The last 3 elimination games in the MLB Playoffs have been remarkably low scoring. It took 11 innings for the Dodgers to manage a 3rd run in the game to win 2-1. It took 15 innings for the Mariners to win 3-2. So it was not really a surprise when the Cubs-Brewers game ended with a 3-1 score line.
Unfortunately, the Cubs were on the wrong end.
It felt painfully appropriate that the 2025 Cubs season was ended by the same team that had inflicted so much pain on them during the regular season. The positive thoughts about a team that seemed headed for a division win and possibly a bye in the playoffs eroded during a historic Brewers run that put a division title out of reach – and led to a road game in the deciding Game 5. And the powerful offense that dominated the first half of the season struggled mightily, leaving the team to depend on its pitching to make it into the playoffs and then scratch its way to the 2nd round.
The Brewers had 11 baserunners in Game 5 (6 hits, 4 walks and an error), while the Cubs only managed 6 (4 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch). That led to a real threat in only 1 inning, when Busch and Hoerner got on base, only to see Tucker, Suzuki and Happ fail to make anything happen. After the Turang home run in the 7th, things looked grim, and looks were not deceiving. Kyle Tucker, as the tying run, rolling out to 2nd base in the bottom of the 8th, also seemed an appropriate bookend to his up and down season.
There will be plenty of time to look back on the successes and failures of the 2025 Cubs, and look ahead to what we might see in 2026. But for now, there just a feeling of disappointment that they couldn’t make it past those damn Brewers.
Cubs in 7 
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