Brewers shut out the Cubs, take back first place in National League

The Milwaukee Brewers shutout the Chicago Cubs in a 4-0 victory. This is Milwaukee’s first shutout of Chicago at Miller Park in four years. Not only did the Crew limit the Cubs to two hits, they also take back the lead in the division and the National League. Oh, one more thing. The Brewers are the first team in the National League to 40 wins.

Milwaukee got ahead at the word “go.” With Eric Thames and Lorenzo Cain on base, Travis Shaw laced a double down the line that scored both runners, bringing the Brewers up 2-0.

The play of the game happened in the third inning. Lorenzo Cain hit what seemed like a groundout to the shortstop hole. Christian Yelich was on second and started moving to third but got caught in a rundown, or so it would appear. Cain noticed that no Cubs were covering first base, signaled for Yelich to take second, and then moved back to first. Thanks to this quick thinking, everyone was safe. Then, Shaw laced yet another two-RBI double to put the Brewers up 4-0.

Chase Anderson was finally ChAce again. Anderson made just the third Brewers start that went seven innings and only allowed a hit and two walks while striking out six. The Brewers right is now responsible for two of those seven-inning appearances. Not only did he dominate the box score, but his fastball velocity was better than it’s been in some time. The broadcast gun had some pitches as high as 96, and he was consistently at 94 and 95.

Craig Counsell was able to finish out the game with Taylor Williams and Jacob Barnes. The two relief pitchers got through the game cleanly, finishing out the two-hit shutout.

The division rivals face off in the rubber match tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. Jhoulys Chacín (5-1, 3.58 ERA) takes the mound against Mike Montgomery (2-1, 3.56 ERA).