MILWAUKEE — If you thought Cubs-Brewers games were supercharged affairs during the regular season, you haven’t seen anything yet.
“It feels fitting, right?” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “They’ve had an incredible season. Every regular-season [game] we play with them is seemingly higher stakes and intense and close. We’ll see when we get there, but it’s kind of fun not to get on any planes yet in the playoffs. That’s a good thing. They’re a great baseball team. So are we. It’ll be a lot of close games. I’m excited for it.”
This one won’t require much scouting, because the teams know each other inside and out starting with the managers. Brewers skipper Pat Murphy and Cubs manager Craig Counsell go all the way back to 1989 at Notre Dame, Murphy as a hard-driving coach and Counsell as a spindly shortstop. Then they spent eight seasons side-by-side on the Brewers’ bench, Counsell as manager and Murphy as his bench coach before Counsell left for the Cubs last season.
But this series will be decided not by the managers, but by the players. The Cubs won the season series between the teams, 7-6, but the Brewers won the division for the third straight year, and the fourth time in five years, while amassing the best record in the Majors.
Now these familiar foes will meet again.
“There’s nobody on television saying, ‘Hey, the Brewers are the odds-on favorites,’” Murphy said. “As a matter of fact, I saw that we’re not even in the top five, you know what I mean? That’s perfect.”
When is the game and how can I watch it
Game 1 will air at 1:08 p.m. CT on TBS and HBO Max, with Alex Faust and Ron Darling on the call.
All series are available in the US on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games also are available live internationally, although not in Canada. Sportsnet is MLB’s exclusive English language broadcaster in Canada for every Postseason game, while TVA Sports will be covering the entire AL Postseason and the World Series in French and Broadcaster RDS will cover the entire NL Postseason in French.
Who are the starting pitchers?
Cubs: Counsell has not yet named his Game 1 starter, but the schedule points to righty Colin Rea (11-7, 3.95 ERA) or righty Javier Assad (4-1, 3.65 ERA). Rea worked 1 2/3 innings in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Padres on Wednesday, but that should not disrupt his availability. He finished the season with a 1.93 ERA and 29 strikeouts against one walk in 23 1/3 innings in his last four outings. Rea pitched for Milwaukee in ‘21 and ‘23-24. Assad was not on the Wild Card roster due to only needing three starters. He has a 2.19 ERA in four career outings against the Brewers and spun a 1.54 ERA in his last three appearances this season.
Brewers: Right-hander Freddy Peralta (17-6, 2.70 ERA) led the National League in wins, but it was his team-leading 33 starts and 176 2/3 innings which made the biggest difference for the Brewers, who had seven starting pitchers on the injured list at one point in early April. Peralta helped hold things together by taking the ball every five days, including going 3-1 with a 3.43 ERA in four starts against the Cubs. If there’s a knock on him, it’s his efficiency; he completed six innings 13 times and completed seven innings only once, an eight-inning gem against the Royals in his second start of the season.
What might the starting lineups look like?
Cubs: Counsell rolled out the same lineup for all three of the Wild Card Series games against the Padres. It was a similar look to how things were at the end of the regular season. The order strikes some left-right balance, while leaning into hitters who were solid down the stretch.
Brewers: The Brewers tried something new in the final week of the regular season, bumping Christian Yelich to the leadoff spot. Besides getting their most consistent hitter additional at-bats, the thinking was to also provide some protection for nine-hole hitter Joey Ortiz, who plays stellar defense but has really slumped offensively.
How will the bullpens line up after the starter?
Cubs: Counsell loves to refer to his pitchers as “out-getters” to avoid applying any kind of labels associated with a bullpen. That frees him up to be creative with how he deploys a group that does not have a set closer at the moment. While hard-throwing righty Daniel Palencia worked his way to a closer’s role this year, he was utilized for high-leverage, mid-game moments in the Wild Card Series. Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz all fit into the late-inning category, too. Kittredge pitched in all three games against San Diego, working as an opener in Game 2 before picking up the series-clinching save in Game 3. The Cubs also have righty Michael Soroka and lefty Taylor Rogers in the mix. There are multiple arms capable of multi-inning outings, and it’s possible someone like Aaron Civale remains on the roster for length, if needed. Assad is also a possibility for that role, if he is not in the rotation mix.
