PHILADELPHIA — The Milwaukee Brewers made franchise history Thursday with a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in their road finale at Citizens Bank Park, reaching 100 wins for the first time and improving to 100-59. The milestone capped a long final road trip that began with an NL Central clinch in Pittsburgh, continued with a sweep in Baltimore where they broke the franchise record for victories, and secured a first-round bye with three regular-season games remaining against the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field starting Friday.
Tied 1-1 through seven innings, Milwaukee broke through in the eighth when Jackson Chourio — pinch-hitting for only the 11th time in his career after designated hitter William Contreras was removed for not running out a groundout — walked, stole second and scored on Jake Bauers’ go-ahead single up the middle. “I think there’s definitely an element of validation,” said Jake Bauers. “We got close last year, and I know a lot of guys in the clubhouse wanted to get to 100 and we didn’t get there. It is cool to get there. I’ve never been on a 100-win team before. Not many people have.”
Before Thursday, the Brewers were one of seven teams yet to post a 100-win season, along with the Blue Jays, Marlins, Nationals, Padres, Rangers and Rockies. By rallying late, they became the first team in Major League history to win at least 100 games in a season without a winning streak longer than five games, recording three separate five-game streaks but never a sixth. They are the first team to win 100 games since the Braves, Orioles and Dodgers all did it in 2023, and the first NL Central team since the 2016 Cubs went 103-58-1 on the way to winning the World Series.
Manager Pat Murphy downplayed the number before the game, saying, “My gut says no. You know, it’s just a number,” when asked about a speech and toast, before adding, “I think the baseball world does. It’s like hitting .299 or hitting .300; .299 is pretty good, but .300 is better.” The win kept Milwaukee ahead of the Dodgers and past the Rays in the chase for the best record in baseball and home-field advantage throughout the postseason, leaving the Brewers one win or one Dodgers loss shy of entering the playoffs as the top overall seed for a second straight season pending Los Angeles’ late game against San Diego. Murphy and his staff are already planning for the five days between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, Oct. 3, a key stretch for a club that ranks last in the NL in home runs but second in runs scored on contact and speed.
Bauers entered the at-bat 1-for-11 with eight strikeouts in the series while dealing with lower-body bumps in the second half, and said he refocused with some mid-game work in the visitors’ batting cage. “There’s a chair in the cage that I think you should ask how I refocused myself,” Bauers said. “I did a little bit of mental recalibration in the cage on the chair and then went out. Chourio stole second base, and that freed me up to just try and roll a ball over, honestly. It found its way up the middle.” Gary Sánchez singled, Cooper Pratt singled in an insurance run off Chase Shugart after José Alvarado exited for Philadelphia, Joey Ortiz added another RBI single with two outs, and Chourio led off the ninth with a home run. The team gathered briefly before the clubhouse opened, with Murphy and unofficial captain Christian Yelich sharing words as those who chose to partook raised a shot of Casa Azul tequila or Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. “It signifies sacrifice. There’s a lot of sacrifice in the room,” Chourio said. “I’m just happy to be part of this team, proud of it and all of the guys. I’m happy we were able to reach that mark of 100. It certainly means something.”