MILWAUKEE — For nearly three hours Saturday night at American Family Field, the Chicago Cubs, on the brink of elimination for the fourth time this postseason, rode the emotions of a win-or-go-home Game 5 in a hostile environment.
The go-ahead clutch swing consistently eluded the Cubs in a dueling bullpen game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Seiya Suzuki’s game-tying home run in the second inning was all the Cubs offense could produce against five Brewers relievers in a 3-1 loss to end their season in the National League Division Series. The Brewers used three two-out solo home runs to finish off the Cubs.
The home team ultimately held court in the NLDS as the Brewers advanced to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
“There are the games you try to get yourself into, you work so hard to get into,” manager Craig Counsell said pregame. “You dream of playing in them in the backyard. That’s the best part of it.
“When all the other stuff that’s there — the finality of it, the stress of it — but I think if you flip it to know that, man, this is what I worked so hard for, that’s when you get to a place that your best self comes out and that’s all you can ask. Your best self comes out. And we play the game, and let’s go.”
The Cubs will lament plenty of missed opportunities offensively, none bigger than the sixth inning.
Michael Busch (single) and Nico Hoerner (hit by a pitch) set up a prime scoring opportunity for the heart of the Cubs lineup. Kyle Tucker couldn’t take advantage of working a 3-1 count against lefty Aaron Ashby, striking out swinging on well-placed, full-count, 98.6-mph fastball down and away. Brewers manager Pat Murphy turned to right-hander Chad Patrick, who got lucky on Suzuki’s 101.6 mph liner that found Jackson Chourio in left field despite a .500 expected average on the ball. Ian Happ got caught looking at strike 3 to end the inning.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz got the start and saw his streak of retired batters to begin the postseason end at 17 in a row when William Contreras took him deep for a two-out home run that continued the series streak of at least one of the teams scoring in the first inning.
Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn broke the tie in the fourth when right-hander Colin Rea left an 88-mph cutter over the plate. And without another lefty reliever available in the pen — though southpaw Shota Imanaga twice started warming — veteran Andrew Kittedge was used against a pocket of Brewers lefties and was burned by Brice Turang taking him deep.
While their postseason drought ended, the Cubs face another offseason trying to figure out how to successfully make a run to the World Series as the sting of a missed opportunity lingers.
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