MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Cubs will turn to lefty Matthew Boyd for Game 1 of their National League Division Series showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday just four days after he started Game 1 of their wild-card series against the San Diego Padres, the team announced late Friday.
Boyd, 34, threw 58 pitches in 4⅓ innings in Tuesday’s 3-1 win. He was also up in the bullpen in the ninth inning of Game 3 against the Padres on Thursday but never entered, as righty Andrew Kittredge was able to close out the game and series. For his career, Boyd is 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA in three starts on three days’ rest.
Boyd will be opposed by Brewers ace Freddy Peralta as the two division and geographical rivals face off for the right to advance to the National League Championship Series.
“The proximity of the cities makes it fun, no doubt about it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday. “And the proximity makes rivalries, too, and teams being good makes rivalries.”
So does a manager who used to play and manage one team before leaving for greener pastures.
Counsell is a Wisconsin native who left the Brewers in 2023 after nine seasons as their manager. He handed the reins off to Pat Murphy, whom Counsell hired as his bench coach in 2015.
“I guess I did spend a lot of time in here, yeah, that’s right,” Counsell said as he sat in the Brewers’ press room Friday. “I think we’re over that part [leaving Milwaukee]. We’re getting ready for a playoff series and trying to advance to have a chance to play in the World Series.”
Counsell signed a five-year, $40 million contract to manage the Cubs before 2024, allowing Murphy to take over in Milwaukee. The Brewers have won two straight division titles under his guidance while the Cubs floundered in Year 1 under Counsell before making it to the postseason as the top wild-card team this year.
Murphy was asked about facing Counsell after working with him for so many years. Murphy also managed Counsell when Counsell played collegiate baseball at Notre Dame in the early 1990s.
“You can’t take away the relationship,” Murphy said. “We could even fight out there, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to still be friends. We’ve been through too much together. I love his family, and he’s great to my kids. It is what it is.”
Counsell has been routinely booed by Brewers fans whenever the Cubs have played in Milwaukee over the past two years. Saturday should be no different.
“After all those years here and when you come back, that’s what you get,” Peralta said. “But it is what it is. It’s part of the game. It’s the feeling that the fans are having. Probably tomorrow (Saturday) it’s going to happen again, probably louder than normal.”
Counsell has waved off the boos in the past, choosing to focus on the matchup. The Cubs won the season series 7-6 but lost the division to the Brewers by five games. Last year, Milwaukee won the NL Central by 10.
“It’s two passionate fan bases that are pretty familiar with each other over the years, and we’ve had some big games against each other,” Brewers star Christian Yelich said. “Surprising that we haven’t really met in the postseason before, but I kind of had a feeling this would shape up this way at some point this season.
“They’re a great team. We’re a good team. We played each other really close throughout the season. I’d anticipate a lot of the same here in the postseason, and it will be a fun week for sure. It’ll be a great atmosphere and two fun environments, when we’re here and when we’re at Wrigley.”
