The Brewers are still waiting on their NLDS opponent, and Game 2 of the Padres-Cubs Wild Card Series has plenty riding on it from Milwaukee’s point of view.
San Diego handled the opener on Tuesday night in emphatic fashion, jumping on Chicago immediately when Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch of the game and Manny Machado followed with a homer two batters later. The Cubs did not get their first hit until the seventh inning, and the Padres rolled to an 8-0 win after Joe Musgrove recorded the final out in the top of the ninth.
That kind of beating does not end a series, though. Chicago turns to trade deadline addition Kevin Gausman in Game 2 tonight at 9:00 p.m.
CT on Peacock, while the Padres counter with right-hander Nick Pivetta. If the Cubs can force a Game 3 on Thursday night, that would be the result Brewers fans want as well, since it would mean more innings and more pitchers used before Saturday’s NLDS opener.
There are a few specific things Milwaukee supporters should be watching closely.
The first is what they get from Alex Bregman. The Cubs still have him on the postseason roster even after he suffered multiple facial fractures on September 20 when a foul ball hit him in the on-deck circle.
Bregman played in two of Chicago’s final three games, going 0-for-4 in one and 4-for-4 with two homers in the other. In Tuesday’s opener, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Chicago needs the hot version of Bregman if it is going to extend the series.
His injury has also changed the Cubs’ lineup construction. Because he cannot play third base, Bregman has been limited to DH duties, and that has pushed Michael Conforto - who was excellent against right-handed pitching this year - to the bench. That puts even more pressure on Bregman to produce at the plate.
The second thing to track is the starting pitching matchup. Neither club is built around dominant rotation depth, and that was obvious in Game 1. Cubs starter Matthew Boyd allowed four earned runs on three homers and lasted just four innings, while Padres starter Michael King was brilliant, throwing seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Tonight brings another pair of starters with question marks. Gausman was not sharp over the final two months of the regular season, posting a 4.83 ERA in nine starts, and he is also dealing with a left shoulder injury he picked up a week ago.
Even so, he has a strong postseason résumé and figures to matter if the Cubs move on to face Milwaukee. Pivetta, meanwhile, missed much of the 2026 season after elbow inflammation sent him to the IL in mid-April, but he returned in early September and put up a 1.45 ERA in four starts over the final month.
The last item Brewers fans should monitor is bullpen usage. San Diego did not need Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon in Game 1 because King’s outing and the scoreboard gave the Padres plenty of breathing room. Yuki Matsui, who had an excellent 2026 regular season, and Joe Musgrove, making his first appearance since 2024, were the only relievers San Diego needed, which leaves that group in good shape for Game 2.
Chicago used four relievers in the opener - Javier Assad, Ryan Rolison, Aaron Civale, and Jacob Webb - but only Civale threw more than 20 pitches. Craig Counsell held back Ryan Zeferjahn and Daniel Palencia, but both are likely to be needed if the Cubs are going to survive. For Milwaukee, the appeal is simple: the more high-end arms both teams burn now, the better for the Brewers if one of them shows up in the NLDS.
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Now the Brewers have a decision to make, and it goes well beyond celebrating a breakout. Turang is under team control through 2029, which gives the front office time, but it also opens the door to thinking about a longer-term extension while the organization weighs a strong infield prospect pipeline. The question is whether Milwaukee wants to lock in one of the games best young second basemen now, before the internal roster picture gets even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]