Brewers' Updated Magic Number: Milwaukee Still Seeking Home-Field Advantage

Will Friday be the day?

Sep 24, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers catcher Danny Jansen (33) is congratulated by Christian Yelich (22) after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers have won the National League Central. They locked up a first-round playoff bye. But there's still one major objective to accomplish this weekend.

With three games to play, the Brewers still have not yet locked up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. And given their 51-27 record at home this season, they'd love to ensure themselves as many home games as possible in October.

Will Milwaukee finally seal the deal on Friday? There's a very simple way it can do so.

Brewers' magic number: one

Sep 20, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) is congratulated by center fielder Blake Perkins (16) after scoring against the St. Louis Cardinals during the tenth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Brewers (96-63) host the Cincinnati Reds, who have their playoff lives on the line this weekend as they face a one-game wild card deficit, for three games at American Family Field this weekend. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies (94-65) host the Minnesota Twins, who have long been eliminated.

It's unwise for Milwaukee to count on Philadelphia losing any of those games, but one Brewers win (or an unexpected, but entirely possible Phillies defeat) would lock up home-field advantage for the Brew Crew.

In addition, one win would ensure that the Brewers finish with the best single-season record in franchise history, topping the 2011 squad, which went 96-66. It's truly been a remarkable year for these Brewers, and it would be nice to cap off a dominant regular season with a new entry in the record books.

Ultimately, it all boils down to how the Brewers perform once October arrives. But it would behoove them to set themselves up with home-field advantage, especially as their pitching staff has taken huge hits of late with Brandon Woodruff and José Quintana hitting the injured list.

The Brewers will send righty Quinn Priester, who has had a remarkable 13-2 season, to the mound on Friday night. Milwaukee has won an incredible 19 games in a row that Priester has started entering play, and because it does not have announced starters for Saturday and Sunday's games, they'd be best off winning number 20.

First pitch from American Family Field against the desperate Reds will be at 7:10 p.m. CT.

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