The Milwaukee Brewers, thanks to three home runs and a huge bullpen showing led by rookie Jacob Misiorowski, are one win away from their first trip to the NLCS in seven years.
The Brewers rolled to a commanding 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of the NLDS on Monday at American Family Field. That gave them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series as it heads to Wrigley Field later this week. Misiorowski, a starter who was appearing in his first career postseason game, was credited with the win after tossing three scoreless innings of relief.
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The Cubs, who lost 9-3 in Game 1, erupted right away Monday and seemed ready to bounce back in the series. Seiya Suzuki drilled a three-run homer in the first inning after Nico Hoerner singled and Justin Turner walked ahead of him.
But Chicago’s lead lasted a matter of minutes. The Brewers responded with Shota Imanaga on the mound, as Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run blast of his own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.
William Contreras then gave the Brewers their first lead of the night with a solo homer in the third, ending Imanaga’s night after just 2 2/3 innings.
In the next inning, Jackson Chourio broke the game open for Milwaukee. He hit the deepest shot of the night straight out to center field for a three-run home run off reliever Drew Pomeranz. That put the Brewers up by four. All seven of their runs came on home runs with two outs.
Misiorowski came in to pitch midway through the game, after opener Aaron Ashby got roughed up in his 1 2/3 innings of work. Misiorowski helped settle things down after Chicago’s initial blast, working three scoreless frames. That marked his postseason debut, and 31 of his pitches topped 100 mph — which is the most by a pitcher in a postseason game in the pitch-tracking era. His fastest was recorded at 104.3 mph.
Although they got off to a hot start, the Cubs couldn’t get another run across after the first inning, and they finished with just four hits. The Cubs are the first team in MLB postseason history to hit a three-run home run in the first inning but not score again and lose the game, according to OptaStats.
The Cubs will attempt to rally to force a Game 5 beginning Wednesday with Game 3 at Wrigley Field (5:08 p.m. ET/TBS, TruTV). In that one, Milwaukee will be going for a sweep and some extra rest before the NLCS.
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