Brewers brimming with confidence heading into NLDS Game 3: ‘We’re playing with house money’

Brewers catcher William Contreras was in no rush to run the bases in the third inning Monday.

He lingered at the plate, admiring his solo homer to left field that gave the Brewers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 7-3 victory over the Cubs in Game 2 of the National League Division Series to go up 2-0.

He stared at his hand, forming an imaginary phone and answering it before emphatically hanging up. Asked after the game whom he called, Contreras said, “Brewers fans.”

“I want to bring the energy for the team,” he said.

Before the postseason, Contreras penned a story in The Players’ Tribune titled, “No One Better Than Us.” There’s a lot of time for the Brewers to prove Contreras’ assertion, but they definitely have been the better team in this series.

Contreras’ story was an inside look at how united the Brewers’ clubhouse is and how passionate he is about his team. He gives it swagger and confidence. The Cubs talk about their resilience, but the Brewers show it. Contreras, like his brother Willson, is a fiery leader.

“He goes out there with fire, whether he’s hitting, catching or in the dugout,” said first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who joined the team in June. “Sometimes you’ve got to watch how you high-five him, or he might break your hand.”

The Brewers have the right chemistry in the clubhouse to help a hitter like Vaughn excel. He batted .189/.218/.314 in 48 games with the White Sox before coming over. The Brewers try to maximize the potential of every player, and even then, they had a 25-28 record as of May 24.

“I really felt like we had a special group early on when we were able to weather that early part of the season,” senior vice president and general manager Matt Arnold said. “Then [things] start really clicking in the second half.

From June 1 through the end of the season, the Brewers went 66-37. And after almost a week off thanks to a first-round bye, they’ve shown no signs of rust. The Brewers trailed in the first inning of both games against the Cubs and weren’t fazed.

“[The mentality] starts in the clubhouse,” Vaughn said. “We just have each other’s backs out there. No matter the score, we all know that we can come back from anything.”

The Brewers can eliminate their rivals with a victory in Game 3 on Wednesday at Wrigley Field. They’d move one step closer to their first World Series appearance since 1982.

Though they have the best record in baseball, three All-Stars and a former MVP on their roster, the Brewers don’t have six first-round picks in their lineup like the Cubs do.

They have excelled with players undervalued by other organizations, such as third baseman Caleb Durbin, whom the team acquired from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade, and 28-year-old rookie Isaac Collins. They work the margins and, more often than not, are correct in their evaluations.

“Having the background that [Collins and I] have and that a lot of guys have in this room, we have nothing to lose,” Durbin said. “We’re playing with house money.”