This has been a series of firsts for the Cubs and Brewers. That is, the first inning has meant more than any of the others.

That’s why a typically common moment in Thursday’s Game 4 at Wrigley Field turned out to be momentous.

The Cubs won 6-0 to force a deciding Game 5 at 7:08 p.m. Saturday in Milwaukee.

Matthew Boyd did something that hadn’t been accomplished yet in this series — put up a zero in the first inning. He walked leadoff batter Christian Yelich, but ended the frame with no damage. In the first three games, both teams scored runs in their initial at-bats.

When it was the Cubs turn against Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta, they got a one-out single from Nico Hoerner, a walk to Kyle Tucker, then a 3-run home run by Ian Happ that landed deep in the right-field bleachers for an early 3-0 lead.

Happ was 3-for-35 lifetime against Peralta heading into that at-bat, but this was his second home run of the series against the Brewers ace. Happ also went deep in Game 1.

According to ESPN stats, the Cubs became the first team in MLB history to homer in the first inning of four straight games in a single postseason.

The Cubs finally plated a non-first inning run in the sixth, when Matt Shaw’s RBI single scored Carson Kelly to make it 4-0.

Boyd was looking for a bounceback performance after not making it through the first inning of Game 1, when he tried to come back on just three days rest. He gave up leadoff walks in each of the first two innings Thursday, but completed four scoreless inning on 52 pitches.

“The thing I love about Matt is the adjustments that he makes in between starts,” Kelly said before Game 4. “He’s a really good evaluator on his last start, whether it was good, bad, whatever happened.

“He’s able to take the things he did really well, praise himself for that, and then also take in the things that he didn’t do so well and make those adjustments. He’s always prepared, always in the moment. This is a big game for us, and I’m excited to see him out there.”

Boyd came back out for the fifth inning and gave up a leadoff double down the right-field line by Sal Frelick. Blake Perkins followed with a walk and the runners were bunted to second and third.

With the bullpen getting busy, Boyd stayed in for a left-on-left matchup against Yelich and got a swinging strikeout for the second out of the inning. At that point, Boyd left the mound to a standing ovation. Daniel Palencia came in, threw one pitch and coaxed a pop up to shortstop from Jackson Chourio to end the inning with no runs scored.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cubs loaded the bases with one out on two walks and another single by Hoerner. But Seiya Suzuki wasn’t able to check his swing on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt, then Happ flied to center.

With the late start, Cubs fans might have been a little more juiced up, so to speak, for this one. They were on their feet and chanting “Freddy, Freddy,” in honor of Brewers starter Peralta throughout the first inning and into the second.

Before the game, Yelich talked about the atmosphere at Wrigley Field during Game 3, which was an earlier 4 p.m. start.

“Yeah, it was a good atmosphere,” Yelich said. “They obviously don’t like us here too much, which is fine. We understand. You want to play in big games like this. You want to play in these atmospheres.”

On the field, this is a pretty friendly rivalry, especially since manager Craig Counsell and some Cubs coaches used to be employed by the Brewers. Yelich complimented his Illinois rivals when he spoke before the game.

“They’re a great team. They’re very talented,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of respect for them. They play really good here, so we know that we have to execute well. We have to play clean. We do that, we always like our chances in any game regardless of who we’re playing.”

With the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the other division series against Philadelphia on Thursday, a Cubs-Brewers Game 5, if needed, would start at 7:08 p.m. on Saturday at American Family Field.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251009/chicago-cubs/happ-home-run-makes-history-gets-cubs-off-to-fast-start-in-game-4/