Anthony Rizzo's three-run blast in the top of the eighth gave the Chicago Cubs the lead for good, and the bullpen made it hold up as the Cubs (54-47) came back late to defeat the depleted Milwaukee Brewers (44-59) 5-2 Thursday night at Miller Park.
The Cubs' offense was lifeless until the eighth inning. Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler led off with singles, only the third and fourth Cub hits, and after two men went down, it looked like a wasted opportunity. Rizzo, though, woke up his bat in a big way.
Rizzo's blast (18) put the Cubs ahead 3-2. Until the eighth, the Cubs had only two hits, both from Rizzo, who finished 3 for 4 on the evening and a triple shy of the cycle.
Chicago added two insurance runs in the ninth. Rookies Kris Bryant (sacrifice fly) and Kyle Schwarber (single) each drove a run to put the game a little further out of reach.
Milwaukee lost three big bats in recent days. On July 23, they traded former Cubs slugger Aramis Ramirez to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and just before Thursday's game, they sent hard-hitting outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitcher Mike Fiers to the Houston Astros. Then on Friday morning, they sent another bat away in Gerardo Parra, who now finds himself with the Baltimore Orioles.
So far, the Cubs have remained pat leading up to the trade deadline, which comes at 4:00 p.m. EDT Friday afternoon.
Milwaukee scored twice in the bottom of the third via Jonathan Lucroy's RBI double that brought in Parra and Ryan Braun's RBI single that scored Lucroy. Milwaukee had a big chance to score in the second, but Fowler made a long running over-the-shoulder grab to rob starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson of at least two bases and three RBI's to end the inning and leave the bases loaded (video).
Rafael Soriano (W: 2-0, 6.35 ERA) won it in relief with a scoreless seventh inning. He allowed one hit and struck out one. Starter Jake Arrieta threw yet another quality start, allowing two runs on five hits while walking three and fanning five. Arrieta is ninth in the National League in ERA at 2.62.
Will Smith (L: 4-2, 2.58) allowed three runs on three hits and served up Rizzo's home run in 2/3 of an inning. Michael Blazek allowed two runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings. Nelson started and was terrific: 7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 8 K. The Cubs could not figure him out, and he later watched his brilliant performance go for naught.
On Friday, the Cubs send Jason Hammel (5-5, 3.20) to the mound while Milwaukee counters with Taylor Jungman (5-2, 2.14). The first pitch occurs at 8:10 p.m. EDT. The Cubs are two games out of the National League Wild Card race as play begins on July 31.
