Didn’t we just see this game on Saturday?
Oh, sure, there were a couple of differences. Like, the Cubs took a 3-0 lead in the first inning instead of 1-0. And instead of the Brewers lining up singles and doubles, they mashed home runs.
The result, sadly, was the same: A Cubs loss, this time 7-3 to the Brewers in Game 2 of their National League Division Series. Now it’s win three straight or go home for the winter. I’ll get to a bit of that, but let’s review what happened Monday evening in Milwaukee.
With one out in the first inning, Nico Hoerner slapped a single to right. Kyle Tucker followed with a walk.
The next Brewers hitter, Andrew Vaughn, hit a full-count fastball a little harder than that. Well, a lot harder, a three-run homer that left the yard at 109 miles per hour.
A bit of MLB history was made with that home run. From BCB’s JohnW53:
This is the first game in MLB’s 123-year postseason history that each team has hit a three-run homer in the first inning.
They were the 51st and 52nd three-run blasts in the first. The only previous one by a Cub was by Frank Demaree, at home, in Game 4 of the 1932 World Series against the Yankees. It gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead in a game they ultimately lost, 13-6, to end the series.
Still, the game is only tied. The Cubs still have a chance, right?
The Cubs still probably had a chance after William Contreras homered off Imanaga to give Milwaukee a 4-3 lead in the third. This was the 14th time Imanaga had started since the All-Star break. He allowed at least two home runs in eight of those games. This is something Shōta and the coaching staff clearly need to work on before the 2026 season.
More on the three homers allowed from John:
This is just the second of the Cubs’ 128 postseason games in which they surrendered three home runs with two outs in innings.
The previous one was the fourth and final game of the 2015 Championship Series, at home against the Mets. Jason Hammel gave up a three-run homer, then a solo shot with two down in the first inning. Fernando Rodney served up a two-run blast in the eighth that made the score 8-1. The final score was 11-1.
And it wasn’t just those home runs, either. The Cubs had only five more baserunners the rest of the game: a walk by Matt Shaw and single by Justin Turner in the second, a walk by Suzuki in the third, another walk by Shaw in the fourth and a single by Nico in the fifth. That was it — after that fifth-inning single, the last 15 Cubs went out in order, seven of those by strikeout, six of those swinging (and the other, by Tucker, on a foul tip).
This is largely because the Brewers, like many teams in 2025, have a seemingly endless parade of relievers who can throw 100 miles per hour. The Cubs do not. And the one Cubs reliever who can throw 100-plus consistently, Daniel Palencia, served up a three-run homer to Jackson Chourio with two out in the fifth that put the game out of reach. In fact, all seven Brewers runs scored with two out. Props to them, and this is something Cubs management needs to work on, getting some relievers who can put games away.
So there really isn’t all that much else to say about this game. There’s only one other video highlight worth looking at, this nice running grab by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the sixth [VIDEO].
One final note, which didn’t really have any bearing on the result of this game: Based on the K zone shown by TBS, plate umpire Mike Estabrook made some truly awful ball-and-strike calls throughout the game, for both teams. I’ll be very interested in seeing the Ump Scorecard when it’s available later this morning.
You have seen the numbers, I’m sure. In all best-of-five MLB series when a team went down two games to none, the trailing team has won only 10 times. (You might remember one of those teams. Here’s a list of all 10 teams who have done it.)
The Cubs did play very well at Wrigley Field this year, going 50-29. And they took four of the seven games played against the Brewers there, including winning three of five in the final regular-season set of the year between the two teams in August.
Famously, Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Which, of course, is obvious. And the Cubs will do their best to try to make themselves the 11th best-of-five comeback team when the series resumes late Wednesday afternoon. The crowd at Wrigley will be loud and the weather should be beautiful, if a bit cool (low 60s). Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Quinn Priester will start for the Brewers. Game time Wednesday is 4:08 p.m. CT and TV coverage is via TBS, truTV and streaming on HBO Max.
