In biggest game in a long time, Brewers showed they are ready to challenge Cubs for division
CHICAGO – When the Brewers lost eight of the first nine meetings against the Cubs this season, it was impossible to forecast a September like this.
The hard-charging Brewers continued to close on the two-time defending NL Central champs on Wednesday night behind another great pitching performance by the most underrated staff in the league. The 5-1 victory at Wrigley Field pulled the Brewers within a game of the first-place Cubs, two in the loss column, with 15 games remaining.
Chicago has 17 games remaining, including a makeup game Thursday in Washington. If the Cubs lose again while the Brewers are relaxing at home on an off day, the margin will close to a half-game and the pressure will increase on the leaders.
Since dropping eight of the first nine meetings, including a four-game sweep here in late April in arctic conditions, the Brewers have shown they can play with the Cubs. They won seven of the last 10 games, and the Cubs claimed the run differential by only a 60-54 margin despite pitching six shutouts.
You just get the feeling these teams are going to meet again in October, don’t you?
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“It’s a 162-game season and they’ve earned every bit of our respect, for sure,” said manager Craig Counsell, whose team soared from five games back to just one in a period of 10 days.
“They’ve been the ones who’ve ended up on top, so we’ve got a little work left to do. We haven’t gotten there yet.”
By now, Chicago lefty Cole Hamels certainly knows what a fool he made of himself by questioning whether Brewers vs. Cubs was truly a rivalry, after participating in one game between the clubs. Yes, Mr. Hamels, this is a rivalry, a good one, and the Brewers have closed ground faster than anyone could have imagined.
“It’s been fun to see it from both sides, here at Wrigley and at Miller Park,” said Chicago native Curtis Granderson, a late-season acquisition who played a huge role in the 5-1 victory with a homer, triple, single and three runs scored in the leadoff spot.
“The parks have been full, and I don’t care which fans happen to be there. Just the fact there’s people there cheering, especially with baseball attendance being down like it’s been reported.
“And then getting a chance to see two teams that are playing really well and going head to head. Some great defensive plays all series long, some guys swinging the bats, some guys throwing the ball amazingly and some close games. It’s exactly what you want.”
Despite losing the season series, the Brewers have pitched well all season against the Cubs, posting a 2.38 ERA over the 18 games. That trend continued in the final regular-season meeting, even with starter Chase Anderson going out after four innings.
The bullpen, the strength of the team all season, came through again with five strong innings, allowing only one run. That run came off Corey Knebel but it was his 1 2/3 innings that bridged the gap to Joakim Soria, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress, who each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the Cubs.
“He pitched very well and to me, that was the key spot in the game,” Counsell said of Knebel.
Hader pitched three innings in the series and struck out nine of the 10 hitters he faced. Ben Zobrist somehow managed a sharp single in the eighth before Hader capped his sheer dominance by blowing a high fastball by Javy Báez.
“He’s so good,” said Mike Moustakas, whose singled in two runs in the ninth when the Brewers opened up a close game with a three-run rally.
“He struck out some of the best hitters in baseball on a nightly basis. Any time you can turn the ball over to that guy, we’re in a good spot. He blows it by a lot of guys. I’m happy he’s on our side and I’m happy we can run him out there when we can.”
Now, all the Brewers have to do is figure out a way to beat the fourth-place Pittsburgh Pirates. They are 4-9 against them this year with six games remaining, including three this weekend at Miller Park. Scoring runs against Pittsburgh’s staff has been daunting for the Brewers, who were swept in a five-game series at PNC Park just before the all-star break.
After all this good work in closing on the Cubs, after winning seven series in a row to put themselves squarely in the hunt, this is no time to stub your toe on a team out of the playoff picture.
“We’ve still got a ways to go,” said Cain, whose series against the Cubs (8 for 14, two highlight-reel catches) was “something to behold,” according to Counsell.
“We’ve still got 15 games. Nothing is finished yet. We’ve got to go out there and compete. We’ve got some tough matchups coming. Those guys are not going to take it easy on us. We’ve got to definitely bring our ‘A’ game. Hopefully, we’ll win some more series.
“We’ve gone a great job winning series. We’ve got to keep playing ball, show up every day and try to win the game that day.”
With no more games against the Cubs, the Brewers will need some help to wrest the division away from them and stay out of the wild-card game. But it’s looking a lot better than it did as recently as a week ago, when Chicago left Milwaukee with a four-game lead.
“You feel like now, really you take care of your own stuff,” Counsell said. “You play well and you feel like you’ve got a chance to be there.”