The Athletics beat the Cubs 5-3 Wednesday afternoon. The Cubs loss was all that Milwaukee needed to clinch the NL Central title, as Milwaukee holds the tie breaker. It is still possible for the teams to finish with the same record, but the expanded playoff cannot afford an extra day for a division deciding game.

Although the first to clinch, the Brewers hold the third best record in among the NL division leaders. That means they would be looking at hosting the wild card round. The are two games behind the Dodgers, but Los Angeles holds the tie breaker.

Note that the Brewers so far played two games below their Pythagorean Projection, and the Dodgers are +2. As of this morning, Milwaukee ranked third in runs scored per game in the NL and second in fewest runs allowed per game. In both measures they are better than the Phillies and the Dodgers, but it has not resulted in them sitting atop the NL.

Still, it is a remarkable performance given their off-season when their star manager went to Chicago and their star pitcher wound up in Baltimore. A number of hitters rose to the occasion, including rookie Jackson Chourio and veteran Christian Yelich, now out for the season.

On the pitching side, the staters were okay, but the bullpen pitched lights out. They held batters to a .224/.295/.360 slash line, limiting both on base and power.

Congratulations to the Brewers. Another team lacking a championship gets a chance to end their drought in 21st century.