Entering Game One of the NLDS, there were questions about how the Brewers would come out of the gates after a rough end to the regular season and a five-day break. They put those concerns to rest quickly
against the Cubs, but a new concern now looms following an injury.
The game didn’t have a great start for the Brewers. Four pitches in to Freddy Peralta’s day, Michael Busch hit a ball out to right-center field to put the Cubs up 1-0. Peralta recovered from it to retire the next three batters, finishing up with a strikeout of Seiya Suzuki.
The offense wasted no time picking Peralta up. On Matthew Boyd’s fourth pitch, Chourio hit a ball down the left-field line to give the Brewers their first baserunner. On the next pitch, Turang hit his own double to right field, and the Brewers tied it at 1-1. That still wasn’t the end of the quick burst for the Brewers. On the next pitch, William Contreras hit his own double to left-center field that was just out of Ian Happ’s diving reach. In a series of three pitches, the Brewers went from down one run to up one run.
The Brewers finally recorded an out when Christian Yelich grounded out to shortstop. Andrew Vaughn was up next, and the Brewers went from free swinging to very selective as he drew a five-pitch walk. Next up was Sal Frelick. He hit what looked like a ready-made double play ball to Nico Hoerner. However, Hoerner, who had just three errors all season, took his eyes off the ball, and it went right under his glove. Contreras ran the whole way and scored, increasing the lead to 3-1.
After Caleb Durbin struck out in a four-pitch at-bat, Blake Perkins was up next. It was a battle between Perkins and Boyd as Perkins fouled off six different pitches as he worked a full count. Perkins ended up winning the battle with a single to center. That scored Vaughn and moved up Frelick, making it a 4-1 game. It also chased Boyd from the game at 30 pitches.
Michael Soroka was first out of the Cubs’ bullpen. He faced Joey Ortiz to start and didn’t throw a single strike — though a couple were right on the edge. Ortiz drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, and Chourio was up for the second time in the inning. Soroka settled in a bit, but on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Chourio hit a single into center. Frelick and Perkins scored, and it was a 6-1 game.
The inning finally came to an end as Turang struck out in his second at-bat. In the final 15 games of the regular season, the Brewers had scored one run in the first inning. In addition, over the three-game Wild Card series, the Cubs had allowed just five runs. The Brewers scored six runs in the first inning and had outpaced the Padres in just one inning.
With Peralta on the bench for about 30 minutes, there was concern that the long wait might affect him. He put those concerns to rest quickly. Even though he allowed a single to Pete Crow-Armstrong, he kept the Cubs in check and added two strikeouts in a 12-pitch inning.
As for the offense, they just kept rolling in the second. Three straight singles from Contreras, Yelich, and Vaughn loaded the bases with no outs. Frelick tried to bring one in but Happ caught it, and it wasn’t deep enough to score Contreras. That didn’t matter much as Durbin hit one to center on the next pitch. It just dropped in between Hoerner and Crow-Armstrong, scoring two more runs and increasing the lead to 8-1.
Perkins recorded the second out of the inning with a groundout, moving the runners up to second and third. Ortiz was up next, and for the second straight at-bat, he drew a four-pitch walk. Soroka was taken out of the game there, and former Brewer Aaron Civale came in from the Cubs’ bullpen. Chourio came up for the third time in two innings. He hit one down the third base line, but Matt Shaw made a diving stop to prevent it from going into left field for multiple runs. However, his only play was to try and get Chourio at first. His throw wasn’t strong enough, and Chourio beat it out. He’s the first player in MLB history to record three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game.
Unfortunately, the wind was taken right out as the trainer came out to check on Chourio, who came up a bit awkwardly after reaching first. After a short conversation, Chourio was pulled from the game and was pissed in the dugout. Later on in the game, Murphy said in an interview that it was the same hamstring that was injured earlier in the season. Turang finished the inning with a strikeout, finishing up a three-run inning where the Brewers batted around again.
