CHICAGO — A familiar feeling began to bubble up for Cubs fans inside Wrigley Field.

The tension mounted Wednesday with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.

After the Milwaukee Brewers pushed across a controversial run in the top of the frame, the Cubs had tied the score when Michael Busch led off the bottom half with a record-setting home run.

But they were threatening to put up more damage with the bases loaded. They had to take advantage of the situation if they wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive.

They were on the brink of elimination from the best-of-five NL Division Series, and entered Wednesday’s Game 3 without a single hit with two outs and runners in scoring position this postseason.

Pete Crow-Armstrong wrote in a Players’ Tribune article last week that he felt like he was made for fall baseball. He proved it with a clutch two-out, two-run single that gave the Cubs a much-needed sigh of relief.

That hit also moved Ian Happ to third base, and he later scored on a wild pitch to give the Cubs a three-run lead.

It was a huge swing in a game the Cubs absolutely had to have. Their 4-3 win forced a Game 4, which will be played Thursday night at Wrigley.

The Cubs entered Wednesday just 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position in the playoffs. They also hadn’t scored more than three runs in a postseason game since the 2017 NLDS — a span of 13 consecutive playoff games that set a new MLB record.

Amazingly, that was the Cubs’ only hit of the night with a runner in scoring position, as they finished just 1-for-9 in such situations. But it was enough to extend the series.

The Cubs have won three games this postseason despite going 3-for-26 with runners in scoring position (.115 average). By comparison, the Brewers had seven hits with runners in scoring position in Game 1 alone.

Six days ago, Crow-Armstrong also came through in the clutch and drove home a run on a single in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series.

The Cubs’ only other postseason hit with a runner in scoring position was Seiya Suzuki‘s three-run homer in the first inning of Game 2 on Monday in Milwaukee.