Pat Murphy surprises Brewers fans with new batting order in Game 4

It's been a long and grueling day for Milwaukee Brewers fans, who are forced to wait until 8:08 p.m. CT to see their team get another chance at winning their first postseason series since 2018. Following a loss in Game 3 to the Chicago Cubs, the two division rivals are set to square off at Wrigley Field once again tonight, with the Brewers hoping to secure their spot in the National League Championship Series.

Given the extra off-day that the two teams enjoyed earlier in the series, a product of MLB staggering the NLDS and ALDS to increase viewership, both Pat Murphy and Craig Counsell have the luxury of returning to their Game 1 starters for tonight's Game 4 matchup. As a result, Milwaukee's ace, Freddy Peralta, will oppose Matthew Boyd of the Cubs, who is already making his third start of the postseason.

Given the matchup with Boyd, most Brewers fans expected Murphy to roll out the same lineup that hung a 6-spot on the Cubs' southpaw in the first inning of Game 1. That lineup had Jackson Chourio leading off, followed by Brice Turang, William Contreras, and then Christian Yelich in the cleanup spot. However, when Murphy released his lineup for tonight's game, just moments ago, the batting order, while it includes the same nine players who started Game 1, looks a little different than it did on Saturday afternoon.

Pat Murphy sticks with Christian Yelich in the leadoff spot for Game 4 of the NLDS

Rather than have Chourio leadoff and Turang follow him in the two-hole, Murphy is changing up the order in which Boyd will see Milwaukee's hitters tonight. Just as he did in Game 3, Christian Yelich will lead off tonight, hopefully starting tonight's game the same way that he did last night's (Yelich led off with a double down the first base line last night). Chourio will follow him, perhaps due to his limited speed on the basepaths right now as a result of his lingering hamstring injury. Whereas Yelich remains a base-stealing threat, with the ability to get into scoring position after a single or walk at the top of the order, Chourio likely won't be stealing bases tonight.

The change also drops Brice Turang down to the cleanup spot in the lineup. Outside of his double off of Boyd in the first inning of Game 1, Turang has struggled throughout the NLDS, with a .481 OPS to prove it. However, with him protected by slugger Andrew Vaughn, who is back in the lineup tonight and hitting fifth once again, Turang should see better pitches to hit tonight, as the Cubs won't want to put runners on base before Vaughn's big bat comes to the plate.

Outside of the top four hitters, the only change to Murphy's lineup from Saturday's Game 1 tilt is a swapping of Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin's spot in the order. After Jake Bauers' impressive performance last night, it's possible that Murphy replaces Vaughn with him if Counsell brings in a right-handed reliever early in the game, and switching Durbin and Frelick ensures that such a move wouldn't leave the Brewers with three left-handed hitters in the middle of their order, for a late-inning left-hander like Caleb Thielbar to neutralize.

Postseason lineup construction is a delicate balance between finding the right matchups and giving your team some consistency throughout the playoffs. Counsell has elected for the consistency approach, rolling out the same lineup (outside of a swap of Michael Busch and Justin Turner when Aaron Ashby opened Game 2) in each game of the NLDS. Murphy, instead, is electing to switch things up, changing the lineup from the order that Boyd saw the first time around.