Going into their series at home this weekend against the Atlanta Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers were just 5-5 in their last 10 games. They owned the best record in MLB at 74-49.
Despite playing just .500 baseball over the last 10 games, Milwaukee was able to reach a feat that not many people saw coming when the season started back in March. The Brewers became the first MLB team this season to reach 80 wins after holding off a late Braves rally on Friday afternoon for a 2-1 victory.
Milwaukee Brewers First Team To 80 Wins in 2026
When the season began, not many people had the Brewers as the first to reach 80 wins in August. Easier choices would have been the two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Braves, or even the New York Yankees with the starting staff they have.
Instead, it was Milwaukee who hit the feat first in a win over Atlanta. The pitching matchup was a huge one with Atlanta sending Chris Sale to the mound against the Brewers Jacob Misiorowski. Milwaukee’s flame thrower went six innings, allowing four hits, striking out six and not allowing a run to improve to 13-5.
Sale, on the other hand, worked six innings, allowing eight hits, two earned runs, and striking out six to fall to 12-9. He allowed a third-inning RBI single to William Contreras and a fielder’s choice RBI to Andrew Vaughn.
Atlanta scored their lone run in the top of the eighth inning and loaded the bases off Antonio Senzatela, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Colorado Rockies. However, the hard-throwing right-hander ended the inning with a line drive to right field.
Milwaukee Brewers Continue To Roll in 2026
Milwaukee has needed nearly all 80 wins to date to remain in first place in the National League Central Division. The Chicago Cubs are 5.5 games back. More importantly, they are three games up on the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the National League playoffs and five games up now on Atlanta, which leads the NL East.
After hosting the Braves over the weekend, Milwaukee will head to New York for a three-game series against the Mets before returning home to host the Texas Rangers the last weekend in August. They will then hit the road for a seven-game divisional road trip with four huge games against the Cubs and three against the Cincinnati Reds. They will then host the Cubs September 7-9, and those two series a week apart will decide the division.
This is the second straight year that the Brewers are the first to 80 wins. In fact, it was almost a year to the day when they did it in 2025 on August 21. However, being the first team to 80 wins in the regular season doesn’t mean much. Milwaukee was swept in the National League Championship Series by the Dodgers.
Until the Brewers change their postseason narrative and get to the World Series, there will always be doubters as to whether they can translate their regular season success to the postseason. If there is a year they can do it, it could very well be 2026.
Milwaukee Brewers First To Reach MLB Feat for Second Straight Season