Eric Thames falls short of homer mark in loss

Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Brewers first baseman Eric Thames goes over the dugout rail in an attempt to catch a foul ball.

CHICAGO - You know you're going well when a three-hit night almost seems like a letdown.

No, Eric Thames didn't homer on Tuesday night, leaving him tied with Jeromy Burnitz for the franchise record for consecutive games with a roundtripper (five). But he did double twice and collect three hits in all as the Milwaukee Brewers lost in disappointing fashion to the Chicago Cubs, 9-7, at Wrigley Field.

Thames opened the game 3 for 3 as the Brewers scored five runs over the first three innings, only to see that early lead fizzle away. Kyle Schwarber and Miguel Montero each hit two-run homers off Jimmy Nelson, then the Cubs cobbled together four runs on five hits against Nelson and Jared Hughes in the decisive sixth.

"I’m just trying to take it one day at a time, just keep doing the normal things I’ve been doing," Thames said. "Obviously the result wasn’t what we wanted, but it happens. We play every day, so that’s the good thing about baseball."

Thames' first double of the night earned him a franchise record, as he's now hit in 12 consecutive starts. That jump-started a three-run first inning against Cubs left-hander Brett Anderson.

He doubled off Anderson again to lead off the third as the Brewers scored twice more against the Cubs to go ahead, 5-0.

GAME STORY: Sixth inning buries Nelson

BOX SCORE: Cubs 9, Brewers 7

SCOREBOARDLive MLB scores, box scores

NOTES: Reliever Barnes bringing the heat

CHAT: Gary D'Amato answers questions Wednesday at noon

Schwarber's and Montero's homers made it 6-4 after four innings. In the top of the fourth, Thames greeted left-handed reliever Brian Duensing with a single, making him 3 for 3 on the evening against lefties.

Manager Craig Counsell talked before the game about giving Thames and Travis Shaw more opportunities to hit left-handed pitching, and it paid off as Shaw also doubled twice and homered to left-center against Duensing to lead off the fifth. That round-tripper made it 7-4.

Thames said early season success against southpaws has gone a long way toward building his confidence.

"Oh yeah, definitely," he said. "Especially the first the first week I didn’t play too much (against lefties). It’s great we have Jason Lane here who throws a lot of BP to us, mixing sliders and curveballs and changeups.

"I love it."

Thames got two more at-bats on the night. In the seventh, he lined out to Schwarber in left against Carl Edwards Jr. and in the ninth he fouled out to catcher Willson Contreras to end the game.

He said no when he was asked afterward if he pressed at all in his final at-bats knowing he hadn't yet homered.

"It was tough," he said. "After facing Edwards Jr. – his stuff is really good – then Wade Davis has the nasty cutter. The last time I faced him he was throwing 88 as a starting pitcher, and now he’s totally turned his career around and he’s a great closer. His cutter's lights out.

"I was just trying to get on base. Obviously if it happens, it happens. But my goal is to hit something hard."

Thames now has an extra-base hit in eight straight games, the longest such streak by a Brewers player since Burnitz from Aug. 10-18, 2001. He's also tied a franchise record by scoring at least two runs in four consecutive games.

Ryan Braun (2007), Paul Molitor (1983, 1991), Robin Yount (1982) and Gorman Thomas (1982) are the others to have accomplished that feat.

"He had a good night. He had a real good night," Counsell said of Thames. "Two doubles against left-handers. Him and Shaw really had nice nights against left-handed pitching. We did a good job against Anderson and Duensing, really.

"We jumped on those guys and guys had really good at-bats. Travis used the opposite field well."

Nelson's outing was his first rough one, as he was tagged for nine hits, seven runs (earned) and a walk to go along with three strikeouts. The homers didn't help on a night the wind was blowing out, but it was the grounder-heavy sixth that ultimately did him in.

"It was an incredibly difficult night to pitch, for sure," Counsell said. "The balls in the air – it probably evened out for both teams, really. But it was a tough night to pitch. I thought Jimmy pitched much better than his line.

"I thought he could have got a lot better fate tonight. I thought he pitched pretty well, actually."

To his credit, Nelson didn't use the breeze as an excuse for his performance.

"It’s tough, but it’s part of this park," he said. "Yesterday it was blowing in, today it was blowing out. It doesn’t change your game plan. You still have to pitch to your strengths. Tonight, I could have done a lot better job executing my two-strike pitches. I got a little quick when I got in the stretch, too, a couple of times.

"Either way, when our offense puts up that many runs it should be a win every time. That’s on me. We had a nice lead, the offense did a great job of getting to their starter early, and I just have to go out there and get more outs."

Pinch-hitter Albert Almora Jr. provided a big blow with a two-run single in that decisive sixth that glanced off Shaw's glove at third base. That pulled the Cubs to within 7-6.

"It took a pretty interesting bounce once it got to the dirt," Shaw said. "It deflected off my glove, so I think a half-step (back) and I would have been able to knock it down at least."

Hughes was greeted by a triple off the bat of Jon Jay that tied the game, then he uncorked a wild pitch with Kris Bryant at the plate that gave the Cubs the lead for good.

"You have to execute against this team," Hughes said of the Cubs. "You have to be on top of your game. They’ll definitely take advantage of any mistake you make. Tonight I know I made a couple mistakes with the wild pitch with a guy on third as well. Limit those mistakes and you can beat the Cubs.

"But tonight I know I certainly didn’t."

Milwaukee closes out its nine-game road swing at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday. With six victories already, they've guaranteed themselves a winning trip.