CHICAGO -- Milwaukee’s series on the North Side wasn’t Caleb Durbin's first homecoming of sorts at the big league level.
Being from Lake Forest, Ill., Durbin’s visit to Wrigley Field wasn’t too far from home. He did play three games back in Chicago when the Brewers visited the White Sox at Rate Field at the end of April, but this was his first series playing against the Cubs at their home ballpark.
Durbin has grown up going to games on both sides of town, and he certainly dreamed of one day launching a ball over the baskets at Wrigley Field. On Thursday afternoon, in Milwaukee’s 8-7 win, he finally got to live that dream.
With one out and a runner on in a 2-2 ballgame in the top of the second, Durbin dropped Cubs starter Jameson Taillon’s middle-middle cutter a couple of rows into the center-field bleachers for a go-ahead homer.
The Brewers haven’t been one of Major League Baseball’s premier home run-hitting teams in 2025, as they entered Thursday’s series finale ranked 25th with 66 homers. But up against a high-powered Chicago offense, Milwaukee found its power stroke with three home runs -- including Durbin’s and another from a more unexpected longball contributor -- and left with a series split.
“Really good at-bats up and down the lineup, which is probably what it's going to take to beat a team like that, because they do have a lot of offensive firepower over there, too,” Durbin said. “Just being stingy and getting good swings off when we can, and obviously, we did enough today to win. That's all that matters.”
The Brewers took an early lead on Christian Yelich’s RBI single in the first inning, but that lead quickly vanished in the bottom frame when Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong drilled his fifth homer in five games against the Crew this season, this time off Freddy Peralta.
Milwaukee quickly fought back, though, as Rhys Hoskins launched a one-out solo shot to left field in the second to knot up the score at 2. After Isaac Collins walked, Durbin gave his team the lead it wouldn’t relinquish. He had only gone deep twice before in his short Major League career, and this was the longest of his three (a Statcast-projected 395 feet).
Playing for the “enemy” to some of his hometown friends made it a bit sweeter.
“They joke around like, 'Hey, come on now,'” Durbin said. “But, yeah, it's a lot of fun. I have family and friends that are pretty diehard Cubs fans who are here. So, yeah, it's a lot of fun.”
“He's getting comfortable, and he's getting confident,” manager Pat Murphy said of Durbin. “He knows what he has to do, and he's a tenacious competitor. No situation's going to be too big for him. He's worked too hard to get here, so he's not going to back down from any situation.”
Then, with the Brewers up, 5-3, in the top of the fifth, Collins came up with one out and two runners in scoring position. Cubs reliever Génesis Cabrera left a 1-1 curveball over the heart of the plate, and Collins drove that ball into the left-center bleachers.
Collins, who debuted last September, had only hit three home runs prior to Thursday. However, he did go deep in Tuesday’s series opener, and over his last 10 games, he’s posted a 1.207 OPS (with three homers a .750 slugging percentage).
“I'm delighted he's making this step into knowing that he belongs,” Murphy said. “I mean, this guy, quietly, has done some really, really good stuff on both sides of the ball.”
Collins’ blast proved crucial, as Chicago made a late rally to cut it to one after the eighth inning. Trevor Megill entered in the bottom of the ninth against the top of the Cubs’ order, and he walked leadoff hitter Ian Happ.
Megill disagreed with some of the calls in the frame, but in the high-pressure moment, he refocused and got a strikeout and a 5-4-3 double play, earning his 16th save and helping Milwaukee avoid a series loss to its NL Central rivals.
“Just got to be mentally stronger than that and just overcome an obstacle,” Megill said. “It is what it is. The team still won, and, yeah, roll on out to Minnesota.”
“[The Cubs] have a great team, and they have great home fans,” Murphy said. “This means a lot coming here and winning.”