At last, the Cubs got a strong starting pitching outing in the National League Division Series.
At last, the Cubs had some rallies and run-scoring after the first inning in the NLDS.
In front of the largest announced crowd (41,770) at Wrigley Field since Game 5 of the 2017 NLCS, a crowd roaring with nearly every pitch, the Cubs shut out the Brewers 6-0 on just three hits, leaving the series to be concluded in a decisive Game 5 Saturday in Milwaukee.
Let’s rewind to the beginning of this one.
Matthew
Boyd walked Christian Yelich to lead off the game, then retired the next three Brewers in order.
Then the Cubs bats got to work. Freddy Peralta struck out Michael Busch, then allowed a single to Nico Hoerner and with the crowd mocking Peralta with chants of “Fred-die! Fred-die!”, he walked Kyle Tucker [VIDEO].
But Seiya Suzuki then struck out for the second out.
Ian Happ brought the crowd to life [VIDEO].
That clip doesn’t come close to capturing how loud and excited the crowd was on Happ’s home run. It wasn’t quite “Miguel Montero’s slam in the 2016 NLCS” loud, but… not too far from that, either.
So the Cubs had a 3-0 lead — the fourth time in four NLDS games they’d scored in the first inning, and third time they’d scored multiple run in the first inning. Could they make it hold up?
Also, BCB’s JohnW53 has this note on a notable Cubs postseason first:
The three-run first-inning homer by Ian Happ made this the first postseason in which the Cubs have hit multiple three-run homers.
They had hit a total of five before Thursday night:
Frank Demaree, 1932 World Series, Game 4
Gary Matthews, 1989 Championship Series, Game 1
Javier Baez, 2015 Division Series, Game 4
Jake Arrieta, 2016 Division Series, Game 3
Seiya Suzuki, 2025 Division Series, Game 2
One more home run note:
The game remained at 3-0 through the next four innings. Peralta settled down and retired 11 of the next 14 Cubs after Happ’s home run while allowing just a pair of singles and a walk.
Boyd was just as good, allowing a leadoff walk again in the second, a single in the third and then a double and walk in the fifth. A sacrifice bunt moved Brewers runners to second and third with one out, bringing Yelich to the plate as the tying run.
Boyd struck Yelich out on an inside fastball [VIDEO].
That was it for Boyd, who departed to a tremendous ovation. Boyd put together his best outing in several weeks, striking out six [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Boyd’s outing [VIDEO].
So for those of you who thought Boyd had nothing left in the tank, I’m sure you’re happy to be wrong this morning. Let’s hope he has even more left should the Cubs move on to the NLCS.
That still left two runners on base for Daniel Palencia facing Jackson Chourio, and he got Chourio to pop up on the first pitch [VIDEO].
That was the last serious scoring threat the Brewers would have in this game.
Palencia remained in the game and threw a scoreless sixth, allowing a two-out single. Then the Cubs extended their lead in the bottom of the inning. Carson Kelly hit a ground ball to third that was booted by Caleb Durbin and Kelly was safe. Pete Crow-Armstrong sacrificed Kelly to second and Dansby Swanson walked.
Matt Shaw looped a single to center, scoring Kelly to make it 4-0 [VIDEO].
Drew Pomeranz threw a 1-2-3 seventh with a pair of strikeouts. The inning ended with this sliding catch by Suzuki [VIDEO].
The Cubs made it 5-0 on Tucker’s solo homer leading off the bottom of the seventh [VIDEO].
That was great to see, not just for the run but because maybe, just maybe, Tucker’s health is getting back to 100 percent. He had been 4-for-13 with four walks in the series before the homer, but all the hits had been singles. As you know, Tucker had paced the offense early in the season before his finger injury in June. A healthy Tucker could be a real difference-maker for the rest of October.
The Cubs had some more chances in that inning. Suzuki followed with a single and one out later, Kelly appeared to make it 7-0 [VIDEO].
As you can see on the video clip, the ball went just to the foul side of the foul pole. So Kelly went back to bat and then this happened [VIDEO].
Kelly was called out on the field and it was ruled “call stands” — that’s an awfully close play. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two reviews during a single at-bat before.
So the game stayed 5-0 Cubs heading to the eighth. Brad Keller issued a leadoff walk, but got out of the inning with a fly to right and a double play.
The Cubs would score once more, again on a leadoff solo homer, this one by Michael Busch [VIDEO].
That was Busch’s fourth home run in this postseason. That ties him with Alex Gonzalez, Aramis Ramirez and Addison Russell for third-most home runs ever by a Cubs player in postseason games. Only Dexter Fowler and Javier Báez (five) and Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber (six) have more. Perhaps Busch can get to the top of that list before October 2025 is in the books.
That left it to Caleb Thielbar to wrap things up, which he did on three ground balls. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].
Here are some postgame comments from quite a few Cubs.
Again, the video highlight clips only hint at how loud things were at Wrigley Field Thursday evening. I cannot say enough about the crowds at Wrigley this entire postseason, and the comments from Cubs players and Counsell back that up. The props they give to Cubs fans seem genuine and heartfelt. These games are why you buy season tickets and live through tough years — to have moments and games like this. Here’s hoping for quite a few more this October.
Last note on this game from John:
This was the Cubs’ 130th post-season game. It was the 51st they won, the 14th by shutout. None of the previous shutouts were by 6-0.
Only three of them had come at home: 13-0 vs. the Padres in Game 1 of the 1984 Championship Series, 1-0 vs the Giants in Game 1 of the 2016 Division Series and 5-0 vs. the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 2016 Championship Series.
The Cubs had posted one later post-season shutout: 3-0, at Washington in Game 1 of the 2017 Division Series. This was their 19th post-season game since then.
So. A winner-take-all game for the Cubs, for the second time this postseason. They rose to the occasion against the Padres, and they’ll have to do it again Saturday in Milwaukee. Personally? I think they can do it; the Brewers burned their best starter in Game 4 and while the Cubs might have to use a bullpen game, they have shown the last two days that they can shut down the Milwaukee offense.
Neither team has named a starter yet for Saturday, so as always, we await developments. Game time Saturday is 7:08 p.m. CT and I’m planning on being there. If you are also going to Game 5, check BCB social media Saturday, I’ll send out my location, stop by and say hi! TV coverage Saturday is again on TBS, truTV and streaming on HBO Max.
