Ben Brown pitched seven innings for the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers without allowing a hit. He could not have been more on his game, but his pitch count was too high. The game was then handed to the bullpen in the eighth. Per Pat Hughes’ request, we once again fastened those seat belts.
Brown was sensational, throwing ten strikeouts and allowing just two walks on 93 pitches. In the seventh inning, he gave up what would have been a home run to center field off the bat of Willy Adames. However, Cody Bellinger made the catch of the year over the center-field fence, bringing the ball back into the yard.
Then, the bullpen took over. Hayden Wesneski was called on to relieve Ben Brown in the eighth inning. After striking out the first batter, he gave up the game’s first hit to the Brewers. Mark Leiter Jr. was able to come in after that and clean up to keep the game 1-0.
The Cubs then loaded the bases in the top of the ninth. It felt like the Brewers were practically giving the Cubs insurance runs. However, Miguel Amaya quickly struck out with the juiced bags, and the Cubs came away with nothing.
Hector Neris came in to close it out in the ninth. After two quick outs, he walked Christian Yelich, bringing Adames back up to the plate. Remember, he hit what would have been a home run in the seventh that Bellinger robbed. A balk gave Yelich second base, and then Adames drove him in. The save was blown, and to extra innings we went.
Extra Innings Got Wild Between Cubs And Brewers
With the extra-innings rule, Luis Vazquez was put on second base to begin as a pinch runner at the top of the tenth. Mike Tauchman hit a line drive right back to Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill, who immediately disengaged from the play in discomfort. Vazquez took advantage of the situation and scored from second, as no one was covering home or going after the ball.
Megill was removed from the game due to injury, but the Cubs continued rolling. A soft single from Seiya Suzuki to short right field sent Tauchman to third. A Bellinger single brought Tauchman home. Then, it was just on from there. After a couple more hits with runners on, the Cubs scored five runs in the inning. This was plenty of insurance for Luke Little and Tyson Miller to come in and shut the door. The Brewers tried to rally, but they fell short. The final score was 6-3, snapping the Cubs’ five-game skid.
Cubs Hang On For Wild Win In Milwaukee
The Cubs were in the midst of a terrible stretch of baseball, unable to hang on to small leads and generate offense that led to wins. But after dropping two straight to the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals, they blew a lead late to fall to these Brewers on Monday afternoon.
At the end of the day, Ben Brown was sensational, the Cubs dominated the tenth inning, and the W Flag was finally flown. Hopefully, the fireworks of the tenth inning will spark this team to go on and find their grove to get in an offensive rhythm like everyone expected.
The Cubs have two more games in Milwaukee against the Brewers before heading home for three against the Cincinnati Reds, wrapping up a stretch of ten-straight divisional games. Then, the Chicago White Sox are coming north to Wrigley for a quick two-game series.
