MILWAUKEE (Interstat) — A dominant performance by Milwaukee’s bullpen and timely home runs propelled the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of their National League Division Series on Saturday night, evening the best-of-seven playoff at two games apiece.

A crowd of 42,743 at American Family Field watched as six Brewers pitchers combined to stifle the Cubs’ offense, allowing just four hits and striking out 10 over nine innings. The win improved Milwaukee’s season record to 100-67, while the Cubs fell to 96-74.

The Brewers struck first in the bottom of the opening inning when William Contreras launched a solo home run to left-center field off Cubs starter Colin Rea. Chicago answered quickly in the top of the second, as Seiya Suzuki tied the game with a solo shot of his own to right-center against Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski.

The 1-1 deadlock was broken in the fourth inning when Andrew Vaughn led off the frame with a homer to left field off Cubs reliever Andrew Kittredge, giving Milwaukee a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Milwaukee added a crucial insurance run in the seventh inning when Brice Turang connected for a solo home run to center field, extending the lead to 3-1.

From there, the Brewers’ relief corps took over. After Misiorowski allowed one run on three hits over four innings, the combination of Chad Patrick, Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe shut the door. Uribe was particularly formidable, pitching two perfect innings to secure the save, his eighth of the season.

Misiorowski earned the win, improving to 7-3. Rea, chased after 2 2/3 innings in which he allowed one run on four hits, was tagged with the loss, falling to 11-8.

The Cubs threatened only once after their second-inning run, putting two runners on in the sixth inning following a Michael Busch single and a Nico Hoerner hit-by-pitch. However, Misiorowski escaped the jam by striking out Kyle Tucker and getting Suzuki to line out sharply to left field.

Chicago’s offense was otherwise quiet, managing just four hits and failing to advance a runner past second base after the sixth. The Cubs also squandered a scoring opportunity in the fourth inning when a throwing error by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong allowed two Brewers runners to move into scoring position, but reliever Daniel Palencia induced an inning-ending force out to limit the damage.

The game, which lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes, defied pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 6-4 Cubs victory, and the total of four runs fell well under the over/under line of 7.5.

The series now shifts back to Chicago for Game 6, where the Cubs will look to stave off elimination and force a decisive Game 7.