Orlando Arcia Came Out Of Nowhere To Help The Brewers Win The NL Central

Of all the regular players on the Milwaukee Brewers, shortstop Orlando Arcia is almost undeniably the worst. With an on-base percentage of .260, a weakling slugging percentage of .299, and multiple demotions to the minors in 2018, it’s honestly a wonder that this guy even managed to get the start in the Brewers’ biggest game of the season. He batted eighth today, as per usual, and earned his spot in the lineup entirely because of his defense, which is at least above average.

But dang, were the Brewers happy to have Arcia swinging the bat today. In their 3-1 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the NL Central tiebreaker, Arcia led the team with four hits in four at-bats, with two of those leading to Brewer runs.

Arcia, who hadn’t had a four-hit game in his entire career before today’s Game 163, led off the third inning with a single against Jose Quintana, slowly advancing over to third on a sacrifice bunt and then a groundout before Christian Yelich plated him for the game’s first run. In the fifth, his single went for naught, but when he led off in the eighth against Cubs reliever Justin Wilson, Arcia took an 0-2 slider into right center, then moved to third on a double by Domingo Santana. The next hitter, Lorenzo Cain, sent Arcia home and gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead that would earn them the division title.

The Brewers now get two days off before starting the NLDS with home-field advantage, while the Cubs move on to face either the Dodgers or Rockies at Wrigley on Tuesday. It’s pretty obvious who Arcia would rather win that game:

Baseball is so weird.