MILWAUKEE — Ace right-hander Freddy Peralta shook off a leadoff homer and pitched effectively into the sixth inning to pace the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in the opener of their best-of-five National League Division Series.
Cubs starter Matthew Boyd (0-1) failed to get out of a six-run Milwaukee first inning. The Brewers added three runs in the second, batting around in both innings to go in front 9-1.
“We talked during the week, one of the things we made a point of or maybe the main thing we talked about is ‘Promise me you’ll be ready the first pitch,'” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, whose team’s first-round bye gave them five days without a game.
“When the bell rings, you’re ready. You don’t get a couple rounds to figure out whether or not you want to fight. Be ready in the first round.”
Peralta (1-0), who led the National League with 17 victories during the regular season, allowed two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking three in a 95-pitch outing. He allowed the opening homer by Michael Busch and a two-out solo homer in the sixth by Ian Happ … after Milwaukee had built a 9-1 lead.
“I never want to start the game like that, but that’s happened to me many times in my career and I have shown to myself that it doesn’t matter,” Peralta said. “If I get one or two runs in the first inning, it doesn’t matter. I have probably like 90 more pitches for the game, and that’s what I was able to do today.”
By the time Happ hit his solo homer and Nico Hoerner added a solo homer for Chicago off Jared Koenig in the eighth, the game was long since over.
The Brewers answered Busch’s homer with six runs off Boyd in the bottom of the first. Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras opened with consecutive doubles to put Milwaukee up 2-1. Andrew Vaughn walked with one out, then Contreras scored when second baseman Hoerner booted Sal Frelick’s grounder. With two outs, Blake Perkins capped an 11-pitch at-bat with an RBI single to center to make the score 4-1 and chase Boyd after 30 pitches.
Michael Soroka relieved and walked Joey Ortiz to load the bases. Chourio followed with a two-run single to left to make it 6-1 — Hoerner’s error making the final four runs unearned.
“Bottom line, 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 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.”
Milwaukee made the score 9-1 in the second. Contreras, Yelich and Vaughn opened with consecutive singles to load the bases. Caleb Durbin drove in two runs with a one-out single to make it 8-1. Aaron Civale relieved Soroka and Chourio beat out an infield RBI single to third – making him the first player in postseason history to register three hits in the first two innings.
Boyd registered just two outs while allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits, one walk and one strikeout. Soroka gave up three runs on five hits in one inning, walking two in a 38-pitch outing.
Chourio, who missed most of August with a strained right hamstring, was removed for a pinch runner after legging out that infield single. Chourio was diagnosed with right hamstring tightness and underwent an MRI.
Although there were no immediate results to the imaging, Chourio was optimistic.
“They haven’t said anything,” Chourio said afterward through a translator. “We’re still waiting. But physically I feel good, and I feel in a position where I’m ready to keep going and keep competing.”
The second game of the best-of-five series will be in Milwaukee on Monday night.
“We made it harder for ourselves. We’ve got to win three out of four now; they’ve got to win two out of four,” Counsell said. “Other than that, we’ve got to do more. We pitched well for the last six innings. We didn’t pitch well early. That’s it.”
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
