'Revenge is the sweetest joy': Cardinals celebrate NL Central title at Brewers' home stadium

In 2018, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched a playoff spot in St. Louis when Adolis García tripped and fell rounding third base for what would have been a game-tying run.

When the Cardinals returned the favor, clinching the division title in Milwaukee on Tuesday and soaking the visitor’s clubhouse at American Family Field with Champagne and beer – lots and lots of beer – it wasn't because of a sudden trip and fall but a slow, slippery slide.

“We just didn’t really play well enough,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s this field, their field or another field. We just didn’t really play well enough all season to deserve winning the division. You get what you deserve in sports a lot and we just, for whatever reason, weren’t able to put it all together.”

Entering the regular season, the National League Central was pegged as a two-horse race, one expected to come down to the wire between the Brewers and Cardinals. It was shaping up that way all the way through the end of July.

At the end of both April and May, the Brewers led by three games. That lead dipped to a single game at the completion of June but jumped back to three by the time the calendar flipped to August.

“It’s a good ballclub over there,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “They’re managed well. They got a good roster and they play really solid baseball, so we knew it’d be tight. They compete extremely well. We respect the heck out of them. It was a good race, for sure.”

Everything that happened after July ended, though?  

Well, that’s the reason the Cardinals were gazing through dark beer goggles late into the night Tuesday and, across the hall, the Brewers were glancing quietly at their phones. 

The heated race for the Central turned out to be anything but. The Brewers lost 10 games in the standings over a 25-day stretch beginning in early August. They never pulled closer than within 6 ½ games in September. 

There was no drama leading up to the Cardinals clinch. It was an inevitability for weeks. 

“I think when teams play well they have a lot of players contributing to the effort,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Watching from afar, they've played well in all facets of the game. They've scored a whole bunch of runs. They have a whole bunch of hitters playing at a very high level.”  

It would have taken excellent baseball, to be fair, from Milwaukee over the past two months to keep up with that type of pace from St. Louis. But that it wasn’t even quasi-competitive – much like the clincher, a 6-2 win for the Cards – is an indictment of the lackluster play from the Brewers as the summer faded.  

On July 30, the Brewers were 57-44, a season high-tying four games up on the Cardinals. St Louis stood at 53-48. Since then, the Cardinals are 37-17; the Brewers are 25-28. 

Highlighting the Cardinals’ run to the Central crown was a record chase from Albert Pujols, awards chases from Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Ryan Helsley and a more-than-healthy dose of nostalgia involving Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Pujols. 

Flying under the radar, though, was organizational depth, a bevy of breakout performances and a trade deadline that not only didn’t directly blow up in the team’s face but actually made them better. 

Counsell pointed to Lars Nootbaar, the Cardinals outfielder whose second-half run from guy with a fun name to top-of-the-lineup masher embodies why St. Louis has seemingly clicked on all cylinders. As cries of “Noooot!” rang through the celebration after the game, it seems like St. Louis could do the same.

Nootbaar entered the series with a .924 OPS and a 160 wRC+ that ranks fifth among all National League hitters since July 5. Only two players in all of baseball have walked at a higher clip in that time. Before that date, he was batting .139 with a .472 OPS.

"A lot of people said, 'Hey go out and get Juan Soto or this and that,'" Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas said. "I'd be curious to see who has more home runs since the trade deadline, Juan Soto or Lars Nootbaar. I'd bet it's Lars."

Mikolas' estimation was correct. And contributions from young players like Nootbaar is one of the biggest separators between St. Louis and Milwaukee this year.

Brendan Donovan, a rookie who began the year in the minors as a mildly-regarded prospect, would lead the Brewers with his 126 wRC+ this year. Juan Yepez has a 116 wRC+ and batted in the middle of the lineup much of the year. Andre Pallante has thrown 104 innings with a 3.11 earned run average. Zack Thompson has thrown 31 ⅔ innings with a 1.99 ERA.  

“I think that’s a testament to our organization and the way we develop players,” veteran infielder Paul DeJong said. “We just know we have guys that will step up. We welcome them and we’re happy to get the production from everyone, top to bottom.” 

The Brewers? The contributions from their organizational depth were minimal. Sure, Peter Strzelecki has been a pleasant surprise out of the bullpen, but aside from that all there is to point to are Jonathan Davis, Jason Alexander and a month of Garrett Mitchell. 

Then, ah yes, there are the trades. 

It didn’t necessarily make the biggest splash at the time, but the Cardinals’ acquisitions of José Quintana, Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton bolstered a pitching staff in dire need of some reinforcements. They worked, too. 

Combined, the trio has been worth two wins above replacement in less than two months. Quintana has a 2.14 ERA in 10 starts, during which St. Louis is 9-1. Montgomery has a 3.12 ERA and the Cardinals are 7-3 when he pitches. Stratton has a 2.79 ERA in 17 games out of the bullpen.

The Brewers went in the opposite direction. They touted how they strengthened the middle of their bullpen and, to be fair, added arms with proven track records, but it all backfired. Taylor Rogers has been worth -0.7 wins above replacement and -0.9 win percentage added. Matt Bush, a -0.4 WAR and -0.7 WPA. Rogers has allowed the second-most homers of any NL reliever since the trade; Bush is tied for the third-most. 

Josh Hader has experienced his fair share of struggles since being traded to San Diego in a shocking move, but still has a higher win percentage added than both Rogers and Bush. 

“It was odd to see the moves,” said Mikolas, Tuesday’s winning pitcher, said of the Brewers trading Hader away. “But we knew that on our side we got some great pitchers. We were in a position to win with who we had and maybe were just a piece or two short. Our front office here seems to get exactly what we need.”

Seeing the Brewers stumble immediately out of the blocks post-deadline caught the Cardinals’ eye, Mikolas and others said. It just so happened that was the same time that St. Louis hit its stride. 

“I don’t know if I’d say it’s odd, but it’s certainly some kind of phenomenon that ever since I got here we’ve been a really good second half team,” Mikolas said. “It’s almost this feeling that, you know how some horses break late? I feel like there’s a sense that if we can just get to a certain point before the all-star break that the front office will go out and get what we need. And once we get what we need, we know it’s time to make a run.” 

This year, the Cardinals, simply, were better. At hitting. At defense. At meeting expectations as a pitching staff. At maneuvering the trade deadline. At getting output from their stars. 

At just about everything. 

They weren’t better for the entirety of the 162-game regular season, but they were for the two months that mattered most.

Their reward came in the form of snatching the division, one the Brewers believed at the outset of spring training was theirs to lose. To seal it in Milwaukee, returning the favor on a rival four years later, was something they savored.

“I don’t know who said it but revenge is the sweetest joy next to eating ice cream,” Mikolas said. “And we’re all out of ice cream.”