Brewers win pitchers' duel in first of four versus Cubs

Box Score

With just 3.5 games separating the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs atop the National League Central, this week’s four-game series is a big one. It also happens to be Craig Counsell’s first time back in Milwaukee since his heel turn, and Brewers fans wasted no time letting him know how they felt, booing him heartily as he and Pat Murphy exchanged lineups before the game. Once the game started, though, we were treated to a classic pitchers' duel between Robert Gasser, who continued the excellent start to his major league career, and Justin Steele, one of last year’s Cy Young Award contenders.

Both pitchers were locked in from the get-go. In the first inning, Gasser got a Nico Hoerner groundout, a Seiya Suzuki strikeout (after recording zero strikeouts on Sunday in Miami), and a Cody Bellinger fly out on 13 pitches. Steele also came in looking sharp, as he started the game by striking out William Contreras and Christian Yelich. Willy Adames knocked a two-out single to left, but Steele struck out Gary Sánchez on three pitches to end the frame.

Gasser kept it rolling in the second, needing only eight pitches to strike out Christopher Morel, get a Patrick Wisdom pop out, and strike out Dansby Swanson. Steele got two more strikeouts in the second, allowing a baserunner only on a pitch that grazed Jake Bauers (who made a surprising start today against the lefty).

In the top of the third, Gasser completed a perfect first run through the batting order, striking out two more Cubs in the process and getting a little assist from Brice Turang, who made a nice jumping catch. Through three perfect innings, he had five strikeouts on just 38 pitches.

Milwaukee looked like they had something going in their half of the inning. Turang, in the nine-spot today versus the lefty Steele, walked to lead off the inning, and William Contreras got an infield single on a ball that Swanson knocked down but couldn’t make a play on. Turang, though, was picked off trying to steal third, and though Contreras did make it to second on that play, Yelich and Adames both popped out and the threat passed.

Chicago’s first baserunner came when Hoerner led off the fourth with a single to center field, but Gasser retired the next three batters (one of them on a catch that Jackson Chourio ran a long way to make) to end the inning with no further trouble. Steele and Gasser both then went into shutdown mode: Steele had three consecutive three-up, three-down innings (11 straight outs overall), and Gasser had two (eight straight), and through six innings, we were cruising.

Gasser’s streak finally ended in the seventh. Suzuki and Bellinger led off with back-to-back singles, and that was all for Gasser, who was only at 81 pitches but we all know the “third time through” caution. Bryan Hudson entered with Gasser’s two runners on base and nobody out. Hudson struck out Morel, got Wisdom to hit a little pop up to Turang, and struck out Swanson looking on a backdoor sweeper to get out of the jam. The book was closed on Gasser: six-plus innings, three hits, no walks, seven strikeouts, no runs. It was probably the best start by a Brewer this season.

Steele, in the midst of a streak of 11 straight outs but having sat for quite a long time, continued in the bottom of the seventh. Steele got Sánchez and Joey Ortiz on groundouts, but his consecutive outs streak ended at 13 when Chourio hit a two-out single through the left side. Bauers very nearly followed that with a pop fly to shallow left, but Ian Happ made a terrific diving catch; Chourio very possibly would have scored had he missed it. Steele’s afternoon was also done: seven innings, three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, no runs.

Hudson stayed on for the eighth, and after a bit of a battle got Happ to ground out, then retired Nick Madrigal with help from a great play by Turang behind the bag at second. With two outs, Miguel Amaya hit a shot up the middle, a 103-mph line drive that nearly killed Hudson and snuck through Turang, but Hudson struck out Hoerner to end the inning.

Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Steele in the bottom of the eighth. The Brewers countered by having Sal Frelick pinch hit for Blake Perkins, and he led off with a single to left. Turang followed with a walk, and the Brewers had their first real threat since the third. This time, they cashed in. William Contreras hit a hard shot to the Madrigal at third, and he couldn’t handle it (it was ruled an error, but kind of a tough one: 104.9 mph exit velocity). Frelick scored, and the Brewers had runners on the corners with no outs. Leiter recovered to strike out Yelich, but he was then removed from the game.

Hayden Wesneski came on to face Adames, with the Brewers still in a great spot to add on to their fresh lead. Wesneski had trouble finding the strike zone, falling behind 3-0, and Adames pounced: he clobbered a home run to straight center field, 107 mph off the bat and an estimated 427 feet, and the Brewers opened up a 4-0 lead. Milwaukee wasn’t done, though: after Wesneski retired Sánchez on a flyout, he walked Ortiz, and Chourio followed with a double into the right field gap that scored Ortiz from first. Milwaukee took a 5-0 lead into the top of the ninth.

With the five-run lead, the Brewers went to Hoby Milner for the ninth. Suzuki walked and Bellinger singled to put two on and nobody out, but Milner recovered to strike out Morel. The Cubs got on the board with a sac fly from Wisdom, but the Cubs were down to their last out; Swanson hit one to the warning track in left, but Yelich was there, and the game was over, with the Brewers winning 5-1.

Offensive standouts for Milwaukee today included Adames (2-for-4, a home run, three RBI), Chourio (2-for-4, a double, an RBI), and Frelick (1-for-1, a run scored). In addition to Gasser’s brilliant outing, the Brewers also got two outstanding innings from Bryan Hudson, who was the winning pitcher today after throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

These two teams will be back at it tomorrow, when Freddy Peralta takes on Ben Brown at 6:40 p.m. Tonight’s win also ensures that the Brewers will be in first place in the division on June 1.