In their final home game of the 2021 MLB season, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the New York Mets 8-4 this afternoon to clinch the NL Central. It is the third time the Brew Crew achieved this distinction having done so previously in 2011 and in 2018. It is also the fourth consecutive season the Brewers have played October baseball under manager Craig Counsell.
The Brewers reached the post-season in the COVID shortened 2020 campaign but had the distinction (along with the Houston Astros in the AL) of having attained a post-season berth with a losing record. In 2021, the Brewers earned their division crown. The Brewers were in first place in the NL Central between April 20th and May 2nd. But by May 18th, the Brew Crew had fallen to third place behind the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. The Brewers would rebound and between June 10th and 22nd were essentially deadlocked with the Cubs. On June 22nd, the Brewers would embark upon an 11 game winning streak while the Cubs would implode and become sellers at the trade deadline. By the Fourth of July, the Brewers had an 8 game lead in the division and were never seriously challenged after that point.
The Brewers' greatest strength has been their starting pitching with four of their starters with ERAs under 3.00 (Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and Eric Lauer). Burnes is having a NL Cy Young worthy campaign with an 11-4 record a 2.29 ERA and 230 strikeouts. Of course, there's Josh Hader in the 9th inning with 34 saves. The southpaw closer is backed up by a quartet of righthanded setup men in Brad Boxberger, Brent Suter, Hunter Strickland and 2020 NL Rookie of the Year Devin Williams.
The Brew Crew offense is balanced but not spectacular. 2019 NL MVP Christian Yelich who has missed time this season with a nagging back injury and COVID-19. No Brewer hitter has 100 RBI while only Luis Urias and Avisail Garcia have more than 20 HRs. But the team is solid up the middle with Kolten Wong, Willy Adames, Jackie Bradley, Jr and Lorenzo Cain and a platoon of Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina behind the plate.
Milwaukee will advance to the NLDS and most likely face the winner of the NL East. The Atlanta Braves currently have a two game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies with the Braves hosting the Phillies for a three games series starting on Tuesday.
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