Streaking Brewers not finished celebrating

After three clubhouse parties in 12 days, Championship Series-bound Milwaukee ready for two more.

DENVER – Still pushing himself around on a leg scooter after tearing an Achilles tendon a few weeks back, Mark Attanasio was a bit tardy to the celebration, but he was feeling no pain.

“Best pain-killer in the world — champagne in the clubhouse!” the Brewers principal owner proclaimed as his runaway club celebrated yet again.

Three clubhouse celebrations in 12 days for the Brewers, all on the road. If that sounds like a lot, it is. First came merely making the playoffs, clinching in St. Louis. Then came beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field in a one-game showdown to claim the National League Central crown. Now, a three-game sweep of Colorado to dominate the NL Division Series, capped by a convincing 6-0 victory Sunday at Coors Field.

Along the way, the Brewers have won 11 games in a row, an unheard-of streak of excellence this time of year. You can’t blame them if they think nothing can stop them now.

In an impassioned speech to team-

NLCS: Dodgers vs. Brewers The Dodgers defeated the Braves 6-2 Monday in Atlanta to win their National Division Series in four games and now will face the Brewers for the National League title beginning Friday night in Milwaukee.

mates in the clubhouse, before the champagne really got flowing, Ryan Braun presented the team’s mission statement.

“Two weeks ago in St. Louis, we came out with a goal,” Braun shouted. “The goal was to win the World Series. We’ve taken steps in that direction. Two weeks ago in St. Louis, we said let’s make this the first celebration and not the last. Two celebrations later, we’ve got two celebrations to go.

“We accomplished this by everybody playing to the best of their abilities. Everybody here is doing their job the best they possibly can. That’s why we’re winning baseball games. Nothing’s going to change. The lights are going to get brighter. It’s going to be more fun than we’ve had to this point. We will keep doing the same (stuff )!”

Gen. George S. Patton couldn’t have delivered a more motivating speech to his troops. Makes you want to go run through a wall, doesn’t it, Brewers fans?

The Brewers dominated the Rockies so thoroughly, it was difficult to digest. Of the 28 innings played in the series (the first game went 10), Colorado scored in one, for a total of two runs. That two-run output was the lowest in NLDS history.

All the Brewers have heard since the end of last season is that they don’t have enough pitching, but that joke is on the rest of the baseball world, not them. The bullpen again was dominant, covering the final 4 1⁄3 innings without damage, but the “initial out-getters” — don’t use the word “starters” around this club — didn’t allow one run in 12 2⁄3 frames in the series.

Veteran lefty Wade Miley set the tone in the clincher with 4 2⁄3 innings of threehit ball. Then came what has been the death knell for opponents this season — the parade from the bullpen. Rejunated flame-thrower Corey Knebel. Wily veteran Joakim Soria. Unflappable rookie Corbin Burnes. Emotion-fueled Jeremy Jeffress. Scary good Josh Hader.

You fall behind the Brewers, that relief corps comes in and puts you to bed without dinner. It’s virtually painless, the way they anesthetize hitters.

Shut out in the last two games, the Rockies finished with a mere 14 hits, batting .146 collectively with a .188 “slugging” percentage, if you can call it that. The Brewers pitching staff emerged with a 0.64 earned run average, with 30 strikeouts over those 28 innings.

Yep, that’s the team without enough pitching.

“We’ve pitched at a really high level for some time,” manager Craig Counsell said. “To give up two runs in three games, and finish it with a shutout here in the most difficult place to pitch in baseball ... those guys on the staff deserve a ton of credit.

“Eleven (victories) in a row at this time of year is not something you see. It’s kind of heady stuff, to be honest with you. You don’t want to think about it, al- most. But what it goes to is we’re playing at a really high level.”

That will have to continue doing so if the Brewers are to get to their first World Series since 1982. The next series, the NL Championship Series, will be best-ofseven, putting more pressure on the pitching staff to piece things together.

The Brewers will play the Dodgers, who defeated the Braves 6-2 Monday in Atlanta to win their NL Division Series in four games.

Thanks to the three-game sweep, the Brewers will have four days of rest and workouts before playing Los Angeles in Game 1 of the NLCS at Miller Park on Friday night. They have the home-field advantage in that series as well after winning the most games (96) during the regular season.

For those wondering, these celebrations never get old. The Brewers had to wait seven years since last popping champagne corks in the clubhouse. The way they see it, they might as well do it twice more.