No one said this postseason thing was going to be easy.
The Cubs put themselves in a deep hole by losing a pair in Milwaukee and not really playing well in either game.
Then they roared out to a four-run
first inning, negating the Brewers’ run in the top of the first.
And then the Cubs delivered some of the best nail-biting relief pitching you’ll ever see, holding on for dear life for a 4-3 win over the Brewers. The Cubs trail the series two games to one and stay alive for Game 4 Thursday.
Let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?
A leadoff double by Christian Yelich wasn’t the way anyone wanted to see this game start. A ground out followed, then Jameson Taillon walked Brice Turang.
Immediately among my group in the bleachers, and probably where you were too, the calls went up: “Why wasn’t that the infield fly rule?”
According to Rule 2.00 (Infield Fly), the umpire must determine “whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder.” The umpire also must instantly rule that the play is an infield fly rule, which they did not. “The umpire’s judgment must govern, and the decision should be made immediately,” the rule states.
Much to the chagrin of the home crowd, neither home plate umpire Will Little nor first base umpire Lance Barksdale signaled an infield fly, which allowed the play to continue.
So here’s the thing. Normally when a popup is hit like that in such a situation, the umpires do “immediately” all put their arms up to signal an infield fly. They didn’t, likely because they figured the Cubs infielders didn’t know where it was — looked like they all lost the ball in the setting sun.
So, a single for William Contreras and the bases are loaded. Sal Frelick hit a fly to left, scoring Yelich, and the Brewers led 1-0.
The Cubs, fortunately, decided to make this game the one where the offense finally came to life. Michael Busch, for the second time this series, led off the Cubs’ first with a home run [VIDEO].
Look at the arc on that ball! [VIDEO]
That ball was crushed at 108.5 miles per hour and if the wind hadn’t been strongly blowing in at 11 miles per hour, that probably lands 10-15 rows up in the bleachers. As it was, the first row is good enough and the game is tied. More on Busch’s homer from BCB’s JohnW53:
Busch is the first Cub to hit two leadoff homers in the first inning of post-season games.
They have had only two such homers. Bob Dernier did it in Game 1 of the 1984 Division Series at home vs. the Padres Dexter Fowler did it in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series at Cleveland.
Nico Hoerner followed that with a single and Kyle Tucker walked. Seiya Suzuki hit a fly to left with Nico taking third. Ian Happ walked to load the bases.
After Carson Kelly struck out, Pete Crow-Armstrong singled in a pair [VIDEO].
Happ took third on that single and scored on a wild pitch [VIDEO].
That was it for Quinn Priester, who threw 39 pitches and recorded two outs. Reliever Nick Mears issued a walk to Dansby Swanson, but Matt Shaw struck out to end the inning.
Still, that was a very productive inning, and we have some history from John:
The Cubs snapped their MLB-record postseason streaks of scoring no more than three runs in 13 games at all sites and 14 games at home.
The last time they scored more than three runs in any post-season inning was the fifth inning at Washington in Game 5 of the 2017 Division Series. After the first two Cubs were retired, they scored four times on two singles, a two-run double, an intentional walk, a dropped third strike, catcher’s interference and a hit batsman. The runs gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead and they held on to win, 9-8.
After that, Taillon settled down and retired nine straight Brewers until one out in the fourth, when three straight hits produced a run and made it 4-2. It might have been worse if not for this Cubs rundown play on a bunt attempt:
Drew Pomeranz threw a scoreless fifth and Daniel Palencia a 1-2-3 sixth. But the Cubs could not score any further runs, despite hacing the first two runners on base in the third, a double by Suzuki and walk by Happ. The next three Cubs in the third went out in order, then the next baserunner was Tucker, who singled in the fifth. Tucker then got himself picked off [VIDEO].
Please explain this to me: Why is a guy with a calf injury dancing between first and second?
The Brewers put another run on the board in the seventh when Jake Bauers led off with a home run off Andrew Kittredge. Now it’s 4-3 and a high-wire act. Kittredge retired the next three hitters to finish the seventh, then was left in to face Jackson Chourio to lead off the eighth. Welp — that didn’t work, Chourio doubled. Next man up out of the pen: Caleb Thielbar, who struck out Turang, then got a force play before departing for Brad Keller. Keller issued a walk to Caleb Durbin, putting the tying and lead runs on base, then struck out Bauers to end the eighth.
The Cubs went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, and Keller returned to the mound, three outs from victory. He got pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn to fly to right, and struck out Blake Perkins.
Christian Yelich, a man Cubs fans love to boo, was the last man before victory.
And it took this terrific play from Nico Hoerner to end the game [VIDEO].
Nothing’s ever easy, right? But a win is a win, and the Cubs live to play Game 4 Thursday.
Here are postgame remarks from Jamo [VIDEO].
A few more postgame notes from John:
This was just the 10th post-season game in which the Cubs scored exactly four runs. It was the first since they beat the Pirates, 4-0, in the 2015 Wild Card game at Pittsburgh. The Cubs are 5-5 in games with four runs.
They scored all four runs in one inning, as they did Wednesday, in one of the previous nine games: the sixth inning of Game 1 of the 2003 Division Series at Atlanta. They turned a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead and the Cubs went on to win, 4-2.
During the regular season this year, the Cubs twice scored their only four runs in one inning, both at home: the second of a 12-4 loss to the Royals on July 21 and the third of a 4-3 win over the Braves on Sept. 2.
The last time the Cubs scored their only four runs in the first inning was April 24, 2024, at home vs. the Astros. They won the game, 4-3. They had scored four runs in 39 games since then before Wednesday.
Game 4 Thursday will feature … well, we don’t know right now. As of the time of this recap, both starters for Game 4 are listed as “TBD.” Matthew Boyd would be on regular rest for Thursday; it could be him, or it could be an opener and then Boyd… as always, we await developments. Brewers Game 1 starter Freddy Peralta would also be on regular rest for Thursday. When these starters are announced we’ll probably have a post here sometime Thursday morning or early afternoon.
The game time tomorrow is also still not certain. If the Dodgers win their Game 3 and sweep their series, the Cubs and Brewers will play at 6:08 p.m. CT. If the Phillies win Game 3, the Cubs will play at 8:08 p.m. CT. Stay tuned!
Lastly, I can’t say enough about the atmosphere at Wrigley Field for this game. Tense at times, but the crowd was loud and supportive and stayed until the final out was registered and “Go Cubs Go” was played. I’d expect nothing less for Game 4. Go Cubs!
