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All of Miller Park remained in a surreal holding pattern, the end of the 26-year Playoff Drought Era so tantalizingly close, the only thing left in the way being three Mets outs, 900 miles to the East at Shea Stadium. The Brewers' workday was already done, their shirts already untucked -- as is now a standard post-victory ritual -- after downing the Cubs 3-1 in the 162nd game of the year. Cheerleaders stood stoic atop the home dugout, holding pyrotechnic devices in the off position, waiting, like the rest of the crowd, for closure in a wild-card drama that had been tied entering the final day of the regular season. Brewers players, who had arrived at the park Sunday morning with suitcases packed for a potential one-game playoff in New York on Monday, sat scattered about the dugout, many swilling Miller Lites. Their stadium had temporarily turned into the World's Largest Sports Bar, with 42,599 patrons and Marlins 4, Mets 2 on the jumbotron.

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