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On this day one year ago the Brewers beat the Marlins 4-1 on some late inning heroics from Ryan Braun: His three run home run in the eighth inning plated the game's deciding run. The win improved the Brewers to 92-65 on the season, but perhaps more importantly it paired with a Cardinals loss to give the Brewers their first divisional title in nearly 30 years.
After winning the AL East in 1982 the Brewers managed three second place finishes over the next 28 seasons, coming up just short of the 1992 Blue Jays and 2007 and 2008 Cubs. They had also finished fifth, sixth or seventh in a division on 12 occasions.
The Brewers went on to win four of their last five games to finish at 96-66, the highest win total in franchise history.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 1994-99 and 2005-06 Brewer Jeff Cirillo, who turns 43.
- 1997 Brewer Pete Harnisch, who turns 46.
- 1989-90 Brewer Tony Fossas, who turns 55.
- 1971 Brewer Marcelino Lopez, who would have turned 69.
Today is also the 14th anniversary of a 1998 game where the Brewers scored eight answered runs to beat the Cubs 8-7, capped off by a Brant Brown dropped fly ball. We covered that event in this space last year.