What a day! Milwaukee Brewers clinch division with 8-4 victory over New York Mets

The Milwaukee Brewers finished up their final home stand of the season in a big way this afternoon with an 8-4 victory and series sweep over the New York Mets. While the win and the sweep were great, there were a couple of more important things to happen today. Ryan Braun’s retirement ceremony and the clinching of the N.L. Central.

Prior to the game, the Milwaukee Brewers celebrated the retirement of one of the greatest Brewers of all time, Ryan Braun. The franchise career home run leader gave the Brewers’ faithful a really nice speech, and he threw out the first pitch of the game.

It was a great way to send off Braunie after a storied career. And the Brewers clinched the division. More about that a bit later. First a recap of the game.

The game did not start out as well as it could have. In the top of the first inning, Brewers’ starting pitcher, Freddy Peralta, grooved a 93 mph fastball over the heart of the plate that Francisco Lindor deposited into the second deck in right field. The Brewers were quickly down, 1-0.

They would not be down for long, however. In the bottom half of the first, Kolten Wong got things started with a single. That was immediately followed by a 2-run blast off the bat of Willy Adames. Just like that it was 2-1, home team.

In the bottom of the second, Milwaukee put a 3-spot on the board. Lorenzo Cain, Kolten Wong, and Willy Adames loaded the bases via a single to Cain and two walks. Christian Yelich knocked in the first run of the inning with a ground ball to first base. He was out on the play, but LoCain scored. Wong and Adames scored when Eduardo Escobar laced a single to right field. Mets’ right fielder, Michael Conforto, botched the throw to the cut off man resulting in two runs, not one, scoring and Escobar advancing to second.

The Mets did come back. In the top of the fourth, Michael Conforto began the inning with a single to center. Pete Alonso followed with a double that sent Conforto to third. Conforto and Alonso scored when Javier Baez doubled.

New York would add another run in the top of the sixth. With one out in the inning, Pete Alonzo drew a walk. Javier Baez followed with a single. Alonzo would score when Kevin Pillar singled to left.

New York would contribute to their own demise in the bottom half of the inning. Things got rolling when Daniel Vogelbach induced a walk. Eric Lauer replaced him as a pinch runner and dashed to third on a Kolten Wong double that barely missed being a home run. Willy Adames was next, and he grounded to Jonathan Villar at third base. His throw to first was an errant one, and Lauer scored and Wong moved to third.

Later in the inning, Eduardo Escobar hit a sharp grounder to Francisco Lindor who was positioned perfectly. The throw wasn’t perfect though. Another throwing error and Wong and Adames scored.

That was all that was need as the Brewers’ relievers shut down the Mets’ bats the rest of the way, culminating in this.

The Brewers are your 2021 National League Central Champions. This was the perfect weekend for Milwaukee just as the Brewers’ skipper said.

And of course the champaign splash.

The regular season is not done yet, however. After a day off tomorrow, the Brewers head to St. Louis for their final regular season series with the Cardinals. Brandon Woodruff will face off with Adam Wainwright. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 CT. The game will be televised on Bally Sports Wisconsin and broadcast over the radio waves on WTMJ 620 and the Brewers Radio Network.