Brewers double up Cubs on Chourio's slam |
MILWAUKEE - Sometimes all it takes is one big swing, or in this case one bad pitch that can determine a win from a loss. In this game, it was one bad inning, but in reality one bad pitch that handed the Chicago Cubs (38-45) another loss.
Leading the Milwaukee Brewers (49-33) 2-0 in the fourth at American Family Insurance Field on Friday, Jameson Taillon was cruising through three innings before running into massive trouble in the fourth. Whenever you load the bases against one of the best teams with runners in scoring position, you're asking for trouble, as the Brewers have made a living on driving people home when it counts. That was also the case in this one, as rookie Jackson Chourio got into a Taillon pitch and cranked it over the left field fence for a grand slam to take what was a 2-0 lead and turn it into a 4-2 Brewers advantage. Those would be the only runs Taillon would allow, but once again, the Brewers pitching staff showed up as they doubled up the Cubs 4-2. Taillon has been very good in his last few starts, and despite giving up the grand slam, he was good again. He went six innings, allowing four runs (3ER) on just four hits. He walked one and struck out five, and his ERA is barely over 3.00. The most frustrating part of this is having a team 11 games ahead of you in the division without some of their best pieces. Jameson Taillon, Painted 80mph Curveball. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/7cGJ2ueNtK “I don't have all the answers,” Taillon said after the game. “But we're not putting wins in the win column. And that's clear. This started out as a funk. We started the year well, and then it turned into a little bit of a funk, and now it's turned into something more than a funk. Yeah, it needs to change or things are going to change.” Credit to Colin Rea for pitching as well as he has this season, but this isn't some Cy Young-caliber arm. This is a journeyman pitcher who pitched for the Cubs in the past but has found a home since joining the Brewers in 2023. Rea pitched into the sixth before being lifted, but he still gave the Brewers 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out a season-high eight batters as he improved to 7-2 on the season. Neither team was able to do much over three innings, but with Nico Hoerner leading off the game with a hit by pitch before a Michael Busch walk, the Cubs had a chance to strike first, only to have a double play kill that rally. That was the best scoring chance for either side in the first three innings, as it wasn't until the fourth that either offense could get anything done. In fact, all six runs in this game came in the sixth inning and that all started with a one-out homer from Seiya Suzuki (10) to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Seiya Suzuki - Chicago Cubs (10) pic.twitter.com/cApHmCrrvh That homer was followed by an Ian Happ double and a Christopher Morel hit-by a pitch as the Cubs offense was still in business. Dansby Swanson kept the line moving with an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0, but with an inning-ending double play following that single, the Cubs were unable to add on. That play would prove costly, as the Cubs offense wasn't able to score the rest of the way, but another play ultimately affected this game. Immediately following the Cubs' two-run fourth, it was time for the Brewers to go to work against Taillon, which all started with a leadoff walk to William Contreras. Taillon came close to keeping things right where they were, but with a two-out catcher interference followed by a Rhys Hoskins single, it was the Brewers who were threatening, as they had the bases loaded with no outs. Needing a hit to tie things up or potentially take the lead, it was the young gun Chourio who delivered in the biggest way possible and took the Taillon offering over the left field fence for the go-ahead grand slam as the Brewers now led 4-2. For Chourio, this was his second grand slam of the season and the third Grand Slam of the week for the Brewers. Playing catchup for the first time, Bellinger managed to reach base in the sixth off an error, which was the end of the road for Rea in the game. He was lifted for Elvis Peguero, who got Happ to fly out to deep center for the second out. The problem was watching Bellinger forget how many outs there were as he was doubled up on the bases for another inning-ending double play, as the Cubs have had the most runners thrown out on the bases this season. This team has officially checked out. pic.twitter.com/ZaBvavCnPr As bad as things were going for most of the game, the Cubs still had a chance to do damage in the seventh as this inning went down as the final stand for this team. With Peguero still on the mound, Swanson worked a one-out walk to put a runner on base, but with two outs, he was in danger of being stranded. That was until a pair of infield singles from Miles Mastrobuoni, and Hoerner led the bases as the Cubs were one big hit away from tying things back up or taking the lead. This is the Cubs we're talking about, as they can't get big hits. Patrick Wisdom flew out to deep center to end the inning and stranded the bases loaded. Those would be the final baserunners of the game for the Cubs as Jared Koenig struck out the side for the third time in the game in the eighth while Trevor Megill locked down his 17 save of the season in the ninth to lower his ERA to 1.71. “The spot we're in, that we put ourselves in, we have less room for error, no question about it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the loss. “There's [a lot of] games after this series, but we've not made things easy for ourselves, that's for sure.” Each team had five hits in the game, with five different players recording one for the Cubs. Losers of four of five in Milwaukee this season, the Cubs will look to, at the very least, pick up a win today as Justin Steele will take the ball against Tobias Myers. "It's starting to get to that point where you're beat down." "I'm gonna bring the best energy I can." “It needs to change, or, you know, things are going to change.”
The Cubs have lost 10 of their last 11 series openers. pic.twitter.com/AYtvbZJAy1
Jorge López is excited to be with the @Cubs. pic.twitter.com/pcCIhUkDS1
Jameson Taillon on the Cubs' struggles. pic.twitter.com/Fs0ABvjHH9
