Yelich and Grandal go deep as Brewers down the Cubs 7-1

Tonight’s game against the Chicago Cubs might not have been a must win, but it sure was important for Milwaukee as a loss would have put them six games back of the Cubs for the second wild card spot. It looked bad for the Brewers early as they had to face Cole Hamels who had a 1.88 ERA against Milwaukee thus far this season. They also were down early as Nicholas Castellanos belted a solo shot to take the early lead.

The bats came alive as well, and the bottom of the third was the big inning. Lorenzo Cain led things off with a single to right. Yasmani Grandal followed with a single through the hole between the third baseman and shortstop. Christian Yelich was up next, and he took Cole Hamels deep for his 44th home run of the season.

The Brewers’ continued to keep the pressure on in the third. Tyler Austin smoked a single to left field and Hernan Perez did the same up the middle. Hustling all the way, Austin was able to take an extra base, and the Brewers’ had runners on first and third. Corey Spangenberg dropped the perfect safety squeeze bunt that got past both the pitcher and first baseman. Tyler Austin scored, and the Brewers were off and running, 4-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Milwaukee would tack on another run. Yasmani Grandal took Cole Hamels out of Miller Park for his 24th of the year, and a 5-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Milwaukee was looking for insurance and they got it. Things got rolling as Addison Russell made an errant throw to first allowing Ben Gamel to reach. Eric Thames replaced Tyler Austin at first and in the line up. He drew a walk. A wild pitch by Pedro Strop allowed the two base runners to advance 90 feet. The Cubs mistakes in this inning led directly to a tack on run as Orlando Arcia hit a fly ball to centerfield scoring Gamel.

The Brewers would score their seventh and final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Lorenzo Cain led the inning off with a walk. Christian Yelich also drew a walk. Ben Gamel hit a single to left that Cain was able to score on all the way from second base.

While the Brewers’ bats were great, the Brewers’ pitching was just as good. Zach Davies gave Milwaukee five strong innings giving up just one run on three hits while striking out four. Brent Suter looked quite good over two innings, and he looked like he was good for more. Junior Guerra and Ray Black shut down the last two innings, and the Brewers took this contest, 7-1.

Milwaukee and Chicago play again tomorrow night. It will be Gio Gonzalez against Yu Darvish. The game is scheduled to start at 6:10 CT and can be heard on WTMJ and seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin.