Fast start propels Brewers to 9-3 victory over Cubs in NLDS opener

Audio By Carbonatix

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio went 3 for 3 and drove in three runs in the first two innings before departing with a hamstring injury as the Milwaukee Brewers trounced the Chicago Cubs 9-3 in their NL Division Series opener Saturday.

Chourio became the first player to have three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game. But his availability for Monday's Game 2 in the best-of-five series is unclear.

Chourio, who missed a month of the regular season with a strained right hamstring, left with tightness in that hamstring after beating out a bases-loaded infield single.

That’s just about the only thing that went wrong for the Brewers, who grabbed a 9-1 lead in the first two innings in a matchup of NL Central rivals.

Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta worked 5 2/3 innings, and the only runs he allowed came on homers from Michael Busch and Ian Happ. Nico Hoerner added a solo shot off Jared Koenig in the eighth inning.

Peralta’s nine strikeouts tied Don Sutton, Yovani Gallardo and Brandon Woodruff for the Brewers’ single-game playoff record.

Brewers-Cubs games in Milwaukee generally have divided crowds because of all the people who make the 90-mile trip from Chicago, but that wasn’t the case Saturday. The vast majority of spectators were Brewers fans waving yellow towels and booing Cubs manager Craig Counsell.

Counsell grew up in the Milwaukee area and is the winningest manager in Brewers history, but he left for Chicago after the 2023 season. He has been jeered whenever his name has been mentioned over the American Family Field loudspeaker since he departed.

Counsell’s decision to start Matthew Boyd on short rest didn’t work out. The All-Star left-hander was lifted with two out in the first.

The Brewers scored four runs or fewer in their last nine regular-season games. They had gone 2-11 in their last 13 playoff games, scoring over four runs in just one of those contests and failing to exceed five runs in any of them.

This time, they had six runs by the end of the first, matching their highest scoring playoff inning in franchise history.

After Busch opened the game with a 389-foot drive over the wall in right-center, Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras started the bottom half of the first with consecutive doubles.

Contreras scored from second when Hoerner mishandled a slow grounder from Sal Frelick. Blake Perkins capped an 11-pitch at bat with a two-out RBI single to center.

Michael Soroka walked Joey Ortiz to load the bases and allowed a two-run single to Chourio.

Boyd had only three days of rest after throwing 58 pitches in the Cubs’ 3-1 Wild Card Series Game 1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.

Milwaukee added three more runs in the second. Caleb Durbin delivered a two-run single before Chourio’s infield hit made it 9-1.

Chicago’s Aaron Civale, who started the season with Milwaukee, and Ben Brown combined for 6 1/3 innings of shutout relief.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB