Brewers clinch MLB’s first playoff spot, then rally to walk off Cardinals in extra innings

Saturday was a good day to be a Milwaukee Brewer.

First, the Brewers learned that they’d clinched the first berth of the MLB postseason when the New York Mets lost, 3-2 to the Texas Rangers Saturday afternoon.

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Then, they entered their own postgame locker room with even more reason to celebrate. The Brewers spotted the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-1 lead in a home game Saturday night. But they rallied to force extra innings, where Andruw Monasterio walked the Cardinals off to secure a 9-8 Brewers win.

With Caleb Durbin on second base after a double in an 8-8 game, Monasterio hit a line drive to center field that allowed Durbin to score without a play at the plate.

The walk-off hit capped a run of seven Brewers runs in the final three innings of the game, including two in the 10th after the Cardinals scored one in the top of the inning.

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Monasterio’s teammates mobbed him on the infield after the hit as they set off the celebration of what’s been a remarkable regular season. After the game, Durbin spoke with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about the win.

“I describe it as Brewers baseball,” Durbin said of the comeback. “We just take it one at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time, try to keep the line moving. We were able to do it in two straight innings. A lot of fun.”

Can Brewers capitalize on success with franchise’s first World Series championship?

The Brewers are now guaranteed no worse than a wild-card spot. But they project to enter the postseason in considerably better shape.

With their win over the Cardinals, the Brewers improved to 91-58 and maintain an MLB-best record that few saw coming. It’s a record that includes not one, but two winning streaks of 11-plus games. The second such streak extended to a franchise-record 14 games in August as the Brewers firmly staked their claim as the best team in baseball.

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Milwaukee maintains a two-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in the NL and MLB in what’s shaping up to be a two-team race down the stretch for the No. 1 seed in the NL. The rival Chicago Cubs sit a distant 6.5 games back with the third-best record in the league and in the race for the NL Central crown, which is the next goal on Milwaukee’s list.

After that comes the monumental task of securing the franchise’s first World Series win.