CHICAGO — We’ve heard for two consecutive weeks what an advantage the Wrigley Field atmosphere is for the Cubs.
That has played out this postseason, with the team feeding off the energy from its fans to win the NL Wild Card Series and then stave off elimination in Game 3 of the NL Division Series.
But none of that compared to Thursday night at The Friendly Confines.
The crowd took the energy and atmosphere to another level — and might have been the difference in Game 4 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“The crowd was incredible tonight,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I’ve never seen a baseball game like that. That was just amazing what they did tonight.”
The Cubs again stared elimination in the face, needing to win to force a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday in Milwaukee. The Wrigley faithful played its part perfectly in a 6-0 win over the Brewers.
[Complete watch guide for NLDS Game 5]
The 41,770 fans in attendance on a chilly fall night came out of the gates with unrivaled passion.
After Michael Busch struck out to begin the bottom of the first inning, Nico Hoerner singled. As Cubs DH Kyle Tucker stepped into the batter’s box, a few quiet chants began around the ballpark.
“Freddy! Freddy!”
Brewers ace Freddy Peralta quickly fell behind Tucker 2-0 in the count.
And suddenly, the chants grew louder. What started with only a small portion of the crowd morphed into a combined effort from Cubs fans.
“FREDDY! FREDDY!”
Peralta threw the next two out of the zone, walking Tucker on four pitches.
Still, the chants grew louder.
Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki was up next, and the crowd continued the deafening chant throughout the entire seven-pitch at-bat.
“FREDDY! FREDDY! FREDDY!”
Suzuki struck out, putting the Cubs only one out away from spoiling the first-inning rally when they had Peralta on the ropes.
Still, the crowd was not deterred.
“FREDDY! FREDDY! FREDDY!”
Ian Happ stepped to the plate.
The Cubs left fielder — who was just 2-for-21 in postseason play entering Thursday — took ball 1 low. He then stared at a changeup at the knees for strike 1.
As chants and cheers reverberated throughout Wrigleyville, Peralta came back with a 94-mph high fastball that caught too much of the zone. Happ hammered it into the right-field bleachers, sending the crowd into euphoria.
The 420-foot moonshot gave the Cubs a massive 3-0 lead.
“You could tell from pitch one – honestly, before pitch one – the fans were behind us,” Busch said. “They brought that energy right away and we fed off that from the beginning of the game.
“The best fans in the world. To show up like they did this series was huge for us.”
Was it a result of Happ feeding off the crowd’s energy? Did Peralta feel the pressure of 41,000-plus people trying to rattle him?
We’ll never know for sure.
But it certainly seemed as if the Wrigley crowd played a major role in the Cubs snatching some much-needed momentum in an elimination game.
“It’s pretty inexplicable,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said postgame. “Definitely a pretty wild moment. It can give you goosebumps hearing everyone in sync, yelling the same thing. This fanbase has been incredible and had our backs all season.”
LHP Aaron Ashby is warming for the Brewers. Freddy Peralta is at 84 pitches through 4 innings. Cubs fans have been chanting “FREDDY, FREDDY” very loudly and very often.
— Zoe Grossman (@zoe__grossman) October 10, 2025
Even Brewers manager Pat Murphy agreed.
“This crowd affected the game the last two games,” Murphy said after Game 4. “It affected the way we played for sure. We’ve got a really young team. I think everybody knows that. Maybe by far the youngest team in the postseason.
“That kind of stuff emotionally can affect guys. They can start to play a little too hard. This game is a game of precision, and the Cubs’ experience and what they’ve been through — they were better in this environment for sure.”
The Cubs now will head back to American Family Field in Milwaukee for a winner-take-all Game 5 at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.
The Brewers’ home park often has been called “Wrigley North” over the years, given the influx of Cubs fans. But for the first two games of this series, that certainly wasn’t the case. Brewers fans greatly outnumbered Cubs fans and watched as their team jumped all over the North Siders in two decisive wins.
The Cubs might be walking into a hostile environment again Saturday. But they also know anything can happen in a winner-take-all game.
Stay tuned. This knock-down, drag-out fight between two heated NL Central rivals is about to go a fifth round.