CHICAGO \u2014 Through the first two games of the NLDS, the Chicago Cubs looked like a team outmatched. Whether it was lackluster starting pitching or the mediocre offense, Chicago seemed to have the ingredients of a squad that was about to be swept by its division rival.<\/p>\n
In order to save their season, Game 3 had to be different<\/a>. And playing in front of a sold-out Wrigley Field crowd, potentially for the final time in 2025, the Cubs seemed determined to make it known early Wednesday that they weren\u2019t going to roll over and surrender.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n When in need of a fast start, it\u2019s the players at the top of the lineup who have to set the tone. First baseman Michael Busch has been that for the Cubs\u2019 lineup throughout the 2025 season, and with their playoff hopes in the balance, once again, he was the right man for the job.<\/p>\n [Get more Chicago news: Cubs team feed<\/a>]<\/p>\n After the Brewers had plated a run in the top of the first, Busch led off the Cubs\u2019 half of the frame by crushing a 401-foot blast deep into the right-field bleachers off Brewers\u2019 starter Quinn Priester, immediately tying the game. That made the Cubs\u2019 first baseman the first player in MLB history to hit multiple leadoff homers in one postseason series (he did the same in NLDS Game 1<\/a>) and just the fifth player ever with multiple leadoff homers in the same postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn’t always go that way, but just try to have a good at-bat,\u201d Busch said of his leadoff success after Chicago’s 4-3 victory<\/a>. \u201cFrom the moment I was placed in that spot, they put me there, and I thought, why change what I do? Just have a good at-bat, staying aggressive, trusting my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Said Cubs manager Craig Counsell: \u201cYou can just tell by the way they manage the game, he’s become the guy in the lineup that everybody is thinking about, and they’re doing their pitching around him, and that’s a credit to the player.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a defiant, exuberant energy after Busch\u2019s leadoff blast, and with Milwaukee\u2019s starter already on the ropes, the Cubs\u2019 lineup went to work. Following a Nico Hoerner single, walks by Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ loaded the bases for Pete Crow-Armstrong.<\/p>\n The Cubs\u2019 center fielder has had his fair share of struggles throughout this postseason, but October has a way of giving players opportunities to redeem themselves. And as the crowd chanted \u201cPCA, PCA\u201d, the 23-year-old gave the crowd and team what they were asking for, roping a two-run single to give Chicago a 3-1 lead. Shortly after, Ian Happ came around to score on a wild pitch and make it a 4-1 game.<\/p>\n The four-run first inning was significant for Chicago for multiple reasons. So far this postseason, they hadn\u2019t managed to score more than three runs in any game. In fact, they hadn\u2019t scored more than three runs in a playoff game since Game 5 of the 2017 NLDS.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI’m pretty fortunate in a couple of these elimination games to just have pretty nice opportunities in front of me with guys on base,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cI think that makes this job just a little bit easier sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs\u2019 four first-inning runs reset the tone for righty Jameson Taillon, who has turned into the Cubs\u2019 most reliable starting pitcher over the past month-and-a-half. From there, Taillon got through three more innings while allowing a total of two runs. The Brewers added one more in the seventh on a Jake Bauers solo blast that made it a one-run game, but ultimately, the Cubs\u2019 four-spot in the first held up for the series- and season-extending victory.<\/p>\n The Cubs came into Game 3 confident that once back on their home turf, with the Wrigley Field crowd behind them, they\u2019d be able to keep their season alive. And with their 4-3 victory over Milwaukee, they took the first step. The next step lies ahead in Game 4 on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n They get to breathe a sigh of relief for one day, but the Cubs\u2019 season will be back on the line when Game 4 begins. So what can Chicago take from its victory Wednesday into the next elimination game? Well, the Cubs were able to get four runs across in Game 3, but there were many other chances to score throughout the game, opportunities the Cubs wasted. They went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. For Chicago to extend its season again on Thursday, that will likely need to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s fun and stressful in the same sentence, in the same light, and I think you feel both emotions a lot,\u201d Counsell said after NLDS win No. 1 for his crew. \u201cBut you’re playing to play tomorrow, and that can’t help but give you something else. It has to. I thought we played with that urgency, especially in the first [inning].\u201d<\/p>\n