Milwaukee Brewers Magic Number Down To 1 After Win vs. Reds

The Milwaukee Brewers are closing in on securing a playoff berth after their 16th win in their last 18 games.

Well, well, well, who would’ve thought the Milwaukee Brewers would be sitting here on September 24th? With five games to go, the Crew’s magic number is down to one after their victory over the Reds on Tuesday night and the Cubs subsequent loss to the Pirates.

With the next Brewers win or Cubs loss, the Crew will secure a spot in the postseason. The clinching can happen as early as Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

While the team won’t be celebrating the clinching at home, since the rest of their games are on the road, the fact that they can even clinch a playoff spot at all is a near miracle.

It’s A Miracle

On September 5th, after a loss to the Cubs in the first game of a four game series, the Brewers playoff chances, per Fangraphs, were at a lowly 5.6%. They were trying to survive a tough stretch of games against the Cubs, Cardinals, and Astros.

They won the next three games in that Cubs series and were carrying a winning streak into Miami, where they lost MVP Christian Yelich for the season with a fractured kneecap. But that didn’t slow them down.

The Milwaukee Brewers are now 12-2 since Yelich injured his knee on September 10th.

How? It’s been the pitching.

The pitching staff has come alive since the loss of Yelich and have done extremely well in the month of September. With the rosters expanded, Craig Counsell has been able to mix and match to his pleasure, and that has worked wonders for this team.

Their Playoff Forecast

With the Cardinals needing to lose three times in their final five games, including Tuesday night, the chances for a division title don’t appear very good.

They currently sit a game behind the Nationals for the top Wild Card spot, but will hold the tiebreaker over them if the race ends in a tie. So there’s still a good chance the Milwaukee Brewers could host that Wild Card game with the Nationals facing off against the Phillies and the Indians to end the season.

It’s looking like we’re going to have a one-game playoff in the Wild Card for the right to move on and face the Dodgers. Doing all this without Yelich is going to be tough, but they’ve handled the challenge so far.

The magic number is down to one, and the next win or Cubs loss will guarantee a Brewers playoff berth, and guarantee the Cubs will be sitting on their couches come October.