Brewers: Too Little, Too Late As Milwaukee Eliminated From Playoff Race

It’s over. The Milwaukee Brewers have been eliminated from playoff contention. Their magic number was down to one, and even with a furious rally and extra-inning comeback walk-off win, the Brewers were eliminated after the Phillies beat the Astros in Houston.

With their backs against the wall, the Brewers finally showed some fight for their playoff lives. Unfortunately it came in the 9th inning of a game after their elimination number was already down to one and they had no margin for error on their side or on the Phillies side. It resulted in a fun, miraculous comeback win that would’ve brought some serious momentum had it mattered beyond the next five minutes.

Hunter Renfroe put up a good fight, hitting a home run in the 9th inning to start the rally, then ending it in the 10th on a walk-off single.

Shortly after the Brewers win, the Phillies also won in Houston, thus negating all the heroics.

It was too little, too late for the Milwaukee Brewers playoff hopes after they squandered numerous opportunities to gain ground in the postseason race.

The Phillies went on a five game losing streak in September. They had been scuffling for weeks. All the Brewers had to do was play above .500 baseball over the last week. They were 2-5 in their last seven games prior to Monday night against Arizona. Flip that to 4-3, and all of a sudden this team is tied for a playoff spot and still alive. Go 5-2, and all of a sudden they’re in playoff position.

It was such a simple plan, yet the Brewers did not show the energy or the fight of a postseason push until the absolute last second, when they were down to their last three outs. If they had shown it a little earlier, they might still be alive.

While it was nice to see that fight finally come out, it was too little, too late. By then all the Phillies had to do was win one single game. The margin for error was zero. It was less than zero as the Brewers could do everything right and win every game but it’s all in the hands of the Phillies and Astros.

The Brewers eliminated themselves more than the Phillies eliminated them. Neither team really seemed to want to make the playoffs down the stretch. But after so much back and forth, the Phillies finally decided to take that Wild Card spot. It was there for the taking, and the Brewers just didn’t fight for it enough.

It’s going to be a long offseason for Milwaukee and the franchise needs to do some soul searching in order to avoid this same situation next year. On to 2023.