MILWAUKEE — In his former life, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was a young boxer who was no stranger to a good fight. And in any high-stakes bout, you can expect two rivals such as the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs — separated by just 90 miles — to take big swings.
And it was Murphy’s Brewers who took the fight to the Cubs from the start on Saturday in the first postseason matchup between the franchises, using a six-run first inning en route to a 9-3 Game 1 victory to set the tone for an intense NLDS.
“Promise me you’ll be ready for the first pitch,” Murphy said of his message to his team this week. “When the bell rings, you’re ready. You don’t get a couple of rounds to figure out if you wanna fight. Be ready in the first round — and I thought the guys were certainly ready.”
The Brewers’ offense is characterized by its ability to put constant pressure on opposing pitchers. It’s the reason they gave themselves the nickname “The Woodpeckers” during the regular season. But while Milwaukee’s hitters, who had the sixth-highest walk rate in MLB this season, are usually patient, they were immediately aggressive against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd.
Left fielder Jackson Chourio began Milwaukee’s half of the first inning by roping the fourth pitch he saw down the left-field line for a double. The next two batters, Brice Turang and William Contreras, followed with first-pitch doubles of their own, giving the Brewers a quick 2-1 lead.
As the crowd at American Family Field erupted with Turang scoring the Brewers’ second run, you could tell the fans knew a big inning was coming. And Milwaukee’s lineup could feel it, too.
“I think with the fans, it definitely felt like a different environment than other games we’ve played against them,” Chourio said of the Game 1 atmosphere. “You could definitely feel them, and you could feel the energy that they were bringing. It was a different kind of pressure that they brought to the game today, and yeah, it was great.”
After a groundout and a walk, the Brewers took advantage of an error by usually sure-handed second baseman Nico Hoerner to keep the inning alive. Instead of a potentially inning-ending double play, Milwaukee had plated another run.
A strikeout for the second out followed, and then came the backbreaker of the inning, as center fielder Blake Perkins’ 11-pitch at-bat ended in an RBI single that made it 4-1. Following another walk, Chourio added a two-run single — his second hit of the inning — to make it 6-1 and put the game out of reach.
“I knew he was going to try to nibble, especially with runners in scoring position,” Perkins said. “And as the at-bat kept going, I thought, ‘Well, at least I can make him throw pitches, if anything’ and just try to stay in myself, not do too much, get a good pitch to hit. And luckily, I found a hole.”
In total, Milwaukee sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring six runs and forcing Boyd from the game after just two outs. It was the shortest outing of the season for the All-Star, who was starting on three days’ rest after pitching the Cubs to a win in Game 1 of the wild-card round.
“They had really good at-bats,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They hit balls hard. They spoiled pitches. The Perkins at-bat was just a great at-bat. You’ve got to give him credit for that. Matt [Boyd] made some pitches to him, and he spoiled him and ended up with a base hit that was a really, really good, major-league at-bat.”
Murphy had some concern coming into Game 1 about how the first-round bye might affect his team. Coming off Milwaukee’s worst month of the season by record (12-12 in September), plus five days off during the bye, it was going to be interesting to see which version of the Brewers showed up in Game 1. But Milwaukee showed no ill effects after the layoff, looking as sharp as ever offensively in their first game since Sunday.
In fact, the Brewers’ nine-run performance Saturday was their best scoring output since Sept. 17. And it was a full-team effort, with every Brewers’ starter recording a hit in the game. Now Milwaukee has plenty of momentum going into Game 2 on Monday, with a 1-0 series lead and another game at home before they head south to Chicago.
“It definitely changed everything for me,” Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, who allowed just two runs in 5 2/3 innings, said of the early lead. “It gave me confidence to put my pitches in the zone and just try making contact and get quick outs. It was awesome.”
An added wrinkle to this series going forward is the off day between Games 1 and 2. The additional day should allow both Chicago and Milwaukee to be more aggressive with their bullpens in the games to come.
The Cubs didn’t use any of their high-leverage arms in Game 1, a silver lining of the blowout loss after they relied heavily on their key relievers against San Diego. But Chicago will absolutely have to get more out of its starters, not just in Game 2 but also through the remainder of the series. Relying on their relievers to cover all but two outs, as they were forced to do in Game 1, is a recipe for disaster. The Cubs did not name a Game 2 starter after Saturday’s contest, but it will likely be Shota Imanaga or Jameson Taillon.
“We picked Matt Boyd to pitch. I don’t know what to say,” Counsell said postgame of his decision to start Boyd on three days’ rest. “He pitched. It didn’t go well. We’ve got to make decisions. We went with Matt. We’re very comfortable — I was very comfortable putting Matt Boyd on the mound today. The whole organization was comfortable putting Matt Boyd on the mound today.”
As for the Brewers, they’re in good shape with their pitching plans after getting 5 2/3 innings from Peralta and not needing to lean on their high-leverage relievers in an easy victory. Their biggest concern going into Game 2 will be the health of Chourio, who left Saturday’s game in the third inning due to right hamstring tightness after trying to beat out an infield single. It’s the same hamstring that forced the Brewers’ left fielder to miss more than a month earlier this season.
Chourio said afterward that he felt fine, but he received an MRI following the game. The Brewers will be hoping for positive news on their young star before Game 2, and they’ll look to carry their momentum through the off day into Monday.
“Everybody has a different answer,” Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang said of how to keep the strong start going. “Maybe it’s a guy who just needs the day off, and it helps him for the next day. Maybe it’s a guy who wants to come in and hit in the cage or do something.
“We know what we’re trying to accomplish, and we’re going to focus on doing that and focus on ourselves.”
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