EDITOR’S NOTE: As he did for Game 4, Josh Timmers will write up a Rapid Recap that will post shortly after this game is over. Then I will post a full game recap at 8 a.m. CT tomorrow.
Saturday notes…
- DECIDING GAMES: The Cubs are 5-4 in single games to decide post-season series, including 4-1 on the road. The road wins were by 5-1 at Atlanta in Game 5 of the 2003 Division Series, 4-0 at Pittsburgh in the 2015 Wild Card Game, 8-7 at Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and 9-8 at Washington in Game 5 of the 2017 Division Series. The loss was by 6-3 at San Diego in Game 5 of the 1984 Championship Series. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- ELIMINATION GAMES: In games in which they have faced elimination, the Cubs are 10-18 overall and 5-8 on the road. They won their last four on the road: the do-or-die games in 2015, 2016 and 2017 mentioned above, plus 9-3 at Cleveland in Game 6 of the 2016 World Series. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- SERIES CLINCHERS: In all games with a chance to win a series, the Cubs are 10-9 overall and 7-4 on the road. The road wins were at Detroit in Game 5 of the 1907 and 1908 World Series, the 2003 NLDS game at Atlanta, the 2015 Wild Card game at Pittsburgh, Game 4 of the 2016 Division Series at San Francisco, Game 7 of the 2016 World Series at Cleveland and the 2017 NLDS game at Washington. They have not had another chance to win a series on the road since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- THE BUSCH LEAGUE: Michael Busch’s home run in Game 4 gave him four for this year’s postseason — in four games. That is tied for second-most in a single postseason in franchise history (with Alex Gonzalez and Aramis Ramirez). The record of 5 is held by Kyle Schwarber, who did it in 2015, including the memorable video board blast:
Cubs
lineup:
Brewers lineup:
Drew Pomeranz, LHP vs. Trevor Megill, RHP
Drew Pomeranz is clearly being used as an opener tonight. He did this four times during the regular season and posted a 5.40 ERA, though that’s a bit misleading as in three of the four games, he threw a scoreless first inning. Pomeranz has thrown three scoreless innings in this series, in Games 1, 3 and Game 4, striking out five of the nine Brewers hitters he’s faced.
Against the Brewers during the 2025 regular season, Pomeranz made six appearances covering 5.2 innings and allowed three hits, three walks and one unearned run, with seven strikeouts.
Both teams are going with openers tonight, and the Brewers have chosen Trevor Megill, who had been closing for them earlier this year before missing several weeks with a flexor injury.
He returned to throw in the final game of the regular season and has made two appearances in this series, totalling one inning, allowing a hit and a walk.
Former Brewers reliever faces former Cubs reliever as openers in a winner-take-all game. Quite the storyline.
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day’s game is on TBS, truTV and streaming on HBO Max. Announcers: Alex Faust and Ron Darling, with reporter Lauren Jbara.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. If you do go there to interact with Brewers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2025 Game Thread procedure will be identical to previous years.
You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) live game discussion.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.
You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
