Brewers bats stay hot, defeat Cubs 9-7

Box Score

The Brewers scored seven runs in their last two innings in yesterday’s game. They kept that momentum going, scoring another nine today as they took the series from the Cubs.

Eric Lauer didn’t have a good start to the game. He needed 24 pitches to get through the first inning, throwing 14 balls in the inning. That resulted in two walks, and Nico Hoerner singled to give the Cubs the early 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Christian Yelich started with a single, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Rowdy Tellez added a single with two outs, but that was all the Brewers could muster in the first.

Lauer’s second inning wasn’t much better. He needed 29 pitches to get through the second, throwing another 13 balls. Though he struck out two, a walk and two singles gave the Cubs another run, increasing their lead to 2-0. Meanwhile, the Brewers got a leadoff double from Kolten Wong, who advanced to third on a groundout, but stranded him there.

In the third, Lauer settled in a bit and worked around one walk for a scoreless inning. The Brewers then got to Adrian Sampson of the Cubs in the bottom of the inning, stringing together some two-out baserunners. Willy Adames singled, then Rowdy Tellez walked to put two runners on base. Hunter Renfroe drove in Adames with a double, but Kolten Wong grounded out to strand the other two runners and end the third down 2-1.

The fourth inning gave Lauer some relief as he worked around a single for a 10-pitch scoreless inning. Meanwhile, after a Keston Hiura groundout, the Cubs went to their bullpen and brought in Sean Newcomb. The Brewers took full advantage. Jace Peterson and Omar Narvaez led off the inning with singles and were able to advance to second and third. That brought up Garrett Mitchell, who recorded his first major-league hit at the perfect time. A single into center scored both baserunners, and quick thinking allowed him to turn a bobbled pickup into an extra base. That put the Brewers ahead 3-2.

Christian Yelich was up next, and he wouldn’t be outdone. He hit the second pitch of the at-bat into the Brewers bullpen, giving the Brewers a cushion with a 5-2 lead.

Rowdy Tellez added another baserunner in the inning with a two-out walk, but the inning ended when he tried to catch the Cubs off guard and steal second. That didn’t work and he was thrown out easily.

The extra cushion that the Brewers got in the fourth immediately became important. In the fifth, Lauer allowed a leadoff double to Ian Happ, and then Hoerner homered to cut the Brewers lead to 5-4. Lauer finished the inning with no further damage, and that would end his day. He pitched just five innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts. He needed 101 pitches for those five innings and threw 63 strikes.

However, the offense did not slow down. Hunter Renfroe led off the fifth with a walk, and Wong brought him in right away with a home run, giving the Brewers another three-run lead at 7-4. That was his 10th of the year, giving the Brewers nine players with 10-plus home runs.

Peter Strzelecki took the sixth and worked around two walks for a scoreless inning. The Brewers continued to add on, this time off of reliever Luke Farrell. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, and Renfroe brought in one run with another single, increasing the lead to 8-4. After a Wong popout, Hiura would bring in another run on a fly ball single to left, but no one else could score as a result. The Brewers ended up stranding the bases loaded, but had pushed their lead to 9-4.

The Cubs manufactured a run in the seventh, leading off with a Franmil Reyes double, who then advanced to third on a Hoerner flyout. Yan Gomes hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Reyes, cutting the lead to 9-5. Hoby Milner finished the seventh for Strzelecki, who pitched 1 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed just the one run. The Brewers went down in order in the seventh. The eighth ended up being the quietest inning of the day, as both teams recorded one hit but nothing else, bringing the Brewers into the ninth holding onto a 9-5 lead.

The Brewers tried to get through the ninth with Brad Boxberger and a four-run lead. However, Boxberger got into trouble immediately. Happ led off with a single, and Reyes homered to cut the Brewers lead to 9-7. Hoerner then singled right after, and Boxberger was pulled quickly in favor of Devin Williams without recording an out. Williams made quick work of Gomes with a three-pitch strikeout, and got pinch hitter Willson Contreras to ground into a double play to end the game and preserve the Brewers 9-7 win.

Christian Yelich and Kolten Wong led the offense with three-hit days. Willy Adames, Hunter Renfroe and Jace Peterson each had two-hit days as well. Rowdy Tellez only had one hit, but added on three walks to reach base four times. The offense was spread out as well, with every starter recording a hit, seven of them recording at least one run, and five recording at least one RBI. Overall, the offense had 16 hits and seven walks in the game, with just seven strikeouts.

Next up, the Brewers welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates into town. Corbin Burnes will get the start to begin the series against an undetermined Pirates starter. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.