By Adam Roberts – 9/27/2021
It’s confirmed: I am a good luck charm on days the Brewers can clinch the NL Central.
I was at then-named Miller Park in 2011 when the Crew topped the then-named Florida Marlins and got some help from the Cubs (where was that help yesterday, huh??). And I was in section 222 yesterday as Milwaukee locked up their third NL Central title with an 8-4 win over the Mets.
Willy Adames had a big two-run home run in the bottom of the first to counter a Francisco Lindor solo shot for New York, and the Crew were helped by three Mets errors in the infield. Freddy Peralta was so-so on the day, going five and a third allowing four runs and striking out five. The bullpen though was much improved for Milwaukee following their troubles against St. Louis, and Josh Hader was his usual dominant in the ninth.
The Brewers can’t catch either the Giants or Dodgers for the top spot in the National League, and so will be the two-seed in the Divisional Round hosting either Atlanta or Philadelphia in Game One next week Friday. The Braves and Phillies will play tomorrow night and Wednesday evening here on ESPN La Crosse 105.5, and sit tight as we’ll unveil our playoff baseball schedule in the near future.
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Sunday also included Ryan Braun’s official retirement ceremony before first pitch. Braun himself said he had mixed emotions about his career ending, but was grateful for the fan support at the ceremony and for being able to stay in Milwaukee his entire career. “Thank you for picking me up when I fell down,” Braun said to a good chunk of the 43,430 people gathered for the game. “It’s very rare in today’s game for any athlete to have that chance. I feel incredibly blessed and incredibly fortunate that it worked out that way.”
The six-time All Star is the franchise leader in home runs (with 352) and second in RBIs (1,154), extra-base hits (809), total bases (3,525) and doubles (408).