Cubs 5, Brewers 0: Quintana silences Milwaukee bats

There would be no more late-game dramatics Sunday at Miller Park.

José Quintana saw to that.

The left-hander, who had been linked to the Milwaukee Brewers as a possible trade target earlier in the season before the Chicago Cubs swooped in and acquired him for a passel of prospects, was lights-out on a sweltering afternoon.

Quintana handcuffed the Brewers, allowing just three singles and a walk in nine impressive innings as the Cubs posted a 5-0 victory to take the four-game and season series between the rivals.

Chase Anderson was solid in his 6 1/3-inning outing, but with Quintana dealing, it wasn't nearly enough. The Brewers fell to 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the National League Central with six games to play and two games back in the chase for the second NL wild card after the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals, who have been flip-flopping spots in both races with the Brewers, were beaten in Pittsburgh to fall to 2 1/2 back in the wild-card chase.

"He pitched a great game, for sure," manager Craig Counsell said of Quintana. "He executed a lot of pitches. The few pitches he got a little bit more of the plate on, we put some good swings on some balls and they made some nice defensive plays.

"Obviously, he just didn’t make many mistakes. There were very few good balls to hit."

The Brewers and Cubs came in on the heels of three hard-fought, 10-inning battles, with the Brewers winning Saturday thanks to Travis Shaw's walk-off, two-run homer off Cubs closer Wade Davis.

BOX SCORE:Cubs 5, Brewers 0

HAUDRICOURT:Brewers are truly in must-win situation

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 MLB:Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics

Anderson and Quintana had four strikeouts apiece through a scoreless first three innings in this one before the Cubs finally broke through in the fourth.

As he often is, leadoff man Jon Jay was in the middle of things as he singled to right and came in to score a batter later on Kris Bryant's double. The Brewers might have had a play at the plate, but Orlando Arcia dropped Ryan Braun's relay throw in short left field.

Chicago eventually got both Bryant and Willson Contreras into scoring position after Contreras singled and stole second, but Anderson struck out Addison Russell with a big breaking ball to limit the damage.

The Brewers got their first runner into scoring position with two outs in the fifth when Keon Broxton reached on an infield single and stole second. But Anderson struck out, leaving Milwaukee with three singles against the left-hander to that point.

Quintana came into the game having dropped his only other start against the Brewers this season – a 2-1 loss in a six-inning stint July 28 at Miller Park.

Milwaukee pressured him just once more in the sixth, when Domingo Santana drew a one-out walk and stole second with two outs. Shaw followed by flying out to center, and Quintana was off the hook again.

Working with zero margin for error, Anderson's luck ran out in the seventh.

After Contreras led off with an infield single — a play that the Brewers challenged to no avail — Ben Zobrist hammered the first pitch he saw into the right-field bleachers to up Chicago's lead to 3-0.

"It's a 1-0 game until the Zobrist homer," Counsell said. "It was shaping up to be the same game. Chase pitched very, very well. He made a mistake and a good hitter made him pay for it.

"It was trending to the same (close) game until the sixth inning. You have to give them credit. A guy got a mistake and he hit it."

Anderson (11-4) lasted only two more batters, with a walk to Jason Heyward ending his day at 95 pitches. He allowed seven hits, three runs and a walk while striking out eight as his personal four-game winning streak was snapped.

He credited Quintana for his money performance afterward.

"He’s a really good pitcher," he said. "You tip your cap to a guy going nine innings, no runs against this team. We’ve got a heck of an offense; today just wasn’t our day. You tip your cap and move on. Three hits and they were all singles.

"He was on his game today and I just did the best I could to match him. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come out with a win."

Chicago put the game out of reach in the eighth against Carlos Torres, who walked Bryant and gave up a two-run double to Anthony Rizzo.

Quintana batted for himself in the ninth, earning a big hand from the heavily pro-Cubs sellout crowd of 42,212, then quickly finished off the Brewers in the bottom half to earn his second career shutout.

Quintana (11-11) finished with 10 strikeouts in his 116-pitch outing.

Now, with six games remaining, it's pretty much wild card or bust after Monday's off-day as the Brewers begin their final push for the postseason.

"We just have to win," said Counsell. "We’re close enough, to me, where if we take care of our business there will be a good result. I couldn’t be prouder of the way we played, 100%. It was a good baseball series, man.

"Obviously, the first three games were incredible. In the end, we would have liked to have grabbed one of those first two games."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

 • The Brewers entered Sunday having played three consecutive extra-inning games for the third time in franchise history.

The team record is four straight, set from Sept. 15-19, 1999 (one game at St. Louis and three at Wrigley Field). They'd played three straight from June 29-July 2, 2003 (one game at Minnesota and two at Houston) as well.

* Had the Brewers not been swept by the Reds at Great American Ball Park from Sept. 4-6, this final week of the season would have a distinctly different look.

Counsell was asked, with the Reds coming back to close out Milwaukee's home slate later this week, if the team had any payback in mind. The Brewers play three against Cincinnati and then finish with three at St. Louis, with postseason implications hanging in the balance.

"I don't think it's about payback," he said. "Obviously, they beat us in three games. We're certainly aware that we have to play we'll and it's not something we can take lightly.

"The day off (Monday) is important for us to get some guys rested. It's an important day and it's another big series."

STAT SHEET

• Broxton became the eighth player in Brewers history to record a season with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases after swiping second base in the fifth.

"That's something I've always dreamed about doing," said Broxton. "To actually accomplish it in the bad season I've had is really uplifting for me. It's a cool accomplishment, but right now we've got to get things done down the stretch."

Ryan Braun was the last player to accomplish the feat with 25 homers and 24 stolen bases in 2015. In all, there have been 13 20-20 seasons turned in by Milwaukee players.

• With his next run driven in, Shaw will become the first Brewers player to reach the 100 RBI mark since Braun (112) and Aramis Ramirez (105) in 2012.

TAKEAWAY

The Brewers hung tough with the Cubs all season and all series. The lack of offense both on Sunday and in the series — 11 runs in four games — cost them, although Quintana was certainly on his game. Now the Brewers need to take care of business over the final week of the regular season and hope that the Rockies falter.

RECORD

This year: 82-74 (44-37 home; 38-37 away)

Last year: 70-86

ATTENDANCE

Sunday: 42,212

2017 total: 2,463,468 (31,583 avg.)

Last year: 2,216,079 (28,411 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Tuesday: Brewers vs. Reds, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (17-9, 3.84) vs. Cincinnati RHP Deck McGuire (0-0, 0.00). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.