Brewers’ bounce-back victory exposed Cubs’ biggest postseason weakness

The Brewers defeated the Cubs in an NL Central matchup, with Christian Yelich and Joey Ortiz each hitting two-run homers off Chicago's bullpen to secure a five-run victory. The Cubs' relief corps allowed the homers after Matthew Boyd exited with a tied game in the sixth inning, exposing a significant vulnerability heading into the postseason. Chicago's bullpen leads baseball with a 1.42 home run rate per nine innings, a 14.3% home run-to-fly ball ratio, and a 40.9% hard-hit rate, making them particularly susceptible to the longball when home runs carry extra weight in October baseball. The Cubs have experienced considerable bullpen turnover this season, and potential reinforcements like Edward Cabrera and David Peterson may not fully address the home run problem since both have also struggled with allowing long balls in 2026.

Summary written by MLB Feed Network based on the original reporting. How we write summaries