Brewers' minor league affiliate headed to the postseason with some serious momentum

While the Milwaukee Brewers still have 12 games remaining in the regular season, many of their minor league affiliates have already wrapped up their 2025 seasons. One such affiliate did so in exciting fashion with a narrow victory in their final regular season game on Sunday afternoon.

Down in Birmingham, Alabama, the Brewers' Double-A affiliate, the Biloxi Shuckers, matched up with the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox' Double-A squad, for the final game of the regular season. Toeing the rubber for the Shuckers was 20-year-old right-hander Manuel Rodriguez, who was making his first Double-A start after a stellar season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Rodriguez was excellent, tossing six innings for Biloxi and allowing just two earned runs, but the Shuckers' offense was absent for the majority of Sunday's contest. As such, when Rodriguez exited the game after six strong innings, the Barons held a 2-0 lead. A scoreless seventh inning from Raúl Alcantara, who the Brewers signed to a minor league contract just over a month ago, and a scoreless eighth from Austin Roberts, who Milwaukee acquired from the Miami Marlins on August 4, set up an exciting ninth inning for the Shuckers.

The top of the ninth began with a leadoff single from Shuckers' first baseman Luke Adams, who just returned to Biloxi's lineup on September 9 after losing nearly two months to injury. After a flyout from Brewers' top prospect Jesús Made, Mike Boeve, the organization's No. 27 ranked prospect, singled to right, advancing Adams to second base. The next batter, 2023 first round pick Brock Wilken, hit a deep fly ball to center, allowing Adams to advance to third base. A wild pitch brought Adams home, making it a 2-1 game.

Back-to-back two-out RBI singles from catcher Darrien Miller and center fielder Garrett Spain gave the Shuckers a 3-2 lead. Roberts came back out for the bottom of the ninth and sealed the deal, giving Biloxi a final record of 74-64 for the 2025 regular season.

The Biloxi Shuckers cap off an incredible regular season with a comeback win, set to begin Southern League playoffs on Tuesday

By way of a first-half Southern League South Division title, the Biloxi Shuckers had already qualified for the postseason long before their exciting win over the Barons on Sunday night. In the minor leagues, the playoff participants are decided by who is atop the standings at the end of the first half of the season and who wins the second half of the season, as a way to combat midseason promotions that could impact a team’s ability to continue winning games. As such, despite the Shuckers posting a 32-37 record during the second half of the year, they will head to the Southern League Division Series, which is set to begin on Tuesday.

The Shuckers will take on the Montgomery Biscuits, the Tampa Bay Rays' Double-A affiliate. There's some added motivation for the Shuckers, who lost to the Biscuits in last year's division series. Many of the players that will represent Biloxi in this year’s postseason were also a part of last year’s playoff roster, including Wilken, Miller, and shortstop Cooper Pratt.

Manager Joe Ayrault has yet to name a starter for game one, which is set for 6:35 p.m. CT on Tuesday night, but with plenty of intriguing options, the Shuckers are bound to have a good chance of taking down the mighty Biscuits. With the momentum from this afternoon's season finale and a team full of top prospects, this certainly could be the Shuckers' year. The Shuckers have never won a Southern League title in their 10 years of existence, but that could all change in the coming weeks.