Brewers knock out Cubs to meet Dodgers in playoffs

Venezuelan William Contreras and Americans Andrew Vaughn and Brice Turang connected for solo home runs to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in a pivotal Major League Baseball playoff showdown.

The Brewers, as hosts, won 3-2 in the National League Divisional Series and qualified for the National League Championship Series, where they will face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions.

The best-of-seven-game series begins Monday in Milwaukee and the winner will face either the Toronto Blue Jays or Seattle Mariners in the World Series.

Second time in history the Brewers have reached the World Series

The Brewers have only played in the World Series once, in 1982, when they fell to the St. Louis Cardinals.

"This is unbelievable," Vaughn said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, but let's enjoy this moment. It's awesome. The crowd has been electrifying. Unbelievable. It's been special."

All three home runs for Milwaukee, which qualified for the Championship Series for the first time since 2018, came with two outs in one inning.

"They never give up"

Brewers manager Pat Murphy, whose team led the Majors with 97 regular-season wins, said his ninth still had something to prove despite the brilliant campaign.

"They're a fantastic group. A lot of people didn't believe in them at the beginning and they kept going without giving up. I'm very lucky to be surrounded by these people," Murphy said. "They're a group of guys who never give up."

Cubs, no prize despite lifting 0-2 in series

The Cubs, who were trailing the series 0-2 before winning two games at home and forcing the deciding game, were seeking a fourth elimination-game victory in this year's playoffs, which would have been a club record.

The Brewers started reliever Trevor Megill after their rivals became the first team in MLB history to hit home runs in the first inning of the first four games of a playoff series.

Chicago, meanwhile, started left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz, as it hoped to dominate hitters who had totaled a record 21 runs in the first inning in an MLB playoff series.

Bullpen, decisive

Contreras hit his home run in the first inning and Chicago's Seiya Suzuki hit a solo homer early in the second, prompting both teams to turn early to the bullpen.

Vaughn gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead with a solo home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning.

Milwaukee loaded the bases after that, but Joey Ortiz hit a grounder that ended the inning.

With two outs in the seventh, Brice Turang blasted a solo homer to seal Milwaukee’s 3x1 win.