The Milwaukee Brewers secured their fourth consecutive National League Central championship on Tuesday night, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 behind five shutout innings from right-hander Jacob Misiorowski.
Milwaukee’s title became official about 50 minutes after the final out, once the second-place Chicago Cubs lost to Atlanta. Players gathered around a clubhouse television to watch the finish, raising their hands and cheering when the last out was recorded.
Misiorowski (15-5) struck out seven and allowed just five hits, all singles, while dropping his ERA to a major league-best 1.89. He struck out enough Pirates to push his season total to 243, and nine of his first ten pitches of the night were clocked above 100 mph. He threw 82 pitches in all, 43 of them at triple digits or faster, before exiting with his fourth straight win. The performance further cements his standing as a leading candidate for the NL Cy Young Award.
Milwaukee’s offense did just enough. Jake Bauers led off the game with a single, advanced on a groundout and a wild pitch, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Luis Lara. Joey Ortiz and Lara each drove in two runs on the night.
The win keeps the Brewers’ remarkable run alive. Milwaukee has now made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons and has held the majors’ best record for much of this one, yet the franchise is still chasing its first World Series appearance since 1982. Last year ended with a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
For Pittsburgh, Brandon Lowe hit his 30th home run of the season, the team’s 171st overall, tying a franchise record set in 1999. Rafael Flores Jr. added four hits. Despite the power, the Pirates fell back below .500 to 75-76 on a day the club honored Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, with players wearing his No. 21 in tribute.
The two teams continue their series Wednesday, with Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson (10-3, 2.34 ERA) facing Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones (4-6, 4.10 ERA).
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