The Milwaukee Brewers continued their scorching September with their 19th win of the month Wednesday, clinching a postseason berth and eliminating both the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs in the process.
The Crew’s 9-2 victory at Cincinnati brought the team to 88-70, a far cry from Sept. 5, when Milwaukee was only three games over .500 — with the same 71-68 record as the Mets and five games behind the Cubs for the second wild-card spot.
But despite losing MVP candidate Christian Yelich to a fractured kneecap Sept. 10, the Brewers have won 17 of their past 19 games to secure a playoff spot in consecutive years for just the second time in franchise history.
The last time the team went to consecutive postseasons was 1981-82, when the franchise was in the American League. The Brewers made their only World Series appearance in 1982, falling to the Cardinals in seven games.
The franchise has now made the postseason four times in the past 12 seasons after doing so just twice in its first 39 seasons of existence.
The move you’ve all been waiting for is back! #MKEHistory pic.twitter.com/k3iMpK0SBO
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 26, 2019
On the flip side, the Cubs suffered their eighth straight defeat Wednesday, 4-2 at Pittsburgh, and will fail to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014, snapping the club’s longest postseason streak at four years.
The Mets could not keep up the pace that saw them win 15 of 16 games in July and August, and they will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season despite increasing their win total over the last two years, from 70 in 2017, to 77 in 2018, to 83 so far this year.
Mets relievers’ ERA of 5.01 is the sixth-worst in the majors this year, continuing a trend. Since making the World Series in 2015, the Mets have posted the fourth-worst relief ERA in MLB at 4.58, after posting a 3.40 ERA in 2015.
The Brewers will join the Cardinals, Braves, Nationals and Dodgers in the National League field this year, but they still have a chance to win the division, at just 1½ games back of St. Louis with four games to play.