Ian Happ, the longest-tenured Chicago Cubs player on the playoff roster, came into Thursday night with only two hits this postseason.
His third delivered a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning at Wrigley Field, where his Cubs survived an elimination game for the second day in a row.
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As was the case in NLDS Game 3, a rush of first-inning runs was all Chicago needed in Game 4. This time, the Cubs added three insurance runs. They were the cherries on top of their surgical pitching performance. Matthew Boyd got a standing ovation for his 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball, and his relievers finished off a 6-0 win.
Chicago will head back up I-94 to Milwaukee for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday night, with a trip to the NLCS on the line.
Boyd set the tone on the mound with a quick three outs after walking Christian Yelich. The southpaw struck out six and allowed just two hits.
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Freddy Peralta also collected 6 Ks, but he didn’t get out of the first inning unscathed. Peralta — who was jeered with “Freddy” chants between pitches — gave up a single to Nico Hoerner, a four-pitch walk to Kyle Tucker and ultimately the three-run dinger to Happ.
The Cubs scored again in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Matt Shaw hit an RBI single to center. Kyle Tucker deposited a solo shot to center, and Michael Busch followed in his footsteps the next inning.
The Brewers have now lost five straight potential clinchers, dating back to Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. Their 97-win season is suddenly hanging in the balance.