Brewers first MLB team to clinch a playoff spot

The Milwaukee Brewers have grown accustomed to outperforming forecasts every year, but this season might represent their most remarkable accomplishment yet.

During a season in which they have built the best record in the majors, the Brewers reached their latest milestone by becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth.

According to MLB, the New York Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday sealed at least a National League wild card for Milwaukee. The Brewers responded by rallying from a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 in 10 innings Saturday night.

The Brewers then celebrated with a champagne toast in the locker room.

This marks the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Brewers have qualified for the playoffs, though they haven’t won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018. They had made a total of two postseason appearances from 1983-2017.

Milwaukee now will chase its third straight NL Central title as well as the top overall playoff seed.

The Brewers lead the division by 6 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. The Cubs own the tiebreaker.

Milwaukee has a two-game lead over NL East-leading Philadelphia in the race for baseball’s best record, and the Brewers hold that tiebreaker.

This was supposed to be the season in which the Brewers took a step back.

They traded two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams to the New York Yankees and lost one of their top position players when shortstop Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Giants.

The Brewers were 25-28 and 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs on May 24, but they’ve gone 66-30 since. The Brewers already set a club mark with a 14-game win streak this summer.



(AP Photo Jeffrey Phelps)