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Jesse Rogers
MILWAUKEE — Perhaps some divine intervention had a hand in the Milwaukee Brewers advancing to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2018 after they defeated the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the NLDS on Saturday night. More than once, general manager Matt Arnold said he looked “to the heavens” for some inspiration from Brewers icon Bob Uecker, who passed away last offseason.
“I kept saying, ‘Bob, we need you,'” Arnold said in the Brewers’ champagne-soaked clubhouse following the tense 3-1 win in Game 5. “We know he’s with us.”
Arnold’s prayers were answered as Milwaukee hit three solo home runs while perfectly navigating its own bullpen game — just as the Cubs were attempting to do — holding Chicago to a solo home run. Midseason pickup Andrew Vaughn went deep again, while midseason call-up Jacob Misiorowski pitched the bulk of the game — four innings — allowing just that one run.
Vaughn, in particular, felt the meaning of the moment more than most. Traded by the Chicago White Sox after a terrible start to his season, he found new life with the Brewers. He compiled a 1.126 OPS in the series, including two home runs.
“The journey has been kind of crazy,” Vaughn said. “But not taking anything for granted. The opportunity to be with this group, it’s changed my life.”
For Misiorowski, it was the first time in 17 appearances, dating back to the regular season, that he didn’t issue a walk. He gave up three hits and struck out three in a masterful performance.
“I think I was giving everything I’ve got,” he said. “And I think I left everything out there.”
The other four Brewers pitchers held the Cubs scoreless.
“It kind of went according to plan,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But then, we saw [Aaron Ashby] was a little bit not as sharp as he could have been. It’s his fourth time seeing them. And then, Chad Patrick was maybe the player of the game because you don’t expect him to be that good, pitching an inning plus.”
Patrick relieved Ashby during a potential turning point in the sixth. With Milwaukee up 2-1, Ashby gave up a hit and then hit a batter, putting runners on first and second with no outs. But then he threw the pitch of the game, a nasty 98.6 mph fastball on the edge of the zone to Kyle Tuckerwho swung and missed on a 3-2 count. Patrick entered next. He got Seiya Suzuki to fly out and then caught Ian Happ looking. It was the last rally of the season for the Cubs.
“Ashby made a pretty darned good pitch, 3-2, to Tucker,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Looked like right down away on the corner. It was a nasty pitch. Seiya had a good at-bat against Patrick. … And then, they got out of it essentially.
“It’s really the only inning you could talk about. We just didn’t do much. We had six baserunners. You’re going to have to hit homers to have any runs scoring in scenarios like that.”
The win completed a back-and-forth series where the home team held serve throughout. The Brewers admitted the environment in Games 3 and 4 in Chicago got to them, allowing the Cubs to even the series after Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead. Would the Brewers give it away like they did in the wild-card round last year when New York Mets star Pete Alonso beat them with a late home run in the deciding game?
Longtime Brewers star Christian Yelich was asked what he learned from that heartbreaking experience.
“Just go at it fearless,” he said during the postgame clubhouse party. “You can’t really lose them tougher than we did last year. So, going into the night, you just play with a bunch of freedom. You know you’ve got belief and trust in your teammates that we’re going to be able to get the job done. That’s exactly what we’re able to do.”
The Brewers said all the right things about beating the Cubs, though it had to feel extra special taking down a big-market payroll and Milwaukee’s former manager, who left for greener pastures just two years ago. As has become the norm since he took the job in Chicago, Counsell was booed every time he poked his head out of the dugout.
Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio was asked if he had any doubts about his team continuing its winning ways after Counsell left the organization before the 2024 season.
“I believed in the process and the system and the people,” Attanasio said. “The Cubs were really good this year. It’s just a testament to this whole organization.”
In terms of big-market/high-payroll teams, the Cubs were just the appetizer. Next up for the Brewers are the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgerswho reside in the sport’s second-largest market and own the highest team payroll in the majors, more than $200 million ahead of the Brewers.
“It doesn’t get any more big market and small market than Brewers-Dodgers,” Yelich said with a smile. “We’re up against it. We know it. We love being in those situations. It’s fitting the season for us is going to come down to that series, that team and all that star power. You have the average Joes coming there. We’re going to do what we did all year, compete our asses off, go hard and see what happens.”
Attanasio added: “Let’s go! I can’t wait.”
The Brewers went 6-0 against the Dodgers in the regular season and have home-field advantage in the series, but they will be the decided underdogs. Uecker’s spirit might be needed now more than ever, as taking down the Dodgers despite everything that Milwaukee has accomplished will be its toughest task yet.
“I’m grateful for the guys we’ve had in the room,” Murphy said. “They’ve been doubted every year. Everyone. There’s no one predicting the Brewers playing the Dodgers in the series.”
Arnold added: “We’ve been planning for this. You can’t just roll out of bed and play the Dodgers.”
