Cubs, Brewers both starting relievers for Game 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Working as a starting pitcher in the NL Division Series between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers has been one tough job.

Twenty-one of the 35 runs in the series have been scored in the first inning. The series concludes Saturday night with a winner-take-all Game 5 to determine which of these NL Central rivals will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

"I think it’s way more common than you think, for pitchers to be vulnerable in the first inning," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Friday. "Everybody’s geeked up. The atmosphere is way different. And I think that’s something that is noted."

Both teams will have relievers starting Saturday’s game as openers.

The Cubs announced that left-hander Drew Pomeranz would start Game 5. The Brewers are turning to right-hander Trevor Megill, their All-Star closer.

Neither figures to go very deep into the game; both teams plan to use several pitchers.

"With the exception of (Game 4 starter) Matt Boyd, everyone’s going to be available," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday. "And so it’s a cliché here, but we have 11 pitchers to figure out how to get 27 outs. That’s how we’re treating it."

Pomeranz went 2-2 with a 2.17 ERA in 57 regular-season appearances, with 53 of them coming in relief. He has struck out five without allowing any hits or walks in five scoreless innings this postseason.

He has pitched one inning in each of the last three games of this series. Pomeranz was the winning pitcher in Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Cubs had the option of turning to Game 2 loser Shota Imanaga on four days’ rest, but he posted a 6.51 ERA in September and has allowed six runs over 6 2/3 innings in two appearances this postseason.

Megill went 6-3 with 30 saves and a 2.49 ERA in 50 relief appearances during the regular season. He spent a month on the injured list with a strained right flexor before returning to pitch in the Brewers’ regular-season finale.

Megill has pitched in two games this series. He retired the only two batters he faced in Game 2 and pitched one-third of an inning while allowing a hit and a walk in Game 4.

Milwaukee could use a similar approach to its Game 2 strategy, when seven different pitchers contributed to a 7-3 victory. Murphy noted that Aaron Ashby would be available after throwing 32 pitches in the Brewers’ Game 4 loss on Thursday.

Murphy listed Ashby, Megill, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig and Chad Patrick and Jacob Misiorowski as guys who are “going to probably pitch.”

"A lot of those guys are rookies, a lot of those guys are not very experienced, but that’s how we’ve won all these games and come together," Murphy said. "Now we’re playing in a way bigger environment, and it’s a bigger task. But I’m confident that we’ll have enough pitching."

The Cubs are trying to become the 11th team to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games. The last team to do it was the New York Yankees against Cleveland in the 2017 AL Division Series.

Saturday’s winning team would open the NLCS on Monday. The Brewers would host the Dodgers for the start of the series, while the Cubs would travel to Los Angeles.

Chicago has reached this point by winning each of its last three elimination games, though all of them were at home. The Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in the decisive third game of their Wild Card Series, and they brought this series back to Milwaukee by winning 4-3 in Game 3 and 6-0 in Game 4.

"I feel like it’s an even slate," Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said after the Game 4 victory. “Game 5. Both teams have had great moments in this series. I love where our group’s at."

Milwaukee is trying to change its recent history of postseason frustration.

The Brewers are in the playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, but their last postseason series win was in the 2018 NLDS. They lost Game 7 at home to the Dodgers in the NLCS that year and are 4-13 in their last 17 playoff games.

Murphy remains confident in the Brewers’ chances as they look to bounce back from two straight losses in Chicago.

"We’re five wins away from the World Series," Murphy said. "I’ve learned a lot about this team, and one thing it is, it’s resilient, and they bounce back."

Milwaukee suffered one of its most heartbreaking playoff exits last year, when the Brewers led the New York Mets 2-0 heading into the ninth inning of Game 3 in the NL Wild Card Series before Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off Devin Williams as part of a four-run rally.

Losing this series would be just about as painful for Brewers fans because it’s against one of their biggest rivals and Counsell, the longtime Milwaukee manager who grew up in the area but left his hometown team to join the Cubs.

Counsell has downplayed the personal aspect of this matchup throughout the series.

"I’m just thinking about how do we advance," Counsell said. "It’s almost like the opponent doesn’t matter right now. How do we advance? Because who you play and all those stories around that, that doesn’t matter. How do we advance? That’s really been my focus."