MILWAUKEE -- Matthew Boyd was already thinking ahead to the National League Division Series after his first start of the postseason for the Cubs. The veteran lefty wanted the ball -- even on short rest -- if Chicago advanced to take on the rival Brewers.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell trusted Boyd with that assignment on Saturday afternoon, but the decision backfired swiftly in a 9-3 loss to begin this best-of-five series against Milwaukee. Following five full days off, the Brewers’ lineup jumped on Boyd with a six-run first inning that had the already-raucous environment at American Family Field turned up several notches.
“You always want the ball. You always want the opportunity,” Boyd said. “But they came out with a plan today and I made a few mistakes early.”
The Cubs now have an off-day on Sunday to reset and prepare to step back into Milwaukee’s intimidating arena. The North Siders can also focus on the fact that -- no matter how lopsided -- it was just one game. Cubs fans of a certain age might remember the 1984 NL Championship Series, when it was Chicago that dealt the Padres a 13-0 defeat in Game 1, only to lose that five-game series.
The Cubs have also shown that they have the ingredients of a resilient team all season, posting a 46-24 record in games following a loss in the regular season. Only a few days ago, Chicago brushed off a tough Game 2 loss to the Padres in the Wild Card Series and won the Game 3 clincher.
“The beauty of this time of year is one loss counts as one loss,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said.
“The task remains the same,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “And the group’s confidence is incredibly high, even though today isn’t what we wanted.”
The Brewers and their fans did what they could to have the Cubs step into a cauldron.
During Friday’s workout day at American Family Field, the Cubs were greeted by a soft-rock playlist that blasted throughout batting practice. In the pregame hours on Saturday, whether intentional or not, the ballpark’s roof was partially opened so that the visitors’ dugout was baking in the sun, while the Brewers’ dugout was in the shade.
When the Cubs were announced ahead of Saturday’s game, the boos were steady and predictably climbed even higher when Counsell was introduced and jogged onto the field. Milwaukee fans had even more chances to rain boos down on the former Milwaukee manager during multiple early-game pitching changes.
“Super loud,” Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin said. “That’s kind of what I expected, what we expected. Incredible fanbase, and they showed out.”
That started with Boyd, who took on the Padres in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday and was lifted after a solid outing consisting of 4 1/3 innings and just 58 pitches. Counsell said the lefty immediately began advocating for the start in Game 1 of the NLDS, and Boyd warmed up in the ninth in Game 3 on Thursday to essentially serve as a bullpen session.
“Probably since Matthew got to the dugout in Game 1, he was thinking about pitching this game,” Counsell said prior to Saturday’s loss. “If this was a normal start and he threw 90 pitches, we wouldn't consider this. But because he threw so few pitches, he knew he was going to be able to recover, and we thought he'd be able to recover quickly.”
Michael Busch momentarily subdued the Milwaukee crowd in the top of the first inning, when he launched a leadoff homer to right off Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. A section of Cubs fans behind the third-base dugout celebrated wildly, as the rest of the ballpark sat stunned. Peralta then retired the next three batters and the mood in the building quickly flipped.
Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras opened the bottom half with three consecutive doubles -- down the left-field line, down the right-field line and deep into the left-center gap -- to put the Cubs in a 2-1 hole. A fielding error by the typically surehanded Hoerner led to another run, opening the floodgates.
Sal Frelick hit a soft liner that dropped in front of Hoerner, who was unable to snare it cleanly on the bounce.
“If you just get an out like you do most of the time in that situation,” Hoerner said, “I love Matty’s chances to get out of that inning with two runs and settle in like you’ve seen him do so many times this year.”
Boyd lasted eight batters and 30 pitches, exiting with Chicago facing a 4-1 deficit. The final blow that knocked him out of the game came off the bat of Blake Perkins, who ended an 11-pitch battle -- one in which he fouled off six pitches -- by sending an RBI single to center.
“I point to the Perkins at-bat,” Boyd said, “where he kept fighting, he kept battling and ended up winning it in 10-plus pitches. But Nico’s so good for us. It’s my job to pick him up there. Perkins was better than me in that at-bat.”
Chourio’s two-run single off reliever Michael Soroka upped things to a six-run outburst -- tied for the most runs Milwaukee has ever scored in a single playoff inning. By the end of the second inning, the Brewers had built a 9-1 advantage to send the ballpark into a tizzy.
Righty Aaron Civale did the Cubs a huge favor by chewing up 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen -- saving Counsell from bringing his main relief arms into the loss. It marked the longest scoreless relief appearance in Cubs postseason history, but the damage had more than been done.
Boyd’s performance marked only the fourth time in Cubs postseason history that a starter lasted less than one inning. It had not happened since Hank Borowy did not record an out for Chicago in Game 7 of the 1945 World Series.
And Boyd’s teammates know the pitcher will want to toss this outing aside and get back on the mound again this series.
“He wants to be out there. He wants to pitch for us,” Happ said. “That’s all you can ask for, a guy that wants to take the ball, a guy that wants to be out there. And he’s done it for us all year. We have total and complete faith in him.”