Milwaukee Brewers Blow Out Miami Marlins to Clinch 5th Playoff Spot in Last 6 Seasons
The Milwaukee Brewers are playoff-bound once again.
Behind their 16-1 series-opening victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday night, the Brewers officially clinched a spot in the 2023 MLB Postseason. This marks the fifth time in six years that Milwaukee is headed to the playoffs.
Prior to the ongoing stretch of team success, the Brewers had made the postseason just four times in their 49 years of existence.
Milwaukee joins the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays as the fifth team to clinch a playoff spot.
There wasn't much tension Friday night, as the Brewers simply needed to win to punch their ticket, and they certainly didn't leave anything to chance.
A 12-run second inning gave Milwaukee everything it needed to secure the win and then some. The explosion was bookended by home runs from third baseman Josh Donaldson and outfielder Christian Yelich, who each blasted two-run shots to left.
On the mound, Corbin Burnes tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, then four relievers combined to allow one earned run across 4.0 innings of work. The Marlins scraped by with just five hits, although they did manage to draw five walks on top of that.
The only run Miami tallied came off a solo home run by third baseman Jon Berti in the eighth inning, at which point the game had long been decided.
Following a game-ending pop out to first, a few Brewers shared in a celebratory jig in the infield. The lack of suspense and the road environment dulled the moment a bit, but the result was the same nonetheless.
While the 79-75 Marlins are still fighting for their playoff lives in the NL Wild Card race, the 88-66 Brewers can clinch the NL Central crown with just one more win in their final eight games. Milwaukee has won 11 of its last 15 over the past two weeks, which is the best in the majors in that span.
First pitch for Saturday's game between the Brewers and Marlins is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.
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