{"id":102812,"date":"2025-10-04T13:21:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T13:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102812"},"modified":"2025-10-04T13:21:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T13:21:01","slug":"counsell-leads-cubs-into-nlds-against-the-brewers-his-former-team-and-murphy-his-old-bench-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102812","title":{"rendered":"Counsell leads Cubs into NLDS against the Brewers, his former team, and Murphy, his old bench coach"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Craig Counsell has seen the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs rivalry from just about every perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He grew up in the Milwaukee area as the son of former Brewers director of community affairs John Counsell. He played for the Brewers and later became the team\u2019s winningest manager before the Cubs lured him to Chicago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So he understands particularly well the atmosphere to expect Saturday when the Brewers and Cubs open a best-of-5 NL Division Series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThese are two cities that are close together, very close,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think each city\u2019s residents have thoughts about each other\u2019s residents \u2014 harmless, obviously. But yeah, so the proximity of the cities makes it fun, no doubt about it, and the proximity makes rivalries, too. And teams being good makes rivalries.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Those rivalries also create hard feelings, which is why Counsell should expect a chorus of boos whenever his name is mentioned at American Family Field. That\u2019s what has happened each time the Cubs have visited Milwaukee since he left the Brewers after the 2023 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s the feeling that the fans are having,\u201d Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta said. \u201cProbably tomorrow it\u2019s going to happen again, probably louder than normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Counsell went 707-625 as Milwaukee manager and led the Brewers to five playoff appearances in his last six seasons before heading to Chicago. Milwaukee has since won two straight division titles under Pat Murphy, who coached Counsell at Notre Dame and served as his bench coach in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Murphy says he and Counsell still chat \u201conce a month, maybe, something like that.\u201d Although they\u2019re longtime friends, they have different styles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think when Couns was here, they were a good complement of each other,\u201d Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said. \u201cCouns is pretty cerebral about the game and more reserved, calm demeanor. And Murphy is going to tell you exactly what he\u2019s thinking and feeling at the time. He\u2019s not always going to say the thing that\u2019s politically correct or that\u2019s overly concerned about how people feel about it. That\u2019s just who they are. They\u2019re both successful in their own ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What they have in common is a desire to downplay their roles in this series. Counsell said the novelty of managing a visiting team in Milwaukee wore off a long time ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think we\u2019re over that part,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting ready for a playoff series and trying to advance to have a chance to play in the World Series. That\u2019s the job at hand right now, and that\u2019s the focus right now. We\u2019ve already done the other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How they got here<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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The Brewers were 25-28 and 6 \u00bd games behind the Cubs on May 24 before going 72-37 the rest of the way for the best regular-season record in franchise history. The Brewers gained sole possession of first place for good by beating the Cubs 8-4 on July 28.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chicago went 7-6 against Milwaukee in the regular season. The Cubs advanced to this stage of the playoffs by winning an NL Wild Card Series with the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Who\u2019s pitching?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Game 1 is a matchup of All-Stars with Peralta (17-6, 2.70 ERA) pitching for Milwaukee and left-hander Matthew Boyd (14-8, 3.21) starting for Chicago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Peralta will be facing the Cubs for a fifth time this year. The All-Star right-hander went 3-1 with a 3.43 ERA against them during the regular season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Boyd made two starts against the Brewers this season and was 1-1 with a 7.84 ERA. Boyd started Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday and threw 58 pitches while allowing one run over 4 1\/3 innings in the Cubs’ 3-1 victory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Megill\u2019s return<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Milwaukee\u2019s Trevor Megill says he\u2019s feeling fine for the postseason after returning from month-long stint on the injured list to pitch a 1-2-3 inning in the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The All-Star closer says he\u2019s open to performing in a different relief role if necessary. While Megill was recovering from his right flexor strain, Abner Uribe filled in as Milwaukee\u2019s closer and didn\u2019t allow a run over his last nine appearances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI told Murphy I\u2019m ready for whatever inning, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Megill said. \u201cLet\u2019s just win some ballgames.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Divided crowd<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Brewers-Cubs games in Milwaukee often have bowl-game atmospheres with a pretty even split of fans rooting for each team due to Chicago\u2019s proximity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Milwaukee outfielder Sal Frelick said he doesn\u2019t mind the atmosphere, even if it means the Brewers don\u2019t get the same kind of home-field edge they would have enjoyed if the Padres had advanced instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI would assume it\u2019s going to be pretty similar to when they come here (in the regular season), pretty 50-50 split,\u201d Frelick said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fun environment, though. That\u2019s what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Matchup problems<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Milwaukee\u2019s Brice Turang batted .348 with a .902 OPS against the Cubs this season. William Contreras hit .298 with a .421 on-base percentage. As for Brewers who struggled against the Cubs this year, Yelich batted .170 and had 19 strikeouts in 47 at bats, while Caleb Durbin hit .167.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Chicago\u2019s Kyle Tucker batted .314 with a .467 on-base percentage against the Brewers during the regular season. Seiya Suzuki hit .120 with 22 strikeouts in 50 at bats against Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Craig Counsell has seen the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs rivalry from just about every perspective. He grew up in the Milwaukee area as the son… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":102813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCounsell leads Cubs into NLDS against the Brewers, his former team, and Murphy, his old bench coach - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=102812\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Counsell leads Cubs into NLDS against the Brewers, his former team, and Murphy, his old bench coach - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Craig Counsell has seen the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs rivalry from just about every perspective. 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