The 2018 National League Central tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's (MLB) 2018 regular season, played between the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

to determine the champion of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

's (NL) Central Division. It was played at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on October 1, 2018. The Brewers won, 3–1, and became the top seed in the NL playoffs. The Cubs hosted the NL West runner-up

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the NL Wild Card Game on October 2, with the Rockies winning 2–1 in 13 innings to advance to face the Brewers in the

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ...

. The Cubs and Brewers ended the 2018 season tied for the division lead and the NL's best

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

at , thereby guaranteeing that whoever came in second will host the Wild Card Game two days later. The tie-breaker was counted as a regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics. October 1 also marked the first time two division tie-breakers had been played in a single season.

Background

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

had won two consecutive

National League Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

division championships, and were expected to win a third-consecutive Division title. The

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 Lorenzo Lamar Cain (born April 13, 1986) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Kansas City Royals. The Brewers drafted him in the ...

and then-

Marlins The marlin is a large billfish sometimes also known as the ''spearfish.'' Marlin may also refer to: Places *Marlín, Castile-Leon, a village in Spain *Marlin, Texas, city in Falls County, Texas, United States Sports *Cincinnati Marlins, a swim t ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Christian Yelich Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Miami Marlins. The Marlins selected Yelich in the first r ...

. The Cubs' high-profile offseason acquisitions,

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

and

Brandon Morrow Brandon John Morrow (born July 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. Amateu ...

, 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 St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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.

Game summary

José Quintana José Guillermo Quintana (born January 24, 1989) is a Colombian professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, San ...

started for Chicago, and

Jhoulys Chacín Jhoulys Jose Chacín Molina ( ; born January 7, 1988) is an American-Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padre ...

started for Milwaukee.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

broadcast the game, with

Karl Ravech Karl Ravech (; born ) is an American journalist who works as the primary play by play commentator for '' Sunday Night Baseball''.Eduardo Pérez Eduardo Atanasio Pérez Pérez (born September 11, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and current television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league a ...

Tim Kurkjian Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and ''SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to '' ESPN The Magazine'' and ''ESPN.com''. On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was named ...

, and

Buster Olney Robert "Buster" Olney (born ) is an American sports journalist for ESPN, ''ESPN: The Magazine'', and ESPN.com. He previously covered the New York Giants and New York Yankees for ''The New York Times''. He is also a regular analyst for the ES ...

. The game was also broadcast on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

, with

Jason Benetti Jason Benetti (born September 9, 1983) is an American sportscaster. Since 2016, he has been the primary television play-by-play announcer of Chicago White Sox baseball. He is also the alternate play-by-play announcer of Chicago Bulls basketball f ...

and Chris Singleton.

had a

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI)

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

for the Brewers in the third inning.

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

of the Cubs tied the game with a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

in the fifth inning, the first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

the Cubs had off of Chacín.

and

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and f ...

of the Brewers added RBI singles in the eighth inning.

Orlando Arcia Orlando Jesús Arcia (born August 4, 1994) is a Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Milwaukee Brewers signed Arcia as an international free agent in 2010. He made his MLB debut in ...

had his first career four hit game and scored two of Milwaukee's runs.

Aftermath

With the win, the Brewers extended their regular-season win streak to 9 and qualified for home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Finishing one loss behind the Brewers, the Cubs hosted the 2018 NL Wild Card Game and the

NL West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

runner-up Rockies the following day. Colorado defeated the Cubs in 13 innings. It was Chicago's first opening-round exit since the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

swept the Cubs in the

2008 NLDS The 2008 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2008 National League playoffs, began on Wednesday, October 1 and ended on Sunday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL divisions and one wild card team participat ...

. Milwaukee swept the Rockies in the

NLDS In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

, but their win streak ended at 14 in the

2018 NLCS The 2018 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Milwaukee Brewers against the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the National League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the 2018 World Series against the AL Champions ...

when the

beat Milwaukee 4–3 on October 13, the Brewers' first loss in 27 days. L.A. would win the NL pennant at

Miller Park American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...

in seven games. Yellich won the NL

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

over Baez, who finished in second. Both men won Silver Slugger awards and finished as Gold Glove runners up at their respective positions. Rizzo, Cain, Brewers third baseman

Travis Shaw Travis Richard Shaw (born April 16, 1990) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays—his nickname is Mayor of ...

and Cubs right fielder

Jason Heyward Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989), nicknamed "J-Hey" is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals ...

were also

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

runners up. Brewers

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Craig Counsell Craig John Counsell (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional baseball player who is the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Counsell became the Brewers' manager in May 2015; he became the longest-te ...

would finish second in NL

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

voting, losing to

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

manager

Brian Snitker Brian Gerald Snitker (born October 17, 1955) is an American professional baseball coach and former player who is the manager of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Snitker has been in the Braves organization in different roles si ...

. This game, along with the NL West tie-breaker game, would be the last such tie-breaker games in Major League Baseball, as the league eliminated this scenario starting with the 2022 season. All ties in the standings would be broken through various formulas.

Footnotes

References

General

* * * *

Specific

{{MLBtiebreaker 2010s in Chicago National League Central tie-breaker game National League Central tie-breaker game Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball tie-breaker games Milwaukee Brewers National League Central tie-breaker game Wrigley Field