Brewers Clinch Fourth Straight NL Central Crown Behind Misiorowski
Jacob Misiorowski struck out seven over five shutout innings as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Tuesday night, sealing their fourth consecutive National League Central title. The division crown became official roughly 50 minutes after the final out, when the second-place Chicago Cubs lost to Atlanta.
Milwaukee's players gathered around a clubhouse television to watch the Cubs-Braves game conclude, raising their hands and cheering once the result confirmed the title. Misiorowski improved to 15-5 and lowered his ERA to a major league-best 1.89, pushing his season strikeout total to 243. Nine of his first 10 pitches Tuesday topped 100 mph, and he scattered five singles across his outing before departing after 82 pitches, 43 of them clocked at 100 mph or better. betting on floorball
Joey Ortiz and Luis Lara each drove in two runs for Milwaukee, which took an early lead against Pittsburgh opener Lake Bachar. Jake Bauers led off the game with a single, advanced on a groundout and a wild pitch, then scored on Lara's sacrifice fly - part of the small-ball execution that has underpinned the Brewers' major-league-best record for much of the season. Brandon Lowe countered for Pittsburgh with his 30th home run, the team's 171st of the year, tying a franchise mark set in 1999. Rafael Flores Jr. added four hits for the Pirates, who dropped back below .500 at 75-76 on a day the club honored Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente by wearing his No. 21.
The Brewers have now reached the postseason in eight of the last nine seasons but are still chasing their first World Series appearance since 1982, having been swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year's NL Championship Series. Misiorowski's performance further bolstered his case for the NL Cy Young Award. The series in Pittsburgh continues Wednesday, with Logan Henderson (10-3, 2.34 ERA) starting for Milwaukee against Jared Jones (4-6, 4.10 ERA) for the Pirates.
