The Milwaukee Brewers won a thrilling 3-1 game against the Chicago Cubs to win the NLDS, earning their chance at a pennant. With a burst of power, the Brewers overcame Chicago, backed up by a stellar
outing from the young Jacob Misiorowski.
The tense affair once again led off with some early action. Trevor Megill fired a perfect first inning, rewarding the Brewers for their decision to use an opener. The Brewers, though, considered it a better idea to keep the trend of early scoring going.
Facing Cubs opener Drew Pomeranz, William Contreras took a full count, two-out pitch deep for a solo home run. A pitch on the outside of the plate, Contreras was able to reach out and take it to left-center field.
The Cubs responded immediately, jumping on rookie Jacob Misiorowski, fresh out of the bullpen. Seiya Suzuki homered on the second pitch he saw to tie up the game at 1-1. Although Misiorowski’s fastball reached over 101 mph, it was down the middle of the plate, primed for Suzuki.
It was a stressful start to Misiorowski’s night, but he looked nearly flawless from that point on. He retired 12 of his next 14 hitters, allowing just two singles in that span. His stuff was as nasty as ever, compiling three strikeouts, and getting whiffs on five of eleven swings against his fastball. He pitched in two games this series, notching a 1.29 ERA and, notably, two wins, over seven innings. His talent was obvious, and he brought it out in the biggest moments of the season.
He received some help from his defense too. In the third inning, Caleb Durbin made an excellent play on the run, charging toward home plate to record the first out. It was a play made on the thinnest margins, and Durbin executed it with perfect efficiency. In the fifth inning, Andrew Vaughn scooped a low bounce to record another key out.
The Brewers took the advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning, courtesy of a home run from Andrew Vaughn. It was another full-count, two out at-bat, putting maximum pressure on both batter and pitcher. Former Brewer Colin Rea was on the mound and hung a lifeless cutter in the zone. Vaughn took it deep, and sent the Brewers up 2-1. Who would have thought that Vaughn would be so pivotal to the Brewers’ season when he arrived from the White Sox? His success has been nothing short of incredible, this marking his second home run of the series.
Milwaukee very nearly added to its lead the following inning when Jackson Chourio led off with a walk. When Contreras stepped up to the plate with two outs, he ended up hitting a scorching line drive to Nico Hoerner. Because Contreras hit the ball so hard, it gave Hoerner the opportunity to double up Chourio at first base, an unfortunate double play to end the inning.
Aaron Ashby was next in line behind Misiorowski, but his outing was bumpy from the start. He allowed a single to his first batter and hit Hoerner on a spiked pitch that bounced in the dirt. He even fell behind 3-1 in the count to Kyle Tucker, but rallied to nail a brilliant pitch on the outside of the zone to catch Tucker swinging. While that was a momentary reset, the Brewers saw enough, and once again went to the bullpen after just three batters.
Chad Patrick came in to put out the fire, and he did more than that. After forcing a deep fly out, he struck out Ian Happ on a perfectly placed cutter, dotting the edge of the zone to end the sixth. Patrick returned for a lights-out seventh inning. With two strikeouts and a flyout, Milwaukee was entering the final stages of the game with a narrow 2-1 lead.
In the sixth inning, the Brewers got two runners on from walks but couldn’t capitalize. Frelick reached first against Andrew Kittredge and timed a stolen base attempt so perfectly that the Cubs didn’t even manage a throw. Durbin walked as well, his third time getting on base. Blake Perkins, however, hit an easy pop-up to halt any momentum. The following inning, Joey Ortiz hit a searing liner into center field, but Pete Crow-Armstrong made a diving catch that only he could make.
Brice Turang then came up with arguably the biggest moment of his career. With two-outs, Turang cranked his first postseason home run to add a crucial insurance run. There was no doubt from the moment it left the bat that it was going over the wall. He took it 416-feet, giving the Brewers a 3-1 lead. It had been a rough postseason offensively for Turang, but he made his mark regardless.
Abner Uribe took the mantle for the final two innings of the game. He’s established himself as one of the most dominant relievers in baseball, and he continued that success tonight. He allowed a walk in the eighth inning and a hard liner, but escaped by forcing a weak groundball from Kyle Tucker to end the inning. In the final frame, he retired all three batters to silence the Cubs, and more importantly, secure a ticket to the Championship Series.
So much of what made the Brewers great this season came through for them tonight. While leading the way with home runs was an anomaly, there were other distinctions, such as their zero errors to the Cubs two, or the Brewers rookie pitchers Misiorowski and Patrick carrying a heavy load of the work. In what was planned as a bullpen game, the Brewers only used five pitchers. Milwaukee’s pitching staff only walked one batter, compared to Chicago’s four. Seven of the nine starters in the lineup got on base.
It was a tense game, but a rewarding one for Brewers fans. Milwaukee moves to the NLCS to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Because the Brewers secured baseball’s best record, they’ll await the Dodgers’ arrival for Monday’s series opener.
First pitch on Monday is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. CT, once again on HBO Max, TBS, and the Brewers Radio Network. Neither team has yet announced a starter.
