A look at all the playoff-clinching moments in Brewers history

The Milwaukee Brewers have clinched a playoff berth in 2023, with a chance to wrap up the division at some point over the weekend.

Take a look at all the champagne celebration moments in Brewers history.

1981: Rollie Fingers strikes out Lou Whitaker, and the Brewers win the East second-half title

The format was strange in a season divided by a strike, but it was no less meaningful when the Brewers qualified for the playoffs for the first time as American League East champion in the second half. Rollie Fingers struck out Lou Whitaker of the Detroit Tigers on the penultimate day of the season (Oct. 3), giving Milwaukee a 2-1 win and a voyage to the Division Series against the New York Yankees (a format far more familiar today than it was then). The Brewers rallied for two runs in the eighth on RBIs by Ted Simmons and Gorman Thomas to achieve a lead, and Fingers struck out Champ Summers and Whitaker in a 1-2-3 ninth to end it.

1982: Last stand against the Orioles results in East title

Is it the most famous regular-season series in Brewers history?

Milwaukee came to Baltimore needing just one win in four tries to officially clinch the American League East over the Orioles. But the Brewers lost the first three games in rapid succession, suddenly creating a winner-take-all battle on the final day of the season (another Oct. 3).

But Don Sutton, the team's dynamite August acquisition, threw eight strong innings, and the Brewers pulled away for a 10-2 victory, although it took five runs in the top of the ninth to make it a sure thing. Ben Oglivie made an unforgettable sliding catch in the left field corner, Robin Yount homered twice against fellow Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, and the Brewers were off to the playoffs — in a more traditional format this time — en route to the World Series.

2008: CC Sabathia, obviously

We've been over this one a lot this year, the 15th anniversary of the drought-snapping performance. After 26 years without appearing in the playoffs, the Brewers knew they had a chance coming into the final game of the season (Sept. 28). CC Sabathia capped his unforgettable half-season in Milwaukee with a complete-game performance and Ryan Braun homered in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie against the Chicago Cubs. Then, when the New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins on the same day, the Brewers had a National League wild card.

2011: Ryan Braun's home run gives Brewers division title

For the first time since 1982, the Brewers had won a division crown. Facing Florida on Sept. 23, Braun broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run homer in the eighth inning, then lifted his bat to the sky as the Brewers plowed toward a 4-1 victory. That same night, the St. Louis Cardinals took a surprising loss to the struggling Cubs despite ace Chris Carpenter on the hill, giving Milwaukee a magic number of zero for the crown.

The Cardinals, who finished the year six games behind the Brewers, would still win the wild card and go on to win the World Series, however, taking down the Brewers in a six-game National League Championship Series.

2018 (part 1): Adolis García falls down

He's an all-star outfielder for the Texas Rangers now, but Adolis García was a young Cardinals prospect in 2018 when he was called upon as a pinch runner in the eighth inning of a 2-1 Brewers lead Sept. 26, with Milwaukee needing a victory to clinch a playoff spot. Jose Martinez hit a slow roller to third that Mike Moustakas bounced past first baseman Jesus Aguilar, giving García a chance to score. But he fell down between third and home, allowing catcher Erik Kratz to tag him out easily. Jeremy Jeffress worked a 1-2-3 ninth, and the Brewers were back in the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

2018 (part 2): Game 163 in Chicago ends in triumph

That win over the Cardinals was the Brewers' fourth in a row; they then won the next three and forced a one-game playoff with the Chicago Cubs for the National League Central championship. Then, they won a ninth, taking Wrigley Field by storm with a 3-1 win (bolstered by eighth-inning RBI singles from Lorenzo Cain and Braun).

2019: A win in Cincinnati makes it back-to-back

It might have been somewhat unceremonious when Milwaukee won over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark, 9-2, for a win that assured the Brewers of back-to-back playoff trips.

Braun, Eric Thames and Keston Hiura all homered in the Sept. 25 win that kept Milwaukee alive in the National League Central chase, too, though the Brewers would get swept in Colorado on the final weekend of the season and settle for the wild card. Milwaukee lost to the Nationals in that game in a famous 4-3 heartbreaker.

2020: Ending with a whimper, but hey, it counts

Playing in the supremely weird COVID-influenced format of a 60-game season and a 16-team postseason, the Brewers advanced to the playoffs in a way befitting of their season, with losses by other teams and no true celebration.

The Brewers never got above .500 all season and entered the postseason at 29-31, with a two-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers to follow.

Milwaukee lost its final game of the season to St. Louis, 5-2, before an empty Busch Stadium, but shortly after the game ended, the San Francisco Giants also lost to San Diego (5-4) and the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Tampa Bay Rays (5-0), giving the Brewers the tiebreaker nudge to advance. Brandon Woodruff did pitch a masterpiece against St. Louis the day before, allowing two hits over eight innings in a 3-0 win, to help propel Milwaukee onward.

2021: A sweep against the Mets held off hard-charging Cardinals

The Cardinals were in the midst of a 17-game winning streak and had come roaring back into the National League Central picture, trimming a deficit of 15 games to 6. But the Brewers still had the upper hand and sealed it with an 8-4 win at home against the Mets, locking up a third ever National League Central crown. Willy Adames hit a two-run homer in the first, and Eduardo Escobar delivered a two-run single in the second, setting up a strong finish from the Brewers bullpen of Aaron Ashby, Devin Williams and Josh Hader (one hit in three innings, with five strikeouts).

2023 (part 1): An unlikely pitcher for the final outs

After a 12-run inning in the second made it a laugher, the Brewers coasted to a 16-1 win over the Marlins to lock up a playoff spot. First baseman Rowdy Tellez became the unlikely pitcher for the final three outs, recording a strikeout and two pop-outs in his first career pitching performance.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The playoff-clinching moments in Milwaukee Brewers history