CHICAGO — Through the first two games of the NLDS, the Chicago Cubs looked like a team outmatched. Whether it was lackluster starting pitching or the mediocre offense, Chicago seemed to have the ingredients of a squad that was about to be swept by its division rival.

In order to save their season, Game 3 had to be different. And playing in front of a sold-out Wrigley Field crowd, potentially for the final time in 2025, the Cubs seemed determined to make it known early Wednesday that they weren’t going to roll over and surrender.

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When in need of a fast start, it’s the players at the top of the lineup who have to set the tone. First baseman Michael Busch has been that for the Cubs’ lineup throughout the 2025 season, and with their playoff hopes in the balance, once again, he was the right man for the job.

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After the Brewers had plated a run in the top of the first, Busch led off the Cubs’ half of the frame by crushing a 401-foot blast deep into the right-field bleachers off Brewers starter Quinn Priester, immediately tying the game. That made the first baseman the first player in MLB history to hit multiple leadoff homers in one postseason series (he did the same in NLDS Game 1) and just the fifth player ever with multiple leadoff homers in the same postseason.

“It doesn’t always go that way, but just try to have a good at-bat,” Busch said of his leadoff success after Chicago’s 4-3 victory. “From the moment I was placed in that spot, they put me there, and I thought, why change what I do? Just have a good at-bat, staying aggressive, trusting my eyes.”

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Said Cubs manager Craig Counsell: “You can just tell by the way they manage the game, he’s become the guy in the lineup that everybody is thinking about, and they’re doing their pitching around him, and that’s a credit to the player.”

There was a defiant, exuberant energy after Busch’s leadoff blast, and with Milwaukee’s starter already on the ropes, the Cubs’ lineup went to work. Following a Nico Hoerner single, walks by Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ loaded the bases for Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The Cubs’ center fielder has had his fair share of struggles throughout this postseason, but October has a way of giving players opportunities to redeem themselves. And as Cubs fans chanted “PCA, PCA,” the 23-year-old gave the crowd and team what they were asking for, roping a two-run single to give Chicago a 3-1 lead. Shortly after, Ian Happ came around to score on a wild pitch and make it a 4-1 game.

The four-run first inning was significant for Chicago for multiple reasons. So far this postseason, they hadn’t managed to score more than three runs in any game. In fact, they hadn’t scored more than three runs in a playoff game since Game 5 of the 2017 NLDS.

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“I’m pretty fortunate in a couple of these elimination games to just have pretty nice opportunities in front of me with guys on base,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I think that makes this job just a little bit easier sometimes.”

The Cubs’ four first-inning runs reset the tone for righty Jameson Taillon, who has turned into the Cubs’ most reliable starting pitcher over the past month-and-a-half. From there, Taillon got through three more innings while allowing a total of two runs. The Brewers added one more in the seventh on a Jake Bauers solo blast that made it a one-run game, but ultimately, the Cubs’ four-spot in the first held up for the series- and season-extending victory.

The Cubs came into Game 3 confident that once back on their home turf, with the Wrigley Field crowd behind them, they’d be able to keep their season alive. And with their 4-3 victory over Milwaukee, they took the first step. The next step lies ahead in Game 4 on Thursday.

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They get to breathe a sigh of relief for one day, but the Cubs’ season will be back on the line when Game 4 begins. So what can Chicago take from its victory Wednesday into the next elimination game? Well, the Cubs got four runs across in Game 3, but there were many blown chances to score. They went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. For Chicago to extend its season again on Thursday, that will likely need to improve.

“It’s fun and stressful in the same sentence, in the same light, and I think you feel both emotions a lot,” Counsell said after NLDS win No. 1 for his crew. “But you’re playing to play tomorrow, and that can’t help but give you something else. It has to. I thought we played with that urgency, especially in the first [inning].”

Neither team announced its Game 4 starter Wednesday night, but the Cubs will likely turn to Matthew Boyd, who would be pitching on normal rest. Boyd was crushed in Game 1 on Saturday, making it through just two-thirds of an inning and allowing six runs while pitching on three days’ rest. While the Cubs’ left-hander wasn’t certain after Game 3 if he’d be given the ball for Game 4, the longtime veteran had a calm demeanor when talking about what the opportunity would mean.

“You just expect it. It’s how it goes,” Boyd said of pitching with the season on the line. “You’re like, ‘OK, my next one’s on this day, and I’m gonna be doing everything I can to be prepared to go out there and have success and do what I know I’m gonna do when the ball is in my hand.’”