MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers became the first major league team to clinch a division championship Wednesday when it sealed its third National League Central title in the past four years.

The Chicago Cubs' 5-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics enabled the Brewers to wrap up the division crown.

This marks the Brewers' sixth postseason berth in the past seven years -- a remarkable accomplishment for a team that made the playoffs just twice in a 35-year stretch from 1983 to 2017.

This run to the playoffs, however, has been a little different from the rest.

Although the Brewers have grown accustomed to outperforming preseason expectations, the odds seemed stacked against them even more than usual this year.

Craig Counsell, the winningest manager in Brewers history, left for the rival Cubs. Corbin Burnes, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner, was traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

Two-time All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff didn't pitch all year as he recovered from shoulder surgery, and two-time NL Reliever of the Year Devin Williams missed the first half of the season with stress fractures in his back.

All-Star outfielder Christian Yelich and pitchers Wade Miley and Robert Gasser suffered season-ending injuries.

None of it mattered.