The Chicago Cubs advanced to their first NLDS since 2017, beating the San Diego Padres, 3-1, in Game 3 of the wild card series.
Manager Craig Counsel’s pitching shut down the Padres’ offense, with starter Jameson Taillon going four innings and allowing just two hits and no earned runs. The bullpen did its job, bending but not breaking en route to the victory.
Awaiting the winners is a date with division foes, NL Central champions, the Milwaukee Brewers.
Can Counsel return to Milwaukee, take down the team he once managed and move onto the NLCS, knocking off the winningest team in the game in 2025?
Find out with this preview, including odds for the series.
Chicago Cubs (+115, bet $100, win $215)
Milwaukee Brewers (-135, bet $100, win $174.07)
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Cubs attacked San Diego pitching early and often Thursday, tallying 14 hits in their win. It is a trend the team has ridden to success in 2025, with the 11th-most hits (1371), 14th-best team batting average (.249), and 10th-best on-base percentage (.320).
The Cubs ranked sixth in baseball with 223 home runs and third in RBI (771).
The team is an aggressive offensive team that likes to beat up opposing pitchers but will face its toughest test to date in Milwaukee.
The Brewers do most everything well.
They are a smart team that plays with great situational awareness and has one of the toughest defenses in the league. Their pitching gave up the third-fewest runs and fifth fewest home runs. They have the ninth-best WHIP in the game and the fifth-most strikeouts. Manager Pat Murphy gives his team the tools needed to succeed and in turn, they tend not to make the catastrophic mistakes that lose games.
Freddy Peralta will get the nod for the Brewers in Game 1 and should give them the upper-hand, coming off of a regular season that saw him finish 17-6, with a career-best .270 ERA and his fewest earned runs since 2
How Quinn Priester, Jose Quintana, and Chad Patrick hold up will go a long way in determining what kind of series the first meeting between the Cubs and Brewers in postseason history will ultimately be.
One thing is for sure: if it turns into an offensive explosion, it favors the Wild Card winner.
While Chicago has spent all season hitting homers, the same cannot be said for Milwaukee. If there is one weakness, it is their ability to hit the long ball. They rank 22nd in the league with just 166 home runs in 2025. If the series turns into a home run derby, the Cubs will win.
Even with that said, the Brewers scored the third-most total runs in baseball with 806, meaning they can hang a crooked number on their opponents, but will rely on small ball to do it.
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