Brewers-Cubs NLDS Game Five Thread - 10/11/2025 @ 7:08PM - For those Assuming a WIN!

[bm1090]

It’s obviously going to be a bullpen game. I think I’d start Patrick. He’s been lights out. Would be cool to save him for later but we need someone to come in and set the tone.

Would also give heavy consideration to Bauers in Left, Frelick in Center, and Chourio in right. Or at least be willing to go that way after the first time through the order if you’re down a run or two.

[adambr2]

I’d probably have Quintana open and go 2-3 innings max. I don’t know. Quintana for 2, Mears for 1, Koenig for 1, Megill for 1, Ashby+Patrick for 3 and then Uribe for 1 gets you 9. Maybe Miz in there somewhere depending on game flow and score but I’d really rather not have to.

To me, this entire season comes down to this game. I don’t care if we get swept in 4 games by the Dodgers, win this game and it was a successful season.

Lose and it was just another Brewer failure, arguably the most painful in history.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Unpopular opinion, I'd throw Miz. He is the only guy with the talent to just overwhelm batters and blow right by them, which is what I'd bet the house on. Hope that the most talented pitcher you have is "on." I fully expect any of the other suggested starters to walk the bases loaded or give up another catastrophic HR. I could see Miz doing that too, but I am rolling the dice on the highest upside because I think that's what has to happen for us to win. 

And I'm with Adam. This is the most important game for this franchise in the last 8 years. Losing this game, in this fashion, to the Cubs is going to be worse than losing the last two NLCS.

[StearnsFTW]

Seems like a must win game.

[Underachiever]

Good morning, fellow fanatics. I have had something come up which makes it impossible for me to attend tomorrow. 4 tickets in 229 and a preferred parking pass. Face value plus fees.

[brewmann04]

This team heading to another playoff fail but this will be more epic

[kestrel79]

16 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

Good morning, fellow fanatics. I have had something come up which makes it impossible for me to attend tomorrow. 4 tickets in 229 and a preferred parking pass. Face value plus fees.

I'm interested! PM me details

[Brewingwinners11]

Hi! Glad to post this here as would like to keep tickets off secondary markets. We are unable unfortunately to go to game five tomorrow. I have two tickets in the bleachers, section 202, row 10, seats 21 + 22. Would ideally love to get what I paid for them, which was 90 each when they went on sale. Please let me know if anyone’s interested, would really like to keep these off secondary markets and away from Cubs fans!

[MrTPlush]

36 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Unpopular opinion, I'd throw Miz. He is the only guy with the talent to just overwhelm batters and blow right by them, which is what I'd bet the house on. Hope that the most talented pitcher you have is "on." I fully expect any of the other suggested starters to walk the bases loaded or give up another catastrophic HR. I could see Miz doing that too, but I am rolling the dice on the highest upside because I think that's what has to happen for us to win. 

And I'm with Adam. This is the most important game for this franchise in the last 8 years. Losing this game, in this fashion, to the Cubs is going to be worse than losing the last two NLCS.

I do think any win involves Miz. I think they will throw him either winning or losing. Could end terribly, but we need people like Miz to be great in October to get anywhere anyway.

As far as this being some horrible franchise loss, meh, I guess I’m just not that obsessive over the whole Greg storyline. Certainly not worse than a home loss in Game 7 of the NLCS. 
 

Maybe I’d care if the Cubs went on to get to the World Series…but that would be quite a shock.

[BruisedCrew]

There have been some understandable comparisons between this situation and Game 5 of the series against Arizona in 2011. 

I remember well how I felt about that game and it was similar in a lot of ways to how I feel about this game.  But there are also some significant differences. 

In 2011 the Brewers won their first division title in 29 years. It was a team that seemed as good as any in MLB and that had a real chance to go to and win the World Series. but it was also a team that performed dramatically better at home than in the road (57-24 at home vs 39-42 on the road). 

So when the Brewers lost games 3 and 4 in Arizona there was still the thought that the home field would save them. And, having Gallardo on the mound instead of Wolf and Marcum, who had both struggled down the stretch , provided some reasons for optimism. But I remember being extremely nervous about the possibility that a promising postseason would come to an extremely disappointing end. That anxiety continued through the tight game, increased as Axford blew the save and the DBacks threatened to take the lead. Morgan’s game winning single was one of the great moments in the life of a Brewer fan. 

