There was another air show in town
Schwarber helps Cubs avoid sweep with two homers, seven RBI
While the Milwaukee Air & Water Show was going on down at Lake Michigan on Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs put on an air show of their own at Miller Park.
With Kyle Schwarber leading the way with a grand slam and three-run homer, the Cubs sent three balls out of the park to account for all but one of their runs in an 11-4 whipping of the Milwaukee Brewers that staved off a three-game sweep.
With only their 20th victory in 51 games on the road, the Cubs pulled into a first-place tie with the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost for the second day in a row at home to Houston. The loss left the Brewers a game out of first in the NL Central as the trade deadline approaches Wednesday.
Schwarber was a one-man wrecking crew against Brewers starter Zach Davies, accounting for all seven runs he surrendered over five innings with two swings of the bat. With one down in the second, Javier Baéz and Jayson Heyward singled and Ian Happ drew a walk to load the bases for Schwarber, who pounced on a first-pitch fastball from Davies and slammed it 473 feet to right, the longest homer at Miller Park this season.
Davies walked two of the first three hitters he faced in the fourth inning, and Schwarber made him pay again. He reached out for a 1-2 fastball off the plate a bit and sent it the other way and over the left-field fence for a three-run homer that made it 7-0.
Cubs starter José Quintana appeared in great shape entering the fifth inning, cruising along on a one-hitter with the seven-run lead. But he couldn't record three outs, and therefore didn't qualify for a victory.
A walk to Yasmani Grandal, single by Jesús Aguilar and walk to Orlando Arcia loaded the bases with no outs. Quintana struck out Tyler Saladino on a 3-2 curveball but pinch-hitter Manny Piña delivered an RBI single, Lorenzo Cain followed with a sacrifice fly and Christian Yelich dumped a run-scoring double down the left-field line, cutting Chicago's lead to 7-3 and eliminating Quintana.
Reliever Brad Brach came on to retire Ryan Braun on a bouncer to third to end the rally.
The Cubs went back to the long ball to re-establish a seven-run lead in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini blasted a three-run homer on a hanging curveball from reliever Jeremy Jeffress, who has had trouble locating that pitch of late.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
Burnes stays with Missions: Righthander Corbin Burnes, on the IL with a shoulder issue, pitched a hitless inning on minor-league rehab Saturday for Class AAA San Antonio.
Manager Craig Counsell said Burnes would stay with the Missions and cover two innings next time out, then be reevaluated. Despite the recent spate of injuries to the Brewers' rotation, Counsell said there was no current plan to stretch Burnes back out and return him to starting.
Yelich extends streak: Yelich's RBI double in the fifth extended his hitting streak to 16 games, during which he is batting .397 (25 for 63) with five homers and 13 RBI. The hitting streak of Keston Hiura ended at 15 games, however, leaving him two short to match the club rookie record of 17 established by Pat Listach during the 1992 season.
Quintana’s struggles continue: Quintana used to be nearly automatic when he faced the Brewers but that has not been the case this season. In three outings against them, he has allowed 16 hits and 14 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings (8.79 ERA). The Cubs are 1-2 in those games.
Long trip awaits: The Brewers left after the game for San Francisco, where they will stay while playing a threegame series in Oakland. The team has an off day Monday before beginning the nine-game trip that also takes them to Chicago for three games and Pittsburgh for three. The Brewers don't play at home again until Aug. 9 against Texas.
Brewers hit 2 million fans: The sellout crowd pushed the Brewers over the 2 million mark in season attendance in their 57th home game. That's one game earlier than last season, when the Brewers drew 2,850,875, their highest mark since 2011 (3,071,373).
RECORD
This year: 56-51 Last year: 61-46
ATTENDANCE
Sunday: 43,544 (10th sellout) This year: 2,000,873 (35,103 avg.) Last year: 1,985,538 (34,834 avg.)
COMING UP
Monday: Off day.
Tuesday: Brewers at Athletics, 9:07 p.m. TBA vs. Oakland RHP Chris Bassitt (7-5, 4.09). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.