LOS ANGELES — Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio said he hopes to play in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series after right hamstring cramps caused him to leave Milwaukee’s 3-1 loss to the Dodgers in Game 3 on Thursday.
“Right now I feel physically good, and I think (Friday) I could play,” Chourio said through an interpreter following the defeat, which left the Brewers facing a 3-0 series deficit and needing to win Game 4 at Dodger Stadium with Shohei Ohtani scheduled to start for Los Angeles.
The 21-year-old Chourio, Milwaukee’s leadoff hitter and most productive offensive player this postseason, was given intravenous treatment following his exit, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
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In the middle of a seventh-inning at-bat against Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, Chourio swung at a pitch and immediately grabbed at the back of his right leg. On the swing, Chourio said, he was “giving it a little extra and it kind of happened.”
After an athletic trainer came onto the field to see him and Chourio tried stretching, he hopped off the field on his left leg, barely putting any pressure on the right.
Blake Perkins replaced Chourio and eventually struck out, spoiling another opportunity for the Brewers to cut into their deficit.
Right hamstring issues have vexed Chourio since July 29, when he left a game and wound up missing a month. The injury recurred when Chourio exited Milwaukee’s first playoff game Oct. 4, though he returned for Game 2 on Oct. 6 and hit a home run.
“He feels like he’s going to be OK,” Murphy said. “So I’m hopeful.”
Chourio, who signed an eight-year, $82 million contract before his major league debut, also homered in Game 2 of the NLCS and has been one of the lone bright spots in a Milwaukee offense that has disappeared against the Dodgers’ cadre of front-line starting pitchers.
Milwaukee has mustered just nine hits and three runs in three NLCS games, batting .101/.165/.180 with 30 strikeouts in 97 plate appearances after scoring 22 runs in the division series. Only one team in baseball history, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, has come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. The Brewers entered the postseason with a major league-best 97 wins and ousted NL Central rival Chicago in the division series.
Milwaukee players tried to keep their spirits up after their offense was again shut down by Los Angeles pitching, with Tyler Glasnow giving up one run over 5⅔ innings and four Dodgers relievers allowing one hit over a scoreless 3⅓.
“It’s not finished,” Chourio said. “I know it’s tough. Things haven’t necessarily gone our way. But I feel confident it’s going to come.”
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