PITTSBURGH – The Milwaukee Brewers could have understandably been a hungover bunch when they got to PNC Park on Wednesday.
A night earlier, the Brewers had plenty of reason to celebrate when they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 to clinch their fourth consecutive National League Central title. They drank champagne, and many players then made a late-night excursion to a nearby casino to shoot dice.
However, the Brewers played their regulars Wednesday night and looked no worse for wear. Christian Yelich’s two-run double in the seventh inning sent the Brewers to a 5-4 victory as they maintained the best record in the major leagues, improving to 95-57 as they seek to have home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
“I think they come to play every day. That's a beautiful thing,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We're not trying to pretend we're better than we are, but we come to play every day, and I'm proud of that. The guys didn't get as much sleep as our moms and dads wanted them to, but they had a little bit of a responsibility to come out and play hard and try to win.”
What makes the Milwaukee Brewers so special
The Brewers have won a lot in recent years. They will participate in the postseason for the eighth time in the last nine years and have won six division championships in that span.
What makes the Brewers’ run of success remarkable is that they play in Major League Baseball’s smallest television market. However, everyone knows that the Brewers are the little engine that could. It’s baked into their DNA so deeply that they don’t even think about playing the underdog role anymore.
They go out and play their game.
“The biggest thing about them is they just always do the little things right,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said.
Outside of Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers star power is lacking. They like it that way
Jacob Misiorowski is the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award and the young leader of the pitching staff. Yet other than The Miz, the Brewers don’t have any superstars. Instead, their superpower is a collective mindset of a lot of players pulling together as one. That might sound corny in this modern era, but it is an attitude that keeps paying off in division championships.
“Winning the division is hard,” Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich told FanSided. “This team has made it look not hard at times, but it's extremely hard to do. You have to have a lot of good players. You have to have a lot of guys that are willing to bring it every day and know how to win.
“You need the right people and the right leadership from top to bottom, from ownership down to the clubhouse and the players, to make that happen. And it's a credit to the guys for knowing how to win and making that commitment to each other every night when the game starts to know we're going to find a way to win.”
The sense you get soon after walking into the Brewers’ clubhouse is harmony. Everyone looks happy, and everything seems relaxed. Winning obviously makes everything better, but the vibe is unmistakably positive.
“We have a tight group,” Brewers second baseman Brice Turang said. “We just like being around each other, not just in the clubhouse but away from the field, too. We like hanging out together, and I think that makes everyone want to play harder for each other.”
Something continues to elude the Brewers
The only dark cloud hovering near the Brewers’ blue skies is their lack of postseason success.
The franchise has been to the World Series only once since its inception as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in a seven-game heartbreaker in 1982. Since their current run of postseason appearances began, the Brewers have reached the NLCS twice and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers both times, including getting swept last October.
“October is so difficult in a lot of different ways,” Yelich said. “They're short series, and if you don't play well for a few games or some stuff doesn't go right for you, then that's it. I think if you keep giving yourselves the opportunity and go in with talented teams and guys who have been there before and know what it's like and know what we're getting into, you increase your chances.
“I really like this team's chances, and I believe we're just as capable as any other team in the league of getting it done. There are obviously lots of great teams and some stuff will have to go right for us and we'll have to win some big moments, but I think we're capable of doing it.”
Murphy admits that it is human nature to look ahead to the playoffs but wants the Brewers to put themselves “in the best position possible to succeed in the postseason” during their last 10 regular-season games.
Where that takes the Brewers is TBD, but it’s not their style to look too far ahead.
“Win tonight’s game,” closer Trevor Megill said. “That’s what we always say.”
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