CHICAGO -- That was a clunker.
Coming off a pair of thrilling wins over the weekend in Minnesota, the Milwaukee Brewers had a much more forgettable showing Monday.
Miscues in the field and an inability to cash in with runners on base sent the Brewers to a 3-1 demise against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
BOX SCORE : Cubs 3, Brewers 1
The Brewers left eight men on base through four innings, including stranding the bases loaded in both the third and fourth, and gave up a pair of easily preventable runs to lose their third game in four tries on the North Side this year.
Milwaukee, which went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and is now 6 for 32 in those scenarios at Wrigley this year, got its lone run from a Willy Adames solo homer in the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Garrett Mitchell smacked a one-out double to bring the tying run to the plate but Brice Turang, as part of an 0 for 5 day with three strikeouts, rolled over on a Hector Neris splitter and William Contreras made the game's final out with another grounder to first.
Ian Happ extends the lead
Death, taxes and Ian Happ homering against the Brewers.
Or so it seems, at least. The Cubs leftfielder hit the 13th homer of his career against Milwaukee with a solo blast to right in the sixth. He entered the day with a .946 OPS against the Brewers in 2024, one year after having a 1.071 OPS against them.
Another miscue, another Cubs run
Poor defense gifted the Cubs a run in the bottom of the third to open the scoring. Adames misplayed a grounder from Miguel Amaya, who then advanced to second on a balk when Tobias Myers slipped on the mound. With two outs, Michael Busch laced a run-scoring hit up the middle.
Chicago pushed its lead to 2-0 in the fourth thanks to a throwing error from Tobias Myers -- on what should have been a double play -- and a subsequent wild pitch with the bases loaded, two outs and an 0-2 count on Pete Crow-Armstrong, who came into the day batting .189. Myers, on a grounder back to the mound with one out, airmailed his throw to second on what should have been a double play. Instead, it went into center field, extending the inning and eventually burning him when he spiked an 0-2 slider to Crow-Armstrong.
Myers finished the day going 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out six.
The hits (don't) keep on coming
On one hand the Brewers have six walks and two hits through four innings.
On the other, they have made it so that Cubs starter Javier Assad became the first pitcher since 2016 to walk six in fewer than four frames and not give up a single run.
The Brewers stranded the bases loaded in both the third and fourth innings, rendering themselves completely unable to capitalize on Assad's wildness while on the mound. After walking Rhys Hoskins and Joey Ortiz with one out in the fourth, Assad was pulled in favor of Drew Smyly, who promptly allowed a single to Garrett Mitchell to load the bases.
But Brice Turang hit a grounder to first that ended with a force play at home, then William Contreras rolled to third to end the threat.
Sal Frelick unable to deliver twice but Michael Busch does
The Brewers didn't hit starter Javier Assad much early but they did put pressure on him.
Nevertheless, they didn't score -- including in a key spot in the third.
With one hit and four walks, Milwaukee put men in scoring position in both the first and third innings but came up empty when Sal Frelick was unable to deliver a timely hit.
In the first, with runners on first and second, Frelick ended the inning with a 19.8 mph tapper to the mound. In the third, he got ahead 3-0 in the count with the bases loaded only to ground out to shortstop in a full count.
The Brewers have yet to score off a Cubs starter at Wrigley across 21 1/3 innings this year.
Brewers time, TV, radio
The Brewers game starts at 7:05 p.m. Monday
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620 and a state network
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Sal Frelick RF
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Joey Ortiz 3B
- Garrett Mitchell CF
Cubs schedule
- Nico Hoerner 2B
- Michael Busch 1B
- Seiya Suzuki RF
- Ian Happ LF
- Mike Tauchman DH
- Dansby Swanson SS
- Miles Mastrobuoni 3B
- Miguel Amaya C
- Pete Crow-Armstrong CF
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Cubs, 7:05 p.m. Tuesday . Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea (9-3, 3.77) vs. Chicago RHP Jameson Taillon (7-4, 3.10). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
Brewers at Cubs, 1:20 p.m. Wednesday . Milwaukee TBA vs. Chicago LHP Justin Steele (2-4, 3.07). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cubs 3, Brewers 1: Miscues, missed opportunities lead to clunker of a loss
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