The Milwaukee Brewers kicked off their 2025 National League Division Series with a dominant 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at American Family Field, powered by a franchise-record-tying outing from ace Freddy Peralta.
Peralta powered through 5⅔ innings with command and intensity, striking out nine and limiting the Cubs to four hits, three walks, and two earned runs. His nine punchouts tied the Brewers’ postseason single-game record shared by Don Sutton, Yovani Gallardo, and Brandon Woodruff. Even after yielding solo homers to Michael Busch in the first and Ian Happ in the sixth, Peralta maintained full control and guided Milwaukee to victory, earning his first postseason win in eight years in the majors.
The Brewers’ bats erupted right away, exploding for six runs in the opening inning against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd and reliever Michael Soroka. After Michael Busch launched a leadoff homer to give Chicago a 1-0 edge—the third such blast in Cubs postseason history—Milwaukee answered with a relentless offensive surge that flipped the game instantly.
Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, and William Contreras ripped back-to-back doubles to swing the lead to 2-1, and Milwaukee never looked back. Nico Hoerner’s fielding error and Blake Perkins’ RBI single widened the gap to 6-1 before the inning ended, matching the Brewers’ postseason record for most runs scored in a single frame.
Brewers’ historic first game in the 2025 NLDS
Jackson Chourio made history as the first player ever to notch three hits within the first two innings of a postseason game. He drove in three runs with a pair of singles and a bases-loaded infield knock before exiting early with right hamstring tightness.
Milwaukee kept the pressure on in the second inning, tacking on three more runs with five singles and two walks to push the total to nine. Every Brewer except Joey Ortiz collected a hit, though Ortiz still reached base twice with two walks from the No. 9 spot.
The Brewers ended the game with 13 hits and eight RBIs, converting seven of 17 chances with runners in scoring position, while Chicago managed just five hits and went hitless in its two scoring opportunities.
Nico Hoerner belted a solo homer off Jared Koenig in the eighth inning, marking Chicago’s final run in its 9-3 loss.
The Brewers are set to host Game 2 of the best-of-five series on Monday at American Family Field.
