CHICAGO—Slamming their hands on the top of the Cubs dugout and firing up the Wrigley crowd were Caleb Williams, Caleb Wilson, Matas Buzelis, and Cole Bennet sitting behind the dugout to cheer on friend and fellow Chicago superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong as the Cubs closed out a four-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers.
They watched Crow-Armstrong deliver the only offense Chicago would need.
Kevin Gausman delivered his best start since joining the Cubs.
Most importantly, for a team trying to build a postseason bullpen, they watched Ryan Zeferjahn and Ryan Rolison hold a one-run lead against the heart of the best team in baseball’s batting order in the biggest game so far in 2026.
The Cubs beat the Brewers 2-1 at Wrigley Field, splitting the four-game series and improving to 79-62. Milwaukee remains eight games ahead of Chicago in the NL Central with 21 games remaining, making the division title increasingly unlikely for the North Siders.
Thursday night offered something more valuable than a single win.
It offered a blueprint.
Gausman allowed one run on five hits across seven innings while striking out nine, his best performance as a Cub. Crow-Armstrong supplied both Chicago runs with his 39th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third inning.
Then, the Cubs’ bullpen did exactly what it needed to do.
Zeferjahn retired Milwaukee in order in the eighth, striking out one, before Rolison followed with a perfect ninth to earn his second save of the season.
For a bullpen that has become one of Chicago’s biggest postseason questions, those six outs mattered. Ryan Zeferjahn looked like the pitcher the Cubs were hoping for, flashing 98 mph dotted fastballs and devastating sweepers.
Chicago was able to put up five runs on the NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski and ran him out of the game after four innings. The Cubs also had stellar starts from Clay Holmes (6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 strikeouts) on Monday and Matthew Boyd on Tuesday (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 strikeouts). Holmes, Gausman and Boyd are coming into form at the right time, demonstrating the blueprint that’ll carry the Cubs to another postseason berth: consistent starting pitching, solid defense, a reliable bullpen and timely hitting.
A series of extremes
The four-game series could hardly have started differently than it ended.
Chicago opened the series Monday with a franchise-record nine home runs in a 17-3 demolition of Milwaukee. Alex Bregman hit three home runs, while Tyrone Taylor, Nico Hoenrer, Carson Kelly, Matt Shaw, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Conforto also went deep. Clay Holmes threw six scoreless innings.
The Brewers responded Tuesday.
After falling behind 3-0, Milwaukee scored nine to Chicago’s one, claiming a 9-4 victory. Christian Yelich hit a two-run homer, Joey Ortiz added another two-run shot, and the Brewers’ bullpen held Chicago to one run over 4 ⅔ innings.
Laying out into shallow left field, Nico Hoerner emphatically pounded his chest after flashing the leather in a spectacular diving catch to secure the third out of the 5th inning on Wednesday.
Jacob Misiorowksi didn’t have his A-game and neither did David Peterson. After four innings, both starters were forced out and the Cubs were leading 6-5. The Brewers bullpen locked down the win with four scoreless innings of relief, while the Cubs bullpen imploded yet again. Allowing a Cooper Pratt RBI single in the seventh off Daniel Palencia, who has looked anything but himself since coming back from the IL on August 21.
In the ninth inning, Jacob Webb, the Cubs’ most reliable reliever, was struck on the forearm by a 102.5 mph Christian Yelich line drive and was taken out of the game.
Shortly after, Joey Ortiz hit a two-run single off Cubs righty Colin Rea. After going on a 24-game scoreless streak from June 24 to Aug. 21, Webb has been charged with seven runs over his last four appearances.
Thursday’s finale was the opposite of the first two games.
No offensive explosion. No late-inning collapse.
Just two starting pitchers trading zeros and a single Crow-Armstrong swing deciding the game.
Logan Henderson matched Gausman for seven innings, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out seven. After Crow-Armstrong’s homer, the Cubs were held hitless for the remainder of the game.
It didn’t matter.
Gausman kept Milwaukee within reach and the bullpen finally finished the job.
Two teams, two ways to win
The series also highlighted just how differently the two best teams in the NL Central have built their success.
The Cubs hit home runs.
The Brewers prevent them.
The Cubs have hit 198 home runs, the most in MLB, while also allowing 213, also the most in MLB. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has hit 131 home runs, the second-fewest home runs in MLB and allowed 148 home runs, tied for the 23rd fewest in the league.
The contrast extends to pitching.
Milwaukee’s pitching staff has recorded 1,347 total strikeouts, second in MLB behind the Philadelphia’s 1,374.
While both teams rely on defense and quality pitching, the Brewers have consistently generated more velocity. Of the top 50 qualified MLB pitchers with the highest average 4-seam velocity, Milwaukee has five (Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Antonio Senzatela and Trevor Megill) and the Cubs have one: Ryan Zeferjahn.
The difference is not simply stylistic.
It becomes increasingly important in October, when games are tighter, mistakes are magnified and a team cannot rely on scoring eight, 10, or 17 runs every night.
Thursday showed the Cubs can win that type of game.
The question is whether they can do it consistently.
The bullpen question
That has been the biggest concern surrounding Chicago since the trade deadline.
For much of the first half of the season, the Cubs’ bullpen was one of their biggest strengths. Ryan Rolison, Caleb Thielbar, Trent Thornton and Jacob Webb routinely shortened games for the starting rotation.
Then the calendar flipped.
The bullpen’s recent struggles have turned what appeared to be a postseason strength into one of the biggest uncertainties on the roster.
The Cubs rank last in MLB in holds with 50 and 24th in saves with 30. Their relievers have also allowed 81 home runs, third most among MLB bullpens.
The deadline was supposed to fix that.
Chicago acquired Zeferjahn, one of the more highly regarded relievers available, while Palencia returned and the Cubs continued to count on Webb, Rolison, Thielbar and Thornton to form the backbone of the late innings.
Instead, the group has struggled to maintain its early-season consistency.
Zeferjahn, in particular, has had a difficult transition to Chicago. After arriving from the Los Angeles Angels, he entered Thursday with a 7.20 ERA in 10 2/3 innings as a Cub.
Against Milwaukee, however, he looked like the reliever Chicago believed it was acquiring.
Facing the top of the Brewers’ lineup in the eighth, Zeferjahn needed only 10 pitches to retire all three batters.
Rolison then needed just 10 pitches of his own to close out the ninth.
Two innings.
Six batters.
Zero baserunners.
Zero runs.
For one night, the Cubs had their postseason bullpen.
The Gausman effect
Perhaps the biggest takeaway, though, was Gausman.
The Cubs did not need their bullpen to record nine outs. They needed it to record six.
That distinction could become critical in October.
Gausman threw 103 pitches over seven innings, allowing only Andrew Vaughn’s solo homer in the fourth. He struck out nine and walked one while consistently working deep into the game.
It was exactly the type of performance Chicago envisioned when it acquired the veteran at the trade deadline.
The Cubs don’t need Gausman to dominate every time he takes the mound.
They need him to give them seven innings often enough that Counsell isn’t forced to navigate the most volatile part of his roster for half a game.
Thursday was the clearest example yet.
Gausman gave Counsell seven.
Zeferjahn closed out the eighth.
Rolison shut the door in the ninth.
Game over.
The postseason implications
The Brewers still have the division.
There is little reason to believe an eight-game deficit with 21 games remaining will disappear.
The Cubs’ focus has shifted toward the postseason and, more specifically, securing the best possible Wild Card position.
Thursday’s victory moved Chicago to within a half-game of Philadelphia for the top NL Wild Card spot.
That makes the final weeks less about catching Milwaukee and more about determining what version of the Cubs will enter October.
The offensive ceiling is obvious.
Chicago can overwhelm a team.
The Cubs proved that Tuesday with nine home runs and 17 runs. But postseason baseball is rarely played at that pace every night. Sometimes it looks like Thursday.
