Now that the Milwaukee Brewers are headed to their seventh postseason in eight years, the franchise has built up a fairly deep pool of playoff experience, albeit one that features just one World Series and zero championships.
As Brewers fans prepare for the 2025 National League Division Series, perhaps wondering who will author the next great Brewers moment, here’s a look at the biggest moments in Brewers playoff history … for now. Remember, Game 163 in 2018 counts as a regular-season game, so you won’t see it mentioned here:
22. Yuniesky Betancourt bloops the Brewers into the lead (Game 5, 2011 NLDS)
Betancourt posted a pedestrian .652 OPS during the regular season, but he was dynamite in the playoffs, posting 13 hits in 42 at-bats (.310 average, .826 OPS) with a triple and double. This was just a single, blooped into the outfield during the sixth inning of the deciding NLDS game against Arizona, prompting a wild burst of energy from the Miller Park crowd. The Brewers had just missed driving in a run one batter earlier, when Jerry Hairston’s deep fly to center was snared on a great catch by Chris Young. No matter, as Betancourt’s two-out delivery scored Ryan Braun with a go-ahead strike. The theatrics didn’t stop there.
21. Salomón Torres escapes in the ninth (Game 3, 2008 NLDS)
The 2008 playoff series was fairly forgettable, though the Brewers did land their first playoff win since 1982 in a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia in Game 3. But they had to fight for that one, too. Each of the first three batters reached base against closer Salomón Torres, loading the bases with nobody out. But Milwaukee’s luck turned when Pedro Feliz hit a grounder to third that began a double play, and interim manager Dale Sveum appealed to umpires that Shane Victorino had impeded Craig Counsell’s relay throw at second base. The umps agreed, so Ryan Howard had to return to third. Torres then ended the inning with a comebacker, and Milwaukee had a victory.
20. Rowdy breaks the scoreless tie (Game 1, 2021 NLDS)
Corbin Burnes had thrown six strong innings but was already out of the game in a 0-0 tie in the seventh, with Adrian Houser fresh off a scoreless inning of his own. And though the Brewers’ offensive struggles had been well-documented and continued throughout the duration of the series, they got a flash of power in the seventh inning, when Rowdy Tellez parked a two-run homer against Atlanta starter Charlie Morton, four pitches after Avisaíl García was struck by a pitch leading off the game. Milwaukee held on to that tenuous lead for a 2-1 win, the lone playoff win in the last 10 Brewers postseason attempts.
19. The Game 5 switcheroo (Game 5, 2018 NLCS)
It didn’t lead to a win, but it definitely got a lot of people talking. Left-handed starter Wade Miley was on track to pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a series tied at 2-2, and Miley indeed faced leadoff hitter Cody Bellinger, issuing a walk. Out popped manager Craig Counsell, who had kept it close to the vest that he anticipated using right-hander Brandon Woodruff for the game, and he subbed Miley out after one at-bat. The Dodgers, who had set a lineup anticipating a left-hander, weren’t happy with the subterfuge, though the idea of an “opener” has become practically commonplace in the years since. Woodruff hit the next batter with a pitch but escaped the inning. Still, the strategy didn’t pay off, as the Brewers lost, 5-2.
18. Prince Fielder’s bomb flips the scoreboard in NLCS opener (Game 1, 2011 NLCS)
The Brewers took a 9-6 win in Game 1 of the 2011 NLCS against St. Louis, a brief moment when it felt like this team was on track to reach the World Series. Fans will remember the ultimate outcome, a 4-2 series loss, but they may forget that this first outcome was very much in doubt when the Brewers trailed in the sixth, 5-2.
Then came the six-run sixth inning. The big blow was Prince Fielder’s two-run blast that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead, one pitch after Ryan Braun had plated two runs with a ground-rule double. Betancourt followed with another two-run homer in the inning, and the Brewers were on their way to an NLCS Game 1 victory.
17. The Brewers rally for six runs in the World Series (Game 4, 1982 World Series)
The six-run rally in 2011 was reminiscent of another massive bounceback in the 1982 World Series, when the Brewers stared down the prospect of going down to the Cardinals, three games to one, given a 5-1 deficit in the seventh frame. Then came a dropped comebacker by pitcher Dave LaPoint, who’d been traded to the Cardinals from Milwaukee in a blockbuster that brought Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich to Milwaukee before the 1981 season. That allowed Ben Oglivie to reach first base, though there were two outs with nobody in when the runs started scoring.
Jim Gantner doubled in a run, Robin Yount and Cecil Cooper both singled one in to tie the game, and Gorman Thomas hit a two-run single to give Milwaukee a 7-5 lead. That’s what the final score wound up being, and the Brewers knotted the series, 2-2.
