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The Rundown: Cubs Stay Alive With Nail-Biting Win, Runs Coming Only in 1st-Inning Bunches, Yankees Eliminated

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterOctober 9, 2025

“Got the wings of heaven on my shoes, I’m a dancin’ man, and I just can’t lose.” – Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees

The Cubs stayed alive in this year’s postseason tournament with a huge 4-3 win in Game 3, and the cliches are flying as quickly as Chicago’s North Side Baseballers score 1st-inning runs. Yes, you’ve got to play ’em one game at a time, but how excited are we to see the Cubs match runs for outs once Freddy Peralta takes the bump tonight? Led by Michael Busch, Chicago has scored a total of eight runs in the first frame of all three games, but just two after. What a tragedy.

It’s too bad Craig Counsell can’t construct a lineup of batting openers. The Cubs would then essentially have two first innings, one each for the A and B teams. That way, his team could put up 6-8 runs in Games 4 and 5 and march to the NLCS  before the Brewers knew what hit them. Or, and just hear me out, Counsell can find some type of way to fire his players up when they are sitting on a trivial lead while watching Milwaukee methodically chip away at it. Play with some purpose after the initial frame, please and thank you.

That would be miracle number one. Miracle number two is to get Matthew Boyd into the 5th inning or later with a lead. Both teams went five-deep into their bullpens last night, so the team whose starter has the most stamina has the edge in tonight’s tilt. Unfortunately for the Cubs, Jacob Misiorowski, Trevor Megill, and Abner Uribe did not have to work in yesterday’s contest. Counsell, on the other hand, burned through his entire circle of trust while protecting the three-run lead the Cubs clung to through eight innings. Beating Peralta and Milwaukee’s A-list relievers will be a monumental task.

Peralta was 17-6 this year with a 2.70 ERA and was the winner of Game 1 of this series five days ago. It would behoove the Cubs to get to him early and force Brewers manager Pat Murphy to go to Misiorowski early, who will otherwise be waiting to shut Chicago down in the late innings of a close game tonight. He could also work as an opener in Saturday’s winner-take-all affair.

Here’s the lowdown on Milwaukee’s ace:

  • Peralta is 9-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 17 lifetime starts against the Cubs.
  • His ERA in nine career starts at Wrigley Field is 4.11, though he did shut Chicago out on August 18 in his only 2025 start at The Friendly Confines.
  • The Cubs chased him in Milwaukee by scoring five runs in four innings of a 10-3 win on July 30.
  • He’s at his best on four days’ rest. He’s even better in night games.

What about Boyd? He’s 12-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 15 home starts. He beat the Brewers 6-4 at Wrigley Field in the first game of an August 19 doubleheader. By the way, Boyd had the most regular-season home wins of any pitcher in baseball this year.

None of that matters tonight, however. The Cubs need to hit with consistency, score more than one run in multiple innings, and get some serious length from Boyd to force a Game 5 in Milwaukee. They can really put the pressure on the Brewers by winning while also forcing Murphy to burn through Misiorowski, Megill, and Abner. If only we could speak that into existence.

Cubs/Brewers News & Notes

Ball Four

BREAKING: I can neither confirm nor deny that Ian Happ is moonlighting at Brown’s Chicken.

Central Intelligence

Playoff News & Notes

The Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees last night and will face the winner of the Tigers-Mariners series in the ALCS. It’s Toronto’s first trip to the league championship series since 2016.

New York’s championship drought has now reached 16 years, which is remarkable because it’s only one shy of the team record for World Series futility.

Cody Bellinger may be looking for a new team once again this winter.

Riley Greene and Javier Báez helped Detroit stave off elimination in a 9-3 win over Seattle. The Tigers forced a Game 5 by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in more than a month.

The Phillies are still alive after drubbing the Dodgers 8-2. Schwarber hit his first two home runs of the series, including one bomb that cleared the right field pavilion.

Apologies to Reggie Jackson, but we have a new Mr. October.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts let future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw serve as the team’s sacrificial lamb in last night’s loss.

Television ratings are up significantly for this year’s LDS compared to last season.

How About That!

The Guardians believe they can finally break their championship drought next season with improvements to the team’s offense.

The Orioles are not inclined to trade catcher Adley Rutschman and believe he will rebound in 2026.

The Maple Leafs let fans stick around to watch the Blue Jays-Yankees game after defeating the Canadiens 5-2.

Extra Innings

Big Brad Keller never threw a larger pitch in his life. That’s 6-foot-5, 255 pounds of rock ’em sock ’em Cook County dynamite right there. The legend continues to grow.

Apropos of Nothing

Someone asked me yesterday how I’d feel if the Cubs fired Counsell at the end of this year and rehired Joe Maddon. I doubt Tom Ricketts would eat $24 million to make a change, but it’s worth discussing after this season ends. Of course, it’s a moot point if Chicago advances to the NLCS if it isn’t already.

Son of Apropos

If the Cubs win today, who starts Saturday? Will Counsell give Shōta Imanaga another start? Will he find an injury designation so that Cade Horton can be added to the roster? What about Colin Rea, who genuinely deserves a chance to pitch the clincher, leaving Counsell up to potential scrutiny all winter long?

They Said It

  • “[Keller’s] been incredible for us late in games. But yeah, I was happy. After that outing, I was like, man, I want him to get another opportunity. I want to see him get an opportunity. And he got in there and was really good. His fastball with cut is one of the more special pitches I’ve ever seen up close. So yeah, just fired up for him, but also not super surprised.” – Taillon
  • “That’s an electric environment. It’s hard to put in words. But it gives you chills every time you think about it, every time you’re out there.” – Keller
  • “He might have been the MVP of the National League after the first couple months of the season. When you get to this last weekend of the regular season, there’s times I think back on things that I was dealing with in April, and it feels like it happened to a different person – it was so long ago. I was thinking about spending the weekend talking about Justin Steele and the potential for surgery, and that literally feels like it was two years ago and it was in this regular season. The reason I say that is, you get to this point because of everything that happens.” – Counsell
  • “I don’t think we can discount how good our offense was, how big a part of it [Tucker] was this season. The first two months of the season were when we got well away from .500, and when we sort of established ourselves as a playoff team. His impact on this season is pretty incredible, even though a lot of his production, at this point, was several months ago.” – Counsell

Thursday Walk-Up Song

The lyrics to this song never made any sense to me but I love them nonetheless. “Well you’re windy and wild, you got the blues, I’m your shoes and your stockings.”

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterOctober 9, 2025
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