Jesse RogersOct 11, 2025, 11:04 PM ETCloseJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.Follow on X
Brewers punch ticket to NLCS after eliminating Cubs (0:33)The Brewers defeat the Cubs 3-1 in Game 5 of the NLDS to advance to their fourth National League Championship Series in team history. (0:33)
MILWAUKEE — Perhaps some divine intervention had a hand in the Brewers advancing to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2018 after they defeated the Cubs in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Saturday night. More than once, general manager Matt Arnold said he looked “to the heavens” for some inspiration from Brewers icon Bob Uecker, who passed away last offseason.
“I kept saying, ‘Bob, we need you,'” Arnold said in the Brewers’ champagne-soaked clubhouse following the tense 3-1 win. “We know he’s with us.”
“The journey has been kind of crazy,” Vaughn said. “But not taking anything for granted. The opportunity to be with this group, it’s changed my life.”
For Misiorowski, it was the first time in 17 appearances, dating back to the regular season, that he didn’t issue a walk. He gave up three hits and struck out three in a masterful performance.
“It kind of went according to plan,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But then, we saw [Aaron Ashby] was a little bit not as sharp as he could have been. It’s his fourth time seeing them. And then, Chad Patrick was maybe the player of the game because you don’t expect him to be that good, pitching an inning plus.”
Patrick relieved Ashby during a potential turning point in the sixth. With Milwaukee up 2-1, Ashby gave up a hit and then hit a batter, putting runners on first and second with no outs. But then he threw the pitch of the game, a nasty 98.6 mph fastball on the edge of the zone to Kyle Tucker, who swung and missed on a 3-2 count. Patrick entered next. He got Seiya Suzuki to fly out and caught Ian Happ looking. It was the last rally of the season for the Cubs.
“Ashby made a pretty darned good pitch, 3-2, to Tucker,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Looked like right down away on the corner. It was a nasty pitch. Seiya had a good at-bat against Patrick. … And then, they got out of it essentially.
Longtime Brewers star Christian Yelich was asked what he learned from that heartbreaking experience.
“Just go at it fearless,” Yelich said during the postgame clubhouse party. “You can’t really lose them tougher than we did last year. So going into the night, you just play with a bunch of freedom. You know you’ve got belief and trust in your teammates that we’re going to be able to get the job done. That’s exactly what we’re able to do.”
“I believed in the process and the system and the people,” Attanasio said. “The Cubs were really good this year. It’s just a testament to this whole organization.”
“It doesn’t get any more big market and small market than Brewers-Dodgers,” Yelich said with a smile. “We’re up against it. We know it. We love being in those situations. It’s fitting the season for us is going to come down to that series, that team and all that star power. You have the average Joes coming there. We’re going to do what we did all year, compete our asses off, go hard and see what happens.”
“I’m grateful for the guys we’ve had in the room,” Murphy said. “They’ve been doubted every year. Everyone. There’s no one predicting the Brewers playing the Dodgers in the series.”
Brewers punch ticket to NLCS after eliminating Cubs (0:33)The Brewers defeat the Cubs 3-1 in Game 5 of the NLDS to advance to their fourth National League Championship Series in team history. (0:33)
The Brewers defeat the Cubs 3-1 in Game 5 of the NLDS to advance to their fourth National League Championship Series in team history. (0:33)
“I think I was giving everything I’ve got,” he said. “And I think I left everything out there.”
The other four Brewers pitchers held the Cubs scoreless.
Arnold added: “We’ve been planning for this. You can’t just roll out of bed and play the Dodgers.”
CloseJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.Follow on X