Cubs use 4-run first inning to stay alive against Brewers in NLDS

CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a go-ahead two-run single and the Chicago Cubs avoided a sweep by holding off the Milwaukee Brewers for a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of their NL Division Series on Wednesday.

Crow-Armstrong’s two-out swing was part of a four-run first inning for Chicago, continuing a wild trend. Michael Busch started the rally by becoming the first player in major league history to hit multiple leadoff home runs in a single postseason.

The matchup between the NL Central rivals is the first playoff series in which both teams scored first in each of the first three games. Game 4 will take place Thursday evening.

“Yeah, I’m going to tell our guys it’s the first inning every inning tomorrow,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I think it’s our best formula offensively right now.”

Jake Bauers rallied Milwaukee with an RBI single in the fourth and a leadoff drive in the seventh. He started at first base in place of Andrew Vaughn, who hit a three-run homer in the Brewers’ 7-3 victory in Game 2 Monday night.

Milwaukee loaded the bases in the eighth, but Brad Keller escaped the jam when he struck out Bauers on a 97.1 mph fastball. Keller then retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.

“He’s got a great fastball. I got it from me,” Bauers said.

Looking to claw its way to the franchise’s first trip to the NL Championship Series since 2018, Milwaukee took the lead from the first.

With runners on first and second with one out, William Contreras hit a mile-high popup that Busch lost in the sun before landing in the infield for a single. Sal Frelick followed with a sacrifice fly past Jameson Taillon.

Chicago got the point back when Busch drove a Quinn Priester complete cutter deep to right center, delighting the crowd of 40,737 at Wrigley Field. It was the first baseman’s third home run of the postseason.

Busch said he had to move on immediately after the mistake with the pop-up at the top of the first.

“I just tried to reset,” he said. “It’s a long game and there’s a lot of outs, and I just tried to remember to have a good at-bat.”

A single by Nico Hoerner and walks to Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ loaded the bases for Crow-Armstrong, who chased Priester with a liner to right. Happ made it 4-1 when he came home on a wild pitch from Nick Mears.

Crow-Armstrong, 23, is batting .227 (5 for 22) with 11 strikeouts in six games in his first postseason. But the All-Star center fielder also had a key RBI single against Yu Darvish in a decisive 3-1 win over San Diego in the wild-card round.

“I’m pretty fortunate in a few playoff games to have some great opportunities in front of me with guys on the bases, and I think that makes that job a little easier sometimes,” Crow-Armstrong said.

It was a tough homecoming for Priester after an outstanding performance this season. The 25-year-old right-hander, who grew up in the Chicago area, threw 39 pitches, 21 of which were strikes.

“Very frustrating. Very frustrated with that first run, the only one,” Priester said. “The command wasn’t good. My stuff wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it to and ultimately it was up to me to make an adjustment.”

Taillon gave up Bauers’ single in the fourth. But the veteran right-hander limited the damage by retiring Joey Ortiz on a grounder to third, stranding runners at second and third.

The Brewers went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. The Cubs went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and also stranded seven baserunners.

“A lot of times when you see close games, you look at the runners in scoring position and your success,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Yeah, we didn’t get the big hit. We hit some balls hard, but it’s on them and what they did in the first inning to do just enough to win.”

Both managers declined to announce their starting pitcher for Thursday.

Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta and Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd got the ball for Game 1 Saturday. Peralta threw 95 pitches while striking out nine in 5 2/3 innings. Boyd recorded just two outs in the loss, throwing 21 of his 30 pitches for strikes.