MLB playoffs 2025: Cubs score 4 runs in first inning, hold off Brewers to avoid elimination in NLDS Game 3

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The location changed for Game 3 of the NLDS between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs, but the scoring cadence didn’t.

There were first-inning fireworks in the Friendly Confines, too.

In a NL Central-themed division series that produced 13 first-inning runs over the first two games, the Cubs put up a four-spot in the opening frame Wednesday, igniting a Wrigley Field frenzy of fans desperate for more playoff baseball.

They’re getting it.

The Cubs held off the Brewers the rest of the way, staving off elimination with a 4-3 win. Milwaukee’s series lead is down to 2-1, with Game 4 coming in Chicago on Thursday.

In the top of the first inning, the Brewers staked themselves to a 1-0 advantage, in large part thanks to Christian Yelich, who ripped a leadoff double off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon over the first-base bag and then scored on a sac fly from Sal Frelick.

While the veteran Taillon ultimately recovered and turned in four innings of work, the same couldn’t be said be said for Brewers 25-year-old righty Quinn Priester after the Chicagoland native let nerves get the best of him. Pitching against the team he grew up rooting for, Priester battled command issues and gave up four runs and two walks in 2/3 of an inning before he was yanked.

Redeeming himself after losing an infield popup in the sun that advanced Yelich to third, Michael Busch blasted a leadoff homer for the second time in the series. Not even swirling Wrigley winds could keep this one out of the right-field bleachers.

Pete Crow-Armstrong smacked a two-out, two-RBI single to right that chased Priester and forced Brewers manager Pat Murphy into a bullpen game early.

In came Nick Mears, the first of five additional Milwaukee arms deployed Wednesday. Almost instantly, Mears fired a wild pitch that catcher William Contreras couldn’t corral while Crow-Armstrong swiped second. Ian Happ scored as a result, making it a 4-1 game.

The Brewers chipped away at their three-run deficit throughout the night. Jake Bauers is a big reason why.

Bauers tacked on the third of three consecutive hits in the top of the fourth, driving home the speedy Frelick with a single to center.

Then in the seventh, he teed off on reliever Andrew Kittredge's first pitch, sending a solo shot over the left-center wall and cutting the Cubs’ lead to 4-3.

Milwaukee threatened to break hearts the next inning when it loaded the bases with two outs. Bauers was up again with the tying run 90 feet away. Fortunately for Chicago, Brad Keller blew by Bauers with a 97 mph, four-seam fastball up in the zone for a clutch strikeout.

Keller secured the four-out save in the ninth and extended the Cubs' playoff run.