The Cubs stayed alive in the National League Division Series on Wednesday, narrowly defeating the Brewers 4-3 in Game 3. Neither starting pitcher threw for long, and both teams needed to go deep into their respective bullpens to end the game; a total of 10 relievers were used.
Carlos Zambrano threw out the ceremonial first pitch 13 years after his last game in the majors – Big Z’s former teammate Rich Hill was playing for the Royals in 2025 and is older than him – but the Cubs got off to a rocky start after that, with starter Jameson Taillon’s far less lazy arc slamming down the first base line to right field for Christian Yelich Yelich’s double. Taillon lost the strike zone slightly after a Jackson Chourio grounder, walking Brice Turang to give William Contreras first and second. Contreras hit an infield single to load the bases. Of course, that’s kind of masking the lede, but you can’t see me making the air-quote gesture with my finger when I wrote that sentence. “Infield Single” is anything but. Michael Busch got lost in the sun on an infield pop-up and his sunglasses were still off his hat. Carson Kelly and Nico Hoerner both had runs, but they couldn’t save the game in time. Dansby Swanson also ran over, which became a problem when Kelly got the ball but no one really passed the ball to try and force his way out of Turang.
Since the Cubs won the game anyway, this game doesn’t need to elicit any high emotions, but it’s still worth addressing the infield fly ball issue. One of the keys to determining an infield fly ball is whether, in the umpire’s judgment, the infielder could have hit the ball with ordinary effort. Even though the pop-up was hit in what would normally be an easy game, the sun was a factor, and from the initial swing of Busch’s arm, it was quickly apparent that this wasn’t going to be a routine play like it usually is. Without an umpire’s call, there are no infield fly balls.
Disaster was not assured, however, and while Sal Frelick’s fly ball to Yelich from third base put Milwaukee on the board, Caleb Durbin’s flyout ended the inning and the Cubs were no doubt happy to escape from a 1-0 deficit.
The bottom half of the picture was almost a complete disaster for Quin Priest and the Brewers. For the Cubs, it was a textbook example of the power of plate discipline used wisely. Priest wasn’t ridiculously crazy in his game, but the Cubs played him like they were in a Kevin Youkilis-themed fantasy camp, letting Priest get deep into every game and swing at the meat. Chicago’s hitters allowed just three hits in 17 swings against Priest, and of the three pitches thrown in the inning, all three had exit velocities over 100 mph. Busch’s first homer tied the game at 1-1, then scored two more runs on two singles and four walks.
With first, third and two outs, Priest’s day was over. Nick Mears comes in and scores the fourth run with a fastball brilliantly Ian Happ scored from third. After walking Swanson, Mills attacked Matt Shaw with a bunch of fastballs.
Happ’s run was the Cubs’ final run in Game 3. Must go 8 1/3 innings, Brewers bullpen most No trouble was encountered, only two brief rallies, both of which were fruitless.
Jose Quintana’s most dangerous moment came in the fourth when Seiya Suzuki’s screaming double drove in Ivy and walked Happ after taking an 0-2 lead. However, he cleaned up his mess and put Kelly, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Swanson in order. Quintana’s appearance wasn’t a shining moment, but he prevented Chicago from causing any further damage. He didn’t miss a lot of bats, although that’s not unusual for him, but he also didn’t induce much with soft contact.
After Quintana went three innings, Grant Anderson added two of his own, allowing only Swanson’s two-out hit in the sixth inning, but ultimately came up empty handed. However, his appearance on the mound after taking first base off Kyle Tucker from Quintana was the most entertaining play of the game — well, maybe not if you’re the Cubs coach. Tucker seems to have made an odd compromise between being first and second in steals, and as a result, he’s stuck in an awkward situation in no man’s land. When he tried to get back to first place he was bitten and it was too late.
Chicago’s last futile attempt to add an insurance run came in the seventh inning, when singles by Hoerner and Tucker knocked out Jared Koenig. Chad Patrick finished the game in the first and eighth inning for the Cubs.
For their part, the Brewers spent the entire game trying to close a three-run deficit from the first inning. Taillon settled down after the game’s initial shenanigans, but singles from Frilick and Dubin tied the game in the fourth inning. Jake Bowles’ third single cut the deficit to two runs. Brandon Lockridge’s safety squeeze was too big of a hit, allowing the Cubs just enough time to trap Durbin at third on the out, although Bowles did advance to third and Lockridge reached second. Drew Pomeranz was just getting warmed up, while Taillon finished the inning without further damage.
Pomeranz and Daniel Palencia shut out the Brewers in two innings, but Andrew Kittredge was less than impressive in the seventh. Bowles, who was exploring pitching this spring to have a better chance of continuing his major league career, got his second big hit, a round-out hit off Kittredge’s first pitch. Kittredge recovered to finish the rest of the inning, but allowed a leadoff double to Jorio in the eighth before being plated by Caleb Thielbar.
Thielba managed to score a fourth-and-goal on Turang — a third that was badly broken into a ball by receiver Kelly — but Contreras stepped to continue the play. Frilick had just beaten a grounder to stop Tilba’s double play to end the inning. Manager Craig Counsell was apparently not interested in seeing Thielba take on Durbin to see which Caleb was dominant, and brought in Brad Keller. Keller immediately walked Durbin, and a pitch-time violation allowed Bowles a free ball to start his at-bat. But redemption was in prophecy, not tragedy; Keller scoffed at Bowles and then knocked the Brewers out of order in the ninth inning to finish the game, making up for an ugly performance that nearly cost the Padres a comeback last week.
In the end, the Cubs won 4-3. The Cubs are still underdogs and must win two games in a row, but their 2025 season will last at least one more day.
