NL Division Series: Brewers’ 3 home runs propels club into NLCS to face Dodgers

MILWAUKEE  — Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning and William Contreras and Brice Turang also went deep as the Milwaukee Brewers shook off their recent history of playoff frustration by beating the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their NL Division Series on Saturday.

The Brewers, making their seventh playoff appearance in eight years, earned their first postseason series win since sweeping Colorado in a 2018 NLDS. Milwaukee was on the verge of its second World Series berth that year before losing Game 7 of the National League Championship Series at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now, the Brewers get another NLCS matchup with the defending World Series champion Dodgers, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies in four games in the other NL Division Series. Game 1 is Monday at Milwaukee.

“A lot of people didn’t believe in them early on, and they just continued to stay relentless,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

After losing slugging shortstop Willy Adames in free agency and trading away All-Star closer Devin Williams last winter, the scrappy Brewers finished the regular season with the best record in the majors at 97-65.

So perhaps it was no surprise that NL Central champion Milwaukee won with an all-hands-on-deck pitching approach in the final game against wild-card Chicago. Trevor Megill, Jacob Misiorowski, Aaron Ashby, Chad Patrick and Abner Uribe combined on a four-hitter, with Uribe getting six outs for the first multi-inning save of his career.

“You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

The victory was particularly sweet for Milwaukee fans because it came against the club’s biggest rival and knocked Cubs manager Craig Counsell out of the postseason.

Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area, played for the Brewers and became the winningest manager in team history until he left for Chicago.

In the two seasons since Counsell’s departure, Brewers fans have booed every mention of his name whenever the Cubs have visited American Family Field. They did it again Saturday, though the sellout crowd appeared to include more Cubs backers than in Milwaukee’s Game 1 and Game 2 home victories.

The Cubs forced Game 5 by winning two straight at Wrigley Field. They were attempting to become the 11th team to erase a 2-0 deficit and win a best-of-five playoff series, a feat last accomplished by the New York Yankees against Cleveland in their 2017 ALDS.

Homers produced all the runs in this winner-take-all game, and each of Milwaukee’s came with two outs.

Contreras hit a 389-foot shot to left-center off Drew Pomeranz in the first inning. Vaughn sent a 3-2 pitch from Colin Rea over the left-field wall to break a 1-all tie, and Turang provided some insurance with a 416-foot drive to center off Andrew Kittredge in the seventh.

“We fight back. That’s our mentality. We fight back,” Vaughn said. “We’re going to punch someone else. We’re going to throw it right back.”

Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki greeted Misiorowski by sending a 101.4 mph fastball into the Cubs bullpen leading off the second inning, but that was the only run the rookie right-hander allowed in four innings. Misiorowski struck out three while giving up three hits and walking none to earn his second win of the series.

He pitched three innings of shutout relief in Milwaukee’s 7-3 triumph in Game 2.

The Brewers brought in Misiorowski in the second inning after Megill worked as the opener and retired the side in order in the first. The Cubs had totaled 11 first-inning runs in the first four games of the series without ever going scoreless in the opening frame.

After Suzuki’s homer, they didn’t score again Saturday.

Chicago’s best threat came when it put two on with nobody out in the sixth against Ashby, who had thrown 32 pitches two nights earlier in Milwaukee’s 6-0 Game 4 loss. Michael Busch hit a leadoff single before Ashby grazed Nico Hoerner with a pitch.

Ashby got Kyle Tucker to strike out swinging at a 3-2 pitch for the first out. Patrick then came out of the bullpen and retired Suzuki on a fly to left before Ian Happ struck out looking.