MLB: Brewers Beat Cubs To Retake Lead In The NL

The Milwaukee Brewers were able to rally back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-4, giving them a one-game lead in the NL Central as well as the best record in the National League.

“You know, our team doesn’t feel any pressure,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich told MLB.com before the game. “We feel like no one really expects us to be in this spot anyway.”

Despite the lack of pressure, it was not the best start for rookie phenom pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. He gave up two earned runs in the first inning and recorded an error that allowed the Cubs to take an early 3-0 lead.

“It’s a long inning,” Misiorowski said in a postgame interview. “Long innings suck.”

Long is a little bit of an understatement. Misiorowski wound up tossing 40 pitches in the first, which would explain why his night came to an end after just four innings. However, “The Miz’s” teammates didn’t seem too bothered by the rocky start.

“I told him, ‘It was my favorite start you’ve had in the big leagues, honestly,'” Yelich said. “All the cruising and the ‘punchies’ and all that stuff is fun and exciting, but this shows you a lot about what he’s made of out there when it’s kind of hitting the fan on him.”

After a shaky first inning, Misiorowski settled in and held Chicago scoreless through the end of the fourth inning. He also managed to strike out four more batters, including All-Star Pete Crow-Armstrong.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Misiorowski said. “Just keep going. Just trust that the team is behind me and going to help me out, and they did, so it was awesome.”

“I think it revealed a lot,” said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy after the game. “First inning, we’re down 3-0. He feels horrible… It’s like a fighter getting knocked down in the first round, and he’s gotta [recuperate]… He said, at that point, ‘I’m exhausted.’ And he still gave us four and wanted to go out for a fifth. I learned a lot about him. It just goes to show you the kid can pitch, not just throw. He’s going to learn from this.”

Once Misiorowski got into a groove, the Brewers’ offense came alive. Milwaukee scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-3 lead, thanks in part to a Christian Yelich double. Then, in the seventh inning, Yelich hit a two-run homer to put Milwaukee ahead 8-4.

“They’re a good team. It’s fun when they’re a good team,” Yelich explained while discussing the difference between the Cubs’ and Brewers’ expectations. “It kind of feels like we’re just playing with house money. They’re supposed to win the division. They’re supposed to have the high expectations. They have half our coaching staff, they made a bunch of trades, so if they don’t win the division, I’m sure it would be pretty disappointing.”

Two other Brewers hit home runs in last night’s game: first baseman Andrew Vaughn and right fielder Sal Frelick. As a team, Milwaukee finished the evening with ten hits versus just three strikeouts. For comparison, Chicago ended up with six hits and 14 strikeouts.

“For us, we’re just trying to make life tough on them and the rest of the league and seeing what we can do,” Yelich said. “That’s always been our model around here.”

The Chicago Cubs will be looking to exact revenge tonight against the Brewers in Milwaukee as they look to even the three-game series 1-1. With a win, Chicago can once again reclaim the best record in the National League. The first pitch in that game is set for 7:40 p.m. EDT.

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