AP Photo/Kayla Wolf

Scoreless 6th Inning Dooms Cubs in Season Ending Loss

Photo of Jacob Zanolla Jacob ZanollaOctober 12, 2025

All good things must come to an end, or at least that’s how the saying goes. Although the ending may not have been what fans had hoped for, most would still classify the Cubs’ 2025 season as moderately successful. They won 92 regular-season games and added four more in the postseason while pushing the Brewers to the brink after being left for dead. We’ll look at the overall season some other time, but our focus now is on what went wrong Saturday night. 

As much as people may want to blame the pitching, allowing three runs in a game with such high stakes is quite impressive. Drew Pomeranz gave up a home run to William Contreras in the 1st inning, which continued the improbably historic run both teams were on when it came to scoring in the opening frame. Seiya Suzuki answered quickly with a solo shot of his own in what would be a trend for the game.

Andrew Vaughn gave the Brewers the lead once again in the 4th with a solo home run against Colin Rea. Vaughn’s home run was his second of the series, and it ended up being even bigger than his three-run blast in Game 2. Brice Turang provided the dagger in the bottom of the 7th inning, destroying a 416-foot shot to center field off Andrew Kittredge to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead that would end up being the final score.

Cubs batters struck out eight times, which was fewer than in either of the first two games in Milwaukee, but only drew one walk after getting at least three in each of the first four games. Combined with just three singles in addition to Suzuki’s longball, it just wasn’t enough.

Although there were arguably several chances to turn the tide, the 6th inning provided the best chance the Cubs had to take back the momentum and keep their season alive. Brewers manager Pat Murphy brought in lefty Aaron Ashby, who gave up a leadoff single to Michael Busch. Nico Hoerner was then hit by a pitch that bounced in the dirt, giving the Cubs two men on with no outs.

The run-scoring potential increased further when Kyle Tucker worked the count to 3-1, which almost felt like a sure thing for a guy whose plate approach is among the best in the game. Then he proceeded to swing through a 99 mph fastball right down the middle. Ashby’s next pitch was borderline unhittable, and Tucker flailed helplessly for the first out of the inning.

Ashby is a very good pitcher and hitting left-on-left makes him even tougher, but Tucker striking out after missing a pitch over the heart of the plate drew quite a bit of scrutiny. That’s the kind of moment when people expect to see would-be superstars step up. Even so, the Cubs still had two outs to play with.

Suzuki got hot at the end of the regular season and carried that into October, so he was the best option to have at the plate with runners on base. He drove a cutter from rookie Chad Patrick that traveled 356 feet with an exit velocity of 101.6 mph, good for a .500 xBA according to Baseball Savant, but it went right to left fielder Jackson Chourio. One out left.

Ian Happ is always a topic of conversation among fans. Much of Cubs Twitter has decided that he’s the worst player of all time, even though his lowest wRC+ was 105 in 2021. He hit a three-run home run on Thursday, helping some fans realize that he’s not as bad as they may think. Alas, his at-bat on Saturday against Patrick did not help his case whatsoever.

Happ was the last man standing between the Brewers escaping the Cubs’ most promising rally of the night. He worked the count to 2-2, but wasn’t as aggressive as the situation demanded as he watched a 90.5 mph cutter land in the strike zone. That ended the inning, lowering the Cubs’ chances of victory by 7.1% in the process.

Several different events could be blamed for the Cubs’ disappointing exit from the NLDS, but the 6th inning bore the most wasted potential by far. The Brewers deployed some of their best pitchers, and the Cubs simply were not up to the challenge. Now the focus turns to improving on this season’s result, which isn’t a simple task when considering they (probably) have to replace Tucker.

Photo of Jacob Zanolla Jacob ZanollaOctober 12, 2025
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