Ian Happ smacked a three-run homer and the Chicago Cubs rolled to a 6-0 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to even the National League Division Series at two games apiece.
Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch also homered as Chicago won its second straight game in the best-of-five series. The clubs will play the deciding game on Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Nico Hoerner had three hits and a run, Matt Shaw added two hits and an RBI and Tucker had two hits and two runs for the Cubs.
Matt Boyd struck out six in 4 2/3 innings as five Chicago pitchers combined on a three-hitter. Boyd gave up two hits and walked three.
Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia (3-0) permitted one hit in 1 1/3 innings. Drew Pomeranz struck out two in the seventh, Brad Keller worked the eighth, and Caleb Thielbar tossed a perfect ninth.
Brewers ace Freddy Peralta (1-1) gave up three runs and three hits in four innings. He struck out six and walked two.
Happ’s first-inning blast set the tone for Chicago’s series-evening triumph.
Hoerner singled off Peralta with one out and Tucker walked. After Seiya Suzuki struck out, Happ jumped on a 1-1 fastball and slammed it into the right field seats to give the Cubs a quick 3-0 lead.
It was Happ’s second homer of the series, the other coming off Peralta in Game 1.
The Brewers threatened in the fifth as Sal Frelick doubled and Blake Perkins walked to start the inning. Boyd, a left-hander, retired the next two hitters before right-hander Palencia entered and got right-handed-hitting Jackson Chourio to hit an inning-ending popup.
In the sixth, Carson Kelly reached on an error by Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin and was sacrificed to second by Pete Crow-Armstrong. Dansby Swanson drew a walk from Aaron Ashby before Shaw hit an RBI single to center to make it 4-0.
Tucker led off the seventh with a blast to center off Robert Gasser. Kelly appeared to hit a two-run homer to left later in the inning, but the play was reviewed and the ball was shown to be just foul.
Busch took Gasser deep to right-center in the eighth to make it a six-run margin. It was Busch’s third homer of the series and fourth of the postseason.
