MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Cubs’ all-arms-available approach for Game 5 has them opting for an opener Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz gets the start in the Cubs’ win-or-go-home final meeting versus the Brewers at American Family Field (7:08 p.m., TBS). The winner advances to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Pomeranz, 36, has thrown five perfect innings this postseason, including three against the Brewers, striking out five of the 15 batters he’s faced.
Besides Thursday’s Game 4 starter Matthew Boyd, manager Craig Counsell expects the other 11 pitchers on the NL Division Series roster to be available Saturday as they configure how to get 27 outs.
“That’s how we’re treating it,” Counsell said Friday. “We’re certainly going to need the bullpen formula that we’ve used. We’re gonna have to get half the outs from guys not those five (high-leverage relievers), that’s how we’re looking at it, and that’s what we’re going to get.”
The Cubs could have chosen lefty Shota Imanaga, who would’ve started on normal rest. He might still factor into the outs equation in the same ballpark where his struggles in Game 2 left him sounding despondent postgame.
The Brewers also will use an opener, opting to go with right-hander Trevor Megill, their All-Star closer, in a bullpen game.
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