The Milwaukee Cubs and Brewers, who each have an unequal win on Sunday, will play a tiebreak on Monday to determine the NL Central winner. The winner will have an advantage on the court throughout the playoffs of NL and will not have to play until Thursday.

This year marks the first time in the history of baseball, two divisions will be determined by a playoff game. And this is the first time since MLB's two-card format in 2012 that a division winner is determined by the playoffs.

In eliminating the playoffs of a match between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs:

To begin

Brewers (TBD) vs. Cubs (Jose Quintana 13-11, 4.09 ERA), 1:05 am, ESPN. The winner will host the winner of the wild-card match in the first game of the National League division series on Thursday. The loser welcomes the Dodgers or Rockies in Tuesday's wild card game in Newfoundland.

27 outs

This is the familiar domination against the unknown. And we do not know who could have the advantage.

Starting Quintana, the Cubs put the ball to a southpaw who posted a total of 2.17 points late in 37 innings and 1/3 against the Brewers this season. In particular, he was the starting pitcher in three of the six shutouts that Chicago faced against them this season. At Wrigley Field this season, Quintana was a little weaker, averaging 4.28 points and giving up 15 runs, versus 3.94 and 10 on the road.

As for the brewers? Maybe the simple fact that Coach Craig Counsell chose not to name his starting pitcher on Sunday. Jhoulys Chacin, who has made 34 starts, has won 15 games and a 3.56 record, has taken off. He would make a good choice.

But the playoff format is ready for experimentation and Counsell has many options. In a crucial game against St. Louis last week, Counsell has embarked on the road to the opposite extreme, starting with the left reliever, Dan Jennings, who has retired Matt Carpenter before taking a shower.

A parade of another eight substitutes followed and the Brewers lost a 6-4 win. It should be noted that Monday's game is a regular season game and both teams will have all the spoils of the expanded September lineup.

What's more, Counsell was able to avoid his top three picks in the Detroit Tigers' 11-0 loss on Sunday to keep their hopes of winning the division title. Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress and Corey Knebel are rested and ready, Hader probably for a two-run relay. Looking at the big picture of the playoffs, Counsell could roll the dice, hold back Chacin for a potential start for the first game of the LNDS and see if a line of conga fireball players can win this one.

The risk / benefit of this strategy is however significant: burn the record Monday and lose yourself, and suddenly, you find yourself facing a playoff game with generic card with a compromised staff.

Keep an eye on…

Christian Yelich. Who else? It has in a way transformed a tight race NLP player par excellence in just one week, thanks to stretching like this:

In his last 11 games, Yelich has produced a line of .462 / .611 / 1.154, with six homers and 20 RBIs, while hitting twice for the cycle. Yelich is so hot that it's safe to say that he's affecting the Cubs' plans once they've confirmed that he's not missing the bus for Milwaukee.

Near and late

You are aware of the options for throwing Brewers as the game progresses; The Cubs options are, shall we say, less rosy. Closer to home, Brandon Morrow is out for the year, his best substitute, Pedro Strop, is still recovering from a hamstring injury and manager Joe Maddon's circle of trust is far less defined than he is. would have liked at this time of the year.

The Cubs needed nine pitchers to win a 10-5 win against the Cardinals on Sunday, and the performances were uneven. Carl Edwards Jr. led a double game, but also allowed two legacy runners to score. Acquisition in July Brandon Kintzler got two releases but gave in three times.

In short? Quintana, who has scored just five innings in six of his last nine starts, may need plenty of time to limit the Cubs' responsibility late in the race.

At the end

It was a strange year for the Cubs, who were struggling with early difficulties and injuries, and a September crisis that occurred in a period of 30 consecutive days without a match. Sometimes they felt like they were ripe to deflate, and that's thanks to a Brewer from September 19th to 7th.

Milwaukee is hot, well aligned for Monday and maybe just better than the Cubs. Do not worry: there is at least a 50% chance that these teams will end up in Division Division. The feeling here is that game 1 of the NLDS would come to Miller Park.

Brewers 6, Cubs 2.