[KurtRussell]

I would swap out Gasser for DL Hall. Give their lefties a new look. Not a huge deal to lose Gasser for the NLCS. 

 

[wildcat83]

I don't think there's been a game with this much emotional investment on the line in my lifetime.  Playing your rivals, Counsel as the manager, a series you were up 2-0, and a season with a historic run of success.  Whatever sequence of pitchers that they trot out there, I have some belief they will at least keep us in the game.  We need our offense to step up, I don't think you win this one with less than 4 runs.  It's going to be euphoric or absolutely soul crushing on Saturday night.... can't wait!

[sobomp3]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Unpopular opinion, I'd throw Miz. He is the only guy with the talent to just overwhelm batters and blow right by them, which is what I'd bet the house on. Hope that the most talented pitcher you have is "on." I fully expect any of the other suggested starters to walk the bases loaded or give up another catastrophic HR. I could see Miz doing that too, but I am rolling the dice on the highest upside because I think that's what has to happen for us to win. 

And I'm with Adam. This is the most important game for this franchise in the last 8 years. Losing this game, in this fashion, to the Cubs is going to be worse than losing the last two NLCS.

This and all of this. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'm so glad I won't be able to watch this, at least not the first 90 minutes or so, so I can make a choice to tune in if it's close. It's Miz for me. The only player that looked like an absolute stud for a month, with the most talent. That's the kind of player he needs to become anyway. Put the ball in the talent's hands and ride with the outcome.

[HarveysWBs]

26 minutes ago, KurtRussell said:

I would swap out Gasser for DL Hall. Give their lefties a new look. Not a huge deal to lose Gasser for the NLCS. 

 

I keep seeing this suggestion pop up, and I just think, at some point, where is the line going to be drawn on the absolute shameless and incandescently transparent manipulation of injury lists in Major League Baseball? The Brewers are a team that will scrap and claw for every single advantage they possibly can in an environment designed to disadvantage small markets at every turn, but I have to think even our brass would balk at this. But who knows.

In the end, it feels like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Now, I know that I shouldn’t feel this way, and I’ve rehearsed all the rational reasons why. Past performance is not indicative of future results, players don’t react the way fans do, etc. But I can’t bring myself to believe any of it. When I think of AmFam/Miller in October, it’s just a sadness factory. It’s why I’ve been off the boards most of the series—I don’t think this place needs more and more of what my head says is a polluted mindset, but my eyes and heart tell me are just the facts of life.

Three chances to win just one game. I’ve given up on a World Series, it’s a fools hope and always will be. But for years of pain, it isn’t too much to ask they don’t do this, at home, to Counsell’s Cubs of all teams. They owe us that. I wish I believed they would deliver.

[dlk9s]

31 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

As far as this being some horrible franchise loss, meh, I guess I’m just not that obsessive over the whole Greg storyline.

The older I get, the less I care about all the drama and hating other teams, etc. I just want to enjoy watching my team.

Also, regardless of what happens, at least we're not Phillies fans right now.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 minutes ago, HarveysWBs said:

I keep seeing this suggestion pop up, and I just think, at some point, where is the line going to be drawn on the absolute shameless and incandescently transparent manipulation of injury lists in Major League Baseball? The Brewers are a team that will scrap and claw for every single advantage they possibly can in an environment designed to disadvantage small markets at every turn, but I have to think even our brass would balk at this. But who knows.

In the end, it feels like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic. Now, I know that I shouldn’t feel this way, and I’ve rehearsed all the rational reasons why. Past performance is not indicative of future results, players don’t react the way fans do, etc. But I can’t bring myself to believe any of it. When I think of AmFam/Miller in October, it’s just a sadness factory. It’s why I’ve been off the boards most of the series—I don’t think this place needs more and more of what my head says is a polluted mindset, but my eyes and heart tell me are just the facts of life.

Three chances to win just one game. I’ve given up on a World Series, it’s a fools hope and always will be. But for years of pain, it isn’t too much to ask they don’t do this, at home, to Counsell’s Cubs of all teams. They owe us that. I wish I believed they would deliver.

I'll just add I'm completely sick of takes like this being manipulated as "negative." At some point enough is enough. We're well past that and need to win something. It's just excuses at this point. There is no payroll or market size argument to be made for this kind of disappointment. When you win 90+ consistently, you are good enough to win a single series. I don't care if we're using volunteer players. It's lame, half the roster is going to make $300mm somewhere else in a few years.

