When the Phillies lost to the Twins on Saturday night, the Crew clinched the National Leagueâ€s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the postseason, since Milwaukee (96-65 after Saturdayâ€s 7-4 loss to Cincinnati at American Family Field) owns the tiebreaker over Philadelphia (95-66), having gone 4-2 in the season series. The Brewers had already secured a better record than every team in the American League.
That means the Brewers not only will host Game 1 of the NL Division Series next Saturday against the winner of the Padres-Cubs NL Wild Card Series, but they would host each subsequent Game 1 all the way through the World Series should they advance. Manager Pat Murphy drove that point home, sensing some angst from the sellout crowd about a team that is 18-21 since a 14-game winning spree in August all but locked up the NL Central, and 1-5 over the past week.
“Credit the Reds,†Murphy said of a surging opponent that can clinch a postseason berth with a win on Sunday or a Mets loss to the Marlins. “Theyâ€re in survival mode and theyâ€re playing their best baseball, and itâ€s dangerous. Just like the Mets were last year at this time, itâ€s dangerous. Weâ€re playing, you know, not exactly lining up to win at all costs, you know what I mean? Weâ€re doing some different things. You can say, ‘Donâ€t coast,†but I donâ€t think theyâ€re coasting. They had great effort. But itâ€s not the same.
“Nobody expected us to win. We donâ€t have the experience that would say weâ€re going to win, or maybe even the talent that says weâ€re going to win. We just have a team, and that team ended up with the best record in baseball. So, Iâ€m not going to criticize this club for anything. Iâ€m not going to evaluate the psychological state of them in a game [where] the ramifications now arenâ€t that great.
“Nobody got hurt. You canâ€t say they werenâ€t excited to play. The crowd was fantastic. They started booing this team and stuff like that, and I started laughing, like, ‘Itâ€s unfortunate they donâ€t realize.†And then they put up on the board in the sixth inning that weâ€re the No. 1 seed in baseball with the best record.â€
All thatâ€s left is to win one more game to break the club record. But thatâ€s proven a bit of a slog, with the Brewers prioritizing postseason readiness over everything else.
Take Saturday, when Cincinnati scored six runs in a third-inning rally that began with a throwing error from starter Robert Gasser, featured two misplays from left fielder Isaac Collins — including a run-scoring throwing error — and a bases-loaded walk issued by Jacob Misiorowski in his Major League relief debut.
“He didnâ€t hold his water,†Murphy said.
The Brewers threw the rookie right into the deep end, summoning him with the bases loaded, two outs and the Reds leading, 1-0. To make it a true bullpen test, coaches had given Misiorowski no prior notice about what sort of situation they had in mind for him going into his relief debut, and the 23-year-old conceded that coming into a bases-loaded, two-out situation was “nerve-wracking.â€
“You can give him a soft landing, and then what? Where do you go from there?†Murphy said. “So, I thought it was the right thing to do. It wasnâ€t best for the team today, but I think it was the right thing to do.â€
Misiorowskiâ€s outing began with bad luck, when Keâ€Bryan Hayes hit a swinging bunt for a run-scoring infield hit to the third-base side of the pitcherâ€s mound to make it 2-0. Then Misiorowski missed wildly with his first two pitches against Reds No. 9 hitter Matt McLain before walking him to make it 3-0.
Then it got ugly. TJ Friedl hit a two-run single to Collins, who threw to an uncovered third base for a run-scoring error that made it 6-0.
Misiorowski eventually settled in to deliver two more scoreless innings, but his 58-pitch outing left him in a tenuous position as far as the NLDS roster is concerned. His fate could hinge on what the coming week brings for relievers Trevor Megill (right flexor) and DL Hall (right oblique), who could return from the injured list as soon as Sunday to test their health against the Reds.
Asked where he believes he fits in the teamâ€s postseason plans, Misiorowski said, “Wherever they put me. Iâ€m just excited to be here and help support and be a part of the team.â€
The manager, too, was throwing his support behind his guys.
“Iâ€m very confident in this team,†Murphy said. “We won 96 games for a reason.â€
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