MILWAUKEE -- Heading into their National League Division Series showdown with the Chicago Cubs, there were two primary questions facing the Milwaukee Brewers: could their light-on-power offensive strategy provide the same success in the playoffs as it did during the regular season and would they be ready to go after a five-day layoff.
Milwaukee answered both of those questions quickly Saturday afternoon, scoring six runs in the opening inning en route to a 9-3 drubbing of the Cubs at American Family Field to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
"One of the things we made a point of or maybe the main thing we talked about (during the bye week) is promise me you'll be ready the first pitch. 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. I thought the guys were certainly ready."
Were they ever.
Starting right-hander Freddy Peralta put the Brewers in an early hole when Michael Busch blasted a 2-1 fastball to right for his second run of the postseason. Peralta escaped without further damage, but the large contingent of Cubs fans among the sellout crowd of 42,678 was roaring as left-hander Matthew Boyd made his way to the mound.
Their excitement, however, didn't last long as Boyd served up a lead-off double to Jackson Chourio, then another to Brice Turang that tied the game at 1. That brought up William Contreras, who drove his first offering from Boyd to the gap in left-center that got past a leaping Ian Happ, allowing Turang to score.
Boyd finally recorded his first out of the inning when Christian Yelich grounded out to short and after walking Andrew Vaughn, he nearly recorded his second when Sal Frelick hit a weak grounder to second baseman Nico Hoerner.
But Hoerner, one of the most reliable defensive second basemen in the game, couldn't get a clean pick of the ball so Frelick was safe at first and Contreras scored easily to make it a 3-1 game.
The highlight of the inning came to batters later when center fielder Blake Perkins battled Boyd for 10 pitches before sending No. 11 -- a 79 MPH changeup left out over the plate -- back up the middle for a base hit to drive in yet another run.
That brought Boyd's day to an abrupt and early end and the raucous delirium of the home fans quickly turned to a serenade of deafening boos as Cubs manager Craig Counsell -- still Public Enemy No. 1 in Milwaukee -- made his way to the mound to make the change.
"It was loud," Turang said. “I heard the Brewers fans. I didn’t hear anything else. It was a good time.”
The good times were just getting started. Milwaukee plated two more runs -- both on Chourio's second hit of the inning -- then three more in the second to take a commanding 9-1 lead.
"They did a great job in the first inning, man," Counsell said of his former team. "They had really good at-bats. 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. Obviously, they capitalized on the error, they capitalized on an extra out very well, and that cost us, for sure."
The only downside to the offensive outburst came in the second when Chourio left the field with Milwaukee's athletic trainers after his third hit in as many at-bats. The Brewers later said he left the game with tightness in his right hamstring and was whisked off to undergo imaging.
" I didn't see the play super well," Perkins said.
"I saw him beat it out and then I saw him come up a little gingerly. I guess it's a little scary. I don't wish that on anyone. We want him here playing with us."
The potential loss of Chourio aside, everything else went about as good as the Brewers could have imagined Saturday.
Peralta cruised through the rest of his outing, holding the Cubs scoreless until Ian Happ homered with two out in the sixth.
Milwaukee's bullpen allowed just one more run -- a solo homer by Hoerner off Jared Koenig in the eighth -- as the Brewers rolled to an easy victory.
“There’s a lot of fight in us, just grinding at-bats,” Perkins said. “This has worked for us. This is who we are. This is our identity.”
Chourio's Status TBD
Murphy hadn't seen the results of Chourio's MRI when he came into the media interview room after the game but was understandably concerned about the availability of Milwaukee's young star, who became the first player in MLB history to have three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game.
Chourio missed nearly the entire month of August due to a right hamstring strain.
“Obviously it’s real scary having that hamstring injury to the same leg. We’re hoping it’s something he can come back from soon. … It could be devastating.”
Chourio, though, seemed optimistic that he'd be available Monday night for Game 2 of the series.
“Compared to the last time that this happened, I feel like I'm in a very good position,” Chourio said through team interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. "Physically, I feel good."
The Brewers do catch a break thanks to an extra off day between Games 1 and 2, giving Chourio time to undergo treatment and prepare if the MRI results are positive.
Game 2 Starter Also TBA
The extra off day, and another before the series shifts to Chicago next week, also allows the Brewers to be creative with their pitching plans which is why Murphy wasn't ready to announce a starter for Monday night's contest.
Right-hander Quinn Priester was the favorite to start Game 2 with veteran left-hander Jose Quintana the likely candidate to start Game 3 at Wrigley Field on Wednesday .
"You've got to really work through this thing with the off-days and who's available and what's our best sequence of doing things," Murphy said. "We'll gather up, the pitching coaches and I will gather up and finalize our stuff maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning."
Up Next
The Brewers will hold a workout Sunday at American Family Field before returning to action for Game 2 Monday night.