16. Pete Ladd closes it down for the World Series (Game 5, 1982 ALCS)
Ladd was a 25-year-old rookie in 1982, having worked just 18 innings during the regular season as he tried to fill in for an injured Rollie Fingers. He didn’t allow a run in four innings during the postseason, but his most memorable work came in the ninth of the ALCS winner-take-all battle. After allowing a leadoff single, Ladd retired Bob Boone on a sacrifice, then got groundouts from Brian Downing and Hall of Famer Rod Carew to send Milwaukee to its first (and thus far, only) World Series.
15. Brewers take the lead in Game 7 (Game 7, 1982 World Series)
For a brief flicker, Milwaukee fans could envision a world championship.
The Brewers went into the sixth of the winner-take-all game of the 1982 World Series tied at 1-1, but the Brewers took the lead with two scores. Paul Molitor’s bunt to third base was thrown away, allowing Gantner to score from second, and Cooper went on to add a sacrifice fly. The Cardinals, unfortunately, added three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, and they went on to win, 6-3.
14. Paul Molitor’s late homer keeps the Brewers alive (Game 3, 1981 ALDS)
The strike-split 1981 postseason had an unusual format for the time, a divisional series between the first-half and second-half winners in the American League East. That pitted the Brewers against the Yankees, but New York won the first two games at County Stadium in Milwaukee’s first playoff trip, swinging the series back to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored twice against Fingers in the seventh to tie the game in Game 3, 3-3, but Molitor led off the eighth with a home run, just beyond the reach of leaping Dave Winfield, and the Brewers went on to win, 5-3. Milwaukee won the next game, too, before falling in Game 5.
13. Marshall Edwards makes the catch (Game 5, 1982 ALCS)
The Brewers had a 4-3 lead in the eighth against California, having taken a dramatic lead in the seventh at County Stadium. In the eighth, Don Baylor hit a deep drive to center that appeared on track to leave the stadium, but center fielder Marshall Edwards, filling in for injured Thomas, flew into the wall to make the grab and record the second out of the inning. Doug DeCinces singled one batter later, meaning Baylor could have scored if the ball had been a double or worse. Instead, California didn’t score, and the Brewers held their one-run lead to clinch a World Series berth.
12. Paul Molitor’s inside-the-park home run (Game 2, 1982 ALCS)
It came in the context of a 4-2 loss, but it was still a wild moment. Molitor’s liner to center rolled all the way to the wall after Fred Lynn’s failed attempt at a diving catch, and Molitor motored around to score easily, ahead of a throw to the plate. Charlie Moore also scored on the play, meaning it was Milwaukee’s only run-scoring play of the game, and the Brewers took a 2-0 series deficit back to Milwaukee, needing to sweep three games to advance. And guess what?
11. Robin Yount gives the Brewers control of the World Series (Game 5, 1982 World Series)
After George Hendrick’s two-out single in the seventh brought St. Louis to within 3-2, Robin Yount took Bob Forsch deep in the bottom of the seventh, a two-out, opposite-field blast that replenished Milwaukee’s lead to 4-2 in a pivotal game of the World Series. County Stadium went berserk for Yount’s fourth hit of the game. Milwaukee’s insurance runs in the eighth held up in the 6-4 win that gave the Brewers a 3-2 series lead and put them one win away from a title.
10. The Mark Brouhard Game (Game 4, 1982 ALCS)
Every postseason run needs an unlikely hero.
Mark Brouhard played in exactly one postseason game in 1982, filling in for the injured Thomas in Game 4 of the ALCS against California. And what a game it was.
Brouhard went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double — and his single might have been the most adventurous of the three. His second-inning grounder wound up scoring three runs, Brouhard included, when the Angels committed two errors on the play. That spotted the Brewers a 3-0 lead, but the edge was down to 7-5 in the eighth when Brouhard took Dave Goltz deep for a two-run blast that all but ensured the Brewers would be back the next night for Game 5.
9. A prodigy leads the way, and Garrett Mitchell finishes it (Game 2, 2024 National League wild-card round)
Just 20 years old, Jackson Chourio stepped up on the biggest stage of his life, belting an opposite-field homer in the top of the first to tie the game at 1-1 against the New York Mets in an elimination game. The bigger blow came in the eighth off reliever Phil Maton, another opposite-field shot that tied the game at 3-3 and breathed new life into the Brewers.
Only Babe Ruth had previously accomplished two game-tying home runs in the same playoff game.
Four batters later, Garrett Mitchell hit a two-run homer off Maton with two outs, giving the Brewers a go-ahead strike and a 5-3 win to stay alive.
8. Christian Yelich’s first-inning homer (Game 7, 2018 NLCS)
Miller Park has seldom been louder.
Christian Yelich, coming off an MVP season, launched a first-inning home run against the Dodgers and starter Walker Buehler, a drive to right just over the wall that put the Brewers ahead in the final game of the NLCS, 1-0.
Glorious as it was, the excitement was brief. The Dodgers scored twice in the next inning before surrendering an out, and Milwaukee never got back to even, falling 5-1 in a battle for a World Series spot.
7. Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick go back-to-back (Game 3, 2024 National League wild-card round)
American Family Field reached a fever pitch in the seventh inning of a scoreless series-deciding game, when pinch-hitter Jake Bauers delivered a long fly to right field for the first run of the game leading off against José Butto. People were still buzzing when Sal Frelick stepped into the box and, on the next pitch, himself sent a no-doubter over the wall in right field, making it 2-0 and renewing the mania in Milwaukee.
Frelick had hit just two homers during the regular season, all the way back in May on back-to-back days, making this new back-to-back moment all the more memorable. Unfortunately, the game ended in heartbreaking fashion when Pete Alonso of the Mets hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth, and the Brewers lost the series.
6. Paul Molitor gets hit No. 5 in the World Series (Game 1, 1982 World Series)
The game was already well in hand, but Molitor’s eighth-inning RBI single gave the Brewers an aesthetically pleasing 10-0 lead against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, and it also gave Molitor a piece of history. The knock marked his fifth hit of the game, a World Series record that stood alone until Albert Pujols accomplished the feat in 2011.
Molitor finished with five hits, all singles, and two RBIs in six plate appearances. The sixth was a groundout leading off the game. Four of the singles were fielded by infielders.
5. Mike Moustakas walks it off (Game 1, 2018 NLDS)
The Brewers defeated Colorado soundly in the NLDS in 2018, 3-0, but it wasn’t nearly the blowout it appeared when you consider the nerve-wracking nature of Game 1.
The Brewers lost a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth, but even that could have been worse. Charlie Blackmon’s long fly to the right-field corner struck just foul down the line and, had he been on second or third, he would have scored a go-ahead run. It didn’t work out that way.
Blackmon still hit an RBI single, and Nolan Arenado delivered a sacrifice fly two batters later that put Blackmon at third. But a grounder to first from David Dahl led into Blackmon getting thrown out at the plate, keeping the game tied.
That mattered greatly when the game expanded into the 10th inning. With runners at the corners and two outs, Mike Moustakas fell behind relief pitcher Adam Ottavino, barely getting contact on one foul ball at the plate. On the next pitch, he lined a game-winning single to right that gave the Brewers a 3-2 win.
4. Charlie Moore throws out Reggie Jackson (Game 5, 1982 ALCS)
Aside from perhaps Yount’s diving catch to seal Juan Nieves’ no-hitter in 1987, it might be the most notable defensive play in Brewers history.
With California already ahead in the fifth inning of a winner-take-all tilt, 3-2, Fred Lynn’s single to right appeared to set up runners at the corners with one out against Pete Vuckovich. But right fielder Moore came up firing on the ball, throwing a missile to Molitor covering at third base for the quick tag to retire Jackson. It could not have loomed larger when Baylor singled in the next at-bat, but Vuckovich struck out DeCinces to end the inning with no runs.
The Brewers, of course, went on to win the game, 4-3, and advance to the World Series.
3. Brandon Woodruff takes Clayton Kershaw deep (Game 1, 2018 NLCS)
In the bottom of the third, Woodruff strolled to the plate for what was perceptively a horrendous matchup. The lefty-swinging Woodruff was tasked with facing Clayton Kershaw, a left-hander considered one of the greats in the game. But instead of a quickly forgotten strikeout, we got playoff magic.
Woodruff took Kershaw deep and over the wall in right-center, a no-doubter that tied the game at 1-1. Milwaukee added another run in the inning and never gave the lead back, although the Brewers had to sweat out anxious moments in the eighth and ninth to prevail, 6-5, for a 12th consecutive victory.
2. Tony Plush (Game 5, 2011 NLDS)
Nyjer Morgan had cultivated quite a following in Milwaukee during the 2011 season. The audacious, gregarious outfielder with various alter egos (most famously, “Tony Plush”) had been acquired just before the season and immediately made an impact, seizing the starting job with a career year. Then came the moment that made him a Milwaukee legend forever.
In a winner-take-all battle against the Diamondbacks, Morgan’s single off the mound and up the middle in the 10th scored Carlos Gómez and gave the Brewers a 3-2 victory that sent Milwaukee onward to the NLCS. It capped a tense, thrilling game that featured a lost lead in the ninth but culminated in the franchise’s first postseason series win since 1982.
1. Cecil Cooper, obviously (Game 5, 1982 ALCS)
Cecil Cooper’s two-out, two-run single in the seventh against California is largely considered the biggest moment in Brewers history.
Cooper’s opposite-field liner against Luis Sánchez scored Moore and Gantner with runs that turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. As you’ve seen above, there were tense moments still to come, but when the Brewers secured their one and only pennant, Cooper’s hit became the deciding factor.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: From Coop to T-Plush to Mark Brouhard, these are the biggest postseason plays in Brewers history
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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