Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader, front right, jumps on catcher Erik Kratz after getting Colorado Rockies' Ian Desmond for the final out in the ninth inning of Game 3 of a baseball National League Division Series, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/John Leyba)

DENVER (AP) — The 38-year-old journeyman catcher looked to his left and spotted his Milwaukee Brewers teammates spilling out of the dugout. Erik Kratz then looked straight ahead and saw his reliever standing alone.

So he took off for Josh Hader to give him, “the biggest hug. … Because you celebrate all your celebrations. Because you never know if you’re going to get another one,” Kratz said.

Wade Miley pitched masterfully into the fifth inning before turning it over to a lights-out Milwaukee bullpen , Kratz kept up his torrid hitting and the Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 6-0 in Game 3 on a cool, misty Sunday to sweep their NL Division Series.

The Brewers have won 11 straight dating to the regular season and advance to their first NL Championship Series since 2011. They will play the winner of the Dodgers-Braves series, starting Friday at Miller Park — by the time that game starts, it will have been nearly three weeks since Milwaukee lost.

“One at a time, man. That’s what we’ve been saying, one at a time,” NL MVP candidate Christian Yelich said. “Focus on the now.”

In between sprays of sparkling wine inside the clubhouse, a chant rose up for Yelich: “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

No surprise, after the season he had.

But then the team started chanting the same thing for Kratz.

“That might be the champagne talking,” Kratz cracked.

With manager Craig Counsell making all the right moves, Milwaukee’s pitching staff held Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and the bruising Rockies to a combined two runs and 14 hits in the series. Of the 28 innings in the matchup, Colorado scored in only one of them.

“The story of the series for us was certainly our pitching,” Counsell said.

It’s been that way for a couple weeks now, including Milwaukee’s 3-1 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field last Monday in the NL Central tiebreaker. The next day, the Rockies outlasted the Cubs 2-1 in 13 innings to win the wild-card game.

Making his postseason debut, Miley toughed the elements — he wore short sleeves when the temperature was 46 degrees — and was even tougher on Rockies hitters.

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