Cardinals, NL Central Teams Saw this Dominance Coming from Brewers

While most of the baseball world is scratching its collective head about how dominant the Milwaukee Brewers have been against the dynastic Los Angeles Dodgers so far in the National League Championship Series, rivals such as the St. Louis Cardinals and others from the NL Central are offering up knowing nods.

When the Brewers jumped to a commanding 3-0 lead on the back-to-back champion Dodgers, it actually came as little surprise to downtrodden squads in the NL Central that saw this coming with how cold and calculating Milwaukee has been all season.

At the forefront of that list are the Cardinals, a storied franchise that used to treat the Brewers like speed bumps on the way to the postseason. This season, however, they were the ones steam-rolled by the Brew Crew to the tune of a history worse 2-11 mark. In those 13 games, few of them were even close with Milwaukee owning a 66-37 scoring advantage over a St. Louis team that used to be the class of the division.

The wrath that the Cardinals felt this season at the hands of the Brewers was experienced throughout the NL Central, save for Pittsburgh where the plucky Pirates and their arsenal of arms managed a 7-6 winning season against Milwaukee. As for the rest of the division – one where the Brewers used to flail somewhat hopelessly in the middle of for years – the Cubs and Reds each dropped nine of 13 meetings, while the Cardinals went 0-for-Milwaukee in six tries and went just 2-5 in the shadows of the Gateway Arch.

You might be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows it outside of Wisconsin, but the Brewers were historically dominant in 2026 with a 103-59 record that was MLB’s best. They closed 8-2 and won their last five – them of them romps over the Cardinals. They won 55 times at home, tying Tampa Bay for MLB’s best home mark. They also won 48 times on the road, one victory shy of what the Dodgers did.

Then, there’s this: The Brewers obliterated the competition to the tune of 214-run differential over the 162 games. As expected, that was easily the largest differential in MLB this season. It is the largest run differential since the 2022 Houston Astros – a team that went 106-56 – outscored their competition by 219 runs.

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Some loathe to give the Brewers credit for their dominance because their operation is based more on substance than style. They beat opposing teams hit hits (second in MLB), runs (second in MLB), batting average (first in MLB), on-base percentage (first in MLB), doubles (fifth in MLB) and triples (tied for sixth in MLB) more than they do with homers (tied for 28th in MLB). On the mound, their pitchers limit hits (second in MLB), snuff out earned runs (second in MLB) and miss bats for strikeouts (second in MLB). And they run the bases better than any team in baseball, play air-tight defense.

The Cardinals even strengthened the Brewers along their way to the playoffs, trading them veteran pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero for two Minor League prospects on Aug. 3. Romero, who has held Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to 1 for 8 with four strikeouts in their regular-season meetings, fanned the four-time MVP in Game 2 of the NLCS, while May provided a big inning of relief as the Brewers were going up 2-0 before winning again on Wednesday.  

Don’t believe how good the Brewers are? Just ask the Cardinals, who were thrilled on May 4 after beating the Brewers 6-3 with 11 hits and four extra-base hits in the first meeting of 2026. All the Brewers did after that was win the next seven games against St. Louis and 11 of the final 12.

The last time the Brewers were in the World Series, it was 44 years ago, and the Cardinals rallied past them in seven games in Milwaukee’s lone chance to win a title. The Cardinals certainly won’t be there to stop the Brewers this year, and it’s quite possible no team will be able to stop them considering just how dominant they continue to be.