Brewers top Cubs in series opener |
CHICAGO - The playoffs officially start now for the Chicago Cubs (69-62), as the next two weeks could seal their fate of playing in October or not. Not only did the Cubs kick things off with the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers (74-57) at Wrigley Field on Monday, but they will follow that up with games against the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants. All of them are battling for the final two wild card spots right now.
Hoping to pull within three games of first place, the Cubs turned to Jameson Taillon on Monday as he opposed an old friend in Wade Miley. After putting together six strong starts in a row, things have returned to how they were earlier in the season for Taillon, as he was lit up by the Brewers, allowing five runs in six innings. That proved too much for the Cubs to overcome as Miley scattered four hits in six innings, allowing a pair of solo homers in the Brewers 6-2 win to open this pivotal stretch. As bad as Taillon was, a common theme for him is one bad inning and a solid rest of the way. That was again the case in this one, as most of the Brewer's damage came in the first inning as the Cubs were playing from behind quickly. Credit Christian Yelich for that as he continued his Wrigley Field mastery with a leadoff homer to give the Brewers an instant 1-0 lead. Following a strikeout to William Contreras, Sal Frelick and Willy Adames kept the line moving as a pair of singles put runners on the corners with one out. With Rowdy Tellez making things 2-0 via a sacrifice fly, Taillon was on the verge of limiting the damage only to groove one right down the middle to Mark Chana, who deposited it over 440 feet for a two-run shot to open up a massive 4-0 lead. “It happened kind of quick there early,” Taillon said to reporters. “There were a couple plays we could have made behind him that would’ve limited the damage a little bit,” Ross said. “But it looked like just [his execution was off]. There was a lot of hard contact early on. It was loud. They weren’t missing mistakes.” The Cubs were never able to recover from that as the quick pace of Miley continued to give them problems. However, The Cubs managed to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the first as Ian Happ took Miley deep to make things 4-1. Things went from bad to worse for the Cubs in the second as Yelich legged out a two-out infield single before advancing to second on a rare throwing error from Hoerner. That 90 feet proved pivotal as Contreras delivered another single to put the Brewers in front 5-1. That was it for the Brewers against Taillon as the righty suddenly found himself on the mound and scattered three singles in his final four innings to try and keep the Cubs in the game. Taillon may have put in a significant hole, but Miley made sure the Cubs were not going to climb out of it, as his quick pace and ability to induce soft contact were crucial throughout the game. Still holding that 5-1 lead in the fifth, Patrick Wisdom came through with his team-leading 21st homer as the Cubs were back within 5-2. Wisdom may not be in the lineup much anymore, but when he is, it typically comes against lefties, as he must produce when called upon. With both pitchers exiting after six, it would come down to the bullpens, which are very equal. First up for David Ross as he went with former starter Drew Smyly. Despite his struggles as a starter, Smyly has been solid in relief, but after allowing a pair of doubles, including an RBI double to Adames, the Brewers extended their lead to 6-2 and had the Cubs on the verge of a crucial loss. Smyly was replaced by Jose Cuas, who tossed a pair of scoreless innings, but it would come down to the Cubs and their offense if they wanted to stage a dramatic comeback. Not only did Elivs Peguero toss a scoreless seventh, but Joel Payamps followed that up with a scoreless eighth as things were looking pretty for Craig Counsell and his group. With three outs standing between them and a ninth straight win, Counsell turned to Hoby Milner to lock things down in a non-save situation. Milner obliged by tossing a perfect ninth as the Brewers took care of the Cubs in front of a jam-packed Wrigley Crowd 6-2. With the loss, the Cubs remain in second place in the NL Central but are now five games back of the Brewers. They are also tied for the second Wild Card spot with Arizona, as the next two weeks will be as close to a playoff atmosphere as you can get. With five hits, the Cubs couldn't get much of anything going as Cody Bellinger, Hoerner, and Dansby Swanson joined Happ and Wisdom with one hit each. “The biggest thing for us is just playing our brand of baseball,” Swanson said after the loss. “Obviously, we didn’t do that tonight, but I know that we’re capable of so much more, and we’ll be able to come out tomorrow and play better.” The Cubs will look to even things up on Tuesday as they turn to their ace, Justin Steele, in search of his 15th win. Steele will oppose the Brewers Ace Corbin Burnes in what should be a great contest.
