second baseman Daniel Murphy to drive in Santana and up the Brewers’ lead to 3-1.
Making the scene even more amazing were the loud and persistent “Let’s Go Brewers!” chants that echoed throughout the ballpark — perhaps a Miller Park South to the Wrigley Field North?
The rally ended there as Braun was thrown out trying to steal second with Jesús Aguilar at the plate and and Aguilar eventually flew out. That left Milwaukee with a two-run cushion and needing six outs to clinch.
Josh Hader, on the heels of a couple of rough outings last week, came on for the eighth and sailed through a 1-2-3 bottom half of the frame with two strikeouts.
After the Brewers didn’t do anything with a pair of ninth-inning singles, Hader returned to the mound. He recorded the first two outs before losing a ninepitch battle with Javy Báez when Báez singled to center on the left-hander’s 30th pitch.
That brought up Rizzo, who’d accounted for the Cubs’ lone run with a fifth-inning homer off starter Chacín.
Rizzo also became the first left-handed hitter to homer off Hader in the major leagues on Sept. 3 – a game the Brewers eventually came back to win in the ninth on Yelich’s walkoff fielder’s choice.
Hader quickly got ahead of the slugger, then Rizzo lifted a fly ball to Broxton in right.
“Keon, catch this damn ball so we can win this game,” Hader said when asked what was going through his mind after Rizzo made contact. “It felt like the ball was in the air for about 10 minutes.
“After he caught it, it was just, ‘Let’s goooooooooo!’ “
His 12th save in hand, Hader screamed in celebration as he stalked off the mound to hug catcher Erik Kratz.
Broxton raised his arms in the air after hauling in the fly ball.
Counsell hugged bench coach and mentor Pat Murphy in the dugout in the aftermath.
“Just jumping around and just enjoying it,” Hader said. “That was amazing.”
It capped a remarkable final week that saw the Brewers sweep one longtime rival in the St. Louis Cardinals on their home field to clinch a postseason berth and then down the two-time defending Central champion Cubs and tie the franchise record for wins with 96.
“We’ve earned it,” said Braun. “We’ve earned it in every way imaginable in two extremely difficult places to win. We’ve earned this in every way. We knew over the last two weeks we basically had to win every game, and we came close to doing that.
“To be able to do that at St. Louis and then in C hicago is incredibly challenging. It’s about everybody here contributing, everybody doing their job to the best of their ability, and it’s so special. It’s really cool.”
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
A SPECIAL MOMENT: The gravity of the moment after the game wasn’t lost on Counsell, who’s in his fourth season as Brewers manager and has spoken often about how important it is for him to represent Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin in a positive manner.
“I’m having fun, man,” he said. “I’m managing the baseball team in the town I grew up in and in a town I played for, and that’s a thrill. It’s a responsibility, and you want to make something special for the baseball fans of Wisconsin.”
MORE OF THE SAME: While Game 163 never appeared on a regular-season schedule for obvious reasons, Counsell said beforehand the extra trip south on I-94 on Sunday night didn’t feel weird to him or his team.
“It really didn’t,” he said. “This is our fifth trip to Chicago this year, so it’s old hat for us. It’s normal. We came here for a one-game series last year, so even that’s not unfamiliar. This is the game we wanted. This is the game we were trying to get into all weekend. Kind of as of pregame Saturday, we were planning on coming.”
DIFFERENT YEARS, DIFFERENT TEAMS: As the lone active player from that 2011 Central Division-winning team, Braun was asked whether one title was more satisfying than the other to him.
“They’re all different, they’re all unique,” Braun said. “That team was a little more top-heavy and dependent on fewer guys, whereas this team is all about our depth and everybody contributing. It’s just such a special accomplishment.”
HE’S ON BOARD: There were some laughs in the pregame when a Chicago media member asked Counsell if maybe the law of averages would catch up to Cubs starter Jose Quintana in this matchup.
“That sounds like a great idea,” he said. “I don’t know if that was in our scouting report today, but I’ll be a fan of the law of averages today. Regression to the mean. I’m good with that.“
HIGH PRAISE: Knebel was named MLB’s reliever of the month for September. Recalled from Colorado Springs on Sept. 2, he’s racked up 16 consecutive scoreless appearances while allowing only five hits and three walks and striking out 33 in 161⁄3 innings.
“He was brilliant in September, there’s no question,” Counsell said.