The silver lining of the Brewers' NLDS Game 3 loss to the Cubs

On the brink of elimination for the second time this postseason, the Chicago Cubs survived once again and will get at least one more opportunity in the playoffs. They avoided a sweep in the NLDS by narrowly defeating the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 4-3 in Game 3 last night.

Once again, the first inning was a deciding factor in the contest. Milwaukee squeaked out a run on a sacrifice fly from Sal Frelick that was made possible by an inning-extending blunder by the Cubs' infield when a high pop-up off the bat of William Contreras was lost in the sun before falling on the infield grass.

However, Chicago answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs of their own. Michael Busch started the inning with another home run, his second leadoff homer of the series, and Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a clutch two-out, two-RBI single. The rally knocked Brewers starter Quinn Priester out of the game and forced Milwaukee to shift away from their original game plan, which relied on Priester effectively covering multiple innings.

The silver lining? The bullpen was outstanding after Priester’s early exit. Even better, manager Pat Murphy managed his staff carefully, avoiding overuse of any arms, meaning Milwaukee won’t be leaning on fatigued pitchers in Game 4 this evening.

The Milwaukee Brewers' pitching staff is still in great shape after three playoff games

After unexpectedly going with a bullpen game in Game 2, the Brewers were hoping Priester could eat up innings in Game 3. That plan fell through early, but the bullpen delivered. José Quintana, Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig, and Chad Patrick combined for shutout relief, allowing just three hits and one walk the rest of the way, an impressive turnaround after a rough first inning that featured three hits, three walks, and a wild pitch that plated a run.

Getting that kind of performance from the bullpen in back-to-back games is impressive, but the silver lining after the Game 3 loss doesn’t end there. Quintana threw the most in Game 3, 3.0 innings and 49 pitches, while Jacob Misiorowski led the way in Game 2 with 2.0 innings and 57 pitches. Despite those workloads, both theoretically remain available for the rest of the series, though it would be a shock to see Quintana in Game 4. On top of that, most, if not all, of the Brewers' shorter-stint relievers remain available and relatively rested for Game 4.

This gives manager Pat Murphy plenty of flexibility heading into tonight's pivotal contest, particularly when it comes to choosing a starter and managing innings. He could start Freddy Peralta on four days’ rest and use a bullpen approach in a potential Game 5, or flip that strategy, with preserving Peralta potentially having more of an advantage.

The benefit of holding Freddy Peralta out of Game 4 is clear: if Milwaukee wins tonight, he’s lined up to start Game 1 of the NLCS. If they lose, he becomes the obvious choice for a must-win Game 5. Additionally, given how dominant the Brewers’ bullpen has been this series, there’s a strong case for an all-hands-on-deck approach in Game 4, a strategy that already delivered them a win earlier in the series.

With multiple paths forward and a rested, effective bullpen at their disposal, the Brewers have set themselves up with options. They need just one more victory to advance, and how they choose to deploy their pitching staff will be a big talking point leading up to Game 4, but was made possible by great individual performances and managing by Murphy in Games 2 and 3.