MILWAUKEE — It’s rarely a good sign when a manager turns to his third pitcher of a non-bullpen game in the second inning.
With Chicago trailing by seven and the bases loaded, Civale delivered the longest scoreless relief appearance in Cubs postseason history in Saturday afternoon’s 9-3 loss at American Family Field.
Across 4 1/3 innings, Civale scattered three hits — all singles — with three strikeouts in a 55-pitch outing. After the first batter he faced, Jackson Chourio, reached on a run-scoring infield hit, Civale retired 12 of the next 14 batters with a healthy mix of curveballs, four-seamers and cutters to settle the game down. Righty Ben Brown, who made the NLDS roster over Javier Assad, followed with two scoreless frames to keep Chicago’s pitching staff relatively fresh.
“It’s awesome to save some innings from the guys that are pitching those high-leverage innings,” Civale said. “It’s what I did for [the Brewers] last year in the playoffs, in the first game. Somebody’s got to do that role, and every out is important — whether it’s the game that you’re currently in or making sure the next few are set up for success. I think if you separate that game we just played into two halves, we won the second half. So try and carry some of that momentum moving forward.”
That’s the hope. From the moment Civale stepped on the mound until the final out was recorded, Chicago outscored Milwaukee, 2-1.
“He was huge and went out there and, man, he did a great job,” said Boyd, who became the first Cubs starter to complete less than one inning in the postseason since 1945 (Hank Borowy in Game 7 of the World Series). “He attacked their lineup and, man, he definitely ate up some huge innings for that. He did a great job doing it. That was huge for us.”
In a rather unglamorous middle-relief role, Civale became the Cubs’ unsung hero by saving a taxed bullpen still recovering from this week’s Wild Card Series victory over the Padres. Chicago’s bullpen tossed 17 2/3 of a possible 27 innings (65 percent), with Andrew Kittredge appearing in all three contests. Four others pitched in two of the three games.
Counsell even acknowledged pregame that his bullpen was still feeling the effects of the postseason’s opening series. But now, with more than 48 hours until Game 2 on Monday night, Civale’s effort has the Cubs in good shape moving forward.
Because of the uniqueness of this NLDS — with three off-days scattered over a best-of-five series — Counsell can manipulate his bullpen and rotation as he pleases.
“Look, Aaron and Ben did a heck of a job,” Counsell said. “Super important. Our relievers are completely reset. We can work with Monday’s game however we want to. Really, really important. Both guys, when you’re going to your third pitcher in the second inning, that could be really problematic, even with the off-days. Aaron’s outing, Ben’s outing, especially Aaron’s outing, really, really saved us.”
Down the stretch, Civale made five relief appearances for the Cubs, but he never threw more than 55 pitches or three innings. Saturday marked his 2025 postseason debut, and his first playoff outing since giving the Brewers three scoreless relief innings in a Game 1 loss to the Mets in the 2024 NL Wild Card Series.
“Once you’re in the playoffs, it’s all hands on deck,” Civale said. “You get to that point, and then it’s just whenever your name is called, whatever role that is, you’ve just got to go roll with it.”
