Brewers clinch fourth straight NL Central title, with Miz right in the thick of it
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PITTSBURGH -- In May, Jacob Misiorowski pitched the Brewers into first place for good with a win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
In August, he pitched the Brewers to the best record in Major League Baseball with a win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Milwaukee hasn’t surrendered its perch since.
And in September, he helped pitch them to their fourth consecutive NL Central crown.
With their 24-year-old, 6-foot-7 ace in the midst of one of the best seasons for a pitcher in franchise history, the Brewers had the right man on the mound on the road Tuesday night at PNC Park. Misiorowski delivered five more scoreless innings and the Brewers beat the Pirates, 5-1. Coupled with a Cubs' loss to the Braves later in the night, the Crew was on top of the division once again.
Luis Lara and Joey Ortiz drove in two runs apiece from the bottom third of the batting order to back Misiorowski, who lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 1.89 and raised his MLB-leading strikeout total to 243.
After high-fives and handshakes, it was time to retreat to the visitors’ clubhouse to watch the conclusion of the Braves-Cubs game at Wrigley Field. When the Cubs' loss went final, it was time for another celebration.
“There’s nothing like having your eyes burn with champagne,” said principal owner Mark Attanasio during Tuesday’s Brewers.TV broadcast.
There’s still plenty to play for. Besides attempting to hold off the Dodgers, Rays, Braves and Yankees for the best record in the sport -- and home-field advantage throughout the postseason -- the Brewers (94-57) have some franchise milestones in sight. They are within striking distance of the franchise record for wins (97, set last year) and the first 100-win season for an NL Central club since the Cubs won 103 games in 2016. That was the year Chicago ended its century-long World Series drought.
The coming weeks now present a different kind of challenge. They will try to rest their weary players -- including Misiorowski, whose 166 1/3 innings are a career high -- while preventing the creep of any rust.
But the hard part is done.