Cubs Stay Alive Behind First-Inning Spark, Gritty Bullpen Effort
The Chicago Cubs have more baseball to play. Their season hung by a thread on Wednesday night, but behind an explosive first inning and a lockdown bullpen, Chicago staved off elimination with a 4–3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in front of a raucous Wrigley Field crowd.
A four-run rally in the opening frame gave the Cubs just enough breathing room to survive — and the blueprint for how they’ll have to win moving forward.
Starter Jameson Taillon did his job, grinding through four innings of two-run baseball before turning it over to the bullpen. From there, Craig Counsell emptied the chamber. Drew Pomeranz and Daniel Palencia each fired perfect innings to bridge the middle frames. While Andrew Kittredge surrendered a solo home run to Jake Bauers in the seventh, Caleb Thielbar and Brad Keller combined to slam the door shut and keep the Cubs’ season alive.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was the kind of win that defines October — bullpen-heavy, full of tight-rope escapes, and anchored by early offense.
The Cubs’ starting rotation is running on fumes, decimated by injuries and short rest. Their offense, meanwhile, has been streaky at best. For Chicago to claw back into this series, the formula is simple: play from ahead and lean on the arms that have been getting outs.
That’s a lot easier to do when you’re the team striking first.
In the first two games of the NLDS, Milwaukee set the tone early — scoring nine runs in the first two innings of Game 1 and plating seven by the fourth inning in Game 2. Timely hitting and relentless at-bats allowed the Brewers to dictate every matchup and let their pitching depth take over.
On Wednesday, Chicago flipped the script. The first three balls in play off Cubs bats were all hit over 100 mph. Michael Busch opened the scoring with a solo shot, Seiya Suzuki followed with an RBI single, and Pete Crow-Armstrong capped the outburst with a two-run base knock. Aggressive baserunning and hard contact forced Milwaukee starter Quinn Priester out of the game before he ever settled in.
That cushion gave Counsell something he hasn’t had all series — margin for error. Managing a bullpen is a lot less stressful when you’ve got a lead to protect.
The only concern now? Availability. Pomeranz, Palencia, Kittredge, and Keller each threw more than 15 pitches, which could limit how Counsell deploys them in Thursday night’s elimination game.
Matthew Boyd is expected to get the ball in Game 4, pitching on regular rest for the first time since his disastrous six-run outing in Game 1. He’ll have to be sharp — the Cubs’ season depends on it.
For one night, though, Wrigley Field was alive again. A Chicago team with its back against the wall fought like hell to stay in the fight. Now they have to do it again.