Brewers clinch third NL Central title in four years after Cubs lose to A’s

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These aren’t the same Milwaukee Brewers who have made regular playoff appearances the last several years. 

Milwaukee became the first major league team to clinch a 2024 division championship on Wednesday when it sealed its third NL Central title in the last four years. The Chicago Cubs‘ 5-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics enabled the Brewers to wrap up the division crown.

This marks the Brewers’ sixth postseason berth in the last seven years, a remarkable accomplishment for a team that made the playoffs just twice in a 35-year stretch from 1983-2017. But this run to the playoffs has been a little different from the rest.

Although the Brewers have grown accustomed to outperforming preseason expectations, the odds seemed stacked against them even more than usual this year.

Craig Counsell, the winningest manager in Brewers history, left for the rival Cubs. Corbin Burnes, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner, was traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

Two-time All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff didn’t pitch all year as he recovered from shoulder surgery and two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams missed the first half of the season with stress fractures in his back. All-Star outfielder Christian Yelich and pitchers Wade Miley and Robert Gasser suffered season-ending injuries.

None of it mattered. The Brewers will be playing postseason baseball once again, and manager Pat Murphy — Counsell’s former bench coach who replaced him — is a strong candidate for NL Manager of the Year because of it.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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