Mistakes sank the Cubs in Game 2 of the NL division series on Monday night. Now they'll head back to Wrigley Field and try to pick up the pieces, while the Brewers bask in a 2–0 series lead.
Chicago raced to a 3–0 lead in the top of the first as they jumped all over Milwaukee's opener, Aaron Ashby. A single from Nico Hoerner and a walk from Kyle Tucker set the stage for Seiya Suzuki, who launched a 440-foot bomb into left-center.
It took less than an inning for Chicago's good vibes to vanish.
In the bottom of the first, Shota Imanaga got the first two outs, then gave up back-to-back singles to William Contreras and Christian Yelich. Andrew Vaughn was next and worked a full count. That's when Imanaga made Chicago's first mistake of the night. The 32-year-old lefty tried to bury an 84 mph sweeper in on Vaughn's hands. He annihilated it, sending the ball 382 feet over the left field fence at 109.2 mph to tie the game 3–3.
Vaughn slugged .455 on breaking pitches this season, and all but two of his 22 home runs were pulled. Going soft in on him was a terrible decision, and the Cubs paid for it. That wasn't the last pitch Imanaga would regret.
The veteran starter settled down and retired six in a row after the Vaughn home run. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Contreras stepped to the plate. After throwing two splitters and running the count to 1–1, Imanaga again attempted to beat a pull hitter by going in and paid the price. His 91 mph fastball wasn't far enough inside, and Contreras punished it, launching the ball 411 feet to left field in a no-doubter that left the bat at 107.6 mph. The 27-year-old admired his work as it flew out of the park.
Again, Imanaga must have missed the scouting report. Contreras's xSLG on fastballs was .448 this year and .517 in 2024. Only 16 of his 45 extra-base hits went to the opposite field. He tried to beat Contreras in with a fastball, left it belt-high and paid the price.
Imanaga surrendered a whopping 31 home runs during the regular season, which was the second-most in the NL. He has now given up three in the postseason in 6 2/3 innings, tied with Cincinnati's Hunter Greene for the most allowed.
After those two massive mistakes, the Brewers led 4–3 in the third inning, and there was plenty of time for Craig Counsell's team to mount a comeback. Unfortunately, that task was made much more difficult because of a third mistake.
Daniel Palencia relieved Imanaga in the third inning. He had been excellent all season and showed up in a big way against the Padres in the wild-card round, picking up the win in each of Chicago's two victories. But the 25-year-old is going to want Monday night's outing back.
Palencia retired the final batter of the third inning, then got Sal Frelick to ground out to open the top of the fourth. After hitting Caleb Durbin, he struck out Blake Perkins before allowing a single to the light-hitting Joey Ortiz. Allowing a single to the weakest hitter in Milwaukee's lineup was a sin, but not his worst on the evening.
Jackson Chourio stepped in to face Palencia and fouled off two 101 mph fastballs. Palencia was feeling himself and his velocity, so he threw the 21-year-old star outfielder another four-seamer right down the pipe. Big mistake. Chourio had seen the pitch twice, and the third came in just above his belt in the dead center of the plate. He didn't miss it, crushing the ball 419 feet to dead center.
Palencia could have tried a slider to break up the sequence—or at least thrown the heater anywhere other than the middle of the zone—but instead attempted to fire another four-seamer by Milwaukee's most talented player. It didn't work.
That home run gave the Brewers a 7–3 lead that was never threatened as Chicago only mustered a single base runner the rest of the game. Three mistakes, three home runs, seven runs for Milwaukee.
That was all she wrote.
Jacob Misiorowski Earns His Stripes, and a Win
Brewers flame-throwing righty Jacob Misiorowski made his playoff debut in Game 2 and lived up to the hype. After a brilliant start to his career, the rookie All-Star faded down the stretch of the regular season. He posted a 6.06 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP in eight starts over the campaign's final two months, but looked fantastic coming out of the bullpen Monday night.
Misiorowski went three innings and allowed one hit and two walks while striking out four. His fastball regularly registered triple digits, and his first eight averaged 102.6 mph. He was electric, and Chicago had no answer for him.
While Milwaukee has limited Misiorowski's innings over the past few months, expect him to be deployed in key spots as the team continues its postseason run. He's earned it.
Chicago's Bats Are Quiet
The Cubs are heading home down 2–0 with few cards they can play. They had one of baseball's best offenses all season, but in five playoff games, they're slashing .216/.217/.386. Chicago has also struck out 58 times, which is second-most in the postseason behind the Tigers (59).
In five playoff games, the Cubs have scored 12 runs. That's 2.4 runs per game, compared to the 4.9 they averaged during the regular season. The key so far has been the team's big bats not showing up.
Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong have been held without an extra-base hit thus far. Tucker is slashing .176/.263/.176, while Crow-Armstrong's line of .222/.222/.222 isn't much better. Dansby Swanson's defense may have won them the wild-card series against the Padres, but he's slashing a weak .176/.222/.235 and has struck out a team-high 11 times.
Michael Busch (1.077 OPS), Suzuki (.930), and Nico Hoerner (.929) have answered the bell, but the rest of the lineup is dragging. Something has to change, or a sweep is coming.