2018 National League Central Tiebreaker

Lore & Background

Chicago had won two consecutive National League Central Division championships, and were expected to win a third-consecutive division title. The Milwaukee Brewers finished 2017 six games back of the Cubs, despite leading the 2017 division race by 5.5 games at the All-Star break. Milwaukee's last playoff appearance was its 2011 division title. To challenge for the 2018 division, the Brewers made several key offseason acquisitions, among them starter Jhoulys Chacin, former Kansas City Royal Lorenzo Cain and then-Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich.

The Cubs' high-profile offseason acquisitions, Yu Darvish and Brandon Morrow, were lost to injury during the season, and both missed the tie-breaker game. Milwaukee emerged from a crowded early division race on May 18. Chicago took the division lead from the Brewers on July 14 and maintained sole possession of first place until falling to a third-place St. Louis club at home in the penultimate game of the season. Chicago had surged out of the All-Star break to a five-game lead over the Brewers lead on September 2, but Milwaukee put together a 19–7 September record that included four wins over the Cubs in nine days.

The Brewers ended the season on an 8-game win streak, while the Cubs won their final game 10–5 over the Cards to force the tiebreaker. The Cubs won the right to host the tie-breaker with an 11–8 head-to-head record against the Brewers.

Reader's Guide

José Quintana started for Chicago, and Jhoulys Chacín started for Milwaukee. ESPN broadcast the game, with Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, Tim Kurkjian, and Buster Olney. The game was also broadcast on ESPN Radio, with Jason Benetti and Chris Singleton. Christian Yelich had a run batted in (RBI) single for the Brewers in the third inning. Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs tied the game with a home run in the fifth inning, the first hit the Cubs had off of Chacín. Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun of the Brewers added RBI singles in the eighth inning. Orlando Arcia had his first career four hit game and scored two of Milwaukee's runs.

Did You Know?

• The tie-breaker was counted as a regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.
• With the win, the Brewers extended their regular-season win streak to 9 and qualified for home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.