Brewers win NL Central for 3rd time in 4 seasons

The NL Central once again belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brew Crew clinched a third division title in four seasons after the Chicago Cubs' 5-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. Bottles were popped a few hours later after Milwaukee walked off the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at American Family Field.

Legendary Brewers announcer Bob Uecker even joined in the celebration and, in typical Ueck fashion, had everyone on the floor.

The Brewers also came prepared to accommodate rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio, who's not of legal drinking age. The 20-year-old was provided with non-alcoholic champagne for the occasion, stored appropriately inside a baby carriage.

Milwaukee is the first MLB team to clinch a playoff spot in 2024, although preseason projections gave the club less than a 50% chance of making the postseason.

The Brewers also had to deal with the departures of former manager Craig Counsell and ace Corbin Burnes and injuries to Brandon Woodruff, Devin Williams, and Christian Yelich.

Yelich said clinching the division this season was "up there" in terms of personal satisfaction with making the playoffs in 2018 because the Brewers were widely underestimated and overcame so much adversity.

The Brewers have now made the postseason six times in the last seven years. The only time they missed the playoffs during that period came in 2022 when the club finished one game out of the final NL wild-card spot with a 86-76 record.

It's the first time the Brewers have won back-to-back division titles since 1981-82.

Milwaukee now turns its attention to chasing down the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second seed in the NL. Doing so would secure an automatic bye to the NLDS.

The Brewers enter Wednesday evening's slate two games behind the Dodgers and need to finish with a better record after losing the season series 4-3.