Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (10/8/25): Cubs 4, Brewers 3 – Bullpen Survives to Force Game 4
The Cubs came into Wednesday’s Game 3 at Wrigley Field hoping to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Chicago had another big opening inning to move ahead of Milwaukee and the bullpen bent but did not break to preserve the first win of the series for the North Siders.
A bizarre play led to the initial run of the contest in the top of the 1st when William Contreras popped up on the infield with runners on first and second and one out. First baseman Michael Busch never saw the ball and the infield fly rule did not go into effect because no Cubs infielder camped underneath it, allowing it to drop for an infield hit that loaded the bases.
Starter Jameson Taillon did not panic after the mental mistake and escaped the jam only surrendering a sacrifice fly to Sal Frelick. Busch redeemed himself in the bottom of the frame when he hit a leadoff homer against Quinn Priester to tie the game. Chicago kept the pressure on Priester with a two-run single by Pete Crow-Armstrong to put the home team in front 3-1.
The Brewers went to the bullpen with two outs in the opening inning and reliever Nick Mears uncorked a wild pitch that chased home what turned out to be a critical tally. That would be it for the Cubs offensively as they failed to dent the scoreboard the rest of the game.
Taillon pitched into the 4th, when he was knocked out of the game after an RBI single by Jake Bauers reduced the North Siders’ margin to 4-2. Drew Pomeranz and Daniel Palencia kept Milwaukee quiet through the 6th inning.
Bauers increased the pressure on the home team even further when he hit the first pitch he saw from Andrew Kittredge for a solo home run to left that got the Brew Crew within one at 4-3 in the 7th. Brad Keller wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the 8th inning to preserve the lead.
Keller went back out for the 9th and retired the side in order to seal the 4-3 victory with the final out coming on a nice diving play by Nico Hoerner at second base to rob Christian Yelich of a hit. (Box score)
Key Moment
Keller came on in relief of Caleb Thielbar with two on and two out in the 8th. The big righty threw five consecutive balls to fill the bases, but then something clicked in and he threw three consecutive strikes to punch out the very dangerous Bauers and keep the Cubs ahead.
Why the Cubs Won
They got to the magic number of four runs that has dramatically improved their chances of winning in 2025 and the bullpen just barely hung on to extend the series.
Stats That Matter
- Taillon has done his job all postseason and one of the runs on Wednesday was not on him: 3.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 K, 1 BB.
- It was a big game for Kyle Tucker with two singles and a walk.
- Hoerner had two singles in addition to the great glove work.
- This was the first time since 2017 that the Cubs scored more than three runs in a playoff game.
Bottom Line
The Cubs are still alive and that is all you can ask for in October baseball. If they want to keep things going, it would really be helpful if they could score some runs later in the game. Only scoring in the 1st inning is definitely not a long-term winning strategy. The North Siders just have to go one game at a time; win tomorrow and worry about what happens next after that.
On Deck
Game 4 is Thursday at Wrigley and the precise start time depends on the outcome of the Phillies/Dodgers matchup. Neither team has announced a starter for the contest televised on TBS with a radio feed on 670 The Score.
