Chicago Cubs on cusp of season ending following a 7-3 Game 2 NLDS loss to the Milwaukee Brewers

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune on Oct 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MILWAUKEE — The first inning of Game 2 in the National League Division Series might haunt the Chicago Cubs and their dreams of a deep postseason run.

Left-hander Shota Imanaga‘s inability to toss a zero in the opening frame doused another electric start for the Cubs. Seiya Suzuki’s three-run home run in the top of the first against Milwaukee Brewers lefty reliever Aaron Ashby quieted 42,787 fans Monday night at American Family Field.

Suzuki’s 440-foot, 111.7 mph rocket to left field was reminiscent of Michael Busch’s leadoff home run in Game 1 on Saturday that gave the Cubs early momentum.

And yet the starting pitching again let down the Cubs in a 7-3 loss that sends them back to Wrigley Field for Game 3 at 4:08 p.m. on Wednesday — on the brink of elimination.

Perhaps the most painful part of the damage the Brewers did against Cubs pitchers: all seven runs scored with two outs and six runs came on two-strike pitches.

That’s how close the Cubs were to avoiding disaster. But the postseason exposes those slim margins, and the Cubs failed to limit damage in key spots. The offense didn’t do enough in a bullpen game for the Brewers. The Cubs produced just two hits after the first inning, both singles, and did not put a runner in scoring position in the final seven innings.

Imanaga opened his start by striking out the first two batters, Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang, then allowed back-to-back singles on consecutive pitches to William Contreras and Christian Yelich. A belt-high sweeper that Andrew Vaughn turned on tied the game with his three-run home run, set off a frenzy among Brewers fans and saw the long ball continue to hurt Imanaga.

Imanaga got beat in the third by Contreras for a go-ahead solo home run and failed to get out of the inning. The 32-year-old has given up a home run in 10 consecutive starts. He entered the playoffs dealing with questions about his first-inning struggles (7.20 ERA) and home run woes, tied for the fourth-most home runs allowed in the regular season and the second-worst HR/9 rate.

Nothing Imanaga showed Monday diminished those problems. Monday marked his 11th start with at least two home runs allowed this year, and four of those starts occurred in the final month of the season.

Manager Craig Counsell went to Daniel Palencia in hopes of the hard-throwing right-hander keeping the game close as the Brewers turned over their lineup in the fourth. He, too, couldn’t give the Cubs a clean outing. Chourio, who left Game 1 in the second inning due to right hamstring tightness, delivered the big blow on an 0-2 pitch that landed for a three-run home run.

When dropping Game 1, the Cubs have subsequently lost three consecutive postseason series. They haven’t bounced back from a Game 1 defeat to ultimately win a series since the 2016 World Series.

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