CHICAGO — When Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy entered the press conference room at Wrigley Field following his team’s 6-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night, he probably knew he would have to field questions about Matthew Boyd.

That’s because the Boyd that the Brewers saw in Game 4 of the NL Division Series was not the Boyd they jumped on for six runs on four hits in Game 1.

Last Saturday, the Brewers saw a version of Boyd who couldn’t keep up with their pesky lineup. He threw 30 pitches in two-thirds of an inning before manager Craig Counsell motioned to the bullpen.

After that 9-3 loss, a somber Boyd shouldered the blame. But he also made his mission clear.

“I’ll be ready for the next one,” he said.

Five days later, Boyd blanked Milwaukee in a 4.2-inning, six-strikeout masterpiece that pulled Chicago from the brink of elimination and tipped the scales back even.

Now, for the first time in the series, the Brewers will face elimination, too. Boyd played a significant role in that.

Naturally, the third question Murphy was asked on Thursday was about the Cubs’ left-hander.

“Yeah, he was great. Boyd was fantastic. He made pitches,” Murphy said. “That’s why they — how much money did they give him?”

In his typical eccentricity, Murphy paused to grill the asker on Boyd’s salary.

“$39 million, something like that,” the reporter answered (Boyd signed a 2-year, $29 million deal last December).

“He earned it tonight,” Murphy replied. “He was great. He was on it. He didn’t leave the ball down the middle. Made quality pitches in. Dropped his breaking ball in for a strike. Made pitches when he needed to. He was fabulous.”

The Boyd who took the mound to a thunderous crowd at Wrigley Field was the All-Star version of Matthew Boyd — the one whose dominance became habitual as he helped carry the Cubs to their most successful season in years. His 12-1 record and 2.51 ERA at home in 2025 were just a precursor to the playoff pitcher he’s established himself as at Wrigley.

First, it was his start in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series that earned the Cubs their first playoff victory in eight years. Now, he’s bookended their playoff run thus far with another crucial win.

And when Boyd walked off the mound in the fifth inning on Thursday, 41,700-plus fans rose to their feet to greet him with a rousing ovation.

“There’s nothing like that,” he said of the fan atmosphere. “It’s really special. They create such an environment here. It makes it a great place to play when you’re a Cubbie and it’s a hard place to play when you’re not.”

Boyd’s teammates couldn’t rave enough about what he did to keep the Cubs’ World Series hopes alive on Thursday. Both Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson described his bounce-back performance as “unbelievable.”

“I think that’s one of the coolest things about sports,” Busch said. “To be able to have an outing that he probably didn’t enjoy in Game 1 and then to come back and do what he did today, it’s really cool. That’s the competitor, the person and the pitcher.”

Swanson echoed Busch’s words.

“He was great. I thought this was kinda like the early version that we were accustomed to seeing earlier in the year,” Swanson said. “Just commanding multiple pitches – inside, outside, kinda keeping them off balance.

“It was a good time for him to be really good.”