Brewers beat Cubs 3-1 in Game 5 of NL Division Series to earn NLCS matchup with Dodgers

By STEVE MEGARGEE MILWAUKEE AP Ending their new run of playoff frustration earned the Milwaukee Brewers a new nickname from their manager Pat Murphy has referred to his association as the Average Joes a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names But after the Brewers beat the rival Chicago Cubs - in the decisive fifth challenge of their NL Division Series on Saturday night Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade You can call them the average Joes Murphy announced but I say they re the above-average Joes The Brewers relied on contributions from just about all of them to get past the Cubs Former Cal star Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning and William Contreras and Brice Turang also went deep Trevor Megill Jacob Misiorowski Aaron Ashby Chad Patrick and Abner Uribe combined on a four-hitter with Uribe getting six outs for the first multi-inning save of his career It takes every single one of these guys in the locker room and they ve done it Turang reported We ve got to keep going The Brewers making their seventh playoff appearance in eight years earned their first postseason series win since sweeping Colorado in a NLDS Milwaukee was on the verge of its second World Series berth that year before losing Challenge of the National League Championship Series at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers Now the Brewers get another NLCS matchup with the defending World Series champion Dodgers who beat the Philadelphia Phillies in four games in the other NL Division Series Contest is Monday at Milwaukee as the Brewers chase their first pennant since back when they played in the American League After losing slugging shortstop Willy Adames in free agency and trading away All-Star closer Devin Williams last winter the scrappy Brewers finished the regular season with the best record in the majors at - They ve reached the NLCS nine months after the death of Bob Uecker who broadcast Brewers games for seasons and is allegedly more synonymous with the franchise than any participant As the Brewers posed for a postgame picture on the field they had a banner in front of them with Uecker s signature The sellout crowd roared before the challenge when the scoreboard video displayed a fan holding a sign with the message Do It For Bob Uecker It was significant to these guys because it s the rival to finish the job Murphy stated And they know Ueck is beaming The success was particularly sweet for Milwaukee fans because it came against the club s biggest rival and knocked Cubs manager Craig Counsell out of the postseason Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area played for the Brewers and became the winningest manager in club history until he left for Chicago In the two seasons since Counsell s departure Brewers fans have booed every mention of his name whenever the Cubs have visited American Family Field They did it again Saturday though the sellout crowd appeared to include more Cubs backers than in Milwaukee s Encounter and Encounter home victories The Cubs were attempting to become the th squad to erase a - deficit and win a best-of-five playoff series a feat last accomplished by the New York Yankees against Cleveland in their ALDS I m disappointed I m sad Counsell disclosed I think this squad did a lot to honor the Chicago Cub uniform In the big picture that s how I feel Homers produced all the runs in this winner-take-all battle and each of Milwaukee s came with two outs Contreras hit a -foot shot to left-center off Drew Pomeranz in the first inning Vaughn sent a - pitch from Colin Rea over the left-field wall to break a -all tie and Turang provided selected insurance with a -foot drive to center off Andrew Kittredge in the seventh We fight back That s our mentality Vaughn stated We re going to punch someone else We re going to throw it right back Chicago s Seiya Suzuki greeted Misiorowski by sending a mph fastball into the Cubs bullpen leading off the second but that was the only run the rookie right-hander allowed in four innings as he earned his second win of the series It s been crazy the -year-old Misiorowski revealed It s been a whirlwind and it s been fun The Brewers brought in Misiorowski after Megill retired the side in order in the first The Cubs had totaled first-inning runs in the first four games of the series without ever going scoreless in the opening frame After Suzuki s homer they didn t number again Saturday Chicago s best threat came when it put two on with nobody out in the sixth against Ashby who had thrown pitches two nights earlier in Milwaukee s Contest loss Michael Busch hit a leadoff single before Ashby grazed Nico Hoerner with a pitch Related Articles SF Giants managerial search Who has been linked to the job so far What to know before Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial against Los Angeles Angels begins Yesavage sets Blue Jays postseason record with Ks Toronto rips Yankees - in Contest of ALDS Could SF Giants re-sign free agents Verlander Flores Smith Hern ndez s homer lifts Ohtani Dodgers over Phillies - in NL Division Series opener Ashby got Kyle Tucker to strike out swinging at a - pitch for the first out Patrick then came out of the bullpen and retired Suzuki on a fly to left before Ian Happ struck out looking You set a goal to win the World Series every year Busch stated You come up short so it stings no matter what The Brewers exorcised selected demons to finish off the series They entered the ninth inning with a two-run lead just as they did in the decisive encounter of last year s NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets Milwaukee lost that tournament when Williams allowed four runs in the final inning including a three-run homer by Pete Alonso This time the Brewers had no reason to worry as Uribe retired the side in order We talked about it before the battle Murphy revealed It absolutely entered my mind We talked about it at the end of last season We sat down in the room We were all shell-shocked And I noted Guys I don t know what to tell you Somehow this is going to help us And sure enough it was prophetic AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB