MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Pat Murphy had one priority for Sunday’s regular-season finale. Well, two, if you start with the obligatory imperative to get through it healthy.
It wasn’t necessarily to set the franchise record with victory No. 97, which the Brewers achieved by beating the Reds, 4-2, at American Family Field with a go-ahead home run from catcher Danny Jansen, a two-inning tuneup for presumptive Game 1 starter Freddy Peralta and an encouraging inning for All-Star closer Trevor Megill in his return from the injured list — all on an afternoon Cincinnati had a postseason berth on the line.
It was to find the fire that fueled Milwaukee’s unexpected journey to this point.
“I want to match [the Reds’] competitiveness today,” Murphy said on Sunday morning. “For me, that’s an important segment here as we wind up. I want to compete.”
And that’s what they did, coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to avoid getting swept going into a weeklong layoff ahead of an NLDS matchup against the Padres or Cubs.
