Brewers Blast Reds 20-0 to Clinch First NL Playoff Berth

Milwaukee routed Cincinnati 20-0 behind its first grand slam of the season, becoming the first National League team to clinch a 2026 playoff spot.

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their postseason berth in the most emphatic way possible Friday night, shutting out the Cincinnati Reds 20-0 at American Family Field. Milwaukee blitzed Reds starter Andrew Abbott for nine hits and eight runs in the first two innings, then piled on eight more runs in the fifth. Garrett Mitchell hit the team's first grand slam of the season in that fifth inning, while Brice Turang, Jake Bauers and William Contreras also homered and Jackson Chourio collected four hits. Dustin May earned the win with six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six.

The win moved Milwaukee to 92-56, the best record in baseball, and made the Brewers the first NL club to secure a playoff spot in 2026. The Brewers have not finished a full season under .500 in a decade and have been at or above .500 all year, holding first place in the NL Central since May 19.

Milwaukee's dominance is built on balance rather than stars alone. The club ranks fourth in baseball with a .745 OPS and fourth in stolen bases, sits second in team ERA, and has 41 defensive runs saved, per The New York Times. Young ace Jacob Misiorowski leads all of baseball with 236 strikeouts, highlighted by a 104-mph fastball, and USA Today credits a rotation behind him featuring second-year right-hander Logan Henderson. The Brewers also beat back their closest challenger, winning nine of 13 against the Cubs this year, including a home sweep this week.

Despite the most prosperous era in franchise history, Milwaukee has never won a World Series — its only pennant came in 1982, when it lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers finally broke a streak of five consecutive playoff series losses by winning the 2025 NLDS over the Cubs, only to be swept by the eventual champion Dodgers. CBS Sports argues this could be the year: the Brewers are beginning to hit for power, ranking top 12 in home runs since Aug. 18 with Chourio finding his power stroke, and top NL rivals like the Dodgers and Braves are showing cracks.

According to CBS Sports, the October plan is to ride Misiorowski and Henderson four times in a best-of-seven series, with Henderson owning a 2.34 ERA in 16 starts and never allowing more than three runs in any of them — a 1-2 punch few teams can match. Questions remain behind them, as Kyle Harrison's recent fade leaves the rest of the rotation unsettled, per USA Today. Securing a first-round bye is the priority: Milwaukee holds a five-game lead over Atlanta for that assurance, per USA Today, which also reports a 1.5-game edge over the Dodgers for the NL's top seed.

The Brewers need little help to finish the job. They lead the Cubs by 10 games in the NL Central with just 14 remaining, though outlets differ on the exact clinch number: USA Today puts the division magic number at three, while WISN reports it at four. Once the division is secured, Milwaukee would host an NL Division Series Game 1 on Saturday, Oct. 3, per USA Today. The Brewers could also become baseball's first 100-win team since 2023, per CBS Sports, and may look to ease the load on an excellent bullpen before the postseason begins.