Error that clinches division for Brewers brings back memories of another dropped fly ball involving Cubs

Twenty-five years later, another fly ball to a Chicago Cubs outfielder brought joyful chaos for the Milwaukee Brewers. This time, it was more than just a late-season curiosity; it meant locking down a National League Central title.

Chicago outfielder Seiya Suzuki settled under a fly ball off the bat of Atlanta's Sean Murphy in the eighth inning late Tuesday, just as the Brewers were three outs away from a 4-1 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals. It should have ended the inning; instead, it fell harmlessly to the turf and scored two runs that turned a 6-5 Cubs lead into a 7-6 Braves edge.

The Braves had worked their way back from a 6-0 deficit. Atlanta negotiated the ninth, sending the Cubs to a brutal loss that sealed up a division crown for the Brewers, even as they endured a quiet night offensively in a losing effort.

Suzuki said afterward to Jesse Rogers of ESPN that the lights at Truist Park contributed to the miscue.

"Ever since I was playing in Japan you do have to take that into consideration," Suzuki said. "If I do say (the lights were to blame), then it's an excuse so I'm not going to say that."

"I was seeing it pretty well until the very last second. I honestly thought it went into my glove. So it was just that split second where I blurred my vision."

The Cubs, fighting for a wild-card spot in addition to their fleeting hopes for a division title, appeared well on their way to a fourth straight win, one that would force Brewers fans to uncomfortably endure a fifth straight day waiting for the Central "magic number" to reach zero. Instead, Milwaukee got a chance to bathe in champagne.

Realistically, Milwaukee would have clinched the Central soon anyway, with two more games against the Cardinals at home and the Cubs playing two more in Atlanta against the best team in the National League. But if for some reason those four games didn't go the Brewers way, it would have created meaningful circumstances around the final three games of the season against Chicago, with the Cubs capable of sweeping and riding away with the Central in dramatic fashion.

The pressure's off now, and the Brewers can play the rest of the week knowing their playoff destiny is cemented. The No. 3 seed will host a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday against the eventual No. 6 seed, which could still be the Cubs.

The unreal turn of events was serendipitous for a couple of reasons.

For one, Murphy himself represents an inextricable link to the Brewers, having been traded to Atlanta from Oakland in the offseason in the same three-way deal that brought William Contreras from the Braves to Milwaukee. It's a deal that greatly bolstered Milwaukee in 2023 without considerable sacrifice.

Everyone immediately thought of the Brant Brown Game

But the best connection is rooted in the history of the Brewers-Cubs rivalry, dating back 25 years to 1998, the first year the Brewers were a member of the National League. The "Brant Brown Game" featured an improbable turn of events that gave Milwaukee a late-season win and dealt a blow to the playoff-chasing Cubs.

On Sept. 23, 1998, Milwaukee rallied for a wild eight runs in the final three innings for a shocker after the Cubs built a 7-0 lead, with a huge assist from Cubs leftfielder Brant Brown, who dropped Geoff Jenkins' routine fly ball that would have ended the game. Instead, it cleared the bases in the ninth and gave the Brewers a walk-off, 8-7 win.

Milwaukee scored four in the seventh against Steve Trachsel, who allowed two hits in six innings but then permitted the first four batters in the seventh to reach. Bob Hamelin added an RBI single in the eighth. Cubs closer Rod Beck ran into trouble in the ninth of a two-run game, loading the bases with one out before inducing a pop-out. Up stepped Jenkins, who lofted an opposite-field fly to left at County Stadium that simply popped out of Brown's glove.

The Cubs ultimately did win the lone wild-card playoff spot that year, and Milwaukee finished 74-88, but the play (and ugly defeat) prompted former Brewers broadcaster Pat Hughes and the late Ron Santo to deliver one of the more memorable Cubs radio calls.

Here are a few major-league reactions on social media after the Brewers' clinched the division title Tuesday night.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Error by Suzuki similar to another memory involving Brewers, Cubs