Brewers: The bye creates some challenges for Brewers hitters, but was welcomed for Brewers relievers — and that’s putting it mildly. It provided extra time for All-Star closer Trevor Megill, who was able to return from a flexor strain to pitch in the Brewers’ regular-season finale against the Reds and declare himself ready for the playoffs. It also meant a break for hard-worked right-hander Abner Uribe, who filled in ably as closer while Megill was down for a month, and left-hander Jared Koenig. They ranked 1-2 in appearances for the Brewers, Uribe with 75 games and Koenig 72. The big question is how the roles will shake out. Would the Brewers thrust Megill right back into ninth-inning duties, or will there be some mix and match with Uribe? And what to make of rookie Jacob Misiorowski? He had a 6.23 ERA in his final seven starts before one shaky bullpen appearance during the final series of the regular season. Nevertheless, it looks like he’s a go for the NLDS.
Cubs: Tucker missed three-plus weeks in September due to a left calf injury, but returned at the end of the regular season as a DH. He remained in that role for the entire Wild Card Series due to his running ability not being all the way at 100% yet. While it’s possible that Tucker is cleared to return to right field, he may just stay put as a DH for now, especially as Suzuki has looked solid in right. … Righty Cade Horton (15-day injured list, right rib fracture) was out for the Wild Card Series, removing one of baseball’s best second-half arms (1.03 ERA) from the equation. He will be technically eligible to return for a potential Game 5, but rosters are set before each round. That means Horton would need to be added as an injury replacement, if he is even ready for a comeback. His status for the rest of October remains unclear at the moment.
Brewers: Turang was the Brewers’ best hitter down the stretch, hitting .321/.399/.580 over his final 52 games. He was 16-for-46 (.348) against the Cubs in 2025. … Megill’s status is worth monitoring, including how he bounces back. … Left-hander DL Hall also made it back for the regular-season finale after missing about six weeks with a right oblique injury, and is a question mark going into the NLDS. … The Brewers have said very little about Brandon Woodruff’s hopes of pitching in October since he went down with a lat injury; it seems very unlikely that he’ll pitch in this round. … Contreras sat out the final two games of the regular season with a bruised left hand, the result of being hit by Iván Herrera’s swing on Sept. 20 in St. Louis. He’ll play in the NLDS, Murphy said. … One pitcher to watch is rookie right-hander Logan Henderson, who had a 1.78 ERA in five starts before being sidelined by an elbow injury. He has been throwing bullpens and was expected to be ready by early October if needed.
Who is hot and who is not?
Cubs: Suzuki finished the regular season on a four-game homer streak (five home runs in all) and then launched one as part of back-to-back blasts with Kelly in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. Suzuki also had two doubles in the series. … Crow-Armstrong had three hits in the Game 3 clincher after going 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in the first two games. … Happ (1-for-11) and Shaw (0-for-7) are off to slow starts this postseason. … Lefty Shota Imanaga allowed a homer in his Game 2 outing, continuing a trend from the regular season. Imanaga allowed 12 homers in his last six games and 31 overall on the ‘25 campaign going into October.
Brewers: Uribe had a 0.62 ERA (two earned runs in 29 innings) over his final 29 outings of the regular season. … Ortiz had a .478 OPS over the final six weeks of the regular season but continued to play every day because he plays highlight-reel defense at the most premium position. The problem, however, was how often he batted in big spots. He tied the Braves’ Michael Harris II for the Major League lead with 31 plate appearances with the bases loaded this season, a Brewers record. Ortiz went 5-for-30 (.167) in those spots.
Anything else fans might want to know?
The last time the Brewers and Cubs played a game with anything resembling these stakes was Game 163 in 2018, when the NL Central came down to a one-game playoff. The Cubs had longtime Brewer-killer Jose Quintana on the mound but Milwaukee, which had sat five games behind division-leading Chicago at the start of September, emerged with a victory and the division crown. Seven years later, Quintana pitches for the Brewers with a chance to start Game 3. And the Cubs will have a chance to avenge that defeat.
