Game 1 photos: Milwaukee Brewers 9, Chicago Cubs 3 in NL Division Series<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I think it\u2019s changed a little bit,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think maybe when many moons ago when I was a player, frankly, the Brewers weren\u2019t very good for a while, and so I think it was maybe more so true. Look, just logistically, for a lot of Cubs fans this is easier to get to than Wrigley Field. I hate to be logical about it, but that\u2019s just the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n All teams need a few breaks to win in the postseason.\u00a0The Cubs got a fortunate break in their wild-card clinching win over the San Diego Padres when umpire D.J. Reyburn called Xander Bogaerts out on strikes in the ninth inning on a pitch that should\u2019ve been ball four.<\/p>\n The call came during Brad Keller\u2019s implosion, where he served up a leadoff home run and hit two batters before Counsell replaced him with Andrew Kittredge, who got the final two outs in a 3-1 win to send the Cubs into the National League Division Series.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s off-day in Milwaukee provided the second big postseason break for the Cubs, who desperately needed a reset after Saturday\u2019s 9-3 pounding by the Brewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why was it so soon? Thank MLB\u2019s aversion to competing all day against the NFL. Baseball scheduled off days for the two NL Division Series when none was needed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure the break today was necessary,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cBut I mean, it\u2019s the schedule, so there\u2019s no complaining and explaining. We\u2019ll take it. It was an emotional day I think for a lot of people getting back and playing, but being in a rhythm is important.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it was the Cubs or Padres who advanced, the schedule was unfair to the Brewers and somewhat negated the bye they earned by having the best record during the 162-game season. The Cubs were able to rest Sunday instead of playing their fifth game in six days, which would\u2019ve affected their bullpen.<\/p>\n Maybe MLB will figure it out in the next labor agreement following the owners\u2019 lockout after the 2026 season. A best-of-five series needs one off day at the most.<\/p>\n The three out-getters Counsell trusts the most \u2014 right-handers Keller, Kittredge and Daniel Palencia \u2014 will all have three days of rest before Game 2 on Monday night. None were needed in Game 1 when Matthew Boyd and Michael Soroka let the game get out of hand in the first inning.<\/p>\n If the Cubs win Monday they\u2019ll be in the driver\u2019s seat with a chance to win the series at home in Game 4. But if they lose, can the Cubs come back from an 0-2 deficit and win the final three games?<\/p>\n Sure, if they start playing much better. As we\u2019ve seen in the first four postseason games, this team has little margin for error.<\/p>\n The offense remains broken \u2014 nine runs with 47 strikeouts and a .282 OBP. The Cubs knew they would face strong pitching, but the overall lack of contact and not taking walks is not conducive to winning, no matter what time of the year it is.<\/p>\n Counsell\u2019s riskier moves have not panned out \u2014 from Shota Imanaga pitching to Manny Machado in Game 2<\/a> of the wild-card series to starting Boyd on three days\u2019 rest in Game 1 of the NLDS.<\/p>\n One win could change everything, of course, and Imanaga should be rested and motivated for his Game 2 start<\/a> after Counsell used an opener for him against the Padres. Still, it\u2019s going to take a better effort all around, and better managing, to get it done.<\/p>\n The Cubs\u2019 failure to get a reliable starter at the trade deadline has hurt them in the postseason, and it has been exacerbated by the loss of rookie Cade Horton<\/a>. The history of starters going on three days\u2019 rest in the postseason should\u2019ve sent off alarm bells, but with only Colin Rea as a viable option, Counsell rolled the dice on Boyd and lost in Game 1.<\/p>\n According to ESPN.com, starting pitchers on three days\u2019 rest have a 4.50 ERA over the last 30 postseasons. It also should be noted that the Cubs were so concerned about Boyd\u2019s workload coming off an injury-shortened 2024 season they got him to beg out of pitching in the All-Star Game, despite it being the first selection for the 34-year-old.<\/p>\n Celebrating the clinching of a postseason spot is always worth it, and the Cubs celebrated wildly after assuring themselves of a wild-card spot with a win in Pittsburgh. But then they lost five straight games for the first time all season. Hopefully the wild celebration of the wild-card series win doesn\u2019t produce a similar hangover.<\/p>\n Milwaukee\u2019s Murphy might be the NL Manager of the Year again, but the Brewers\u2019 decision to air an MLB Network special on Murphy on their giant video board was overkill. The interview with Bob Costas took up almost the entire pregame of Game 1. The Brewers players deserve more credit for this special season, as even Murphy would admit. You have to wonder if owner Mark Attanasio just wanted to showcase Murphy as a shot at Counsell for leaving. The Brewers played \u201cyacht rock\u201d music for the Cubs\u2019 workout Friday to mess with Counsell, who hates that type of music. Maybe Attanasio will never get over Counsell leaving.<\/p>\n The Brewers\u2019 video board told fans when to wave their rally towels, as if anyone needed direction. There were also numerous \u201cGet Loud\u201d messages throughout the game. Brewers fans are smart enough to know when to make noise. At least the Cubs\u2019 brass has declined to tell their fans how and when they need to be loud. Owner Tom Ricketts banned those old stadium tropes when the Cubs installed their video board in 2015<\/a>. Creating noise at Wrigley is done organically, the way it should always be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 Looking for Brewers Fever in downtown Milwaukee on a beautiful October Sunday was a pointless exercise,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,7798,138,24,4245,576,161,2000,59,4,2305,2303,2461,6077,770,738],"class_list":{"0":"post-363903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brad-keller","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-chicagocubs","13":"tag-craig-counsell","14":"tag-cubs","15":"tag-matthew-boyd","16":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-mlb-playoffs","19":"tag-mlb-postseason","20":"tag-national-league-division-series","21":"tag-pat-murphy","22":"tag-shota-imanaga","23":"tag-wrigley-field"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115323863542457433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-cubs-brewers-nlds-1-016_241732932.jpg\")
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and first baseman Michael Busch stand by as the Milwaukee Brewers are introduced before the start of the NL Division Series Game 1 at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Oct. 4, 2025. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n