Dodgers and Phillies meet in heavyweight NLDS showdown
USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale breaks down the NLDS series between the red-hot Dodgers and NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Sports Pulse
The Milwaukee Brewers had the best record in baseball during the regular season – and in their first game of the postseason, they showed why. Jumping on Chicago Cubs starter Matt Boyd early, the Brew Crew bashed their way to a 9-3 victory in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
The Cubs will try to rebound in Game 2 Monday night in Milwaukee with left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-8, 3.73 ERA in regular season) on the mound. The Brewers will counter with lefty reliever Aaron Ashby serving as the opener and right-hander Quinn Priester (13-3, 3.32) likely following him.
The Brewers have leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio back in the lineup after he tweaked his right hamstring in the series opener legging out an infield single. It was the same injury that caused him to miss a month of action during the regular season.
What time is Cubs vs Brewers?
The second game of the National League Division Series doubleheader begins at 9:08 p.m. ET on Monday, Oct. 6, at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
How to watch Cubs vs Brewers NLDS Game 2
The Cubs-Brewers game will be televised by Turner Sports with Alex Faust handling play-by-play duties, Ron Darling providing the analysis and Lauren Jbara reporting from the field.
TV: TBS, TruTVStreaming: HBO Max, Sling TV
Cade Horton, the sensational Cubs rookie starter who led all of baseball in ERA after the All-Star break, has been sidelined with a cracked rib, with the possibility that he’d be available to pitch later in the division series. Cubs manager Craig Counsell spoke about Horton’s progress before Game 2.
“Everything is going very well for Cade,” Counsell said. “We are going to kind of ramp up activity as we get back to Wrigley tomorrow. Then we’ll know more. But this has been — I don’t know what day the news came out, Sunday last week, so like 10 days. It’s been all very good news since then, and he’s been pain-free. Every throwing session has been pain-free and pushing it a little bit more. So we keep trying to take steps forward, and we’ll continue to do that with even more intensity tomorrow actually in Wrigley.”
Horton could conceivably pitch a potential Game 5 on Saturday. — JR Ratcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Justin Turner (R) 1BNico Hoerner (R) 2BKyle Tucker (L) DHSeiya Suzuki (R) RFIan Happ (S) LFCarson Kelly (R) CPete Crow-Armstrong (L) CFDansby Swanson (R) SSMatt Shaw (R) 3BJackson Chourio (R) LFBrice Turang (L) 2BWilliam Contreras (R) CChristian Yelich (L) DHAndrew Vaughn (R) 1BSal Frelick (L) RFCaleb Durbin (R) 3BBlake Perkins (S) CFJoey Ortiz (R) SS
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, who left Game 1 of the team’s National League Division Series with a tweaked right hamstring, is headed right back to left field in Game 2.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters before the Oct. 6 game between the Brewers and Chicago Cubs that Chourio will indeed be leading off against left-hander Shota Imanaga at American Family Field and playing in his usual spot. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Aaron Ashby has started games for the Brewers over his four-year career.
He’s closed games. He’s served as a long reliever. He’s pitched in high-leverage situations.
Now on Monday, Oct. 6, Ashby is going to be asked to serve as an opener against the Chicago Cubs in the teams’ Game 2 NLDS matchup as a way to mitigate a group of left-handed or switch-hitters creating a potent top of the lineup for the Brewers’ Central Division rival.
Right-hander Quinn Priester is expected to follow Ashby in the same sort of lefty-righty tandem that the Brewers utilized five times previously this season. — Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel