Brewers Beat Cubs 3-1, Advance to NLCS Against Dodgers

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Saturday in the deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series. The win marks the Brewers’ first playoff series victory since 2018.

Andrew Vaughn‘s tiebreaking home run in the fourth inning, along with homers by William Contreras and Brice Turang, propelled the Brewers to victory at American Family Field. The Brewers will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series starting Monday.

“A lot of people didn’t believe in them early on, and they just continued to stay relentless,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

Despite losing key players like slugging shortstop Willy Adames to free agency and trading All-Star closer Devin Williams last winter, Milwaukee finished the regular season with the best record in baseball at 97-65.

The Brewers used a collaborative pitching strategy for the final game. Trevor Megill, Jacob Misiorowski, Aaron Ashby, Chad Patrick, and Abner Uribe allowed just four hits. Uribe earned the first multi-inning save of his career by getting six outs.

<p“They're the above-average Joes,” Murphy praised his team's performance.

This victory was particularly satisfying for Milwaukee fans, as it eliminated the Cubs and their manager, Craig Counsell, a former Brewer who became the team’s all-time winningest manager before leaving for Chicago.

The Cubs had forced Game 5 after winning the previous two at Wrigley Field, aiming to become only the 11th team to overcome a 2-0 series deficit. However, the Cubs fell short, as all of Milwaukee’s runs came from home runs, each with two outs.

Contreras opened the scoring with a 389-foot homer in the first, while Vaughn’s shot later broke the 1-1 tie. Turang added insurance with a 416-foot drive in the seventh inning.

“We fight back. That’s our mentality. We fight back,” Vaughn said.

The only run for Chicago came from Seiya Suzuki‘s home run off Misiorowski in the second inning. Misiorowski struck out three batters and earned the win after also contributing three innings of shutout relief in Game 2.

Chicago put two runners on with nobody out in the sixth but failed to score again. Ashby managed to escape the inning with a strikeout and two fly outs to secure the victory for Milwaukee.