CHICAGO — Thereâ€s been a pattern through the first four games of this National League Division Series: If the Brewers donâ€t strike fast, they might not strike at all.
On Thursday night, it was the latter. The Cubs shut down one of the best offenses in the National League to force a winner-take-all Game 5. The Brewers would end up losing, 6-0, at Wrigley Field.
The quick offense model worked early in this series, as the Brewers rattled off a franchise-record six first-inning runs in Game 1 and then three more in the second to win, 9-3. In Game 2, Andrew Vaughn launched a game-tying three-run home run in the first inning, and the Brewers†offense had done all its damage by the fourth. Even in Game 3, the Crew took a 1-0 lead in the first before petering out in a 4-3 loss.
The clubs have combined for 21 first-inning runs, already a record for a postseason series with another game to go.
On Thursday, the bats just never got going, regardless of the inning.
They had opportunities. Leadoff hitter Christian Yelich worked a walk to open the game but was stranded. He had a shot with two runners in scoring position and one out in the fifth but struck out before Jackson Chourio popped out to end the threat.
In total, the Brewers had 12 at-bats with a runner on base Thursday. They went 0-for-12. The offense was successful in 2025 not because of the long ball, but because the Brewers found ways to string hits together one through nine. Theyâ€re going to need to find a way to get that mojo back.
“I think we had at-bats where balls were put in play, they were put in play hard and right to guys,†second baseman Brice Turang said. “Just couldnâ€t find that hole. Guys hitting balls hard and just missing them. All that stuffâ€s part of the game.
“Things [change] quick, and these guys know it. So we move on from this game and worry about the next game. Try to win that game, you know? Canâ€t really think about this game anymore. Itâ€s over. Nothing we can do about it, and weâ€ve got to move onto the next one.â€
This offense is built on everyone doing their part. So itâ€s probably not fair to put too much onus on one individual in a four-game sample size, but getting Turang going would definitely help jump-start this Brewers offense.
Turang went 0-for-4 with a strikeout out of the cleanup spot Thursday and has been quiet most of the series, batting .125 and hitless in his last 12 at-bats. He might have been the most valuable Brewer in the regular season, tying Freddy Peralta for the team high in bWAR (5.5) and finishing with a .794 OPS, just one point behind Yelich for the team high among players who spent the whole season with the Brewers.
Turang is a big part of the Brewers†success, why the Brewers got to the playoffs and why the deciding Game 5 on Saturday is going to be at American Family Field rather than on the road. When he talked about the teamâ€s offensive performance, his answer centered around just flushing what took place at the Friendly Confines. Is he subscribing to that same approach for his game?
“Yeah,†Turang answered. “I could sit here all night and be like, ‘Oh, I did this wrong; I did this wrong.†At the end of the day, itâ€s not going to help you. You learn and you move on, and you go out and compete and you do the best you can every day. Thatâ€s how this game works.
“Sometimes baseballâ€s baseball. Youâ€re just missing balls, or youâ€re right on it and the hits arenâ€t going your way. Itâ€s part of the game. You keep grinding, you keep moving forward. Iâ€m excited for these next couple days, for sure.â€
The series isnâ€t over yet, even if the Brewers hoped when they left Milwaukee on Monday that they would be returning for the NL Championship Series. Theyâ€re going to need to get the offense back on track after scoring just three runs in two games in Chicago. Getting production out of Turang would help immensely.
“I’d bet on him, knowing what I know about him in the last two years,†Brewers manager Pat Murphy said before the game. “… In the playoff scenario, you can’t keep these good players down long. I think Brice will respond.â€
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