But not only in payroll and star power.
Also on the baseball field. Where it really matters.
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After compiling the majors’ best record during the regular season, the struggling Brewers seemed capable of beating anyone, until they ran into Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Milwaukee managed just four runs and 14 hits in a four-game sweep of the Dodgers that left the Brewers within reach of the World Series once again. The team’s only pennant came in 1982, when Milwaukee was in the American League.
“The performances of the Dodger pitchers basically lowered the hammer,” Murphy said.
Before the series, Murphy did his best to paint a David versus Goliath picture, calling the Dodgers “a powerhouse” and joking that he was “sure most Dodger players can’t name eight guys” on a Milwaukee underdog roster he had referred to as “Average Joes.”
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The defending World Series champion Dodgers are set to spend a record $509.5 million on projected payroll and luxury taxes this year. The Brewers play in the smallest market in the major leagues, and their total payroll of $124.8 million doesn’t even come close to Los Angeles’ projected luxury tax bill of nearly $168 million.
Still, the NL Central champion Brewers went 97-65 this season and won all six meetings with the NL West champion Dodgers (93-69), although those games came in July, before a banged-up Los Angeles team bounced back.
When they met in the playoffs, it was a different story. Milwaukee scored just one run in each of the four games and Ohtani dealt the final blow with an epic display on Friday night.
The two-way superstar launched three home runs at the plate and struck out 10 in six-plus shutout innings of two-hit ball on the mound as Los Angeles reached the World Series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4.
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“I imagine that’s probably one of the best games anyone’s ever played in baseball,” Brewers slugger Christian Yelich said. “He just had an incredible performance tonight. He’s the best player in the game for a reason and he definitely showed it tonight.”
In a regular season to savor, Milwaukee had stingy pitchers, played tight defense, moved runners and got timely hits.
But against the Dodgers, the Brewers were outplayed.
A grueling five-game Division Series against the rival Chicago Cubs and a tight 2-1 loss in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series seemed to sap Milwaukee’s energy.
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“I think we obviously had some guys that weren’t feeling good at the plate and we had a couple of them at the same time,” said Yelich, who was 1 for 14 in the series with seven strikeouts. “It’s unfortunate that those difficult moments occur at the same time.”
After left-hander Aaron Ashby was used as a starter twice in three games, the Brewers chose veteran left-hander José Quintana to start Game 4. But his location style and low-speed breaking balls didn’t work on Friday as Ohtani stole the show.
“It’s really hard to do one, and he did two things at the same time,” Quintana said, marveling at Ohtani’s feat. “You stop for a second and look at this guy, he’s unbelievable. We stuck with the plan and it was a great night for him… It wasn’t the way we wanted it to end, but at the same time, it was an incredible season for us.”
Instead of a dark and somber tone in the locker room, the Brewers hugged each other and patted each other on the back. Instead of waiting a few weeks after the sudden disappointment to appreciate more than six months of success, they dulled the pain of elimination with gratitude.
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“Yeah, I think you guys can feel it,” outfielder Blake Perkins said. “We all believe in each other and we love each other. We preached a lot this year about the power of friendship and I think that’s it. It’s really cool to be a part of it. We may not all play together again, so we’re just doing our best to look around and enjoy what we have.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB