Sep 25, 2019 4 min read

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their second straight postseason appearance Wednesday night, with Ryan Braun’s grand slam sparking a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds that also tightened the NL Central race.

The Brewers have won six in a row and 17 of 19 despite losing MVP Christian Yelich to a broken kneecap, vaulting from also-ran to at least a wild card. There’s more at their fingertips – the division-leading Cardinals lost again on Wednesday, slicing their lead over the Brewers to 1½ games.

Milwaukee trails Washington by one game for the wild card lead.

The Brewers jogged onto the field and formed a scrum by second base after when Junior Guerra got Christian Colon on a grounder for the final out.

A sizzlin’ September topped off by a bubbly celebration. Nobody does it better than these Brewers.

Last season, they raced from a five-game deficit to the NL Central title by going 19-6 after Sept. 1. They caught the Cubs and won a tiebreaker at Wrigley Field, then swept the Rockies and reached the NL Championship Series before losing in seven games to the Dodgers.

They’ve pulled off another improbable run with manager Craig Counsell’s outside-the-box resourcefulness, the bullpen’s imperviousness and the offense’s ability to find a new star each game with everything on the line.

Braun – the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year and 2011 NL Most Valuable Player – has found his touch during this current winning streak.

Braun had a solo shot in a 4-2 win in the series opener, and got the celebration started early Wednesday with his eighth career grand slam in the first inning. Teammates were on their feet, leaning against the dugout railing in anticipation of a big night, when he connected off Tyler Mahle (2-12).

When Eric Thames followed with another homer, Brewers players jubilantly smacked the green padding atop the dugout railing – the party was on. Keston Hiura also connected off Mahle, whose last win was May 31.

Starter Jordan Lyles (12-8) contributed an infield single and scored a run during the Brewers’ surge to an 8-1 lead after three innings.

Minnesota 5, Detroit 1: Luis Arraez and Eddie Rosario powered Minnesota to another victory. Then the Twins began waiting and hoping.

They were on the cusp of an AL Central title.

Arraez and Rosario homered, and Randy Dobnak allowed one hit in six sparkling innings to lead Minnesota to a 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. With the victory, the Twins clinched at least a tie for the division – and they had a chance to wrap up the title outright if Cleveland lost to the Chicago White Sox.

That game was on in the Minnesota clubhouse, where the Twins ate, played cards and waited calmly for a possible celebration.

“I hope it does happen,” said Rocco Baldelli, Minnesota’s first-year manager. “There’s no way to know the way anything’s going to play out going forward, but I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position. We’ll just wait and see.”

Arizona 9, St. Louis 7: A lineup of almost all reserves wasn’t enough for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt grounded into a game-ending double play with two runners on base and the NL Central-leading Cardinals fell short during a ninth-inning rally, losing to the Diamondbacks 9-7 Wednesday.

Toronto 3, Baltimore 2: Rowdy Tellez hit two solo home runs, Jacob Waguespack pitched six shutout innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Wednesday night.

Billy McKinney also hit a solo home run as the Blue Jays denied Baltimore a third road series win north of the border. The Orioles won two of three at Toronto from April 1 to 3, then again from July 5-7, two of their four road series wins this season.

Tellez hit a leadoff drive against right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (1-10) in the fourth, then followed up with an opposite-field shot off left-hander Paul Fry to begin the sixth.

The Cardinals, who went with a lineup of reserves to give their typical starters some rest after a 19-inning game, had their division lead cut to 1 ½ games by Milwaukee, which beat Cincinnati 9-2.