Three hits.
Two runs.
One home run.
Seven innings from the starter.
Two perfect innings from the bullpen.
That is the version of the Cubs that can survive October.
The question is whether they can find it consistently.
Spending money, spending differently
The contrast between the Cubs and Brewers extends beyond the field.
Chicago has built one of baseball’s most expensive rosters. The Cubs have the seventh-highest payroll in MLB at $248 million, while Milwaukee’s payroll sits around $142 million, per FanGraphs. The gap is roughly $106 million.
The Cubs are spending to win now.
Milwaukee has continued to operate differently, finding ways to remain competitive without approaching Chicago’s level of spending.
That difference becomes even more striking when looking at the men managing the two dugouts.
When the Cubs hired Craig Counsell away from Milwaukee in November 2023, they gave him a five-year, $40 million contract, making him the highest-paid manager in Major League Baseball history at the time.
Chicago did not simply take Milwaukee’s manager.
It paid a premium to take him.
Counsell now makes roughly $8 million per season to manage a Cubs team that has spent more than $240 million on its roster.
And yet, since leaving Milwaukee, Counsell’s Cubs have gone 18-23 against his former club, including the postseason.
That is what makes the rivalry so frustrating for Chicago.
Pat Murphy, Counsell’s replacement and former bench coach, has gone 277-188 as manager, leading the Brewers to the postseason every season. The Brewers restructured Murphy’s contract, extending him through 2028 for roughly $8.95 million in new money with a 2029 club option, per ESPN.
The Cubs have the larger payroll. They have the higher-paid manager. They have the bigger spending power and the ability to add established talent at the trade deadline.
Milwaukee has continued to win without matching that financial commitment.
Money does not guarantee October success. The Brewers are proof of that philosophy, while the Cubs are still trying to prove that spending can translate into sustained postseason success.
For Chicago, the investment has already been made.
Now they have to show up in October.
Chicago showed up
The four-game split did not erase Milwaukee’s dominance in the NL Central or change the reality that the Brewers remain the team to beat.
But for the first time in this series, the Cubs left Wrigley with something more important than another win in the standings: a glimpse of what October could look like.
Chicago has spent much of the season trying to prove it can match Milwaukee. The Cubs have the power to overwhelm teams, as they showed in Tuesday’s 17-3 rout. But Thursday showed they can win the other way, too, with a dominant start, one timely swing and a bullpen that finally delivered when it mattered most.
Crow-Armstrong provided the swing with his 39th home run. Gausman provided seven innings of arguably his best start in a Cubs uniform. Zeferjahn and Rolison provided the final six outs.
That formula, not nine home runs, not 17 runs, but seven strong innings followed by two scoreless frames, may be the one Chicago needs most in October.
It also made the latest chapter of the Counsell-Brewers rivalry a little more complicated.
Counsell entered the series with a 254-211 record as the Cubs’ manager, following 707-625 over nine seasons in Milwaukee from 2015-23. Since moving from the Brewers’ dugout to Chicago, however, his Cubs have gone 5-8 against Milwaukee in 2024, 7-6 in the 2025 regular and 4-6 this season, while going 2-3 against the Brewers in the 2025 postseason.
Overall, Counsell and the Cubs are 18-23 against his former club, including the playoffs.
That record is not what Chicago envisioned when it hired the winningest manager in Brewers history. But it also does not tell the entire story.
The Cubs have shown they can trade blows with Milwaukee. Last season, they went 9-9 against the Brewers during the regular season before losing three of five in the NL Division Series. This season, they have already shown they can overwhelmingly beat Milwaukee and, on Thursday, in a pitcher’s duel.
The difference now is whether Chicago can make that version of itself appear when the stakes are highest.
The celebrities in the stands came to watch Crow-Armstrong, one of the brightest young stars in Chicago sports.
Instead, they watched something the Cubs have been searching for all season.
A team that looked ready for October.
Now, with 21 games left, Chicago has to prove Thursday was not a glimpse of what could be, but the beginning of what will be.
