Chicago Cubs Hold Off Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3
In a thrilling matchup on Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs edged out the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 to prevent a sweep in the National League District Series. Pete Crow-Armstrong came through with a critical two-run hit to bring the Cubs back into the game.
His pivotal swing came during a rally that began with Michael Busch, who made history by hitting multiple leadoff home runs in a single postseason series.
This was the first time these NL Central rivals faced off in a postseason series. Interestingly, both teams scored first in each of the three games played so far. Game 4 is set for Thursday night.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell expressed that he plans to remind his players, “It’s the first inning” throughout the game, feeling it’s the best offensive approach for them right now.
Jake Bowers helped Milwaukee respond with an RBI single in the fourth inning and a lead-off drive in the seventh. He took over first base duties from Andrew Vaughn, who had hit a crucial three-run home run in Game 2.
Despite a tense eighth inning where the Brewers had the bases loaded, Brad Keller managed to strike out Bowers with a powerful fastball and then secured the save in the ninth.
Bowers noted, “He’s got a great fastball, which I caught on him.”
Milwaukee struck first in the opening inning, taking the lead with a series of hits. William Contreras hit a ball toward the outfield, but Busch, due to the sun, couldn’t make the catch, allowing for an infield hit. Sal Frelick followed up with a sacrifice fly.
However, the Cubs quickly responded when Busch hit a deep ball into right-center field, eliciting cheers from the crowd of 40,737 at Wrigley Field. This marked the third home run from a first baseman in the postseason.
Busch reflected on needing to shake off a mistake from earlier in the game, stating, “It’s a long game, so I just tried to remind myself to make good at-bats.”
With the bases loaded, Crow-Armstrong hit a line drive to right, helping push the Cubs’ score to 4-1 after Happ homered on a wild pitch.
Although Crow-Armstrong, now 23 and a former Mets prospect, has a batting average of .227 in his first postseason, he has had some key moments, including an RBI hit against Yu Darvish in the Wild Card Round.
He expressed gratitude, saying, “We’ve been fortunate to have a great opportunity to have guys on base in some elimination games.”
For Priester, who had a tough time in his return to Chicago, the struggles were frustrating. The 25-year-old right-hander managed to throw 39 pitches, 21 of which were strikes, but felt his command was lacking.
“I was very frustrated that first inning,” Priester admitted. “My command wasn’t good. It’s on me to make adjustments,” he concluded.
While Taillon allowed a scoring single from Bowers, he managed to limit further damage by forcing an out. Both teams had a stellar performance with runners in scoring positions, but left several runners stranded, a fact noted by Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
“In close games, you look at how you did with runners in scoring positions,” he said, acknowledging the need for big hits and crediting the Cubs for capitalizing in key moments.
