The Milwaukee Brewers are not just winning their 2025 National League Division Series matchup against NL Central rivals Chicago Cubs; they are dominating it.
Through two games, Pat Murphy's squad has cobbled together great performances at the plate and on the mound to secure a commanding 2-0 series lead over Craig Counsell's Cubs. One more win and Milwaukee will make its first appearance in the NL Championship Series since 2018, when they came just a victory short of punching their ticket to that year's World Series.
In Game 1 of the Cubs series, the Brewers sent a loud message with a 9-3 victory at American Family Field in Milwaukee. On Monday, Jackson Chourio and company pummeled Chicago anew on their way to a 7-3 win.
What's keying the success of the Brewers in the NLDS against the Cubs in a series that many thought would be close, given the fact that Chicago won six of 13 meetings with Milwaukee in the regular season?
Brew Crew's bats are very much alive
Although the Brewers are known more for doing the small things on offense than hitting balls out of the park, they have used their power in the Cubs series to turn the tide heavily in their favor, particularly in Game 2.
It was actually Chicago, which flexed its might at the plate first in that contest, with Seiya Suzuki crushing a monster 440-foot home run that drove in three runs to give the Cubs a sizeable cushion early.
But Milwaukee did not even let the Cubs relax on that ample run support past the first inning. In the same frame, Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run dinger that sent William Contreras and Christian Yelich to home plate as well to tie the score at 3-3. Contreras hit a solo home run in the third inning to give Milwaukee the lead, 4-3, before Chourio lifted a three-run blast in the fourth inning for added insurance for the Brewers.
The Brewers are relentless in finding ways to reach the base. They don't always crush long balls, relatively speaking, but the singles and the walks they accumulate turn into an avalanche of runs with one powerful swing. In the regular season, Milwaukee was 22nd in the big leagues with 166 home runs but was fourth in walks with 564 and seventh with 750 RBIs, and that identity continues to manifest for them in the playoffs.
Among teams playing in the divisional round from both leagues, the Brewers are No. 2 in OPS (.939), wRC (15) and wOBA (.406), per FanGraphs.
Brewers' bullpen is stepping up
Milwaukee's pitching, specifically its bullpen, has taken the life out of Chicago's offense. After Freddy Peralta allowed two earned runs and four hits in his start in Game 1, the Brewers used three relievers, who gave up just an earned run on two hits through 3 1/3 innings.
On Monday, with Milwaukee opting to go with a bullpen day rather than start Quinn Priester, the team's relievers answered the call anew. Aaron Ashby was battered early, as he gave up the aforementioned Suzuki home run, but it was radio silent after that for Chicago's offense. Rookie Jacob Misiorowski highlighted the evening for Milwaukee's bullpen, as he pitched for three innings, surrendering zero runs and just a hit while issuing a pair of walks and punching out four Cubs hitters.
“The @Brewers are the first team in MLB history to have their bullpen throw 7.0+ shutout innings with 10+ strikeouts and no more than 1 hit allowed in a postseason game,” OptaSTATS shared via a social media post on X, formerly Twitter, following Milwaukee's takedown of the Cubs in Game 2.
Milwaukee can complete a sweep of the Cubs this Wednesday in Game 3 at Wrigley Field.
