SPORTS LINE
The Milwaukee Brewers.
The team clinched the National League Central on Sunday for the third straight season and the fourth time in the past five years. They popped champagne and cold beers and soaked the carpeting in the visitors’ clubhouse at Busch Stadium after a Cubs loss in Cincinnati erased the sting of the Crew’s 5-1 loss to the Cardinals. Going into Sunday’s games with a magic number of one to clinch the division, the Brewers had baseball’s best record, best run differential, best baserunning (according to Statcast), third-best offense by runs per game, and fourth-best defense by fielding run value.
The Brewers were 25-28 on May 24 before taking off, with winning streaks of eight, 11, and a franchise-record 14 games over a sensational stretch of 53 victories over their next 69 games to vault to the best record in baseball.
“This,” said Yelich, whose arrival in 2018 coincided with the start of the Brewers’ run, “is the ‘why.’ This is why everything is harped on throughout the year. This is why we pay attention to detail. Why there’s tough love throughout the season, why you keep grinding and trying to get better. These moments, and the fact that you can celebrate with your teammates and show them, this is why we do all that work. Hopefully, this is the first step of many more.” All the team’s hard work has definitely paid off, and it shows. It wasn’t lost on Yelich that the Brewers celebrated on Sunday, where this run began.
On Sept. 26, 2018, the Brewers beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium to clinch Milwaukee’s first postseason berth in seven years, the decisive moment coming when a then-unknown pinch-runner named Adolis García slipped around third base in the eighth inning trying to score the tying run. Since then, the Brewers have earned their way into the postseason in all but one year.
Packers.
The Packers let one get away Sunday at Huntington Bank Field, blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing on a walk-off field goal to the Browns, 13-10. Cleveland didn’t score until less than four minutes remained in the game to get within 10-3, and from there, almost nothing went right for Green Bay. QB Jordan Love threw an interception on third down that Browns safety Grant Delpit returned inside the 5-yard line, setting up the tying score. The Packers drove into field-goal range to retake the lead, but Brandon McManus’ 43-yard kick was blocked. Then the Browns used the last 21 seconds to get into range themselves and win it on a 55-yard kick at the wire by Andre Szmyt, who had missed a 36-yarder in Week 1 with the game on the line. There’s plenty of regret on the fateful interception. LaFleur was kicking himself for the play call, pondering whether he should’ve just had Love keep the ball on a bootleg run, which had worked successfully a couple of times earlier with the Browns selling out on the inside.
The turnover came with just over three minutes left, with the Packers needing a conversion there, plus maybe one more first down, to prevent the Browns from getting the ball back. Cleveland hadn’t moved the ball the full length of the field on Green Bay’s defense all day, and then was able to get the tying score from just four yards out. The Packers’ defense, unfortunately, started getting in on the penalty party, too, late in the game, giving the Browns multiple free first downs.
Also, the special teams were in on the act, too. Even if Szmyt had missed the 55-yarder on the last play, the Packers were flagged for jumping offside, and he would’ve gotten another crack from 50 yards out. The official totals were 14 penalties for 75 yards for Green Bay. Green Bay’s strong 2-0 start hasn’t been erased, but some of the good certainly was undone in a loss like this. LaFleur was questioning a number of things after the game, not just play calls and penalties, but injury decisions and more. There’s a lot to digest, but there’s no time to dwell on it.
