Brewers clinch NL Central for third straight season, eye MLB’s best record

Despite the Chicago Cubs’ best efforts to reclaim the division they once held, the Milwaukee Brewers are once again NL Central champions. The Brewers were able to clinch the division for the third consecutive season after the Cubs fell to the Reds 1-0.

YOUR MILWAUKEE BREWERS ARE NL CENTRAL CHAMPS FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON 🏆#MagicBrew pic.twitter.com/bm0HzxVOou

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 21, 2025

In clinching the NL Central, Milwaukee became the second club to clinch its division, after the Philadelphia Phillies marched to a decisive win of the NL East. Now, the Brewers will look to finish with baseball’s best record. At 95-61, the Brewers are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies for MLB’s best mark.

As it stands, the Brewers are all but guaranteed one of the NL’s top two seeds, giving Milwaukee a first-round bye. However, if the Brewers were to finish with the league’s best record, Milwaukee would have home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs and the World Series if it advanced that far.

That first-round bye will likely prove critical for a Brewers club that has absorbed significant injuries in the season’s final days. Prior to Sunday’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers placed Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list with a strained lat. The injury will keep Woodruff out of the remainder of the regular season and puts his postseason availability at risk.

Earlier in the week, the Brewers placed Jose Quintana on the 15-day IL with a calf strain, knocking him out of the regular season and potentially October as well. Beyond Woodruff and Quintana, Milwaukee is still without closer Trevor Megill, who has not bounced back from his right flexor strain, as well as reliever DL Hall, who is recovering from an oblique strain.

(Photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)