Baseball playoffs are time to expect the unexpected. But a rough error at the wrong moment by the Cubs’ Gold Glove second baseman was probably not on any bingo cards Saturday.

That’s what happened, though. With one out and two runners on base, Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick sent a line drive toward second. The ball lost momentum when it hit the ground and bounced off Nico Hoerner’s glove. The runner from second scored on the play and ultimately, 4 of the 6 runs given up in the first inning were unearned.

“Definitely off the bat, that’s always my first instinct is to get the lead out,” he said. “Then it was hit softer than I expected, so then the play was at first and I didn’t catch he ball.”

Saying the Cubs lost Game 1 because of that error is a stretch. They were outscored 9-3 and outhit 13-6. But Hoerner pondered the possibility.

“Hard to predict win or loss based on plays in the first inning,” he said. “Just get an out like you do most of the time in that situation and I love Matty (Boyd’s) chances to get out of that inning with 2 runs and settle in like we’ve seen him do so many times this year.

“Obviously that play had not just win and loss implications, but just the entire use of the pitching staff and things like that had a huge effect on that game and momentum.”

Hoerner later hit one of three Cubs solo home runs. Boyd didn’t finish the first inning on the mound, but put the blame on himself.

“Nico’s so good,” Boyd said. “We’re all human. It’s my job there to pick him up.”

Civale saves bullpen:

Aaron Civale was in a familiar role Saturday. With the Cubs in desperate need of a pitcher to swallow innings, he tossed 4⅓ scoreless, helping save everyone else in the bullpen.

Coincidentally, he did something similar last year for the Brewers, finishing 3 scoreless innings for the Brewers in their Game 1 wild-card loss to the Mets.

“Somebody’s got to do that role, and every out is important, whether it’s the game you’re currently in or making sure the next few are set up for success,” Civale said. “I think if you separate that game we just played into two halves, we won the second half. So try to carry some of that momentum moving forward.”

Brown joins roster:

The Cubs made one change to the playoff roster for the divisional series: Pitcher Ben Brown joined the list, while left-hander Taylor Rogers was left off. Brown threw the final two innings Saturday.

Pitcher Javier Assad was also left off the roster for the second straight series, a somewhat surprising move, since the Cubs won’t have Cade Horton due to a rib fracture.

“I think essentially it was just, what are we going to need from the roster and just some different types of pitchers down there,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “I thought Ben’s ability to strike somebody out is something that we thought — it’s kind of a little small moment, but that’s something Ben can do.

“But Javier was under strong consideration for this roster, absolutely. It was a difficult decision, but we ended up going with Ben.”

Around the horn:

Milwaukee center fielder Jackson Chourio left the game with right hamstring tightness in the second inning after collecting his third hit. It’s similar to an injury that kept Chourio sidelined for a few weeks during the season and that one also happened against the Cubs. … Brewers winning pitcher Freddy Peralta tied a franchise playoff record with 9 strikeouts Saturday. … Matthew Boyd going ⅔ of an inning is the shortest stint by a Cubs starter in the playoffs since Hank Bowory failed to record an out in Game 7 of the 1945 World Series.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251004/chicago-cubs/brown-joins-cubs-roster-for-division-series-assad-left-out/