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It's not exactly how the Milwaukee Brewers would have drawn it up, but they'll certainly take it regardless.

Thanks to the Oakland A's downing the Chicago Cubs, 5-3, Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, the Brewers clinched their second consecutive National League Central Division title, third in the last four seasons and fourth in the last seven (also 2018 and 2021).

"Here we are – we have a game tonight," said Rhys Hoskins, alluding to the series finale between the Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies at American Family Field, minutes after a muted celebration. A few hours later, he'd play a big role in a 2-1 victory, homering in the fifth inning before Jake Bauers applied the coup de grace with a walk-off single.

"Obviously, we have 10 more after this. We still have some things that we want to work on so that we're ready when October comes. But, we get to see this awesome banner (NL Central Division champions), and there's guys out there bunting right now.

"We have guys that want to win, and here we are."

It was a somewhat strange process to watch unfold.

The Cubs held a 3-1 lead going to the seventh when the A's rallied to tie it and then scored twice more to take the lead in the eighth. Oakland closer Mason Miller then faced the minimum in the ninth, with Pete Crow-Armstrong grounding into a double play to end it.

The game was on every TV in the Brewers clubhouse, and a good portion of the team and support staff was watching intently until the ninth, when all the players rose as a group and retreated to an area off-limits to media.

As soon as the final out was recorded, a roar was heard and not long thereafter the players made their way back into the clubhouse as the first team to clinch a playoff spot but needing to begin preparing for their sixth and final regular-season matchup with the top-seeded Phillies.

"I think it's just being with each other, right?" said Hoskins minutes later. "Obviously, we've been going at it together since the middle of February; some some guys a little bit earlier. So, just getting to cherish that moment with the guys – and only the guys – is something that we kind of talked about earlier.

"Special moments, right? Like, those are the types of things that you're going to remember beyond this year, next year."

Murphy took in the game's final minutes in his office.

"I was with Ueck," Murphy said, referring, of course, to Mr. Baseball Bob Uecker. "We were doing our show and I got to watch it with him.

"What's better than that? Awesome."

In his first year as Brewers skipper, Murphy has set the tone as an affable but take-no-prisoners sort who supports his players as much as he pushes them. Barring some sort of unexpected turn of events the rest of the way, it would seem to be a no-brainer that Murphy will be a runaway choice for NL manager of the year.

"Feels different," Murphy said when asked what winning a title feels like as manager rather than bench coach, the role he'd filled for the previous eight seasons under Craig Counsell.

"I'll tell you what, I feel a lot for our staff, the baseball staff. I'm incredibly thankful because I haven't been great to them and I make no bones about it. But they've been great to me, and they make me look good."

Taking their cue from the 65-year-old Murphy, the Brewers have won despite trading ace Corbin Burnes two weeks prior to the start of spring training and dealing with myriad injuries, including to veteran starter Wade Miley (Tommy John surgery), closer Devin Williams (stress fractures) that kept him sidelined through the all-star break and leftfielder Christian Yelich (season-ending back surgery) in the midst of a resurgent season.

Then, of course, there was the revamped rotation that lacked any sort of household name aside from Freddy Peralta and still went on to pitch well above what had been projected (17 different pitchers started a game), a bullpen that excelled despite Williams' absence (12 different pitchers with at least one save) and a larger-than-usual group of young, inexperienced players who, after being thrust into prominent roles, performed reliably.

Veterans Willy Adames and William Contreras have had dominant seasons leading a surprisingly potent offense that's performed night and day better than previous seasons with much the same major names thanks in large part to Murphy's aggressive style of play that utilizes bunting and base stealing, and then of course there's the tremendous development exhibited by budding superstar Jackson Chourio.

"I think this should be celebrated," Murphy said. "I think this is greatness for this 2024 team. They should never forget what they did. They weren't given anything. They earned it all themselves, and I couldn't be happier.

"But I'm serious when I tell you that, 'Well, this was expected. We've been good for a while.' This was a brand-new team. What they did, the guys in that room, they need to be commended for their competitive spirit.

"This team just kept coming. Relentless, undaunted. Maybe not me. But they were."

It's the second consecutive season Milwaukee learned in unconventional fashion it had become division champ; last year the Brewers had just lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, but a late-inning Cubs collapse against the Braves in Atlanta sealed the deal and allowed the team to celebrate anyway.

The Champagne bottles wouldn't be popped and beer cans cracked until later Wednesday night; there had been plastic sheeting rolled up above all lockers and electronics in the clubhouse for the previous several days, with other celebratory items like lighting systems queued up and ready to be rolled in.

More: Is this the earliest the Brewers have clinched a playoff spot in franchise history?

But to do it after a win over the Phillies made it just that much sweeter.

Peralta shook off a second-inning homer by Alec Bohm to deliver five strong innings, striking out nine in the process. Joe Ross, Jared Koenig, Trevor Megill and Devin Williams followed ably behind him, keeping it a 1-1 game heading into the ninth inning.

Hoskins homered to lead off the Brewers' fifth, providing the lone run over seven innings against the ever-tough Aaron Nola before Bauers singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to score Chourio and officially start the party.

The team got going in the clubhouse with the traditional spraying of alcohol – sans the 20-year-old Chourio, who had a specially outfitted baby stroller filled with non-alcoholic beer waiting for him – before the group spilled back onto the field to take photos and celebrate with the fans remaining in the stands.

Milwaukee (88-64) is currently the third seed, with its goal over the stretch run to win enough to get into at least the No. 2 seed – a spot currently held by the Los Angeles Dodgers (90-62). The top two seeds each receive a bye into the NL Division Series, with the third seed hosting the third and final wild card in a three-game series.

The Brewers still have their work cut out for them to get there; they next host the Arizona Diamondbacks in a four-game series, followed by three at Pittsburgh and then three at home against the surging New York Mets, who could then quite possibly end up remaining in Milwaukee for the wild-card series.

"This is exactly what you, as a competitor, want to be a part of," Hoskins said. "It didn't necessarily look exactly the way that maybe some of us thought, but what's cool is that we were still able to find ways to get the job done.

"I was on a team in '22 (the Phillies) that had much higher expectations, faltered and got in at the last moment (as the No. 6 seed and then advanced to the World Series). To be on a team with much less expectations (and succeed) I think is always a little bit more satisfying.

"But to be doubted a little bit more than we believe we should have been, a little extra flavor's not a bad thing, too."

The Phillies (91-61) were also in position for a celebration, as a win over the Brewers combined with a Braves loss to the Cincinnati Reds would have clinched the NL East for them.

Alas, their party will need to wait for another day.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, has earned its 10th postseason appearance in franchise history and sixth in the last seven years. It's the earliest the team has clinched, at 151 games.

"I think we've established a winning culture here. It's pretty evident," Yelich said. "But what comes with that is identifying the right players that you want to bring in here, and I think (general manager Matt Arnold) and (team principal owner Mark Attanasio) and everybody involved all do a good job with that.

"You can make up for a lot of things when you have the right guys in the clubhouse that care about winning."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers clinch NL Central Division title with Cubs' loss to A's