There is a ton of pressure on Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy as he prepares his team for the fifth and final game of the team's National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. The fifth game will be a winner-take-all matchup, and it could turn out to be an epic battle between the two National League Central rivals.
The Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners played an epic and memorable game Friday night in the American League Division series. Seattle ultimately won the game and the series, prevailing in the fifth game by a 3-2 margin that required 15 innings to decide.
Seattle had tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the two teams played seven more scoreless innings until the Mariners won the game in the 15th inning as Jorge Polanco delivered a bases-loaded single that allowed J.P. Crawford to score the winning run.
The game was fraught with tension as both team had numerous opportunities to win the game prior to the game's conclusion. Murphy watched the game as he prepared his own team to play in the decisive game. He was able to show off a bit of a sense of humor as he observed the tense atmosphere as the game played out.
“It’s way easier to manage from the couch,” Murphy said.
Brewers and Cubs have had a hard-hitting series
Unlike the Mariners and the Tigers, the series between the Brewers and the Cubs have featured a much more offensive approach. This series has not had the same kind of scoreless tension that was often the case in the Detroit-Seattle series
The Cubs have gotten home runs in the first inning in each of the four games of the series, and two of those opening-inning long balls have been delivered by Michael Busch. The Brewers were able to overcome those early home runs in the two games played in Milwaukee, but the Cubs bounced back in the two games played at Wrigley Field.
