Good morning, Chicago.

For moments that turned into minutes, all Pete Crow-Armstrong could do was lean against the dugout railing and watch the celebratory scene.

The blue and gold streamers fell onto American Family Field as the Brewers rushed out of the dugout following the final out of the Cubs’ 3-1 loss in Game 5 of the NLDS that abruptly ended a journey that started eight months ago.

“That’s the worst part: We all go hug each other and stuff, but I don’t really think that does a full year justice,” a soft-spoken Crow-Armstrong said. “I guess it’s something I’m going to get used to. I’m not going to go out and win a World Series every year of my career, so that’ll be the toughest part moving forward is kind of understanding it may not be the same faces in here next year. And that’s going to suck. But we’ve got a couple days to pack at Wrigley and give more hugs.”

A resilient Cubs had fought their way to a fourth elimination game this postseason, battling back from being down 2-0 in the NLDS against their rival to the north with a chance to extend their season. The Cubs’ belief they could make a deep October run was instead extinguished by the division champs, putting another champagne celebration on ice until next year.

The Cubs had just four hits in their season-ending defeat to the Brewers, who won their first postseason series since 2018.

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