BALTIMORE — Their sights are set on far bigger and better things.
Yet a franchise-record 98 wins and a pair of twentysomething stars are enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to pause momentarily and sniff the flowers.
They eclipsed their previous standard of 97 wins set just one year ago by putting ace Jacob Misiorowski on ice after three innings, trotting out seven pitchers and still shutting out the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Sunday, Sept. 20 at Camden Yards.
At 98-58, with six games remaining, the Brewers are almost certainly going to post their first 100-win season in franchise history.
“Cool and all,” says closer Trevor Megill, who pitched a clean ninth inning for his 29th save, “but not trying to be regular season warriors.”
Harsh but true.
The Brewers
are National League Central champions for the fourth consecutive season, the arrow ticking up from 92 to 93 to 97 wins to however many more they can corral this week. And the postseason progress is evident, too: The club reached the NL Championship Series last season for the first time since 2018, only to get swept by the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Megill's point, then, is valid. Counterpoint: The team is sprinting through the tape, even as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs has been largely assured for a few days.
Ninety-eight wins? Yeah, crank the stereo a little more.
“It’s hard to win 98 games and be healthy. It’s hard to be in this spot to begin with,” says third-year manager Pat Murphy. “And I don’t think it’s appreciated enough. I don’t think anyone realizes how hard it is for any of the 30 teams to put themselves in this position. And that’s what makes me proud of these guys.
“We’re not the most experienced team. We’re not the most talented. We’re not the most a lot of things. But for sure, they’ve proven they’re a team. Because it’s hard to win major league games. And to win 98 of them, tells you there’s a team in there.
“And I’m really proud of them.”
Their wares were on full display Sunday, even as they pulled Misiorowski after just three innings and 44 pitches, 28 of them clocked between 99 to 102 mph.
But off he went, like a thoroughbred heading back to the barn after a brisk sprint on the backstretch. No matter: The Miz struck out four to move into second place on the Brewers’ single-season strikeout list, with 247. He’s going to be the NL Cy Young Award winner and will have one more regular-season start to lengthen out a bit before starting Game 1 of the NL Championship Series on Saturday, Oct. 3.
At 24, he’s a relative graybeard compared to 22-year-old outfielder Jackson Chourio. All that kid did Sunday was join Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt Jr. as the only players to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in their first three seasons.
Sure, the liberalized stolen-base rules help. But Chourio’s immense talent plays in any era.
“I’ve watched him play through countless levels,” says Misiorowski. “I think it’s cool to see a guy like that perform at the highest level. He’s an animal out there. He’s also crazy in here.”
Says Megill of Chourio, who signed an eight-year, $82 million deal in December 2023: “Dude’s a beast. They gave him a lot of money for good reason.”
The Brewers will enjoy an off day in Philadelphia on Monday, then play three against the flailing Phillies before wrapping up with three games at home against St. Louis. Then, a few off days as they await the survivors of the NL wild-card series.
Bigger things ahead, certainly. Yet plenty behind them, too, enough worth pausing to appreciate.
“It means a lot. It’s always a big deal to set a record, a franchise record,” says Misiorowski. “Hopefully, we get to a little bigger number but it’s still cool. Ninety-eight games, that’s awesome.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: On way to playoffs, Brewers stop to smell the flowers: A club-record 98 wins
