Brewers and Dodgers Win Divisions in Game 163 of the Season

While it has happened once in a season, this year for the first time ever, two baseball divisions ended the regular season with two teams tied for first place in each, forcing an additional regular season game to decide the winner. In the National League Central, the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs met in their Game 163 in Chicago on October 1st, while the Colorado Rockies took on the Los Angeles Dodgers in L.A. for the N.L. West. These are considered regular season games for statistical purposes, not playoffs. The winning teams of each game would be division champs, while the losing teams would be Wild Cards, so all was not lost for those clubs.

In Chicago, the Brewers’ Orlando Arcia had four hits, and Christian Yelich added three more as the Brewers capped off a great last month of the regular season by beating the Cubs 3-1. Yelich finished the season with a league leading .326 batting average, 36 homers (tied for 3rd), 110 RBIs (tied for 2nd), .598 slugging percentage (1st), 1.000 OPS (1st), 7.4 WAR (best in NL position players) and 22 stolen bases. His performance down the stretch, guiding the Brewers to the division lead, has almost assuredly earned him Most Valuable Player honors. The Brewers improved to 96-67, which not only won the Central, it’s also the best record in the National League, so Milwaukee will have home field advantage in the upcoming Division Series as well as the NL Championship series.

In L.A. the Dodgers beat the Rockies 5-2 to claim their sixth straight West title. The defending N.L champion Dodgers got off to a 16-26 start, but finished up at 92-71. The Dodgers will have home field advantage in their Division Series against the N.L East winning Atlanta Braves. The Cubs and Rockies will play in the one game Wild Card game in Chicago on October 2nd, with the winner playing the Brewers in the Division Series.