The Chicago Cubs will once again go with an “opener” for a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, with Drew Pomeranz taking the ball in Game 5.
Pomeranz will make his sixth appearance in these playoffs for the Cubs, and he’s hoping to get the team off to a strong start as they try to take the winner-take-all contest at American Family Field.
In his first five playoff appearances, Pomeranz has worked five hitless innings, striking out five batters and yielding zero walks in that stretch. He threw 15 pitches in the Game 4 win over the Brewers, with two punchouts and a flyout in that game.
The Brewers still have not named their starter for the Game 5 contest, as they’ll try to avoid elimination after giving up a 2-0 series lead over the North Siders.
Needless to say, Pomeranz’s primary mission will be to keep the Brewers from having a big first inning. The Cubs took early leads in the first two games of the series, but the Brewers rebounded quickly, scoring six runs and chasing Matthew Boyd from Game 1 and then getting a clutch three-run home run from Andrew Vaughn in Game 2 to tie things up after Seiya Suzuki had given the Cubs a lead with a three-run shot of his own.
That narrative finally shifted in Thursday’s Game 4, with the Cubs jumping out to a 3-0 lead on Ian Happ’s home run as Boyd helped to shut out the Brewers in the critical 6-0 victory.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, a team has come back to force a Game 5 on 17 occasions in best-of-five series where they’ve trailed 2-0. Of those teams, 10 have gone on to win the series, and the Cubs will hope to become the 11th on Saturday.
First pitch is set for 7:08 p.m., and the game will air on TBS.