By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Sep 26, 2023 at 10:16 PM Photography: Milwaukee Brewers

Tuesday night marked one of the most successful losses in Milwaukee Brewers history, as even though they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals at AmFam Field, the Brew Crew still clinched the 2023 NL Central Division crown. 

Yes, while the Brewers lost on Tuesday night, 4-1, so did the second-place Chicago Cubs, blowing a 6-0 lead and losing to the Braves, 7-6, in Atlanta. And since Milwaukee just needed either a single win or a single Chicago loss to clinch the division, despite their defeat, the NL Central title belongs to the Brewers this season.

No, it's not most encouraging or impressive way to clinch a division title – but it's still a dang division title (won with games to spare on the schedule). And while the Brewers are technically in the middle of a three-game losing streak, struggling to score, as the Philadelphia Phillies taught everyone last year, the regular season records get thrown out come postseason time. Anything can happen in the playoffs – and the Brewers have put themselves in position to make that "anything" happen. And that's certainly worth celebrating.

Tuesday's results also top off quite the accomplished season for this young, arguably overachieving Brewers squad. The team will forever be in the franchise's history books, earning Milwaukee its fourth NL Central Division title – three of which earned across the past six seasons. The Brewers previously clinched a postseason spot last Friday, meaning the team will have made the playoffs five times in the past six years as well, continuing the longest period of sustained success in the franchise's history.  

Thanks to tonight, the Brewers have clinched the three-seed in the postseason, guaranteeing home field advantage during the Wild Card round of the playoffs as well as a matchup with the sixth seed in the National League. They've also guaranteed that the final five games on the schedule – two more against the Cardinals followed by a three-game spat against the Cubs, all at home at AmFam Field – mean little beyond getting healthy, giving fans some BOGO beers and potentially booting the rival Cubs from the postseason. 

As for the playoffs, once the regular season wraps up on Sunday, the Brewers will start their push toward the World Series with a best-of-three series in Milwaukee on Oct. 3-5. Their opponent in that Wild Card series has yet to be determined; the Cubs currently hold the final NL playoff spot but the Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds are all in play as well. (The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres have yet to be eliminated from the postseason as well – but they both would pretty much require a miracle.)

For playoff tickets and information, check out the Brewers website – and for more Brewers postseason updates and info, stay tuned to OnMilwaukee. And cheers one more time to the Braves for helping make this final week of the season significantly less stressful. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.