Injury added to insulting night
Closer Knebel hurt in ugly 8-0 loss to Cubs
It is easy to point to starting pitching as the primary culprit for the Milwaukee Brewers' 1-3 record on their first home stand of the season.
But the offense and defense have been lacking as well, particularly in the last two games. In essence, nothing has gone right as the Brewers suffered consecutive shutout losses for the first time since August 2015.
With veteran lefty Jon Lester tossing six shutout innings, the Chicago Cubs cruised to an 8-0 victory Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series at Miller Park.
The bigger loss for the Brewers was closer Corey Knebel, who collapsed on the mound after throwing a pitch in the ninth inning. Knebel immediately clutched his upper left leg in the groin/ hamstring area and had to be helped off the field, unable to carry his own weight.
The Cubs went right to work against Brewers starter Brent Suter, scoring three runs in the second inning and two more in the third to give Lester a nice, early cushion. Lester allowed only three hits and one walk while logging six strikeouts.
The game was similar to the series finale Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, who toppled the Brewers, 6-0, behind a dominant start by Carlos Martinez.
5 TAKEAWAYS
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE: There is a photo on the wall of the Brewers' players dining room of Ryan Braun taking an outrageous lead off first base against Cubs lefty Jon Lester, from a game at Miller Park a couple of years ago. Lester has a phobia about throwing to bases, so Braun went halfway to second and easily swiped the base when the pitcher lolly-popped a throw over. Braun took that to a new level after walking in the first inning, taking off for second with Lester standing on the mound and making it without a throw. Braun tried the same tactic breaking early for third base but Lester bounced a throw to Kris Bryant to catch him.
THE DEFENSE RESTS: Beyond the starting pitching woes, the Brewers need to tighten up their defense. Two errors by second baseman Jonathan Villar led to three unearned runs Wednesday against St. Louis. Two errors on one play on Lester's roller up the middle allowed Javier Baez to score all the way from first base. Second baseman Hernan Perez let the ball get under his glove as Baez went first to third, and centerfielder Lorenzo Cain failed to pick the ball up cleanly, letting Baez scoot home. Perez later made a second error, dropping a throw trying to turn a routine double play.
STUMBLING FROM THE GATE: The Brewers' starting pitchers are making it easy for critics to jump on what was perceived to be a major weakness entering the season. Through seven games, they have compiled a 1-3 record and 6.23 ERA. When you consider that Chase Anderson threw six shutout innings on opening day, you understand how bad it has been since then.
READY AND WILLING: Backup first baseman Jesus Aguilar was the last position player to get a start and made the most of it, collecting three hits (two singles, double). Aguilar entered the game 1 for 4, all as a pinch-hitter. The Brewers have two players looking fo their first hits - utility players Perez and Eric Sogard.
HITTING A DRY SPELL: Christian Yelich and Braun ended the game Tuesday with a double bang, smacking home runs to beat the Cardinals, 5-4. Since then, it has been crickets for the offense. The Brewers failed to score in the series finale against St. Louis and have nine hits and no runs over their last 18 innings.
RECORD
This year: 4-3 Last year: 2-5
ATTENDANCE
Thursday: 24,310
Year to date: 125,137 (33,609 avg.) Last year: 110,446 (27,612 avg.)
UP NEXT
Friday: Brewers vs. Cubs, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (0-0, 4.50) vs. Chicago RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-0, 1.50). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.