After another long rest in the dugout, Peralta came out a little wild and walked Shaw to start the third. Busch followed it up with a ball hit towards right center, but Perkins ran it down. Peralta got back on track with a strikeout of Hoerner, then a long at-bat against Tucker resulted in the second walk of the inning. Once again, Peralta recovered with a three-pitch strikeout of Suzuki. It was a 24-pitch scoreless inning for Peralta.
Meanwhile, the Brewers’ offense cooled down after those hot two innings to start the game. Civale gave the Cubs their first 1-2-3 inning of the day, getting groundouts from Contreras and Yelich and a fly out from Vaughn. Peralta responded with his own quick inning in the fourth, striking out Happ in a nine-pitch inning. Frelick gave the Brewers another lead off runner with a single to start the fourth, but the Brewers went down in order after that.
The fifth inning was an example of a classic Peralta inning. He threw 20 pitches, just nine of those being strikes. He also had a four-pitch walk of Shaw. However, the nine strikes resulted in three strikeouts — Dansby Swanson, Busch, and Hoerner. After five innings, Peralta had only allowed four base runners — one hit and three walks. He also had nine strikeouts in the game.
As for the Cubs, they had recovered after their disastrous first two innings. Civale saved their bullpen with a long day on the mound. The Brewers got a third hit off of him in the fifth with a Turang single, but it was erased as Contreras hit into a double play. Civale had just allowed those three hits in 3 1/3 innings of work so far.
Peralta came back out for the sixth inning. The inning started out well with a Tucker fly out and Suzuki groundout. Next up was Happ, and the home run ball bit Peralta again as Happ homered to center. After Carson Kelly followed that up with a single, Peralta’s day came to an end. He finished the day with 5 2/3 innings pitched, two runs, four hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts. His nine strikeouts tied a franchise high in the postseason.
Aaron Ashby came out of the bullpen first and finished out with inning by getting Crow-Armstrong to fly out. The offense remained quiet for the Brewers in the bottom of the inning with the Brewers going down in order. Ashby kept it the same on the Cubs’ side, retiring the side in the top of the seventh. Ben Brown entered the game in relief for the Cubs after Civale went 4 1/3 innings. Perkins hit a one-out double down the right field line after Durbin struck out. That was all for the seventh as Ortiz struck out and Collins had a hard-hit line out to Suzuki in right.
Jared Koenig got the call for the eighth inning, and Brandon Lockridge replaced Collins in left on defense. The day didn’t start well for Koenig — Hoerner worked a six-pitch at-bat before hitting a solo home run to left field. He recovered with a groundout of Tucker. Suzuki flew out to Frelick for the second out. Happ finished the inning with a ground ball hit right in front of home plate, and an easy throw from Contreras got Happ at first.
Brown remained in the game for the Cubs in the eighth. Turang struck out to start the inning. Contreras grounded out for the second out. Yelich worked a full count before drawing a walk, and Jake Bauers was called on to pinch-hit for Vaughn. A wild pitch allowed Yelich to get to second base. Bauers worked the count full and drew a walk, with Yelich stealing third on ball four. They would be stranded there as Frelick grounded out to end the inning.
Nick Mears came in to secure the win in the ninth inning. Mears began the inning with strikeouts of Kelly and Crow-Armstrong. Swanson extended the game a batter with a double down the left-field line, then took third on defensive indifference. A groundout from pinch-hitter Moisés Ballesteros ended the game and secured the 9-3 win.
Every starter for the Brewers reached base at least once, and eight of the nine starters had a hit. Chourio led the day with a 3-for-3 performance before he left the game. Turang, Contreras, and Perkins had two-hit days. Ortiz was the only starter to not record a hit, but still reached base twice with two walks. They didn’t score another run after the second inning, which is a little concerning, especially following Chourio’s injury.
With Game One over, the Brewers have over 48 hours to rest before Game Two. Starters are still to be determined, and we’ll also be waiting to hear an injury update on Chourio. Game Two is set for an 8:08 p.m. CT start. It will be on TBS and HBO Max, as well as broadcast on ESPN Radio and the Brewers Radio Network.
