NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS VS BREWERS

October 4, 2025

Freddy Peralta

Blake Perkins

Brice Turang

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Brewers 9, Cubs 3

Q. For Freddy, just seeing your team give you so much run support, how awesome was that, and how did that change or did it change your mindset when pitching?

FREDDY PERALTA: Yeah, it definitely changed everything for me, and it gave me more confidence to just put my pitches in the zone and just try making contact and get quick outs. It was awesome.

Q. You guys have all played a lot of games against the Cubs here. What did you think was the split of fans here today and how much of a difference did that make? There were a lot of Brewers fans here, more than usual.

BRICE TURANG: It was loud. I heard the Brewers fans. I didn't hear anything else. I heard them cheering, and it was loud. It was a good time. It was fun.

Q. Blake, take us through that long at-bat there early in the game and just kind of what was going through your mind throughout it and being able to come through there.

BLAKE PERKINS: We came in with an approach, as you guys kind of saw, I was very aggressive, and lucky for me I got to see seven guys in front of me and got to see a lot of pitches by him.

I knew he was going to try and nibble a bit, especially with runners in scoring position, and as the at-bat kind of kept going, I thought, well, at least I can make him throw pitches, if anything, and just try to stay in myself, not do too much, get a good pitch to hit, and luckily I found a hole.

It was awesome.

Q. For any of you guys, how important was it to set the tone in the series with a win like this?

BRICE TURANG: Yeah, I mean, very important. We had those off-days; we were ready to go. We were all talking about it days before, how excited we were and how great it was going to be.

Yeah, setting the tone is a big part of it, and we were excited to get out there. And we just take that and move on to the next game; try to set the tone in that one, too.

Q. Freddy, after Shaw hit that home run, how important is it or how hard is it to recenter yourself and make sure you stay focused in the first playoff game of the year and they're coming off a three-game series and make sure that you re-find yourself?

FREDDY PERALTA: For me, you know, I never want to start the game like that, but that's happened to me many times in my career and I have shown to myself that it doesn't matter. If I get one or two runs in the first inning, it doesn't matter. I have probably like 90 more pitches for the game, and that's what I was able to do today.

Just kept competing and tried to make them out. Because I know the team that I was facing, the lineup that I was facing, they are really good, and like I said before, they know me really well and it's just a battle and a competition on both sides.

Q. Brice, you talked about you guys coming in with a long layoff. Having the off-day tomorrow, is there anything you guys do to keep yourselves locked in and make sure you can bottle that energy that you had coming into today to take it into Game 2?

BRICE TURANG: Yeah, I mean, there's probably answers for -- everybody has a different answer. Maybe it's a guy who just needs the day off and it helps him for the next day. Maybe it's a guy who wants to come in and hit in the cage or do something.

The energy and stuff is within the team, and going out there and being excited to play, knowing that you can do it. This is a good group of guys. We go out there and compete every game, every pitch, and we know our role. We know what we're trying to accomplish, and we're going to focus on doing that and focus on ourselves.

Like I said, it's just taking that energy and however you do it, taking it and moving it on to the next day.

Q. For Freddy and maybe Blake, from a defensive point of view, how scary was that Chourio moment, and how worried are you that it's the same leg and what would it mean if you are without him for a while?

BLAKE PERKINS: You know, I didn't see the play super well. I saw him beat it out and then I saw him come up a little gingerly. I guess it's a little scary. I don't wish that on anyone. We want him here playing with us.

I haven't been able to check in on him yet, but it's kind of like what Murph preaches; next man up. If he can't be in there on Monday then someone else will be in there doing their job.

We collectively as a group believe in each other and we had to play a long time without Chourio in the middle of the season.

I wouldn't say I'm worried, but yeah, I feel for him. We want him healthy.

Q. Blake, in a league where the home runs play such a big factor on offense, for you guys to score nine runs in the playoffs in a hostile environment and whatnot, what does that say about you guys? You guys have characterized yourselves as the woodpeckers, but to keep on doing it, that is your brand of baseball at this point. What does that say about this lineup?

BLAKE PERKINS: There's a lot of fight in us. Just grinding at-bats. This has worked for us. This is who we are. This is our identity.

We're not coming out here trying to change anything. It's still win today, one game at a time, and I think we're a hard team to beat, to play. We're not going to just give in and have quick at-bats.

You're right, the home runs are so important these days, and this is us, scrapping hits together, keeping the line moving, all the cliches that you can think of. It's fun to be a part of, and I think we all build off of each other.

I'm kind of sitting there, too, like dang, how are we doing this sometimes. It's a cool feeling, and it's really fun to be a part of.