Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio’s status for Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs remained uncertain Sunday, a day after he underwent an MRI on his right hamstring.
“I know that we’re going to test some things today,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s going to be out there today. I don’t know that he’ll do much, but the MRI came back and it’s inconclusive. And it’s not a serious hamstring strain, but it’s not necessarily something that won’t limit him.”
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Monday night. The Cubs plan to start left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-8, 3.73 ERA in regular season), while the Brewers will use lefty Aaron Ashby (5-2, 2.16) as an opener.
Chourio went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in the first two innings of the Brewers’ 9-3 Game 1 victory Saturday before leaving in the second inning with tightness in his right hamstring. He became the first player ever to have three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game.
The 21-year-old hurt his hamstring while running to first on an infield single. Chourio had missed a month of the regular season because of a strain to the same hamstring.
“We’re going to kind of see how he feels,” Murphy said. “He’s going to go through some testing, and if he feels anything, we’re going to shut it down.”
Chourio had expressed confidence after Saturday’s game that the issue wasn’t serious. But he made similar comments after straining his hamstring on July 29 and then didn’t play again until Aug. 30.
“I feel good right now,” Chourio said through an interpreter after Saturday’s game. “Compared to the last time that this happened, I feel like I’m in a very good position.”
The Brewers certainly are in a good position after winning the opener. Ashby threw 16 pitches in that game while working 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
He will be back on the mound Monday at the start of the game. Ashby said the different role doesn’t really change his approach.
“Like all of the outings leading up throughout the years, I guess. It’s kind of just been get outs,” said Ashby, who started in only one of his 43 regular-season appearances. “Whether that’s in the first inning or the fourth, fifth, seventh, whenever it is. I think they’ve made it clear that your job is just to get outs, and then when they ask you to stop getting outs, that’s when you stop. Going into tomorrow, it’ll be kind of the same situation. Just prep the same.”
Murphy said Sunday he didn’t know who would follow Ashby. Right-hander Quinn Priester (13-3, 3.32) ranked second on the Brewers in innings pitched and would seem like a probable candidate.
Imanaga will be making his second appearance of this postseason after allowing two runs over four innings Wednesday in the Cubs’ 3-0 Game 2 loss to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series.
The 32-year-old Imanaga is very familiar with the Brewers. He started against them three times during the regular season and went 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA in those games.
“I think he’s a thinking-man’s competitor, and he also pitches with a lot of joy on the mound while competing at a really high level,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He doesn’t sometimes come across as, like, this fierce competitor because he’s really joyful on the mound. So that doesn’t come across as fierce necessarily. But I think he’s a fierce competitor.”
Chicago reliever Ben Brown said the Cubs remain upbeat after losing the opening game of the series. He credited veterans Justin Turner, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Santana and Drew Pomeranz — who have a combined 168 games of postseason experience — for making sure everyone stayed grounded.
“It would be silly for us to be beat up losing one game,” Brown said. “I don’t think anyone was wearing it yesterday. I don’t think that the vibes were super low in the clubhouse after a loss. It actually felt like we were just where we needed to be.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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