The Wrigley Field faithful roared once more on Thursday night as the Chicago Cubs punched their ticket to the National League Division Series, defeating the San Diego Padres 3-1 in a decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. The victory sealed Chicago’s first postseason advancement since 2017 and set up a dramatic showdown with the rival Milwaukee Brewers.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had struggled early in the series, delivered in the clutch with an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish in the second inning. That swing, part of a three-hit night for the rookie, set the tone for Chicago’s offense and helped send the Padres packing.
Michael Busch added a solo home run, and Jameson Taillon gave the Cubs a strong start, tossing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Manager Craig Counsell then turned the game over to his bullpen, using five relievers to preserve the lead in front of 40,895 roaring fans. Daniel Palencia picked up his second win of the series, while Andrew Kittredge shut the door in the ninth after a tense Padres rally.
San Diego, which forced the do-or-die matchup with a 3-0 shutout in Game 2, saw its stars come up short when it mattered most. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including a costly fifth-inning flyout that stranded two runners. Manny Machado, who provided the Padres’ spark in Game 2 with a two-run homer, grounded out with a runner in scoring position in the eighth, killing another rally.
Darvish struggled against his former team, lasting just one inning plus four batters into the second. After Crow-Armstrong’s single, Jeremiah Estrada came in and issued a bases-loaded walk to Dansby Swanson, spotting Chicago a 2-0 lead. Though Estrada stopped the bleeding with a strikeout and double play, the Padres never fully recovered.
The Cubs’ defense, a strength all season, proved vital once again. Swanson made a slick stop on a Luis Arraez grounder in the sixth and later started a double play to erase a Machado walk. Crow-Armstrong also flashed the leather, robbing Machado of a hit with a sliding grab in the first inning.
The Padres’ only breakthrough came in the ninth, when Jackson Merrill led off with a homer against Brad Keller. But after Keller hit two batters to bring the tying run aboard, Kittredge steadied the Cubs, retiring Jake Cronenworth on a grounder and Freddy Fermin on a fly to center to seal the win.
For the Padres, it was another frustrating October exit — their fourth postseason appearance in six years without a pennant to show for it.
For the Cubs, it was the continuation of a turnaround season under Counsell, who will now face his former team, the Brewers, in a compelling NLDS matchup starting Saturday in Milwaukee. Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before joining Chicago in November 2023, a move that made him a divisive figure in Wisconsin and guaranteed plenty of drama in this next chapter of the Cubs’ playoff run.
Next up: Cubs vs. Brewers, Game 1 of the NLDS, Saturday in Milwaukee.
NLDS Preview: Cubs vs. Brewers Set for High-Drama Division Showdown
The stage is set for one of the most intriguing Division Series matchups in recent memory, as the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers — fierce rivals from the NL Central — collide in the National League Division Series beginning Saturday at American Family Field.
For Chicago, the path here has already been filled with grit and resilience. After outlasting the San Diego Padres in a three-game Wild Card Series capped by Thursday’s 3-1 clincher at Wrigley Field, the Cubs now shift focus to the Brewers, the division champions who finished the regular season at 96-66.
At the center of the story is Craig Counsell. The Cubs’ first-year skipper spent nine years at the helm in Milwaukee, guiding the Brewers to five playoff berths and a 2021 NL Central crown. His decision to leave for Chicago last November shocked the baseball world and added new fire to an already heated rivalry. Counsell has been booed lustily in Milwaukee ever since — and now he’ll be managing against his old club on the October stage.
The Brewers enter rested, armed with their typically formidable pitching staff. Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee’s ace, is expected to start Game 1, supported by a bullpen that remains among the league’s deepest. Christian Yelich, healthy after battling back issues late in the season, leads an offense that was more balanced this year, with William Contreras emerging as one of the league’s most consistent hitters.
The Cubs, meanwhile, arrive with momentum. Jameson Taillon and Justin Steele headline a rotation that has held steady down the stretch, while Counsell’s ability to mix and match relievers proved critical in the Wild Card round. Offensively, rookies like Pete Crow-Armstrong — who broke out in Game 3 against San Diego — and Michael Busch have blended with veterans Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger to form a group capable of grinding out runs.
For Milwaukee: Contreras’ bat and the bullpen’s ability to lock down late leads. The Brewers have often leaned on pitching to win tight games, and that blueprint will be tested against a hot Cubs lineup.
For Chicago: Crow-Armstrong’s defense and ability to set the tone. After a rough start to the postseason, the rookie center fielder flipped the script in Game 3 and could become a difference-maker in the series.
The Cubs and Brewers split their regular-season series 7-7, though Milwaukee edged out Chicago in the NL Central race by two games. The Brewers’ last playoff meeting with Chicago came in 2018, when they beat the Cubs in a Game 163 tiebreaker to win the division.
Now, with Counsell on the opposite bench, this rivalry takes on a fresh layer of intensity. For the Brewers, it’s another chance to finally break through a Division Series ceiling that has often tripped them up. For the Cubs, it’s the continuation of a new era under Counsell — one in which they’ve already proven they can win big games.
When the first pitch is thrown Saturday, the boos for Counsell will be loud, the crowd will be buzzing, and one of baseball’s fiercest rivalries will be renewed — this time with a ticket to the NLCS on the line.
Schedule
- Game 1: Saturday in Milwaukee
- Game 2: Sunday in Milwaukee
- Games 3 & 4 (if necessary): Back at Wrigley Field
- Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday in Milwaukee
