When it comes to a best-of-five series, there’s nothing like a Game 5 to separate composure from chaos. On Saturday, the Brewers and Cubs played a high stakes duel–with everything on the line. After four games bringing twists, momentum swings, and postseason pressure, the drama was distilled into one final showdown. Fans, players, and broadcasters all knew: 27 outs, and just one club would emerge as NLDS champion.
The atmosphere at American Family Field crackled. The Brewers, who had home field for the finale, leaned on their pitching depth, bullpen strength, and the backing of a raucous crowd. Meanwhile, the Cubs, seasoned and battle tested, accepted the role of spoiler. Each pitch, each swing, each bullpen change resonated loudly in a stadium that knew full well how thin the margin is in October–one mistake, one misplay, one moment of fatigue can be fatal.
But in the end, the Milwaukee Brewers came out on top (3-1), advancing to the NLCS against the Dodgers.
“Today, we’re not the Average Joe’s… we’re the Above Average Joe’s,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Key Moments & Turning Points
All three of Milwaukee’s runs came via solo home runs, each delivered with two outs–textbook pressure hitting. William Contreras provided the early spark with a first-inning long ball, and Andrew Vaughn added a go-ahead homer in the 4th to break a 1-1 tie. Brice Turang buried the Cubs with an insurance blast later in the game.
From Chicago’s perspective, they chipped one back via Seiya Suzuki in the 2nd, but couldn’t muster sustained offense beyond that. The Cubs had their chances, especially in the 6th with two on and no outs, but failed to deliver enough in clutch moments.
The Brewers leaned on a collective effort. Rookie Jacob Misiorowski turned in a strong relief outing, allowing just one run over multiple innings and earning the win. Milwaukee used five pitchers overall to limit the Cubs to just four hits.
Meanwhile, closer Abner Uribe took care of the final frames in critical fashion to seal the deal.
Murphy’s Take on the Moment
After the game, Murphy offered a candid assessment of what may have factored into Milwaukee’s win, and what it means for his team moving forward.
“We’ve got a really young team,’’ Murphy said. “I think everybody knows that. Maybe by far the youngest team in the postseason. That kind of stuff emotionally can affect guys. They can start to play a little too hard. This game is a game of precision, and the Cubs’ experience and what they’ve been through, they were better in this environment, for sure.”
The Brewers’ lineup is stacked with players still in their early to mid-20s, many of them experiencing October pressure for the first time. As Murphy noted, playoff baseball isn’t just about raw ability; it’s about emotional control, discipline, and composure under noise and nerves.
“I admire our team, I have faith in our team,’’ Murphy said. “I think this had to happen this way.’’
Yelich Speaks for the City
If Murphy spoke as the realist, Christian Yelich spoke as the heart of Milwaukee’s clubhouse. A veteran who’s lived every heartbreak since the Brewers’ 2018 run, Yelich placed this win in a larger emotional frame.
“This was more than the usual Division Series,” Yelich said. “Everyone wants to point to past postseasons, but the majority of these guys weren’t even here for that. So you try to downplay it going into this series against the Cubs and call it any other Division Series, you say you just want to advance.
“But the rivalry between these two teams–I feel like it’s been our two teams going at it the last eight years. All of the storylines there. We just really wanted to perform for our city and this organization and our fanbase. We knew it meant a little bit extra.”
Through the 2025 postseason, he’s hitting .263 (5-for-19) with a .680 OPS, continuing a career playoff line of .241 with 2 home runs and 13 runs scored across 87 games.
“We just really wanted it and we believed in each other the whole way, even though we lost those two games at Wrigley,” Yelich said. “It was two really good teams going at it and we came out on top.”
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