Brewers prove Padres' ineptitude in Game 1 destruction of Cubs

Remember when the San Diego Padres scored five runs in three games against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Round? The North Siders' pitching staff seemed pretty intimidating after that.

Well, uh... it's safe to say the Milwaukee Brewers didn't feel any of that pressure in the NLDS. They absolutely torched Cubs starter Matthew Boyd to open the game, knocking the southpaw out after just 2/3 of an inning.

Boyd and his immediate replacement Michael Soroka combined to allow nine runs, five earned, in just 1.2 innings of work. Luckily for the Cubs, former Brewer Aaron Civale came on in relief to save the rest of the bullpen, but the damage was already done.

It's a sweet feeling for the Crew to jump on their chief rival like this so quickly in the postseason, though it's an absolutely condemnatory statement regarding the Padres' lifeless offense.

Padres can learn a thing or two from Brewers' timely hitting

In Game 1 of the Wild Card Round, Boyd was dominant, allowing just one run in 4.1 innings. Juxtapose that to his Game 1 start in the NLDS, and it's safe to say that the Brewers had a far better game plan for the southpaw.

Of course, Boyd started the game on short rest, but that doesn't excuse how poorly the Padres' offense did in their series against the Cubs. They scored five runs in 27 innings in the Wild Card series; the Brewers scored six runs in the first inning of the Divisional Round.

That factoid is just a testament to the Brewers' style of offense. Timely hitting has been a part of their formula all year, and the usually patient lineup came out über-aggressive against Boyd in what proved to be a perfect plan of attack.

The game began with three straight doubles from Jackson Chourio (who later left the game with an injury), Brice Turang, and William Contreras, and thanks to a shocking error from sure-handed second baseman Nico Hoerner, the inning was extended until Boyd was chased out of the contest.

Of course, besides putting themselves in a terrific position to win Game 1, the other major benefit to this performance is that they got to the Cubs' ace and primary long-relief options, meaning their bullpen will be severely compromised in the coming days. Another former Brewer, Colin Rea, now represents Chicago's best option to handle multiple innings out of the bullpen, which is a huge boon for the Brewers heading into Game 2.

There's still a lot of series left to be played, including at least one game at Wrigley Field, but it's safe to say that any concerns about the quality of the Cubs' pitching staff have been quashed.