The reason the Milwaukee Brewers are here in the National League Championship Series is because of plays such as the one that ended the fourth inning Monday night. A strange, one-in-a-million, 400-foot double-play in which one Brewers fielder made a spectacular defensive effort, and another never lost awareness of a wacky situation - highlighting the sound fundamentals that made them baseball's winningest team this season.
The Milwaukee Brewers finalized their 26-man postseason roster for the National League Championship Series, electing to carry 12 pitchers and 14 position players against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Like the Dodgers, the Brewers made only change from their NL Division Series roster against the Chicago Cubs as they swapped out Nick Mears for Tobias Myers. Mears made three appearances against the Cubs in the NLDS and threw 1.2 scoreless innings.
As they worked out at Dodger Stadium, two days after winning their National League Division Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, they had Game 5 of the other NLDS on the scoreboard - getting a first look at their NL Championship Series opponent. "It's certainly nice to be able to get a couple days to reset, prepare, and we're kind of doing our due diligence," manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday afternoon. "We'll have that game on the big board."
The Brewers sent infielder Oliver Dunn outright to Triple-A Nashville, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Dunn cleared waivers after being designated for assignment when Jackson Chourio returned from the injured list over the weekend. This is his first outright and he doesn't have three years of big league service, so he'll need to accept the assignment. Dunn has been with Nashville since the middle of April.
The Brewers stay in the top spot after splitting a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays. They are still 6.5 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs and cruising toward a playoff berth. Jackson Chourio returned from the injured list to excellent results, with six hits in two games. He will be key to Milwaukee breaking its playoff slump, with no series wins since 2018.
August 31 - Clay Bellinger blooped a go-ahead RBI single in the 11th inning and Aaron Judge and Austin Wells homered as the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Saturday for their seventh straight win. The Yankees moved within two games of the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays while stretching their lead over the Boston Red Sox for the first AL wild-card berth to 1 1/2 games.
It's become common in recent years for teams that have fallen out of the playoff race to place veteran players (especially impending free agents) on outright waivers late in the year, offering them up to possible contenders who would like to claim them. That process is typically done before September 1 to allow players claimed off waivers to participate in the postseason with their new club.
Meanwhile, in the American League, two juggernauts have continued to set themselves apart: Detroit and Toronto. The Tigers, who jumped back into the top three this week, are a game and a half up on the Blue Jays, who round out our top five. And after a slight slump following the trade deadline, the Yankees seem to have found their footing once again as they attempt to cut into Toronto's division lead.
