The Brew Crew Take Home NL Central Pennant
It’s safe to say that if it wasn’t a rivalry before, it is now as an unfamiliar team is back atop the NL Central throne.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Monday at Wrigley Field to win the NL Central division title.
The Milwaukee Brewers used a eighth inning rally to break a 1-1 tie as center fielder Lorenzo Cain’s RBI single with no outs gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead.
Left fielder Ryan Braun would add to Milwaukee’s lead in the eighth with a RBI single with one out.
Milwaukee received an outstanding effort from right-hander Jhoulys Chacin and one of the best bullpens in the MLB this season who came in to shut the door on the Cubs NL Central title plans.
Wrigley Field was unusually loud for the road team on Monday afternoon as a large number of Brewers fans made the trip to the north side of Chicago to watch their team celebrate a division title.
Milwaukee Brewers’ right fielder Christian Yelich, who’s been the hottest hitter in the MLB since the All-Star break, continued his tear with a 3-for-4 day that included a RBI.
Milwaukee Brewers’ shortstop Orlando Arcia would have a huge performance for the Brewers as he went 4-for-5, collecting four hits for the first time in his career.
The Brewers pitching staff shutdown the Cubs offense as Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Daniel Murphy and Wilson Contreras went a combined 3-for-17.
The electric bullpen would go 3.1 IP allowing two hits while recording five strikeouts, with Josh Hader pitching the final two innings and recording three strikeouts.
It took 163 games to do it, and it happened at the one park the Brewers would want to do it outside of Miller Park.
The victory gives the Milwaukee Brewers just their second division title in franchise history and also gives them home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs for the first time ever.
The Brewers last won the NL Central back in 2011 where they went on to advance to the NLCS for the first time in franchise history.
The Chicago Cubs loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday completed a huge meltdown for the Cubs who on August 28th held a six game lead over the Brewers, who fell to third place behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s the first time in franchise history the Cubs have blown a division lead of this magnitude. The loss means that the Cubs will have to host a NL Wildcard game at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night vs the loser of the Los Angeles Dodgers-Colorado Rockies NL West tiebreaker game.
The Milwaukee Brewers would jump out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning after a RBI single by right fielder Christian Yelich with two outs off left-hander Jose Quintana.
Chicago would held hitless by right-hander Jhoulys Chacin until the fifth inning until first baseman Anthony Rizzo sent a high fly ball into the seats in right field to make it a 1-1 game.
Chacin finished the game with a strong line of 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, and 3 Ks on 75 pitches.
The Brewers would be unable to do much damage against the Chicago Cubs left-hander as Quintana pitched around six base runners allowed to give the Cubs five strong innings of one-run ball.
The Brewers — who out-hit the Cubs in the game 12 to 3 — had their opportunities early but were unable to break through until the eighth inning rally.
That eighth inning rally would start with a single by shortstop Orlando Arcia that followed with a double by pinch-hitter Domingo Santana.
Those hits would set up the Brewers breakthrough with Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun, as mentioned earlier, giving the Brewers a 3-1 lead.
All-Star left-handed reliever Josh Hader would come into the bottom of the eighth to get a 1-2-3 inning, but would run into trouble in the ninth inning.
After retiring the first two hitters to greet him, Hader would give up a single to second baseman Javier Baez after a nine pitch at-bat.
Facing Anthony Rizzo, who had already hit his 25th home run of the season, Hader would get Anthony Rizzo to fly out to right-field to end the game as he picked up the two-out save for the Brewers.
Craig Counsell’s Milwaukee Brewers are the hottest team in the MLB that right now looks like the NL’s best team, but they’re much hungry for more.
For the Chicago Cubs, this disappointment will sting for a while if the Cubs bow out of the MLB postseason quickly, but a team that’s 15-18 over their last 33 games has little time to lick their wounds.
Chicago Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon will go with veteran left-hander Jon Lester on Tuesday for the NL Wildcard game at Wrigley Field vs an opponent yet to be determined.
The Milwaukee Brewers, meanwhile, may not have to wait long to face the Chicago Cubs again as they will face the winner of the NL Wildcard game in the NLDS.
The Milwaukee Brewers victory today was their eighth straight win, a season-high for them.
What are your thoughts on the Brewers winning the NL Central today? Leave your comments below!