Craig Counsell Ripped by Cubs Fans as Brewers Dominate in NLDS Game 1

Michael Busch led off Saturday's NLDS matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers with a solo home run. Not much went right for the Cubs after that.

The Brewers scored the game's next nine runs—all in the first two innings—as Milwaukee made a major statement in Game 1, smoking their NL Central rivals 9-3.

The Brewers chased Chicago starter Matthew Boyd out of the game two outs into the first inning, chased Michael Soroka from the game in the second inning and Jackson Chourio had three hits in the first two frames alone before he left with hamstring tightness.

It had Cubs fans and pundits alike questioning manager Craig Counsell's decisions in the contest, namely starting Boyd on three days rest after he threw 58 pitches (4.1 innings) during Tuesday's Game 1 Wild Card Round win over the San Diego Padres:

Boyd had only pitched on three days rest three times in his career, per MLB.com's Christina De Nicola, and had a 4.70 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in those instances. Those numbers are a whole lot worse now.

"He's going on three days, he's going on a small number of pitches," Counsell told reporters before Game 1 of the NLDS. "We wouldn't make this decision, this would not be a decision on a six-inning start or a 90-pitch start. We would not be considering this. But, yeah, I think he had his head on it, probably when he got in the dugout. Yeah, and he's asked repeatedly about it."

It proved to be the wrong move. But little went right for the Cubs in general.

It wasn't Counsell who allowed a run to score in the first inning on an error, for instance.

It also wasn't Counsell who struggled to solve Freddy Peralta (5.2 innings, four hits, two runs, three walks, nine strikeouts) or Milwaukee's bullpen (3.1 innings, two hits, one run) at the plate.

So this was a loss in all three phases of the game for the Cubs. But starting Boyd on short rest will remain the major talking point in Chicago because the decision blew up in Counsell's face, putting the Cubs in a 1-0 deficit in the series.

Counsell and the Cubs will have a chance to right some wrongs during Game 2 on Monday (9:08 p.m. ET, TBS).