NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS VS BREWERS

October 11, 2025

Pat Murphy

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 5 Press Conference

Brewers - 3, Cubs - 1

Q. Seven years is a long time to go between playoff series victories. When you're sitting in this moment, you see the streamers coming down from the rafters and 42,000 celebrating what you guys just accomplished, what does this moment mean to you, and what was the first thing you said to your room?

PAT MURPHY: I'm not as concerned about how long it's been since they've won a playoff series. They didn't have to play one this year because they had the best record in baseball. So I don't know if you count that.

But to win this series the way we did, I'm just grateful, to be honest with you, I'm grateful for the guys we've had in the room. They've been doubted every year. Everyone. There's no one predicting the Brewers playing the Dodgers in the series.

But I don't worry about how many years it's been. I know this -- we've been in contention every year we've been here, and I'm just thankful for that. And starting in '17, I guess, we've either been in the playoffs or a game away since '17.

That says something about the org. Says something about the front office and the ownership and the coaching staff. But most importantly, understanding the type of player that has to play here. And we got a bunch of them in there that's pretty special.

Q. How closely did that mirror the map that you had in your head for the pitchers? And what are the changes you make midstream because, did Misiorowski get a fourth inning because he was doing so well or anything --

PAT MURPHY: Miz was gassed. I would have loved to keep him in. We told him to empty the tank in that last inning. He was magnificent. Megill was magnificent, getting us started.

And that really set the tone for the game keeping it close with those two guys. Hats off to Megill for understanding what it took. He's coming off an injury.

And Misiorowski, who's had some bumps in the road here during his first year, for him to come back again in this same series and pitch so well and to get four innings. Then the Ashby thing.

It kind of went according to plan, not exactly. But then we saw Ash was a little bit not as sharp as he could have been. It's his fourth time seeing them. And then Chad Patrick was maybe the player of the game because you don't expect him to be that good, pitched an innings plus.

And, yeah, Uribe was first two-inning save for him, I believe, but he wasn't to be denied.

Q. I was going to ask about the sixth inning, with the way the pitching went after giving up, two guys on, the first two runners get on. How did that, what did that show you, getting a strikeout from Ashby and Patrick --

PAT MURPHY: That's huge. Ash is game. This guy pitched four of the five games. Am I right? He pitched in four of the five games, right? Him and Chad both, they pitched four of the five games.

And Ashby is willing. He wants to face anybody anytime. And he's come so far. He's coming off major shoulder surgery a year ago.

Anyway, when he had the first two guys on, I'm, like, I knew Busch had turned his ankle, and I knew he probably wasn't going to steal third. But what's the best match-up? The pitching coaches, Henderson and Hook, they said, do it, Murph. Go ahead, do it. They led the way in this whole pitching dynamic today.

They're the ones that led the way. They said, I wanted Miz to go a little further. And Miz said, I don't know how much I left; I could go one and two. They said, no, let's stop there. It's a good outing for him.

Let's go to Ashby in this part of the order. And I followed that. And then they wanted to go Chad Patrick. That was the key. And then go Uribe two innings. Got a lot of help from them.

Q. Brice struggled a little bit in this series at the plate. How big was that home run? And what does it say about him that he stayed the course and just --

PAT MURPHY: We talked in between at-bats. He hit the first ball 102, and it was just a little too high. He didn't feel like he was swinging at good pitches. He didn't feel like he got strikes to hit, and he was still swinging. He was disappointed.

He was trying to see the ball longer. Seeing the ball longer sometimes makes you not get out to the front zone, and you're not going to hit a pitch like that, you're not going to hit a homer.

We just talked about hey, Brice, you're a great hitter, man. This is just a couple games. You're doing great. You're not getting results, but you're doing great. Just keep swinging the bat.

He's hit four or five balls this series really hard. He made a great move on a pitch that he could get out in front and crushed it.

Q. We talked before the game about you guys being in this position last year. Obviously the result different this year. What changed in your mind watching how everything played out that was different this year outside of the result? And what did those 26 guys in the room prove to each other?

PAT MURPHY: Yeah, I mean, after last year, that was the Wild Card series, we won the division. Wild Card series, Mets were hot. They came back and beat us at the last inning.

They were shellshocked. We were all shellshocked. And to see the room then -- I just said, guys, somehow this is going to help us.

What I think it did is galvanized the group on how precious playing every out is, how pressures staying relentless is, how precious it is to believe.

And then we've been talking about Uek all year long. And it may sound corny to some, but if you lived it the way we did, Uek's presence was here. And they didn't want to let him down, especially this series because being close rivals.

I've got great respect for the Cubs, believe me, great respect. That's been told many times. But it was important to these guys because it's the rival to finish the job. And they know Uek is smiling.

Q. Going back to Misiorowski, I wonder if you just go back to the decision to put him on the roster and the faith you guys showed in him. If that was a difficult decision, now that you've gotten two major bulk outings from him in this postseason, and also bouncing back from that home run because it reminds me of this Cubs outing earlier in the year where he struggled and really found something. I guess I could see that as being a danger point under some circumstances, but obviously not tonight.

PAT MURPHY: I think what we did is we certainly didn't baby him. At the end of the season, if you're following, we put him in a bases-loaded situation in Cincinnati. And he gets a swinging bunt, ends up being a hit, then there's a walk and a walk and a hit and a walk. And it's imploded.

So, instead of giving him a soft landing we made it tough on him. I didn't spend a lot of time talking to him. I didn't guarantee anything about the postseason. I didn't try to pump him up. I took another direction on that, and I think he responded.

He's really proven something to me that sometimes you don't understand guys when you first know them, their personalities, that type of thing. And I think he just decided like, hey, look, I'm going to be the best version of myself for the boys.

And that's what our talk was today before the game. It's about the boys. Find your focus. There's a lot of distractions during this time. There's the pit in our stomach. That means something special can happen. And you do it for the boys. And I think mis understood, I owe these guys. I've got to do it right.