Cubs blank Brewers to force Game five of NLDS

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 12 hours ago

CHICAGO - Did you honestly expect anything else from a Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers playoff series? After dropping the first two games at American Family Field in Milwaukee, the Cubs turned the tables at Wrigley Field this week as they looked to send the series back to Milwaukee on Saturday.

Records aside, there is a reason why the Cubs won the season series 7-6 against this team, as they are just one of those teams that match up well with the Brewers. For the Cubs to get things back to Milwaukee or, heaven forbid, advance to the second round, they will need their offense to start showing signs of life, as you can't get through a postseason without scoring runs in the first inning.

It may have taken four games into this series for something like that to happen, but the Cubs got the job done as a trio of homers and a strong pitching performance paved the way for a 6-0 win, evening things up at 2-2. In what was a rematch of game one starters Freddy Peralta and Matthew Boyd, the Cubs had the man they wanted on the mound despite his late-season struggles.

As bad as things were for Boyd in game one, this is someone who dominates at home, as he came into his start with a 12-1 record at home, good for the most wins in baseball for a pitcher at home. This was one of those games where Boyd had to step up, and boy did he ever, as he gave the Cubs 4 2/3 innings of six-strikeout baseball, allowing just two hits in the no-decision.

That is the type of outing you need from your starter if you want to beat Peralta, as he has carved up the Cubs this season. However, given how much the Cubs have seen him this season, you knew something had to give at some point, and Peralta picked the worst time to have a bad outing.

What started with a one-out single from Nico Hoerner in the bottom of the first was followed by a Kyle Tucker walk as the Cubs were threatening early. That shouldn't surprise anyone, as the Cubs haven't had trouble scoring runs in the first, but more so, having trouble adding runs after the first. In danger of wasting an early scoring chance, which you can't do against this team, it was Ian Happ coming through with arguably the biggest homer of his life as his three-run blast put the Cubs on top 3-.

At some point, the Cubs knew they were going to have to score after the first inning, but unlike the rest of this series, it was the Cubs keeping the pressure on early, putting two more runners on base in the second only to come away empty as Peralta settled in to allow just those three runs in four innings as he two had six strikeouts.

It took the Brewers five innings to post any significant scoring threat against Boyd, but after a leadoff double from Sal Frelick followed by another walk, Milwaukee had their best opportunity of the night to get to Boyd. Both runners eventually made it to third on a sacrifice bunt, but it was the Brewers who failed to deliver as Daniel Palencia took over later in the fifth to close things out and needed just one pitch to get the job done.

After doing next to nothing after the first inning, the Cubs had their chance to break things open in the fifth as Trevor Megill and Aaron Ashby struggled to find their groove. What started with a leadoff walk to Matt Shaw was followed by a one-out single as the Cubs had two runners on with one out. Tucker kept the line moving with another walk to load the bases, but it was Ashby who came up clutch, stranding all three runners to keep the Brewers within striking distance.

That was about the only positive thing that came from this game for Milwaukee, as they began to self-destruct in the sixth inning, when a leadoff error allowed Carson Kelly to reach base. Following a sacrifice bunt from Pete Crow-Armstrong to move Kelly up, it was Dansby Swanson working another walk as the Cubs had two runners on once again.

This time, however, they were able to get the job done as Matt Shaw came through with a huge RBI single to drive home his first run of the postseason, pushing the Cubs' lead to 4-0. Michael Busch and Tucker added a pair of solo homers over the next two innings to push the lead to 6-0, which was all the Cubs would need, as the bullpen once again did its job with 4 1/3 nearly hitless innings.

With the win, the Cubs have now won two straight to force a game five on Saturday as they will look to eliminate the Brewers on their home field. Hoerner continues to swing a red-hot bat, picking up three hits to push his average to .429 for the postseason. Tucker and Shaw also delivered multi-hit games for the Cubs in the victory.