Contreras gets better of younger brother in win
Willson Contreras had three hits and stole a base in his first game against younger brother William, helping the Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Saturday.
The Cubs won a day after ending their 10-game skid and also stopping the Braves’ 14-game winning streak.
The Contreras brothers both started at catcher, marking the first time they shared a field. They hugged before the 30-year-old Willson, a two-time All-Star, singled in the first inning. Contreras then stole second base against his brother and scored on Jonathan Villar’s two-run single. “That’s 1-0,” Willson Contreras said.
“I didn’t want to get beat by my younger brother. I’m pretty sure he was thinking the same thing. We’re professionals. We love our teams,” he said.
The brothers were the first to start at catcher in the same game since Yadier Molina for the St. Louis Cardinals and José Molina for the Tampa Bay Rays on June 10, 2014, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“From my first at-bat, when I gave him a hug, I was proud,” Willson Contreras said. “Even before the game I was trying to keep myself together.”
Willson Contreras later doubled and drove in a run. His 24-year-old brother had two hits for the Braves.
“During his last at-bat, he came up and he was looking at me and he said, ‘What are you looking at?’ I looked right back and said, ‘What are you looking at?’ That was probably the only kind of jokey moment of the day,” William Contreras said.
The Braves’ Contreras singled in the second inning but was forced out at second on an unusual double play. Adam Duvall hit a flyball to shallow right that fell among three fielders — Contreras was forced out at second and Duvall, who had headed back to the dugout before getting pushed toward the base by first base coach Eric Young Sr., was called out.
“I would imagine Adam thought there were three outs,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Justin Steele (2-5) got his first win since his season debut April 9 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed two runs and five hits in five innings.
Kyle Wright (7-4) gave up five runs and a career-high 11 hits in six innings.