FANTASTIC FINISH
Hiura’s HR caps another late rally
The Milwaukee Brewers gave closer Craig Kimbrel a rude welcome to the rivalry with the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.
Christian Yelich homered to lead off the bottom of the 10th and Keston Hiura lined an opposite field, two-run homer to win the game two batters later, giving the Brewers an electric 5-3 victory over the Cubs before a sellout crowd at Miller Park, their second comeback triumph in two nights.
The victory drew the Brewers even with the Cubs for second place in the NL Central, one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
After the Brewers scored two runs in the eighth to tie it, the game lapsed into extra innings, as so many Saturday affairs have this season. Chicago's Albert Almora Jr. put his team in position to win by leading off the top of the 10th with
a home run off reliever Freddy Peralta.
Shut out for seven innings by veteran lefty Jon Lester, the Brewers struck for two runs in the eighth against Chicago’s bullpen to tie the game. Side-arming righty Steve Cishek had a brief yet horrendous outing, surrendering a home run to pinch-hitter Ben Gamel and double to Lorenzo Cain on consecutive pitches.
Newly acquired lefty Derek Holland was summoned to face Christian Yelich, who flied out to deep center, moving Cain to third (Almora slipped and took out a divot trying to plant and throw). Right-hander Tyler Chatwood came on to retire Ryan Braun on a pop-up to first base but Hiura bounced an opposite field double down the first-base line to tie the game.
For some time, the Cubs hid Lester from the Brewers, fearing they would steal everything but the payroll while he was on the mound. But Lester learned ways to compensate for his yips throwing to bases and is now allowed to face the Brewers, with great success.
Lester blanked the Brewers on four hits for seven innings, lowering his ERA against them to 1.13 over his last five starts (four earned runs in 26 innings). In two outings against Milwaukee this year, Lester has allowed no earned runs in 132⁄3 innings.
But the Brewers came to life after Lester exited, much as they did the previous evening after starter Kyle Hendricks departed. In that series opener, the Brewers scored three late runs against Chicago’s bullpen to take a 3-2 victory.
Chase Anderson started for the Brewers and turned in five strong innings, without anything to show for it. He allowed only two runs, coming on one swing of the bat by Anthony Rizzo in the third inning.
For a brief instant in the sixth, the Brewers thought they had tied the game on a two-run homer down the left-field line by Hiura. But the Cubs asked the umpires to review it, and after an on field discussion it was ruled to be a foul ball, which video replays confirmed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Quintana, as always: Brewers manager Craig Counsell was not surprised when he heard lefty Jose Quintana would pitch against the Brewers on Sunday, and then again next weekend in Chicago. For the most part, Quintana has had tremendous success against Milwaukee (6-4, 2.63 ERA in 13 starts), and Cubs manager Joe Maddon makes sure he never misses the Brewers. The Brewers have put some huge dents in Quintana’s armor in two previous outings against him this season, however, scoring 11 runs in 92⁄3 innings, leaving him with a 0-2 record and 10.24 ERA in those games.
Nelson back to San Antonio: Righthander Jimmy Nelson will pitch for a second time on rehab assignment for Class AAA San Antonio on Sunday when the Missions play in Omaha. Nelson, recovering from an elbow issue that occurred while coming back from major shoulder surgery in September 2017, is slated to pitch two innings. Nelson said the next step after that will be to pitch on back-to-back days, with hopes of being ready to rejoin the Brewers’ bullpen. Of his elbow, Nelson said, “It’s responding well. It’s just a matter of managing it from day to day.”
Hader sharp as ever: Counsell thought reliever Josh Hader was as sharp with his pitches as he has been all season Friday night in nailing down the ninth inning of the 3-2 victory over the Cubs. Pitching on only one day of rest after covering two innings Wednesday against Cincinnati, Hader threw 13 of 17 pitches for strikes while recording two strikeouts. “His stuff was on point,” Counsell said. “He has flashed higher velocity but command is still what wins the day for pitchers. Even the guys that throw in the upper 90s. If the ball is commanded, it’s really tough to hit.”
RECORD
This year: 56-50 Last year: 60-46
ATTENDANCE
Saturday: 43,931
This year: 1,957,329 (34,952 avg.) Last year: 1,947,568 (34,778 avg.)
COMING UP
Sunday: Cubs at Brewers, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (8-3, 3.17) vs. Chicago LHP José Quintana (8-7, 4.42). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.