MILWAUKEE — If it ain’t broke…

The Chicago Cubs are back in Milwaukee, pushing the Brewers to the brink in the five-game NLDS.

And after back-to-back wins, the Cubs are rolling out the same lineup.

Because why not?

It’s working right now — especially in the first inning.

The Cubs have hit a home run in the first inning in every game of this series, including Ian Happ’s three-run shot off Freddy Peralta in Game 4 that helped send the series to Game 5.

So manager Craig Counsell will roll out the same order for the Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 5.

The two teams will each start an opener, with lefty Drew Pomeranz going for the Cubs and righty Trevor Megill for the Brewers. Neither pitcher is expected to spend much time on the mound — and both will probably be gone by the start of the second inning.

This game will be determined by the bullpens — and by which offense can push across some runs against the opposing bullpen.

Cubs lineupMichael Busch – 1BNico Hoerner – 2BKyle Tucker – DHSeiya Suzuki – RFIan Happ – LFCarson Kelly – CPete Crow-Armstrong – CFDansby Swanson – SSMatt Shaw – 3BAnalysis

By this point, everybody knows about the Cubs’ prowess in the first inning of these NLDS games. That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to see Megill get the ball as the Brewers’ opener.

Megill was named an All-Star in 2025, going 6-3 with a 2.49 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and went 30-for-36 in save opportunities. He missed a month toward the end of the year with a forearm injury, but returned to make an appearance on the final weekend of the regular season.

The 31-year-old right-hander has pitched twice in this series, allowing a walk and a hit in one total inning of work.

Megill made his MLB debut with the Cubs during the 2021 season, posting an 8.37 ERA in 28 appearances (23.2 innings).

The Cubs offense has awoken during the last two games of this series, ending a streak of 13 straight postseason games scoring three or fewer runs.

They plated four runs in Wednesday’s Game 3 victory — all in the first inning — and then scored six in Thursday’s Game 4 win — three of which came in the first inning.

The Cubs were able to get some insurance in Game 4, but they still are leaving a lot of opportunities on the basepaths.

They entered Thursday with only three hits with runners in scoring position this postseason and nearly doubled that tally at Wrigley Field, but still went only 2-for-11 in such situations during Game 4.

In total, the Cubs are hitting just .135 (5-for-37) with runners in scoring position during the seven playoff games entering play Saturday.

It’s hard to sustain success in October without timely hitting, but the Cubs need only to out-score the Brewers by one run Saturday in order to advance to the NLCS.

They’ll likely have to do so against the Brewers other All-Star, rookie Jacob Misiorowski. The 23-year-old flamethrower hasn’t pitched since Game 2 Monday, when he blanked the Cubs for three innings.

But the Cubs are prepared for a bullpen game from the Brewers.

“I think they’re looking at it the same way we are,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday evening. “They may have a couple guys down because they’ve had a couple guys pitch a little more. But you know we’re gonna see Misiorowski, you know we’re gonna see [Abner] Uribe, we’re gonna see [Jared] Koenig, we’re gonna see Megill.

“You can plan on seeing those guys. Those are their top guys. And everybody else is available, I’m sure. In a scenario like this, it’s a bunch of that. And our job is just to make it hard on those guys and to affect the plan and to put them in bad situations.”

Brewers lineupJackson Chourio – LFBrice Turang – 2BWilliam Contreras – CChristian Yelich – DHAndrew Vaughn – 1BSal Frelick – RFCaleb Durbin – 3BBlake Perkins – CFJoey Ortiz – SSAnalysis

The Brewers struggled to score in a hostile environment in Chicago, plating just three runs in the two games.

But they jumped all over the Cubs in Milwaukee to begin this series, scoring 16 runs in the first two games.

Will they feed off the home crowd again?

Apart from that, if the Cubs are going to advance to the NLCS, who are they going to use to get 27 (or more) outs Saturday? Pomeranz is starting, but there are no clear answers after that.

[The Cubs’ pitching plan for winner-take-all Game 5]

Like the Brewers, the Cubs are expected to throw their top arms Saturday: Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar.

But none of those five — including Pomeranz — are length options. So the Cubs will need some sort of contribution from Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea, Michael Soroka, Ben Brown or Aaron Civale.

And Jameson Taillon — who started Game 3 Wednesday — could be available in an “all hands on deck” situation.