The Brewers won their first playoff series since 2018 after defeating rival Chicago 3-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their NL Division Series on Saturday.
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 the past eight years, earned their first postseason series win since sweeping Colorado in the 2018 NLDS. The Brewers were on the verge of their second World Series appearance in franchise history that year before losing Game 7 of the National League Championship Series at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Now, they get another NLCS matchup with the Dodgers, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies in four games in the other NL Division Series. Game 1 is Monday at Milwaukee, who were 6-0 vs. L.A. this season. The Dodgers opened as minus-210 favorites to win the series at ESPN BET Sportsbook.
« A lot of people didn’t believe in them early on, and they just continued to stay relentless », Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Game 5.
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.
