Cubs' Matthew Boyd Joins Dubious List In Historic Meltdown vs Brewers In NLDS Game 1
The Chicago Cubs handed left-hander Matthew Boyd the ball against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series and it did not go well.
Boyd was absolutely slammed by the Brewers, who took a 1-0 lead in the series, which has an off day before Game 2 on Monday. He allowed four hits, six runs — only two of which were earned — with a walk and a strikeout. He threw 30 pitches, 21 of which were strikes, before he was pulled for Michael Soroka.
This came after the Cubs took a 1-0 lead on first baseman Michael Busch’s solo leadoff home run. The Cubs were up 2-1 with one out when Sal Frelick grounded to Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. He whiffed the ground ball on a short hop, and it allowed a run to score. The official scorer deemed the remaining four runs of the inning to be unearned. Hoerner could have gotten Frelick out at first base and the next hitter, Caleb Durbin struck out.
Boyd had some bad luck. But it was also one of the shortest starts in Cubs postseason history.
Matthew Boyd Suffers Historic Cubs Fate
Per CBS Sports, Boyd’s 0.2 innings was the fourth-shortest start in Cubs postseason history, and the shortest start since 1935. That was Charlie Root, who was unable to get an out when the Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the 1935 World Series. He allowed four runs before he was pulled.
He shares the record with Hank Borowy, who also failed to record an out in his start in the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. While Root’s start was in Game 2, Borowy’s start was in Game 7. Borowy allowed three runs.
The only other pitcher ahead of Boyd is Guy Bush, who allowed one run and recorded one out when he started for Chicago in the 1932 World Series against the New York Yankees.
Boyd does share one distinction above the others. His six runs allowed while recording just two outs is the most runs allowed of the four pitchers.
Boyd was starting on three days’ rest, and the Cubs did not have Cade Horton available for the series due to injury. He made his first All-Star game in 2025 as he went a career-best 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA in 31 games. He struck out 154 and walked 42 in 179.2 innings as he became a surprising No. 2 starter alongside fellow left-hander Shota Imanaga.
49ers rookie's disappearing act needs to end as defense hangs on by a thread
The San Francisco 49ers won another nail-biter on Thursday night as they took down the Los Angeles Rams in overtime. The defense came up when it mattered most, but they could benefit from a potential boost in rookie linebacker Nick Martin.
The Niners selected Martin in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State. The presumption was that he would end up being a starter alongside Fred Warner at linebacker, but Martin's slow start and the emergence of Dee Winters pumped the brakes on that.
Martin had a rough preseason debut where he was missing tackles left and right, but he rebounded in the next few preseason games. 49ers legend NaVorro Bowman even spoke highly of Martin ahead of the preseason matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers where Bowman is a coach.
Even despite that bounce back, Martin has been inactive for all five of San Francisco's games to begin the season even though he is healthy. It is only fair to wonder whether San Francisco regrets taking him so high in the draft when he has not had an impact thus far.
He has been riding the pine, but why not give him a chance on a defense that has been good but clearly needs an extra boost after losing edge rusher Nick Bosa for the rest of the season after an ACL tear?
When Martin is right, he is a guy with great pursuit who can rush downhill and was used as a blitzer during college. He had six sacks as a linebacker for the OSU Cowboys in 2023, so why not use him in that fashion?
San Francisco has just six sacks on the season, and two of them were from Bosa. The team ranks near the bottom of the league in sacks and has struggled to put pressure on the quarterback in the last few games.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is obviously a defensive genius and can scheme up great plays, but he is clearly limited by his personnel. Martin may not fix everything, but it would not hurt to try him out in some blitz packages and see if he could tee off on opposing quarterbacks.
Just rushing four is not going to cut it unless the Niners go out and swing a trade for an edge rusher.
That is why theyshould activate Martin and give him a shot as they try to put more pressure on the quarterback.
