CHICAGO – After the standing ovation from the raucous crowd at Wrigley Field on Thursday night, Matthew Boyd went right to the top step of the Cubs†dugout. The veteran lefty waited and watched Daniel Palenciaâ€s escape of the fifth inning, letting out a yell as the reliever induced a flyout off the bat of Brewers star Jackson Chourio.
This was vintage Boyd, focusing on a teammate when the spotlight was deservedly on him. Boyd earned attention for his performance in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, when the southpaw seized his shot at redemption and set the tone for the Cubs†6-0 win over the Brewers to send this series back to Milwaukee.
“He delivered a great one tonight,†Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I know it was really important to him after Game 1, how he pitched tonight. He gave us exactly what we needed.â€
Boyd worked into the fifth inning, giving Counsell the ability to line up Chicagoâ€s relievers to finish off this gameâ€s 27-out puzzle. Ian Happ kept the Cubs†first-inning magic rolling with a three-run blast off ace Freddy Peralta, and the North Siders were on their way to evening up this best-of-five NLDS at two games apiece.
“The Cubs earned it,†Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “They had their backs against the wall, and they played great these last two games.â€
There have been 35 previous instances in which a team lost Games 1-2 on the road in a Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format. Only five forced a winner-take-all Game 5, and three went on to complete the comeback. The Cubs have won three elimination games in a row once before in club history – in the 2016 World Series triumph over Cleveland.
“These couldâ€ve been the last two games of the year,†Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “We werenâ€t going to win the series yesterday. We werenâ€t going to win the series today. But just to give ourselves a fighting chance is all we were really trying to do.
“You kind of saw some of the better baseball weâ€ve played in this postseason today. Call it what you want, but if you see more of that, weâ€re going to be in really good shape.â€
That includes having Boyd pitching the way he did on Thursday.
“We loved being able to send him out there again,†Crow-Armstrong said, “and set the tone for the rest of the staff.â€
Boydâ€s 4 2/3 scoreless innings for the Cubs marked the longest start of this postseason for the North Siders. It joined a four-inning scoreless effort in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series by Jameson Taillon. Prior to those outings, there had been only three scoreless starts in Cubs playoff history when facing elimination: Jake Arrieta in the 2015 NL Wild Card Game, Lon Warneke in Game 5 of the 1935 World Series and Hippo Vaughn in Game 5 of the 1918 World Series.
For Boyd, this was his chance to turn the page on a disastrous Game 1 showing against the Brewers.
In that outing, the 34-year-old Boyd took the ball on just three days†rest for the Cubs, who are currently piecing a rotation together without NL Rookie of the Year contender Cade Horton (right rib fracture). Milwaukee jumped on Boyd in the first inning on Saturday, churning out three straight doubles in the first inning en route to a six-run frame that saw him exit after 30 pitches.
After the Cubs pulled within one game of the Brewers on Wednesday night, Boyd was at his locker, expressing that he was thinking about taking the ball again immediately after that last outing. He was an All-Star this season, led the Cubs in innings and had more than earned the trust of his teammates with their playoff hopes in the balance.
“His work is so thorough,†Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “And his conviction in everything he does, and his attitude, is just so relentlessly confident and positive. Those things donâ€t guarantee you a result, but they give you a great chance to have the best version of yourself show up, even when things havenâ€t gone right.â€
Boyd also knew he would be in the comforts of Wrigley Field, where he went 12-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 15 starts this season. And in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Padres, Boyd thrived again in the heightened atmosphere at home, working 4 1/3 strong frames en route to a 3-1 win.
Boyd said the atmosphere helped him feel comfortable before he even threw a pitch.
“Jogging out to warm up, and the bleachers are just going crazy for you,†Boyd said. “To look up and the moon is already up, it’s dark out there, and the fans have your back 40 minutes to game time, there’s nothing like that. It’s really special. They create such an environment here.
“It makes it a great place to play when you’re a Cubbie, and it’s a hard place to play when you’re not.â€
In the first inning, Boyd issued a leadoff walk to Christian Yelich – creating a nervous buzz in the ballpark given the issues in the opening frame all series. In fact, the 21 runs scored in the first inning for both teams combined is the most in the first inning of a playoff series in MLB history.
Boyd settled down and settled in, striking out Chourio, generating a groundout off the bat of William Contreras and getting Brice Turang to fly out to left. From there, the lefty was off and running, leaning on his four-seamer and curveball the most, while putting his signature changeup more in his back pocket for this showing.
“The first inning was just so important,†Counsell said. “Yelich draws a walk, and then [Boyd] makes pitches. But just getting through the first inning was, to me, the key for Matthew’s outing.â€
Happâ€s home run in the first off Peralta – the second shot in the series against the righty for the Cubs left fielder – gave Boyd the wiggle room needed to command the zone. The lefty had six strikeouts, ending with Yelich swinging through an inside sinker for the second out in the fifth with runners on second and third.
Boyd let out a subtle fist pump after that strikeout, and Counsell was soon on his way to the mound to give the ball to Palencia. The hard-throwing righty navigated out of the fifth and the bullpen continued its strong postseason run the rest of the way. An RBI single from Matt Shaw in the sixth and solo blasts by Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch in the seventh and eighth provided important insurance.
Palencia smiled when told about Boydâ€s reaction to his fifth-inning escape.
“Heâ€s been awesome with me. Heâ€s always giving me advice,†Palencia said. “Right now, it feels good being there for him. Like I told him, ‘Iâ€ve got your back.â€â€
And after the win, Counsell had a message for his ballclub.
“It was, ‘Pack your bags,â€â€ said the manager. “That’s all we wanted to do today was pack our bags. We get to pack our bags.â€
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