This didn’t always look like it would be a long series, not after the Brewers after taking the first two games at home, but Chicago rallied gamely, saving their season with a nail-biting Game 3 before thumping Milwaukee in Game 4. Though it didn’t prove to be the instant classic that Game 5 of the ALDS between the Mariners and Tigers was, we still got a tight matchup, bringing what was an exciting Division Series round to a satisfying conclusion.
National League Division Series Game 5
Brewers 3, Cubs 1
(MIL wins series 3-2)
If you watched
the FOX broadcast of the Yankees-Blue Jays series, you probably caught some amount of John Smoltz waxing poetic about the importance of making contact and trying to string together rallies in the playoffs. The Brewers and Cubs didn’t get the memo, as the winner of this game was to be whoever managed to hit the most solo home runs.
Neither side went with a conventional starter, with this series turning out to be a battle of bullpens. Milwaukee went with Trevor Megill, who provided the Brewers their first scoreless first inning of the series. The Cubs started Drew Pomeranz, who was not so fortunate. In a full count, William Contreras impressively pulled a fastball on the outside corner, drilling it out to left-center for a 1-0 lead:
Next for Milwaukee was Jacob Misiorowski, who was greeted rudely by Seiya Suzuki. Misiorowski’s second pitch of the night was a 101-mph heater over the middle of the plate, which Suzuki sent flying to the opposite field for a game-tying solo shot:
Though he got off to a suboptimal start, Misiorowski ultimately produced the key outing of the game. He ate up a crucial chunk of innings, allowing just two more hits the rest of the way before departing after the fifth. Misiorowski deftly kept the Cubs off balance by leading with his breakers before blowing them away with the heater:
Misiorowski proved able to give Milwaukee a key bit of length, and Chicago too tried to wring some bulk out of their second man up, Colin Rea. Rea looked solid to start, allowing just a single through his first two frames, but with two out in the bottom of the fourth, it was Andrew Vaughn’s turn:
What would turn out to be the Cubs’ last big chance came in the top of the sixth after Aaron Ashby relieved Misiorwoski. Michael Busch singled to lead off, and Ashby hit Nico Hoerner with a pitch to put two on with none out. Ashby bounced back to strike out Kyle Tucker, but Pat Murphy had already decided he’d seen enough, turning to Chad Patrick to put out the threat. Patrick was dynamite, getting Suzuki to line out before striking out Ian Happ to end the inning:
Patrick pitched a perfect seventh as well, and the Brewers opened up a little breathing room. Facing Andrew Kittredge, Brice Turang lofted a long home run to center to make it 3-1:
That would be the last bit of scoring of the game, the Brewers prevailing on the strength of three solo shots. That’s not the game the Brewers played during the regular season, the team relying on speed and contact hitting to run up the best record in baseball. But contrary to popular belief, when facing the best teams and pitchers in the game and the barrels and free passes start to dry up, it can often be easier to cut out the need for a rally and just swat the ball over the wall.
With a two-run lead in hand, the Brewers went to Abner Uribe, who breezed through the final two innings to send Milwaukee to the NLCS. Despite being one of the most consistently winning franchises in the NL the last several years, this is the first time the Brewers have made it to the NLCS since 2018. That year, they fell to the Dodgers in a scintillating seven-game series. They’ll look to turn the tables this time around, starting out Monday night in Milwauke.
