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MLB playoffs 2025: With Wrigley Field crowd behind them, Cubs come out swinging in NLDS Game 4, force Game 5 vs. Milwaukee

MLB playoffs 2025: With Wrigley Field crowd behind them, Cubs come out swinging in NLDS Game 4, force Game 5 vs. Milwaukee

15 hours ago7 min read0 comments

Just a few days back, man, the Cubs were looking cooked—like, totally finished. After dropping those first two NLDS games to the Brewers in the most soul-crushing ways, the vibe in Chicago was bleak.But here’s the thing: even with their backs against the ropes, facing a near-impossible climb of winning three straight, the Cubs never panicked. They had this quiet swagger, like they knew something we didn’t—that two games in front of the Wrigley faithful would flip the script.And flip it they did. First, they held serve at home with a gritty 4-3 win in Game 3, halting Milwaukee’s momentum and injecting some life into their own dugout.The big question heading into Game 4 was whether they could keep that energy going and force a winner-take-all Game 5, putting all the pressure back on the Brewers. Spoiler alert: they absolutely did, delivering a statement 6-0 shutout that evened the series and sent Wrigley into a frenzy.'We had to fight our way to get into [Game 5], and I think the guys are fired up to pack their bags,' Cubs manager Craig Counsell said postgame, and you could feel the belief radiating from the clubhouse. One constant in this series, even when things looked dire, has been the Cubs setting the tone early—and Game 4 was no exception.The Brewers, aiming to close it out, rolled the dice by starting ace Freddy Peralta on short rest after he dominated in Game 1. But Peralta didn’t have that same magic this time, and the Cubs pounced fast, loading the bases in the first inning for Ian Happ.Now, Happ’s history against Peralta was brutal—like, 2-for-38 in the regular season brutal—but baseball’s funny that way. As the Wrigley crowd got louder, chanting 'Freddy… Freddy…' in that taunting rhythm, the momentum shifted.Happ got his pitch, a 1-1 fastball, and absolutely demolished it, sending the ballpark into chaos. That homer marked the fourth straight game the Cubs went yard in the first inning—a stat that’s just wild when you think about it.'I've had a ton of at-bats against him. He's had my number quite a bit,' Happ admitted later.'But I got him in Milwaukee on a fastball, so I knew he was going to go changeup, changeup to start the at-bat… I was able to get a fastball in that at-bat to hit. ' What made Game 4 different, though, was that the Cubs didn’t let up after the first.They kept the pressure on Peralta, forcing him to throw 84 pitches over four innings and putting runners on base in six of eight frames. Brewers manager Pat Murphy tipped his cap, saying, 'Momentum in baseball happens based on what's on the field… The Cubs earned it.They had their backs against the wall, and they played great these last two games. ' After Happ’s blast, the Cubs built on their lead—something they’d struggled with earlier in the series—with Matt Shaw adding an RBI single in the sixth, followed by solo shots from Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch in the later innings.Tucker, riding back-to-back multi-hit games, summed it up: 'I'm swinging at pitches I want to swing at and laying off some of the other ones… as long as you can go up there and have a chance, you're giving yourself a shot. ' But let’s talk about the Wrigley effect, because it was basically the tenth player on the field.The crowd didn’t just cheer; they got inside the Brewers’ heads, from those chants to the deafening roars that shook the old ballpark. Starter Matthew Boyd, who tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings, called it 'electric,' while Counsell marveled, 'I've never seen a baseball game like that.' Even Murphy acknowledged the impact: 'This crowd affected the game the last two games. It affected the way we played, for sure… That kind of stuff emotionally can affect guys.' Now, as the series heads back to Milwaukee for a decisive Game 5, the pressure has completely shifted. The Cubs took two haymakers early but countered with two of their own, leveraging their home turf to level things.And the big mystery? Who starts Game 5? Both teams are playing it close to the vest—Milwaukee might be in a tougher spot after burning Peralta, while Chicago has to decide if Shota Imanaga is the move or if a bullpen game makes more sense. Imanaga’s postseason struggles, especially with giving up homers, could be a concern back in Milwaukee where he got rocked in Game 2.But whatever happens, the Cubs have done what they needed to: they’ve given themselves a shot. As Counsell put it, 'We get to pack our bags, man.That’s all we wanted to do today. ' And in a winner-take-all game, with everything on the line, that’s all you can ask for—a chance to swing for the fences one more time.

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