Cubs lose tiebreaker to Brewers, 3-1, set for Wild Card Game on Tuesday

The Cubs gave it a shot. The best team in the National League wasn’t having any of it.

So much for a third straight NL Central title for a Cubs team that had the best record in the league for long enough that, at times, home-field advantage in the playoffs seemed like a foregone conclusion.

The Brewers came to Wrigley Field and ripped the title away with a 3-1 victory in a Game 163 tiebreaker. And they did it with rock-solid pitching, locked-in hitting and loud, proud fans in the Wrigley Field stands — a not-so-subtle payback for all those mass migrations of Cubs fans to Miller Park.

Not a rivalry? Please.

Tuesday night at Wrigley, the Cubs — facing sudden, shocking elimination — will host the loser of the NL West tiebreaker between the Dodgers and Rockies. The winner of the NL Wild Card Game will head to Milwaukee for Games 1 and 2 on Thursday and Friday.

For the Cubs, it’s a gut-punch. Jon Lester could steady the ship Tuesday with an outing worthy of an ace, but this team, with its already compromised bullpen, wasn’t well prepared for an audible the size of this one. The Brewers simply refused to yield, however, winning seven straight — and 27 of 37 — heading into the tiebreaker.

The Brewers earned this one. The Cubs can’t be called unlucky, let alone the better team.

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• Highlights and results from the NL Central tiebreaker

Starting pitchers Jose Quintana and Jhoulys Chacin battled on mostly equal terms, each leaving after having allowed a single run. Milwaukee’s scored on a two-out, third-inning RBI single by MVP front-runner Christian Yelich. Should Cubs manager Joe Maddon have called for an intentional walk? That will be debated in the days to come. The Cubs got their run — one of only three hits all day — on an Anthony Rizzo homer in the fifth.

Rizzo, representing the tying run, made the final out in the ninth off star reliever Josh Hader.

Yelich had three hits in all. Orlando Arcia had four hits and scored a pair of runs.

The Cubs burned through six different relievers, something that should make it hard for manager Joe Maddon to get a decent night’s sleep. This was the least desirable of all potential scenarios. Jesse Chavez put in a hard day’s work. Justin Wilson could be close to spent. Steve Cishek appears to be running on fumes. Randy Rosario, Brandon Kintzler and Jaime Garcia all pitched.

How long can Lester go on Tuesday? Will he come through in the playoffs yet again? Or will a Cubs team making its fourth straight postseason appearance turn out — just like that — to be toast?