The Brewers Have Nothing Left to Clinch and Keep Winning Anyway

The Brewers locked up home-field advantage for the whole postseason on Thursday. On Friday they played like it still mattered.

It was tied 4-4 in the eighth when Jackson Chourio led off with a single. Justin Bruihl came in and hit David Hamilton, who was squaring to bunt, with his first pitch. Garrett Mitchell bunted too, and Bruihl threw it high to first, loading the bases. Brice Turang slapped a grounder through the drawn-in infield for two runs, William Contreras singled in another and Jake Bauers added a sacrifice fly. Milwaukee won 8-4 for its 101st win. Turang had three hits, two of them doubles.

The Cardinals had come back from 4-1 down in the seventh, when Jordan Walker led off with a homer and Alec Burleson hooked a two-run shot off the right-field foul pole, both against Bryse Wilson, back from the injured list that day.

Gasser's audition

The most useful thing for October may have been Robert Gasser. He struck out a career-high nine and gave up one hit, Iván Herrera's solo homer, in six innings. Over his last four outings he has allowed three runs in 22 2/3 innings, dropping his ERA from 4.57 to 3.87, and he's pitching for a spot in the playoff rotation.

Update

Turang was at it again on Saturday, hitting a go-ahead home run in a 3-2 win over St. Louis that gave Milwaukee its 102nd victory.