[Outlander]

MLB probably looks the other way with injuries during the regular season but would be strict during the playoffs, they are not going to let a  team just switch out players.

[adambr2]

2 minutes ago, Outlander said:

MLB probably looks the other way with injuries during the regular season but would be strict during the playoffs, they are not going to let a  team just switch out players.

Didn’t they let the Dodgers do this in 2020 with vague “arm fatigue” injuries?

[ClearWaterWI]

It’s been a good run but I’m afraid the crew have run out of steam. It’s a season of attrition and only a few teams can withstand a long run. I’m afraid the Brewers aren’t going to be one of them.  

[BruisedCrew]

Adding to my earlier comparison to 2011, that year I was cautiously optimistic about the Brewers winning Game 5 because of the home field and crowd and the fact that Gallardo had shut down the DBacks in Game 1. But I was anxious that a loss would wipe out what had been the Brewers best season since 1982.

Today I am essentially resigned to the fact that the Brewers will lose tomorrow, very possibly in a blow out reminiscent of the final game of the 2011 NLCS when Roenicke insisted on starting Marcum, even though he hadn't been effective for several weeks. I am also more jaded about the Brewers ability to advance in the playoffs. The scars from 2021 run pretty deep., The Brewers appeared to have a dominant pitching staff that could lead them through the playoffs, but the bats went completely silent after scratching out a first game win over the Braves.

I know that unexpected things happen in baseball all the time. But this one seems very unlikely. My gloomy mood is also affected by the realization that the Brewers patchwork pitching staff and woodpecker offense, which is struggling to make it through 5 games in 8 days against the Cubs, will be no match for the now healthy Dodgers.

[tmwiese55]

I'd go Quintana opener since he's lefty with Miz as the plan after.   In a weird way, Ashby's bad 1st inning in game two might've ultimately cost them the series even though they won that game.  If they'd kept 'overthinking' and used lefty openers rather than who they did its very likely they win at least one of the last two games assuming just one of them doesn't have the blow up first inning.  After it didn't work in game 2 they were probably gunshy to do it again 

[BruisedCrew]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Unpopular opinion, I'd throw Miz. He is the only guy with the talent to just overwhelm batters and blow right by them, which is what I'd bet the house on. Hope that the most talented pitcher you have is "on." I fully expect any of the other suggested starters to walk the bases loaded or give up another catastrophic HR. I could see Miz doing that too, but I am rolling the dice on the highest upside because I think that's what has to happen for us to win. 

And I'm with Adam. This is the most important game for this franchise in the last 8 years. Losing this game, in this fashion, to the Cubs is going to be worse than losing the last two NLCS.

As little confidence as I have in Misioroski, I am tending to agree that he might hold the key to keeping the Brewers in the game tomorrow.

I would consider using Santana as an opener with a short leash with the hope that he can avoid the first inning HR and also take some of the pressure off Misioroski by being on the mound at the beginning of the game when the noise and energy from the crowd will be at its peak. It's something of a Hail Mary move, but that might be what it takes to keep the Brewers in the game until the 6th inning.

The other hope is that having at least half of the crowd noise in their favor will spur the hitters into putting up more of a fight than they have the last two days.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

As little confidence as I have in Misioroski, I am tending to agree that he might hold the key to keeping the Brewers in the game tomorrow.

I would consider using Santana as an opener with a short leash with the hope that he can avoid the first inning HR and also take some of the pressure off Misioroski by being on the mound at the beginning of the game when the noise and energy from the crowd will be at its peak. It's something of a Hail Mary move, but that might be what it takes to keep the Brewers in the game until the 6th inning.

The other hope is that having at least half of the crowd noise in their favor will spur the hitters into putting up more of a fight than they have the last two days.

I agree, I would start someone else, pray they get three outs in no more than 4 betters, put a 0 on the board, and hand the ball to Miz with your fingers crossed. I would honestly consider starting Uribe. Him closing the game doesn't matter if it's 3-0 again right away.

[wibadgers23]

Would this be the worst loss in franchise history? I would say yes. Losing game 7 to the Dodgers in 2018 was no fun but losing to Cubs under these circumstances would be beyond brutal.