Cubs 5, Brewers 3 (10): Game gets away from Brewers twice in the ninth inning

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant is greeted by Javier Baez after Bryant hit a two-run homer in the tenth inning at Miller Park.

Considering what was at stake for the Milwaukee Brewers, it was difficult to imagine a more disheartening outcome.

Letting chances to win the game in both the top and bottom of the ninth inning slip away Thursday night, the Brewers eventually lost to the Chicago Cubs, 5-3, in 10 innings at Miller Park.

In dropping the opener of the four-game series, the Brewers fell 4½ games behind the first-place Cubs in the NL Central with nine games to play, making a division title highly unlikely. They did remain one game behind Colorado, which lost its fourth in a row, in the race for the second wild-card berth, with St. Louis a half-game behind them.

After dodging defeat in both halves of the ninth, Chicago pulled out the victory when Kris Bryant blasted a two-run homer off reliever Oliver Drake with no outs in the 10th.

The Brewers were one strike away from closing out the Cubs in the top of the ninth when Javier Baez singled in a run to tie the game. That inning began with emergency closer Jeremy Jeffress being a fraction late covering the bag on Ian Happ's grounder to first, a play the Brewers unsuccessfully challenged and led to the tying run.

BOX SCORE: Cubs 5, Brewers 3 (10 innings)

MLB: Standings | Wild-card standings | Scores

The Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, prompting Cubs manager Joe Maddon to go to a five-man infield. Facing closer Wade Davis, Domingo Santana – who already had homered and doubled – struck out on a high fastball. Orlando Arcia then grounded back to Davis and the game went into extra innings.

Brewers first baseman Eric Thames snapped a 2-2 tie with a run-scoring single with one down in the eighth off reliever Justin Wilson. The single over a drawn-in infield came after Santana doubled with one down and surprised the Cubs by stealing third base.

The game started with an air of anticipation as the surprising Brewers hoped to put more pressure on the Cubs, expected all along to be the class of the NL Central.

“I think when you get to games that everybody’s looking forward to playing in, which is how I would describe the rest of the season – you want the game to start,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Let’s play. I think that’s the mode the guys are in and I’m good with that.

“These are the games you want to play in. You feel like you’re playing for something. You’ve worked really hard to get to this point. Everybody knows what’s at stake and what could happen.”

“There’s a lot of familiarity here between both teams. There won’t be a lot of surprises. For the most part, you know what to expect. I think in these games, they become execution-oriented game.”

The Cubs did the early executing, taking a 2-0 lead. Kyle Schwarber delivered the first run with a one-out home run in the second, sending a 0-1 curveball from Zach Davies out to left-center for his 29th of the season.

With one down in the third, singles by Jon Jay, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo resulted in a run, though the Brewers averted a bigger inning by cutting down Bryant at third on Rizzo’s single (originally called safe but successfully challenged by the Brewers).

Domingo Santana trimmed a run off that lead in the fourth with one swing of the bat. With one down, he lined a 1-0 fastball from Jake Arrieta – making his first start in three weeks after suffering a hamstring strain – out to center for his third homer in three nights and 28th of the season.

It stayed 2-1 until the seventh, when the Brewers tied the score but let a chance for a much bigger inning slip away. It started with Eric Thames collecting an infield hit off lefty Brian Duensing and pinch-hitter Manny Pina grounding into a double play.

Pinch-hitter Keon Broxton drew a walk and Jesús Aguilar batted for Davies, who had thrown only 77 pitches. Right-hander Pedro Strop took over and walked Aguilar.

Leadoff hitter Eric Sogard made Strop pay with a RBI single to tie the score, 2-2. Neil Walker drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases but Ryan Braun grounded out sharply to second – a 105-mph bullet – and that was that.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

* In beginning the crucial series against the Cubs, the Brewers’ bullpen was in far less than peak condition. Late-inning relievers Anthony Swarzak and Corey Knebel pitched in all three games in Pittsburgh and were presumed unavailable for duty. With rookie Aaron Wilkerson going only 2⅓ innings Wednesday, Counsell used seven relievers to cover the rest of the game.

“We’ve used our guys; you can check the game logs,” Counsell said. “We’ve used our end-of-the-game guys pretty heavily. We will have to be careful tonight, is what I’d say. That’s as much as I can give you.

“Because of the way we used guys in Pittsburgh, some guys might be in different spots today. They’ve expected that. They’re well prepared and up to the challenge of it.”

As it turned out, Jacob Barnes and Jeffress tried to close it out but Jeffress couldn't get it done in the ninth.

STAT SHEET

* Santana’s home run was the 215th of the season for the Brewers, the third-highest total in club history. The 2007 Brewers slugged 231 out of the park and the 1982 pennant winners went deep 216 times.

TAKEAWAY

The Brewers were in position to win the game in both halves of the ninth inning and couldn't do it. The discouraging defeat lowered their chances of overtaking the Cubs to very unfavorable odds. It's probably wild card or bust now.

RECORD

This year: 81-72 (43-35 home; 38-37 away)

Last year: 69-84

ATTENDANCE

Thursday: 35,114

2017 total: 2,337,073 (31,161 avg.)

Last year: 2,145,150 (28,602 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Friday: Brewers vs. Cubs, 6:35 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-2, 3.28) vs. Chicago RHP John Lackey (11-11, 4.62). TV: FS Wisconsin/ESPN. Radio: AM-630.