Rhys Hoskins delivers big shot to spark Brewers

Less than two years after Milwaukee selected him with the No. 5 pick in the 2005 MLB Draft, Braun earned his first big-league call-up as the Brewers opened a three-game series against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

Batting second and playing third base, Braun sent the first major league pitch he ever saw deep to right field but playable for Padres center fielder — and future teammate Mike Cameron — then grounded out to first base his second time up.

A day later, Braun came up empty in his first two at-bats against Justin Germano. With two outs in the third, Braun connected on a 1-1 offering from Germano for his first career home run to tie the game at 2-2 before the Padres went on to a 6-3 victory.

It had been a rough September for the Brewers. They'd opened the month winning five of 20 games, costing manager Ned Yost his job and putting the team's playoff hopes on thin ice heading into the penultimate series of the season.

Prince Fielder opened the series with a walk-off home run and after winning Game 2, the Brewers were looking for a sweep with Yovani Gallardo back on the mound for the first time since tearing his ACL in April.

After 26 years of waiting, it all came down to one game at Miller Park. The Brewers went into the final game of the regular season needing a victory to secure at least a tie for the NL Wild Card spot.

CC Sabathia did his part, holding the Cubs to a single, unearned run, while recording his seventh complete game since joining the team in a blockbuster trade in early July.

They can't all be highlights...

Braun nearly recorded his first inside-the-park home run in the third inning of an Aug. 31 contests against the Cardinals when he sent a drive deep to left that got past the glove of St. Louis outfielder Allen Craig. Nyjer Morgan scored on the play but as Braun rounded third, he stumbled and fell and ultimately was caught in a rundown.

Three years after Braun's epic blast against the Cubs, the Brewers found themselves back in the thick of the playoff race again and, thanks to some luck, in a position to clinch another postseason berth when they opened a series against the Marlins on Sept. 23 at Miller Park.

Just like 2008, the game was tied at 1 heading into the eighth. Prince Fielder put Milwaukee on the board with a solo home run to lead off the second and the Marlins tied it up on an RBI single by Bryan Petersen in the fourth.

Though his 2013 suspension and a rash of injuries slowed the pursuit, Ryan Braun finally surpassed Robin Yount on the franchise's all-time home run list in the sixth inning of an 8-7 victory over the Miami Marlins.

"I'd rather have it happen here in front of the fans because I have such a special relationship with the fans and the city," Braun said. "It's nice to get some applause and an ovation instead of on the road, where it's like it doesn't happen at all. Definitely cool that it happened here. I was conscious of it while trying not to force the issue."

The Brewers were the hottest team in baseball and had their sights set on catching the Cubs for the NL Central crown heading into their final series of the season.

Milwaukee had won four straight to get within a half-game of Chicago as they took the field against the Tigers on a Friday night at Miller Park but quickly found themselves in a 3-0 hole thanks to an early outburst against Zach Davies.

Once again, the Brewers found themselves trying to chase down a playoff berth as the regular season came to an end. This time, they'd have to do it without Christian Yelich, whose season came to an end with a fractured kneecap.

Braun had been slumping to start the final month, batting .133 (4-for-30) with a home run and five RBIs through his first 10 games, but he snapped out of that funk in a big way when he wiped out a 4-3 deficit with an ninth-inning grand slam against the Cardinals on Sept. 15.

Braun had hinted that the 2020 season would be his last at the team's annual winter fan festival in January and made similar suggestions as spring training opened. The pandemic delayed that talk and Braun spent most of the shortened, 60-game schedule as the team's designated hitter.

He'd bat just .233 with eight home runs and the last, coming in the second-to-last game of the regular season, came against none other than longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in the fourth inning of a 3-0 victory.