Despite the loss, Peralta credits his successful outing to staying on his plan
Brewers starter Freddy Peralta struggled at times against the San Francisco Giants, yet in the end, he gave up no runs during five innings on Saturday, Aug. 23, at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Brewers headed into their Sept. 13 game against the St. Louis Cardinals presumably looking for one win or a loss by the San Francisco Giants or New York Mets to lock up a playoff berth in the 2025 postseason.
The thing is: Milwaukee actually already seem to have a spot locked up. Though Major League Baseball hasn’t announced it, there’s no scenario in which the Brewers miss out on at least the No. 6 seed in the National League.
Here’s why the Brewers already clinched a playoff spot before Sept. 13
The magic number for the Brewers (90-58) to finish ahead of the Giants or the Mets is 1, heading into Sept. 13. Both foes have 72 losses, and the best they can do is win the rest of their games (while the Brewers lose all of theirs), locking all three into records of 90-72 at year’s end.
Milwaukee only needs to finish ahead of one of those teams. The only other teams that can post better records than the Brewers are the Phillies, Dodgers, Padres and Cubs, and six teams make the playoffs. So again, Milwaukee only needs to pass either the Giants or Mets.
And since the best those teams can do is tie the Brewers, we’d have a three-way tiebreaker. Using MLB’s tiebreaking procedures, the Giants would be awarded the No. 5 seed (second wild card) by virtue of their record against the Brewers and Mets. That leaves the Mets and Brewers battling for the last spot, and the process now reverts to a two-team tiebreaker. Since the Brewers won the season series against the Mets, that’s Milwaukee’s playoff spot.
What about tiebreakers if other teams get involved?
There are other scenarios in which additional teams get involved in a tiebreaker, but the Brewers make the playoffs in every one. Remember, the only way this is even a conversation is if the Giants and Mets win out and the Brewers lose out. So all scenarios have to involve those three teams (and cannot, by extension, involve any teams that already have 73 losses).
Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Padres: Padres win the tiebreaker for the National League West with the Giants, leaving us back where we started with the three-team tiebreaker involving the Brewers, Mets and Giants (see above). If the Dodgers win the West and these are all wild-card teams, the Padres get the No. 4 seed, the Giants the 5 and the Brewers the 6.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Dodgers: For this to matter, the Giants need to win the rest of their games, and that means securing the tiebreaker for the West over the Dodgers. In a three-team fight between the Mets, Brewers and Dodgers, the Brewers have the best record against the others and get the second wild card. If the Padres win the West and these are all wild-card teams, the Brewers get the No. 4 seed.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Cubs: The Cubs win the tiebreaker over the Brewers for the Central, leaving us back with the initial three-team tiebreaker that we’ve already discussed that gets the Brewers in as the final wild card. Even if more teams get involved in a multi-team tiebreaker, the Cubs would always peel off as the Central champion.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Phillies: The Mets win the tiebreaker for the NL East, leaving the Phillies, Giants and Brewers. The Giants get the No. 5 seed (second wild card) by virtue of best record against the other two teams. The Brewers get the No. 6 spot because they have a 4-2 record against the Phillies this year.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Padres and Dodgers: The Padres win the West. We are left with Brewers-Mets-Giants-Dodgers, a scenario discussed above that ends with the Brewers getting the No. 4 seed.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Padres and Phillies: The Mets win the East and the Padres win the West. We are left with Phillies-Giants-Brewers, a scenario we’ve already discussed that ends with the Brewers getting the No. 6 seed. If the Dodgers have won the West, we’re left with Brewers-Giants-Padres-Phillies for three wild-card spots. The Padres get the No. 4 seed, leaving us with Brewers-Giants-Phillies. The Giants get the No. 5 seed, leaving us with Brewers and Phillies. The Brewers win the head-to-head and get the No. 6 seed.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Phillies and Dodgers: The Mets win the East and the Giants win the West. That leaves Brewers-Phillies-Dodgers, and the Brewers have winning records against both to earn the No. 5 seed (second wild card). If the Padres finish with a better record and win the West, we’re left with Brewers-Giants-Phillies-Dodgers for three wild-card spots. The Giants get the No. 4 seed, leaving us with Brewers-Phillies-Dodgers. The Brewers get the No. 5 seed.Brewers, Mets, Giants tie with Phillies, Dodgers and Padres. The Mets win the East, and the Padres win the West, and we are left with Brewers-Phillies-Dodgers, which we previously discussed gets Milwaukee the No. 5 seed (second wild card).